South Carolina’s lackluster performance in the PapaJohns.com Bowl is finally in the past.
Exactly eight months after the Gamecocks were a basic no-show against Connecticut, South Carolina steamrolled Southern Mississippi 41-13 Thursday in the 2010 season opener at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“Good win for us. Guys played well most of the whole game,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said. “A lot of guys played well and we hit some big plays here and there.”
USC managed 81 more yards in the first half Thursday than it did through four quarters against the Huskies, scored nearly six times as many points overall and had its highest scoring output in a game since hanging 44 on Houston in the 2006 Liberty Bowl.
It started and ended with the rushing attack, as quarterback Stephen Garcia, freshman tailback Marcus Lattimore and six other players combined to rush for 224 yards on 35 carries with four touchdowns.
It was the second-highest rushing total for South Carolina under Spurrier.
“I think we were last in the SEC in rushing the past two years, or at least in the bottom of it,” Garcia said. “I think that’s what we need to get going this year, is the rushing game. We have the talent, we have the strength up front. If we can run it it’s going to be tough to beat us.”
Garcia began the scoring binge with his first touchdown run of the night early in the first quarter. The Gamecocks drove 85 yards in 10 plays on their second possession to take an early touchdown advantage, capped by Garcia’s 22-yard touchdown run.
After consecutive false start penalties to open the drive pushed Carolina back to its own 10-yard line, Garcia connected with three different receivers — including two catches by Alshon Jeffery for 28 yards — to push the Gamecocks into scoring position.
That’s when the redshirt junior scrambled to his right for a first down. But when the play looked to be over around the 8-yard line, Garcia spun out of a tackle before stumbling into the end zone for the early score.
“We got the quarterback just running through people,” receiver Ace Sanders said. “That gets everybody excited because that’s something you’re not used to seeing.”
After the teams traded field goals on the next two possessions, USC’s pair of dynamic freshman — Lattimore and Sanders — broke the game open with a brisk three play drive spanning 62 yards in just over a minute.
Sanders got the action rolling as the freshman from Brandenton, Fla., scampered 53 yards on a reverse to give Carolina a first-and-goal from the 9-yard line.
“I was excited. I wanted to get the ball,” Sanders said. “That’s all I was thinking: get the ball and go.”
Kenny Miles pushed the Gamecocks to the 3 with a 6-yard run of his own before Lattimore punched it in to give Carolina a 14-point advantage.
“I’ve been waiting on this for a long time,” Lattimore said. “It finally came and I’m just glad to have it over with.”
And after USC’s defense forced a three-and-out on Southern Miss’ next possession, Garcia and Co. officially put the game out of reach on the next drive.
After cornerback Stephon Gilmore began the drive with a 14-play scamper, Garcia connected with Jeffery, Tori Gurley and Sanders for 32 total yards before Lattimore capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run.
But the Gamecocks were far from done, as USC’s second half on offense proved to be just as exciting as the first.
After Spencer Lanning kicked his second field of the night on Carolina’s first possession, Garcia hooked up with Jeffery and Sanders for gains of 46 and 32 yards, respectively, before the quarterback scored on a 3-yard touchdown scramble, giving the Gamecocks a 34-6 advantage.
It was Garcia’s first career game with multiple touchdowns, with the second score capping a 92-yard drive.
“We talked about it this whole week. Coach Spurrier has been telling us to play for 60 minutes,” Garcia said. “I think we played as long as we possibly could. We got pretty sloppy toward the end there, but I think we played pretty well on offense.”
It was merely a matter of packing on the statistics from there, as freshman quarterback Connor Shaw added a 15-yard touchdown pass to D.L. Moore in traffic early in the fourth quarter before USC ran out the clock from there.
It was a balanced day for the Gamecocks, who managed 225 yards through the air in addition to the 224 on the ground.
And as a result, South Carolina was finally able to put last season’s abysmal bowl performance in the past.
And now the Gamecocks have a chance to look to the future.
“If we want to make a run or have a big year, we’ve got a lot of areas that we need to clean up,” Spurrier said. “Hopefully we can learn from this game and move on.”