Nov. 11, 2006

Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery

• South Carolina’s game captains for Saturday’s game were senior long snapper/holder Ike Crofoot, junior defensive end Jordin Lindsey and senior center Chris White.
• Florida won the toss and deferred, putting the Gamecocks on offense to start the game. Carolina opened the game in a three-wide receiver/one-back set with Sidney Rice, Kenny McKinley and Freddie Brown lined up at receiver and Mike Davis alone in the backfield.
• Syvelle Newton started the game at the free safety position, marking the first start of his career on the defensive side of the ball. He was one of five defensive backs on the field to start the game for Carolina. Newton had started each of the previous seven games at quarterback. The senior from Wallace, S.C., has started games at wide receiver, quarterback and free safety during his career, in addition to seeing action as a running back.
• Syvelle Newton became second Gamecock in the last five years to start on both the offensive side of the ball and defensive side of the ball in the same season, as Corey Jenkins started at both quarterback and safety during the 2002 season. Ironically, Jenkins’ first start at safety that season came against Florida in Gainesville as well.
• Junior Blake Mitchell made the start at quarterback for the Gamecocks, marking his first start since South Carolina’s game against Georgia on Sept. 9. Mitchell saw extensive action against Arkansas last week, but saw no significant action in the six games prior.
• Mike Davis scored on a four-yard touchdown run to cap a 13-play 80-yard drive that spanned 6:10 in the first quarter to give Carolina a 7-0 lead. The touchdown marked Davis’ third career score against Florida, his most against any opponent. Entering the game, Davis had two touchdown runs this season, with one coming against Florida Atlantic and the other against Vanderbilt.
• Mike Davis’ first-quarter touchdown run was the first score of the game. Entering Saturday’s contest, South Carolina was 4-1 this year when scoring first.
• Mike Davis broke a 19-yard run in the second quarter, marking his longest run of the season to date. The longest run of his career was a 37-yarder against Arkansas last year.
• Receiver Sidney Rice passed Stanley Pritchett (1992-95) to take sole possession of sixth place on South Carolina’s career receptions list when he made his fourth reception of the game, a 14-yard first-down catch in the first quarter
• Receiver Sidney Rice attempted the first pass of his career when he threw to Blake Mitchell on a throwback pass. The pass was broken up by Reggie Nelson.
• Receiver Sidney Rice was back to receive a punt in the second quarter alongside fellow receiver Kenny McKinley. McKinley fair-caught the punt at the nine yard line, but Rice’s presence marked the first time in his career that he was back as a deep safety in punt return formation.
• The two teams were deadlocked at seven going into halftime, marking the first time this year that South Carolina was tied with its opponent at the half. Last year’s games against Kentucky and Vanderbilt marked the only two times in the Steve Spurrier era that Carolina was tied at the half. The Gamecocks won both of those contests, taking a 10-10 game against the Wildcats and turning it into a 44-16 win and taking a 7-7 game against Vanderbilt and turning it into a 35-28 win.
• Stoney Woodson picked off a Chris Leak pass in the third quarter, marking his third interception of the year and the third of his career. His two previous interceptions came against Georgia and Kentucky.
• Blake Mitchell found Andy Boyd for a 48-yard reception in the third quarter. The reception was Boyd’s first of the season and was the longest completion for Mitchell in 2006.