Spurrier’s top 10 victories at South Carolina

1. USC 35, ALABAMA 21

Oct. 9, 2010 | The Gamecocks beat a top-ranked team for the first time in their football history before a jubilant home crowd to set in motion the program’s greatest two-year stretch. It also signaled that Spurrier was closing the talent gap with the dominant conference teams. Freshman tailback Marcus Lattimore scored three touchdowns and sophomore receiver Alshon Jeffery scored the other two on passes from Stephen Garcia. Jeffery also had a key highlight-reel, one-handed catch against the Tide.

2. USC 30, NEBRASKA 13

Jan. 2, 2012 | The Capital One Bowl victory in Orlando, Fla., over traditional power Nebraska capped the best season in the program’s long history, as the Gamecocks won 11 games for the first time. Jeffery’s 51-yard touchdown reception on the final play of the first half not only gave USC a lead it wouldn’t relinquish but also proved to be the final catch of his college career. The defense shut out the Cornhuskers over the final three quarters.

3. USC 36, FLORIDA 14

Nov. 13, 2010 | The Gamecocks went to Gainesville, Fla., and captured their first SEC Eastern Division championship in a head-to-head battle against Spurrier’s former school, where he won a Heisman Trophy as a player and national championship as a coach. Lattimore ran for 212 yards and three touchdowns as USC dominated a team that had beaten it 17 times in 18 SEC meetings.

4. USC 31, CLEMSON 28

Nov. 25, 2006 | South Carolina notched a victory over its arch-rival for the first time in the Spurrier era by overcoming a 14-point second-half deficit in Death Valley. A 17-0 run was engineered by quarterback Blake Mitchell and capped by Ryan Succop’s fourth-quarter field goal. It was Spurrier’s only win over the Tigers in his first four seasons at USC and led to a Liberty Bowl appearance.

5. USC 45, GEORGIA 42

Sept. 10, 2011 | In an epic game filled with seven lead changes, USC pulled out a victory in Athens, Ga., in the second week that set the tone for its greatest season. Defensive lineman Melvin Ingram’s 68-yard touchdown run on a first-half fake punt proved to be a gutsy call, and Lattimore’s 176 rushing yards helped the Gamecocks grind out the win. Ingram recovered a fumble for another score after freshman defensive end Jadeveon Clowney stripped the ball from Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray to cement the victory.

6. USC 30, FLORIDA 22

Nov. 12, 2005 | By beating his alma mater in his first USC season, Spurrier let the rest of the conference know that he was back. The win not only snapped Florida’s 14-game winning streak against the Gamecocks, it also capped a school-record five-game SEC winning streak following victories over Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Arkansas. Running backs Mike Davis and Daccus Turman both scored two touchdowns and Spurrier got a ride off the field on the shoulders of his players.

7. USC 34, CLEMSON 13

Nov. 26, 2011 | This home win – the third straight over their rivals by a combined 97-37 count – put an exclamation point on the regular season, as the Gamecocks reached the 10-win mark for the second time in school history. Quarterback Connor Shaw played a near-perfect game, throwing and running the football. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney later launched into an infamous rant about something that he thought Spurrier said, which turned out to have been said by a radio announcer.

8. USC 44, HOUSTON 36

Dec. 29, 2006 | The Liberty Bowl victory in Memphis, Tenn., was the first bowl win at USC for Spurrier, who lost three straight bowl games before beating Nebraska after last season. It also finished an 8-5 season, the best record of his first five seasons guiding the Gamecocks. Mitchell won the game’s MVP award with a big passing day, and tailback Cory Boyd rushed for two touchdowns.

9. USC 16, TENNESSEE 15

Oct. 29, 2005 | In Spurrier’s first season, he coached the Gamecocks to their first win in Knoxville, Tenn. The victory also snapped the Volunteers’ 12-game winning streak against USC, and it came on a night when former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning had his No. 16 jersey retired. Receiver Sidney Rice had eight catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, while Josh Brown kicked the winning 49-yard field goal with 2:45 to play.

USC 16, MISSISSIPPI 10

Sept. 24, 2009 | South Carolina knocked off the No. 4 Rebels – the highest-ranked opponent USC defeated in Spurrier’s first five seasons – in a Thursday night home game by using a defense that smothered Ole Miss’ offense. The Rebels and highly touted quarterback Jevan Snead managed 248 yards and one third-down conversion in 13 attempts. Spencer Lanning kicked three field goals to lead the Gamecocks.

Compiled by Neil White

This story was originally published September 17, 2012 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Spurrier’s top 10 victories at South Carolina."