Lattimore leads USC to monumental victory
GAINESVILLE, Fla. –The final minutes were a mere formality, the outcome no longer in doubt.
But South Carolina's sixth-year coach still had some teaching to do.
"I think the guys wanted to hit me with the Gatorade bucket or water bucket," Spurrier said. "[Patrick DiMarco] wanted to carry me over to the field. We haven't had many championships. We had to coach them up a little bit. But we never talked about it, obviously, until the game was over."
As the clock spiraled toward zero, Florida's current coach, Urban Meyer, stalked toward midfield with his head hung low.
Florida's former coach took a different route to the customary postgame handshake: a damp ride atop the shoulders of his players.
South Carolina 36, Florida 14.
Welcome to next year.
The Gamecocks' first 18 years in the Southeastern Conference had been a long, arduous road. Seasons were paved with near-misses and November collapses. Eastern Division championships – like the one USC clinched Saturday – were rarely sniffed at, let alone won.
Maybe it was because in those near two decades of football, the Gamecocks didn't have Marcus Lattimore.
The true freshman carried South Carolina to its first SEC Eastern Division title, rushing for a career-high 212 yards and three touchdowns on a school record of 40 carries.
"I saw Marcus Monday or Tuesday of this week, and I said, 'Have you got about 40 carries in you this weekend?' and he said, 'Yes sir,'" Spurrier said. "That was the plan, and that's how we beat them, running Marcus Lattimore and playing great defense."
It was Lattimore's powerful legs that kept the Gamecocks at a comfortable distance for nearly 60 minutes. After the Gators struck quickly on a 99-yard kickoff return by Andre Debose, Lattimore helped USC get on the board with a field goal on its first possession of the game.
And after South Carolina's defense forced consecutive three-and-outs, Lattimore officially put the Gamecocks ahead for good.
The Spartanburg native carried three times for 21 yards and capped the drive with a touchdown through the heart of Florida's defense, putting the Gamecocks on top, 9-7.
But he wasn't done.
He touched the ball 14 more times in the half for more than 70 total yards as USC headed to the locker room up 15-7 behind the strength of two more Spencer Lanning field goals.
"He's something special because Marcus sure does make us look a whole lot better than we are," center T.J. Johnson said.
And while Lattimore may have made his line look good, the same could be said of his defense.
The freshman's ability to keep the Gamecocks on the field paid dividends for No. 22 South Carolina (7-3, 5-3 SEC), as the Gamecocks ate up more than 20 minutes of clock in the first half of play.
And as a result, the inept Gator offense produced just two first downs through two quarters to go along with a measly 51 yards.
"We knew coming into this game it was going to be our defense versus their defense," defensive tackle Travian Robertson said. "We just played well and out-played their defense."
The success continued in the second half, as the Gamecocks were able to punch it into the end zone on their first drive, pushing the lead over No. 24 Florida (6-4, 4-4) to 15.
"Basically, they did whatever they wanted to when they wanted to," Florida safety Ahmad Black said. "We didn't play Gator defense the way we're supposed to."
Quarterback Stephen Garcia converted on third-and-long twice before Lattimore got the final 39 yards on the ground, including the final one from 21 yards out, as the Gamecocks quickly found themselves in complete control.
"Me and some of my buddies thought we could come in and move the ball on them, but we had no idea it was going to come down like that," Lanning said. "It's just a credit to coach Spurrier and all our coaches for getting us ready."
Meanwhile, the Florida defense continued to sputter, as the Gators finished with just 11 first downs and 35 rushing yards while going 2-for-14 on third down. They lost the time of possession battle by more than 20 minutes.
"I think it was just execution," Meyer said. "Our guys were ready for this week. They gave us everything they had in practice. That was a pretty good team we played out there."
A pair of touchdown runs by Garcia and Lattimore iced it from there, as Spurrier received his bath in purple energy drink while the Gamecock fans in attendance cheered in jubilation.
A celebration 19 years in the making.
"That's all we talked about," Lattimore said. "After every practice, every drill, we were saying, 'SEC!'"
Up next in league play for USC: a date with the undefeated Auburn Tigers, who edged the Gamecocks 35-27 on the Plains back in September.
Only this time, the rematch will be in the climate-controlled atmosphere of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta – a place the Gamecocks have never played in as a member of the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference.
"Going to Atlanta, that's what we've been talking about since we first got recruited here," Garcia said. "The coaches said, 'We're going to play in Atlanta one day.' It took four years, but we're finally here."
And maybe after that momentous day is over, Spurrier's Gamecocks will be a little more experienced when it comes to postgame celebration.