South Carolina vs. Navy Post-Game Notes

Sept. 17, 2011

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GENERAL NOTES

Saturday’s Attendance: 78,807
The Gamecocks improve to 3-0 for the third time in head coach Steve Spurrier’s seven seasons. South Carolina also began the 2007 and 2010 seasons with a 3-0 record.
South Carolina has won its last five home openers with consecutive wins over Louisiana-Lafayette, NC State, Florida Atlantic, Southern Miss and Navy.
Head coach Steve Spurrier moves to 43-0 all-time against schools outside of the BCS automatic qualifying conferences. That includes a 17-0 mark as head coach of South Carolina.
South Carolina forced a punt on the opening drive – a feat it accomplished in all three games this season.
Conversely, it was the first time Navy has been forced to punt on its opening drive this season. The Midshipmen scored a touchdown on the opening drive of both of their games heading into Saturday.
South Carolina was forced to come from behind in the second half in its third-consecutive game. The Gamecocks trailed East Carolina 24-21 in the third quarter, trailed Georgia 35-31 in the fourth quarter and trailed Navy 17-14 in the fourth quarter before coming back to win.
South Carolina’s come-from-behind victory marks the first time that Navy has squandered a lead heading into the fourth quarter under head coach Ken Niumatalolo. In his four seasons as head coach at Navy, Niumatalolo was 24-0 when leading at the start of the fourth quarter prior to tonight.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

Jason Barnes and Bruce Ellington both earned their first receptions of the season in South Carolina’s second possession of the first quarter. Barnes caught a 14-yard pass, and Ellington caught a 7-yard pass on successive plays.
Stephen Garcia tied his season best with a 34-yard completion to Nick Jones on South Carolina’s third possession. It was Jones’ first career reception.
Marcus Lattimore’s 6-yard touchdown run with 4:47 remaining in the first quarter marked the first time this season that the Gamecocks scored in the first quarter of a game.
On South Carolina’s second possession of the game, Marcus Lattimore carried the ball five consecutive times for 50 yards and a touchdown, beginning with a 2nd and 3 from the 50-yard line.
Marcus Lattimore’s 6-yard touchdown run in the first quarter tied him with Jay Lynn Hodgin (1972-74) for No. 7 in the Gamecock record book for career rushing touchdowns at 22.
He moved to a tie for No. 6 with Cory Boyd at 23 career touchdowns with his 5-yard touchdown run with 8:05 remaining in the second quarter.
He moved to sole possession of No. 6 at 24 career touchdowns with his 7-yard touchdown run with 12:45 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Marcus Lattimore rushed 13 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, a 9.1 yard per carry average, and 24 times for 129 yards and one touchdown in the second half, a 5.4 yard per carry average.
Marcus Lattimore had his seventh career 100-yard rushing performance. It was his third this season, the first time he has rushed for over 100 yards in three consecutive games.
Marcus Lattimore rushed for a career-high 246 yards, his second career 200-yard performance. His previous career high was a 40-carry, 212-yard game in South Carolina’s win at Florida on November 13, 2010. He surpassed his previous career high on his seven-yard touchdown run with 12:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. He becomes the first running back in the SEC to rush for over 200 yards in the 2011 season.
Marcus Lattimore’s 246 yards rushing rank fourth all-time in Gamecock history in a single game. He was 32 yards shy of the school record.
Marcus Lattimore tied his career high with three rushing touchdowns in the game. It was his fourth game with three rushing touchdowns.
Marcus Lattimore now has 1,731 career yards, pushing him from 25th to 19th on the Gamecock all-time list. Lattimore passed Alex Hawkins, Jeff Grantz, Troy Hambrick, Mike Dingel, Spencer Clark and Mike Davis with his 246-yard performance.
Alshon Jeffery was not targeted with a pass until 10 seconds remained in the second quarter.
The 254 rushing yards for South Carolina were second-most in the Spurrier era. The only time the Gamecocks have rushed for more yards under Spurrier was when the team rushed for 287 yards against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 19, 2009.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

Navy entered as the nation’s leader averaging 400 rushing yards per game. South Carolina limited the Midshipmen to only 274 yards rushing, a season low.
For the third-consecutive game, the Gamecock defense limited its opponent to seven points or less in the first quarter. Navy and East Carolina both scored seven in the first quarter, and Georgia scored six in the first quarter last week.
Antonio Allen forced a fumble in the third quarter to give him three forced fumbles in South Carolina’s first three games. Allen leads the SEC with three forced fumbles.
Antonio Allen had his team-leading second interception of the season with 60 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. South Carolina has had one interception in every game this season.
The Gamecock defense limited Navy to only nine pass attempts and five pass completions, both the lowest marks in Steve Spurrier’s tenure as head coach at South Carolina. The 61 passing yards allowed were second-fewest under Spurrier’s tenure (49 by NC State on Aug. 28, 2008).

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

Jay Wooten connected on a 45+-yard field goal in each of the last two games. Wooten scored on a 49-yard field goal against Georgia last week before hitting a 48-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter tonight.
The last time South Carolina did not attempt a punt in a game was in a 23-13 win against Wofford on Sept. 20, 2008.

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