Nov. 20, 2010

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• Head Coach Steve Spurrier: Improves to 185-71-2 (.721) as a collegiate head coach, 43-31 in his sixth year at South Carolina. He improves to 2-0 all-time against Troy. He also remains undefeated all-time against schools in non-BCS automatic qualifying leagues at 41-0.
• Moving Up the Charts: Spurrier earned his 43rd win at South Carolina, moving him past Paul Dietzel for third all-time in school history.
• Records: South Carolina improves to 8-3 overall and remains 5-3 in SEC play. Troy falls to 5-5 overall, 4-2 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Gamecocks are now 3-0 all-time against Troy and 8-0 all-time against the Sun Belt. Carolina is 34-11 against non-conference foes since 2000.
• Eight is Great: South Carolina has eight wins in a season for the 10th time in school history and the fourth time since 2000. The Gamecocks have won more than eight games only twice; 10 wins in 1984 and nine victories in 2001.
• Home Field Advantage: South Carolina finished 6-1 at home for the second consecutive year and has won 14 out of its last 16 home games. Today was Carolina’s ninth straight home non-conference win.
• As a Ranked Team: The Gamecocks are 13-12 when ranked in the top 25 under Spurrier, improving to 7-3 this year. In home games, the Gamecocks are 10-4 under Spurrier as a ranked team.
• Turnover Battle: South Carolina forced five turnovers by the Trojans and turned the ball over only once in the game. Carolina is 4-0 this season and 18-4 under Spurrier when winning the turnover battle. It marked the most turnovers by a Gamecock opponent this season, surpassing four giveaways by Tennessee on Oct. 30.
• First Appearance: A total of six players appeared in a game for South Carolina for the first time today: Jared Shaw, Matt O’Brien, Matt Grooms, Walker Inabinet, Chris Vaughn and Kevin White.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

• Offensive Explosion: South Carolina scored 69 points in today’s game, setting numerous records:
• • The Gamecocks’ 69 points marked the fifth-most in school history, surpassing three 68-point games: 1912 vs. Charleston, 1915 vs. Cumberland, and 1995 vs. Louisiana Tech.
  • It was South Carolina’s highest scoring output since amassing 77 points in a 77-14 victory over Kent State on Oct. 7, 1995.
  • The scoring output marks the highest-scoring game under Spurrier; in fact, the 56-point first half alone eclipsed that mark, which had been a 52-point output against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 18, 2006.
  • With 93 combined points between the teams, it was the third-highest combined scoring game in Carolina history, ranking behind 104 combined points with Mississippi State (65-39 W) on Oct. 14, 1995 and 98 points against East Carolina (42-56 L) on Oct. 8, 1994.
  • The Gamecocks’ 56 points in the first half is believed to be a school record for points in a half (box scores from games before 1950 were not readily available). It is the most points scored in a half since amassing 42 against Kent State on Oct. 7, 1995.
  • Carolina’s first quarter total of 28 points were the most in a single quarter since 35 in that aforementioned Kent State game in 1995; it marked the most points in a first quarter since 23 against Central Florida in 1996.

• RB Marcus Lattimore gained 102 yards on seven carries today, earning the ninth 1,000-yard rushing season in school history. Lattimore now has 1,066 yards on the season and is tied with Derek Watson (2000) for the sixth-best single season of all-time.
• Lattimore’s 3 TDs gave him the South Carolina single-season scoring record with 19 touchdowns this season. He is also just one touchdown away from tying the all-time SEC freshman record of 20, set by Tennessee’s Reggie Cobb in 1987.
• WR Alshon Jeffery became the all-time single-season leader in receiving yards with 123 yards on five catches today. He now has 1,210 yards for the season, surpassing a 1,143-yard season by Sidney Rice in 2005. He also passed Fred Zeigler (1,876) for eighth all-time in career receiving yards; Jeffery now has 1,973 for his career.
• RB Marcus Lattimore and WR Alshon Jeffery became the first 1,000-yard rushing/receiving duo in school history as Lattimore topped 1,000 yards in the game.
• QB Stephen Garcia, playing only the first half, completed 9-of-12 passes for 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On his 51-yard touchdown completion to Ace Sanders, Garcia became the school’s third 6,000-yard passer, joining Todd Ellis (9,953 yards) and Steve Taneyhill (8,782) in that exclusive club. Garcia also passed Blake Mitchell for third all-time, eclipsing Mitchell’s 5,992 career yards.
• WR Ace Sanders had a career day with two catches for 66 yards, both for touchdowns. It was the first multi-touchdown game of his career and the first two scores of his career.
• QB Seth Strickland played in his second career game at quarterback and completed his only pass, a 15-yard touchdown strike to Ace Sanders for the first touchdown pass of his career.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

• The Gamecocks scored 2 defensive TDs for the first time since Eric Norwood returned a pair of fumbles for scores vs. Kentucky on Oct. 4, 2007.
• Troy was held to 81 rushing yards, the eighth time in 11 games this season Carolina has held an opponent under 100 yards on the ground. The Gamecocks are 7-1 this season and 20-4 under Steve Spurrier when holding an opponent to less than 100 yards rushing.
• The Gamecocks held Troy to 264 total yards, the third-lowest total by a Gamecock opponent this season and the fourth time this season and the 25th time under Spurrier for the Gamecock defense to hold a team under 300 yards. Carolina is 4-0 this season and 21-4 under Spurrier when keeping the opponent under 300 total yards.
• FS D.J. Swearinger picked off his first career pass and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter. Swearinger finished with five tackles on the day.
• DE Chaz Sutton earned his first career score as he picked off a pass on the final play of the first half and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown to give South Carolina a 56-7 lead. Sutton had one tackle in the game.
• LB Quin Smith had a career-high seven tackles, including 0.5 for loss, to lead the team in today’s game. Smith’s previous career high was five tackles against Southern Miss earlier this year.
• SPUR Alonzo Winfield had a career-high four tackles, as did DT Byron Jerideau.
• DE Melvin Ingram had the team’s only sack of the day, forcing a fumble that led to a score in the second quarter. It was Ingram’s eighth sack of the season, giving him the team lead and moving him to within one of the all-time single-season top 5 at Carolina.
• SPUR Antonio Allen, DE Byron Jerideau and DE Aldrick Fordham all recovered fumbles for South Carolina as the Trojans turned it over five times on the day. It marks the most turnovers by a Gamecock opponent this season.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

• PK Spencer Lanning was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts today, running his streak to seven consecutive made field goal attempts. He was also 8-for-8 on extra point attempts, a personal-best.
• Lanning also punted four times for an average of 44.0 yards, including a long punt of 54 yards.
• PK Jay Wooten converted his first career extra point attempts, booting the PAT to put Carolina up 69-24 on its final score.
• DS Walker Inabinet appeared in a game for the first time, replacing usual snapper Charles Turner, who missed today’s game with an injury.
• DS Matt Grooms also made his first career appearance, snapping on the final field goal attempt and extra point try in the fourth quarter. Grooms is a former United States Marine that served in Iraq.

UP NEXT
The Gamecocks will wrap up the 2010 regular season with the annual “Palmetto Bowl” showdown against archrival Clemson on Saturday, Nov. 27, at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium. Kickoff time and TV info are TBA.