Nov. 14, 2009

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

South Carolina

• Head Coach Steve Spurrier: Falls to 176-67-2 as a collegiate head coach, 34-27 in his fifth year at South Carolina. He is now 1-4 against the University of Florida as the Gamecocks’ head coach.
• Records: South Carolina falls to 6-5 overall, 3-5 in Southeastern Conference play. Florida improves to 10-0 on the season, 8-0 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are now 4-23-3 all-time against Florida, including a 4-10-1 mark in Columbia.
• First Start: With South Carolina opening in an unconventional formation, RB Bryce Sherman made his first career start. Defensively, DL Melvin Ingram made the initial start of his career as well. Including today’s game, 20 different Gamecocks have made their initial career starts in 2009.
• Streaks Snapped: South Carolina saw its seven-game home win streak come to an end today, as well as its five-game win streak at Williams-Brice Stadium over SEC opponents.
• Playing the Best: Today marked the first time that a No. 1-ranked opponent had taken the field at Williams-Brice Stadium. With the loss, the Gamecocks are now 0-4 all-time against top-ranked teams, 0-2 against Florida when the Gators top the polls. The Gamecocks have played three teams ranked in the nation’s top four this season, going 1-2 in those contests. All-time, the Gamecocks are 2-33 against top-five teams, including a 1-20 mark at home.

Offensive Notes

• South Carolina’s 14-play, 84-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter equaled the longest scoring drive by plays of the 2009 season and was the second-longest drive by time (6:13), only five seconds shorter than the longest drive of the season (6:18 vs. Ole Miss).
• QB Stephen Garcia completed 17-of-32 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown along with two interceptions. He now has 2,607 yards on the season, which places him fourth in school history for single-season passing yardage. Todd Ellis’ 1986 season of 3,020 yards is next on the list.
• With 213 completions on the season, Garcia is also fourth in school history in single-season pass completions. His 373 pass attempts this year ranks second all-time.
• Brian Maddox saw his first significant action in several games, leading the way with 82 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. He is now tied for the team lead with six touchdowns (four rushing, two receiving) on the season.
• Junior TE Weslye Saunders’ touchdown catch in the second quarter was his first of the season and the fourth of his career. He led the team tonight with 62 receiving yards on five catches.

Defensive Notes

• Freshman CB Stephon Gilmore had a career-high 10 tackles in tonight’s game.
• Junior DE Clifton Geathers had seven tackles on the night, including 4.5 for loss. His 4.5 tackles for loss surpassed his entire total in that category for the season leading into tonight’s game (4.0). He also had a sack, his third of the season.
• The Gamecocks held Florida to 339 total yards, almost 100 below the Gators’ season average (438.7). The Gators rushed for 140 yards against the Carolina defense, also 100 yards shy of their average (240.7).
• Florida converted 5-of-14 third downs (35.7%) against the Gamecock defense; their season average coming in was 45%. The Gators were only 1-of-7 on third down in the second half.

Special Teams Notes

• Junior P/PK Spencer Lanning punted six times for an average of 44.7 yards, his best single-game average of the season (previous was 44.3 against Florida Atlantic).
• Walk-on lineman and former United States Marine Matt Grooms saw his first playing time in a South Carolina uniform on the extra-point team in today’s game.
• KR Bryce Sherman returned four kickoffs for 77 yards in today’s game, including a career-long 35-yard return on the game’s opening kickoff.

Up Next

After a much-needed open week, South Carolina closes out its 2009 regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 28, as archrival Clemson visits Williams-Brice Stadium for the annual Palmetto State “Braggin’ Rights” showdown. Kickoff time and broadcast information are TBA.

Florida

Team

• Florida extended its nation’s-best and school-record win streak by recording its 20th consecutive victory. The 10-point win over South Carolina marked the 19th game in the streak won by double digits.
• The Gators’ winning streak is now sixth in SEC history, breaking a tie with (Alabama, 1924-26; LSU, 1957-59). The longest winning streak in SEC history is 28 games by Alabama (1991-93 and 1978-80).
• With the win against South Carolina, Urban Meyer moved into first place on the list of the all-time winningest SEC Coaches in conference games (minimum 5 years).
• UF became the first SEC East team to go undefeated in conference play since 1998 (Tennessee).
• The Gators’ current 14-game SEC winning streak is second-best in school history.
• Florida is the first SEC East team to go to back-to-back SEC title games since 2002-03 (last team to repeat since Tennessee in 1997-98).
• UF improved its overall record against the Gamecocks to 23-4-3 and 10-4-1 in Columbia. UF has now won 12-straight SEC Eastern Division games.
• The Gators ended South Carolina’s seven-game home winning streak. USC was 5-0 at home this season entering today.
• For the fourth time this season and third-straight game, the Gators did not turn over the ball over. It marked the 21st game since 2005 the Gators had zero turnovers, tying West Virginia for the most turnovers the time span.
• The Gators scored on their opening drive for the sixth time this season, tying for the most in the Southeastern Conference. It was third time that it was a touchdown: Charleston Southern (TD), Tennessee (FG), Kentucky (FG), LSU (FG), Georgia (TD) and South Carolina (TD).
• Florida forced three turnovers today, two interceptions and a fumble, giving it 11 in the past four games.
• For the seventh time this season, the Gator defense held its opponent to under 100 rushing yards, further moving past the 2008 mark of five games.
• The Florida offense has scored a touchdown in 61 of the last 75 quarters while going three-and-out just 32 times over the past 80 quarters.
• The Gators held South Carolina scoreless in the second half after surrendering 14 points in the first half.
• Florida’s defense collected a season-high six sacks.

Individual Player

• With a one-yard run in the fourth quarter, Tim Tebow matched Kevin Faulk’s SEC record of 53 touchdowns. It was his team-leading 10th rushing score of the season.
• In addition, Tebow has thrown a touchdown pass in 35 of his 37 starts.
• Junior defensive end Justin Trattou made his second career interception on the first play of the fourth quarter and returned it 53 yards. Florida research available in the press box indicated that this was longest return by a Gator defensive lineman since at least 1996.
• With 44 kickoff return yards today, senior Brandon James became the SEC’s all-time leader in kickoff return yardage by passing Derek Pegues of Mississippi State, who had 2,498 yards on 112 returns from 2005-08. James now has 2,538 yards on 105 returns.
• Before Xavier Nixon this afternoon, the last true freshman to start at left tackle was Reggie Green in 1992. Mo Collins was the last true freshman to start at right tackle for the Gators in 1995.
• Senior wide receiver Riley Cooper caught his team-leading sixth touchdown reception of the season on the Gators’ opening drive. The 68-yard score matched the longest reception of his career, set in the 2009 season opener against Charleston Southern on Sept. 5.
• With three catches for 112 yards, Cooper eclipsed the 100-yard receiving plateau for the second time this season and third time in his career. Cooper had five catches for 105 yards against Charleston Southern in the season opener and four receptions for 122 yards against Western Kentucky on Sept. 1, 2007.
• Sophomore kicker Caleb Sturgis connected on a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter but then missed a 52-yard attempt wide left in the second quarter, a 54-yarder in the third quarter and a 29-yard attempt in the fourth quarter. He is now 18-for-24 on the season, 4-of-6 from beyond 40 yards.
• Freshman wide receiver Omarius Hines made his first career reception in SEC play with a 12-yard grab in the second quarter on UF’s third scoring drive. He had two grabs for 20 yards.
• Redshirt junior running back Emmanuel Moody scored his first touchdown of the season with a 17-yard run in the second quarter. It was his first score since one against The Citadel on Nov. 22, 2008.
• Senior linebacker Brandon Spikes recovered a fumble at mid-field in the second quarter, his first of the season and fourth of his career. Three of Spikes’ four career fumble recoveries have come against South Carolina, including two in 2007.
• Sophomore safety Will Hill made the first sack of his career in the third quarter. James followed the next play with a season-long 49-yard punt return.
• Junior defensive back Joe Haden notched his third interception of the season in the fourth quarter.