Sept. 18, 2010

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

• Head Coach Steve Spurrier: Improves to 180-68-2 (.724) as a collegiate head coach, 38-28 in his fifth year at South Carolina. He is now 2-0 all-time against Furman, and improves his all-time mark against schools in non-BCS automatic qualifier conferences to 40-0.
• Records: South Carolina improves to 3-0; Furman falls to 1-1. The Gamecocks are now 27-20-1 all-time against Furman, including a 14-8-1 edge in games played in Columbia. The Gamecocks are 3-0 for the first time since the 2007 season.
• Owning the State: Tonight marked South Carolina’s third straight win over an in-state school after victories over South Carolina State and Clemson last season.
• Home Field Advantage: South Carolina is 11-1 in its last 12 games at Williams-Brice Stadium, dating back to a 27-6 win over Tennessee on Nov. 1, 2008.
• Fire Ants: South Carolina has won six straight games when wearing both Garnet jerseys and pants (3-0 this season).

OFFENSIVE NOTES

• Alshon Jeffery became the 23rd player in South Carolina history to reach the 1,000-yard mark in his career with 97 yards on five receptions tonight. He now stands at 1,069 for his career. He just missed his third straight 100-yard game, but has 306 yards in three games this season.
• Tori Gurley hauled in his third career touchdown reception with a 15-yard catch in the first quarter; he finished with 52 yards on three catches.
• Marcus Lattimore fell three yards short of his second straight 100-yard game as he rushed 19 times for 97 yards while scoring his fifth touchdown of the season. He now has 333 rushing yards through three games, an average of 111 yards per game.
• Brian Maddox had a nine-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, his first of the year and the eighth of his career. He finished with 20 yards on three carries.
• Stephen Garcia finished 13-of-20 passing for 150 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns. It marked his first two touchdown passes of the season, giving him 25 for his career. One interception was returned for a touchdown, the first such play against the Gamecocks since Mark Barron of Alabama returned a pick 77 yards last season in Tuscaloosa.
• Connor Shaw, in his second career game, had a nearly identical line to his first appearance against Southern Miss with a 4-for-5 effort for 42 yards. He also rushed four times for 22 yards.
• The Gamecocks rushed for 182 yards in the game; the Gamecocks are 29-9 under Spurrier when topping the 100-yard mark on the ground.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

• Furman was held to 51 rushing yards, the fourth-fewest allowed in the Spurrier era at South Carolina. Under Spurrier, the Gamecocks are 16-2 when holding an opponent under 100 yards on the ground, including a 3-0 mark this season.
• Stephon Gilmore’s 80-yard interception return was the first touchdown of Gilmore’s career and the first “pick-six” for South Carolina since Eric Norwood returned an interception 35 yards at Georgia last season.
• DeVonte Holloman had six tackles, bringing his team-leading total to 20 for the season.
• The Gamecocks totaled seven sacks after recording just four in the first two games combined. Travian Robertson had two to lead the team, while five others had one apiece. (more…)
• Travian Robertson had 2.0 sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss, both career highs. Robertson had never recorded a sack before tonight’s game.
• Cliff Matthews recorded a sack tonight, bringing his career total to 11.5 sacks and 19.0 tackles for loss. He is now 0.5 sacks and 5.5 TFL short of entering the school’s all-time top 10 in both categories.
• Antonio Allen played in his first game this season after missing the first two with injury; he had two tackles in his return to action.
• C.C. Whitlock had his second career interception, picking off a pass in the first quarter. His previous interception came last year at Alabama.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

• Chris Culliver moved to third place all-time in SEC history in kickoff return yards with 56 yards on three returns today. He now has 2,340 yards on 100 career returns, moving past Kentucky’s Derek Abney (2,315 yards) tonight. He is now 158 yards shy of second place all-time in league history (Derek Pegues, Miss. State – 2,498 yards).
• Spencer Lanning booted a career-long 51-yard field goal in his only attempt of the night. His previous long was 47 yards on two occasions last year (at Tennessee, vs. Clemson). He was previously 0-for-2 from 50+ yards.
• Lanning also had a career-long punt of 58 yards in the fourth quarter, surpassing his previous best of 56 yards against Kentucky last season. Lanning punted five times tonight for an average of 42.0 yards.

UP NEXT
The Gamecocks hit the road for the first time in the 2010 season when they travel to Auburn for an SEC showdown. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. next Saturday, Sept. 25, at Jordan-Hare Stadium, with a national broadcast slated for ESPN.