Sept. 3, 2010

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

• Head Coach Steve Spurrier: Improves to 178-68-2 (.722) as a collegiate head coach, 36-28 in his fifth year at South Carolina. He is now 4-0 all-time against Southern Miss. Spurrier remains undefeated all-time (39-0) against teams from non-BCS automatic qualifier conferences. He is 20-1 all-time in season-opening games and has won 18 season-openers in a row.
• Records: South Carolina improves to 1-0; Southern Miss falls to 0-1.
• In Season Openers: South Carolina has won 11 consecutive season-opening games, dating back to the 2000 season. The Gamecocks are 77-36-4 all-time in season-opening games.
• Home Openers: The Gamecocks are 80-29-7 all-time in home openers; 14-5 since joining the SEC and 5-1 under Steve Spurrier.
• Thursday Night Special: The Gamecocks have won three straight Thursday night games, and are 5-0 in season-opening mid-week games in the last six years. Carolina is 7-2 in Thursday night games under Spurrier.
• Home Field Advantage: South Carolina is 9-1 in its last 10 games at Williams-Brice Stadium. In home non-conference games since 2000, the Gamecocks are 27-3.
• First Start: Five Gamecocks made their first career starts in tonight’s game. WR D.L. Moore, OL Rokevious Watkins, DT Melvin Ingram, LB Quin Smith, SPUR Damario Jeffery.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

• Carolina rushed for 224 yards, the second-highest total under Steve Spurrier. The only higher mark was 287 against FAU last season.
• The Gamecocks’ 41 points were their most in a game since the 2006 Liberty Bowl when Carolina scored 44 in a victory over Houston. It also set a high water mark for Spurrier in season-openers (previous high: 34 vs. NC State in 2008). The 24 first-half points were also the most in a first half since that same Liberty Bowl game.
• In the Red Zone, the Gamecocks were a perfect 5-for-5 (four touchdowns, one field goal).
• QB Stephen Garcia: 16-23, 193 yards passing; 5 carries, 38 yards, 2 TDs rushing. First time for Garcia to score two rushing touchdowns in a game; his seventh and eighth rushing TDs of his career.
• His first time to touch the ball in a college game, WR Ace Sanders rolled off a 53-yard run to set up the Gamecocks’ second touchdown in the second quarter. It was the longest run for a Gamecock since Bobby Wallace had an 88-yard rush vs. Middle Tennessee on Nov. 18, 2006.
• Freshman RB Marcus Lattimore rushed 14 times for 54 yards and two touchdowns in his career debut; he equaled the single-game high in rushing touchdowns from the 2009 season in his first career contest.
• Between Garcia and Lattimore, the Gamecocks had two touchdown rushes from two players for the first time since the 2005 Florida game.
• Four quarterbacks played in tonight’s game for Carolina: Stephen Garcia, Connor Shaw, Stephon Gilmore and Andrew Clifford.
• WR Alshon Jeffery had his fourth career 100-yard receiving game, hauling in 7 passes for 106 yards receiving.
• QB Connor Shaw made his career debut and threw a touchdown pass to D.L. Moore in the third quarter. Shaw finished 4-5 for 32 yards passing and had seven carries for 31 yards.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

• Southern Miss was held to 67 net rushing yards; Carolina is now 14-2 under Steve Spurrier when holding an opponent under 100 yards on the ground.
• In six trips inside the red zone, Southern Miss managed no touchdowns and just two field goals against the SC defense.
• CB DeVonte Holloman had his second career interception – his second in as many home games – in the first quarter. He also had a pick against Clemson in 2009. Holloman finished with a career-high seven tackles.
• DB Akeem Auguste tied his career high with eight tackles in tonight’s game (Florida Atlantic ’09).
• LB Tony Straughter recovered his first career fumble and returned it 54 yards to set up the Gamecocks’ final score in the fourth quarter.
• DB Stephon Gilmore had two tackles for loss, a single-game high for the sophomore.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

• PK Joey Scribner-Howard booted two kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks tonight; the Gamecocks had only one touchback on a kickoff all last season.
• P/PK Spencer Lanning only punted twice in the game but averaged 52.5 yards on his two attempts.
• Lanning was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goals with a long of 42; he has connected on three in a row dating back to the Clemson game in 2009. He also made all 5 PAT attempts; he has connected on 30 PAT attempts in a row.
• KR Bryce Sherman returned three kickoffs for 69 yards tonight with a long of 24.

UP NEXT
South Carolina opens its 19th season of Southeastern Conference football on Saturday, Sept. 11, with a home contest against the Georgia Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for noon ET with a national broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2.