By all accounts, a matchup with a speedy defense from Florida would be one of the stiffer tests South Carolina would face this season. That played out Saturday night in the Gamecocks 19-14 win over the Gators. An offense that normally scores touchdowns was reduced to four field goals, including two in the fourth quarter, to pull out the win.
“Florida’s defense is really good and we knew that coming in,” noted quarterback Connor Shaw, who saw the passing lanes close quicker against the talented ball-hawks in the Florida secondary and linebacking corps, “They’re one of the top teams in the league. We just couldn’t find the rhythm in the first half down in the red zone. The second half, I thought we battled a little bit stronger. We adjusted at half-time and came out and found a way to win.”
The Gamecocks trailed 14-6 at halftime, but Shaw led a seven-play, 64-yard drive that ended in a 32-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington on fourth-and-3 in the third quarter. It cut the Gators’ lead to 14-13 with 10:23 to go in the third and set up South Carolina kicker Elliott Fry to nail two of his four field goals in the fourth quarter for the win.
“It was a kind of play that was designed for (Damiere) Byrd to get the ball, but I saw my defender sitting so I just ran right past him,” said Ellington of his scoring play in the seem on the right side.
The win moved South Carolina to 6-2 in the SEC East. The Gamecocks now await a Missouri loss to either Ole Miss or Texas A&M to place them in Atlanta for the SEC title game. In addition, South Carolina leads the nation with 16 straight home wins.
Scoreboard watching: South Carolina knew it needed a Georgia loss to Auburn for its prospects of winning the East’s berth in the SEC title game on December 7. The Tigers won it 43-38 on a Hail Mary pass from Nick Marshall to Ricardo Louis after blowing a 20-point third quarter lead. Spurrier refused to acknowledge that he or the team was watching it on the screen inside the stadium.
“It was on the screen in the stadium and I think that’s when all our people started yelling,” Spurrier said, “We haven’t even talked about it. Well after the game I said `by the way we do know that Auburn beat Georgia today.’”
Oh, those ‘media boys’: Local writers in South Carolina easily make themselves a point of satire. First it was Ron Morris of The State Newspaper who had continually wrote negativity about Spurrier and his program, which were really unfounded based on the shape Spurrier found the program nine years ago.
Now comes a couple of unidentified local writers who once again raise eyebrows. Last week, one said the Gamecocks could easily run the score up on Florida.
That comment didn’t get past Spurrier.
“Some of your sportswriters don’t help us a damn bit when you say things like the Gamecocks could run up the score on Florida,” he said, noting that he wasn’t mad, just making a point, “Other teams read the newspapers too and then they come in here and it motivates them and they have extra motivation to try to bite you.”
Spurrier jokingly explained how picking the Gamecocks to win should be done.
“If you want to help the Gamecocks out, just tell them that the Gamecocks will be lucky if they pull one out,” he laughed.
Then after the game on the press elevator, another unidentified writer was musing about how he hated the fact that the Gamecocks had won because now he would have to cover the SEC title game in Atlanta (assuming Missouri loses one of the last two) instead of the South Carolina high school football playoffs which take place at Williams-Brice Stadium on the same day.
Simply put, there’s no love lost in the local media for Spurrier’s bourgeoning program, which makes those locals do things or have to do things beyond their comprehension.
Chomped: The 19-14 loss to the Gamecocks was the Gators’ fifth loss in the row as they haven’t won since defeating Arkansas on Oct. 5. It’s the longest losing streak since 1979 when the Gators went 0-10-1.
“There’s a lot of negativity out there,” said embattled Gators coach Will Muschamp, “These guys pulled together and showed you a little something of what they’re about. We just need to make some plays in those situations and win the game.”
The Gators rushed for 149 yards on their first 15 rushes and finished with 200 on 41 carries. They had a tremendous effort by freshman Kelvin Taylor, who was 21 for 96 with two touchdowns.
“I am very proud with our guys’ effort,” said Muschamp, “We followed the script and what we felt like we needed to do to win the game, and that was ball possession, field position, beat the clock, play good defense, which we did for the most part throughout the night against a very good offensive football team.”
The Gators now look for wins over Georgia Southern and undefeated national title contender Florida State just to get six wins to quality for a bowl. A miss would be the first season since 1990 that Florida was not bowl eligible. That season was Spurrier’s first as a coach in Gainesville as the Gators went 9-2 and 6-1 in the SEC, but were ineligible for a bowl or the SEC title because of NCAA improprieties under former coach Galen Hall.