Unexpected domination: How South Carolina surged past Florida
Josh Vann stood on the block “A” in the back right corner of the north end zone and stomped his right foot firmly into the turf.
There, the shrieks of dumbfounded undergrads washed upon Vann. The flurry of white towels that enveloped Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday erupted into a blizzard of cloth to celebrate his 24-yard touchdown reception on an evening when temperatures crept toward freezing.
“Yeah,” he said postgame, smirking ear-to-ear. “I was open.”
Temperatures be damned, though.
Humming with the heat of a midsummer Columbia afternoon, Vann and the South Carolina offense that mustered just 15 yards through three quarters in Aggieland two weeks ago took a buzzsaw to Dan Mullen’s Florida squad as the Gamecocks (5-4, 2-4 SEC) routed the Gators (4-5, 2-5 SEC) 40-17.
With the win, Shane Beamer became the first coach since Steve Spurrier — who attended the contest with his wife, Jerri — to down the Gators in his inaugural year in Columbia and gave South Carolina just its second win over Florida in seven tries.
“Wow,” an animated Beamer said. “What a great night to be a Gamecock.”
Through eight games South Carolina’s offense hadn’t just been anemic. It’d been downright dreadful. USC had been held under 100 yards rushing in five of seven games against FBS competition. The Gamecocks hadn’t scored more than 23 points in a game, aside from a season-opening slaughtering of Eastern Illinois. South Carolina sat at or near the bottom in just about every major offensive category in the Southeastern Conference.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield told reporters during the spring he wanted the offense to look like the 2019 LSU unit that won a national title and turned in one of college football’s all-time seasons. Through two months, that thought was laughable. But Saturday, the Gamecocks looked like the Joe Namath Jets, let alone the 2019 Tigers.
St. Francis (Pennsylvania) transfer Jason Brown slung the ball around the yard in a way South Carolina fans haven’t seen since Connor Shaw and Stephen Garcia lined up under center at USC.
With Zeb Noland sidelined due to a bye-week knee procedure, Brown operated with surgical efficiency in his first start as a Gamecock and against a Gator defense that had only twice allowed more than 200 yards passing in SEC play this year.
Spinning off a hand from a would-be Florida tackler as he rolled to left, Brown sent the South Carolina faithful into a frenzy when he slung a 50-yard completion to Vann along the USC sideline early in the second quarter.
Three plays later, Brown dipped out of the pocket, tip-toed along the line of scrimmage, pointed toward the back right corner of the end zone and flipped a 24-yard touchdown pass to Vann to push South Carolina’s first half lead to double-digits.
In all, USC’s third-string quarterback-turned-cult hero completed 14-of-24 passes for 175 yards as South Carolina’s offense reached John Deere levels of efficiency.
“I would say when I spun out and hit Josh (Vann) on that deep ball going across the middle,” Brown said of when he felt comfortable Saturday. “I was like, ‘Yeah. Let’s do this thing.’ ”
Former Florida State tailback and Sunshine State native ZaQuandre White bludgeoned the Gators defensive front touch after touch. White — who’d been among the lone bright spots in an anemic offensive season to date — steamrolled his way to 111 yards on 13 carries.
Kevin Harris, the 2020 SEC-rushing leader, also looked closer to the part on Saturday. Harris rumbled and stumbled his way to 128 yards on 16 carries to lead all Gamecocks rushers.
Behind an offense that found its stride, South Carolina’s opportunistic defense filled in where needed. It sent Florida quarterback Emory Jones scrambling for his life seemingly every snap. It held the Gators to just 82 yards rushing.
Finally, it was defensive tackle Jabari Ellis scampering his way to USC’s fourth defensive touchdown of the year with his 18-yard scoop and score to push the Gamecocks’ halftime lead to 20.
Trotting along the USC sidelines after his 8-yard third quarter touchdown reception, tight end and one-time Florida commit Jaheim Bell imitated the Gator chomp toward the garnet-and-black-clothed fans in the lower bowl at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The fan apathy of weeks past promptly shifted to pandemonium in and around the Gamecocks’ home turf as the clock crept past 11 p.m.
“All I can remember telling guys on the sideline was, ‘This feels good. This feels good,’ ” Ellis said.
South Carolina got to Saturday’s game at .500 by the skin of its teeth. It narrowly escaped Vanderbilt and East Carolina. It was throttled by Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
But on Saturday in South Carolina, USC took a mammoth chunk out of Florida’s defense and sent Mullen’s Gators slogging back to Gainesville with their tails between their legs.
First down
Brown had completed 12-of-20 passes for 129 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in appearances against Eastern Illinois, Texas A&M and at Georgia.
On Saturday, he completed 12-of-17 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone en route to South Carolina’s largest offensive output of the season.
Touchdown
Vann finished his night with 111 yards on seven receptions to lead South Carolina in yards and catches.
Vann hadn’t gone over 45 yards receiving in a game since going for 127 yards against East Carolina and 128 yards at then-No. 2 Georgia.
Key Numbers
1 — Jason Brown got his first start at quarterback since transferring to USC from St. Francis.
4 — USC’s number of defensive touchdowns in 2021.
316 — South Carolina’s total yardage in Saturday’s first half.
South Carolina football schedule: Next game
Who: South Carolina (5-4, 2-4 SEC) at Missouri (4-5, 1-4)
When: 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13
Where: Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo.
TV: SEC Network
South Carolina vs Florida box score, stats
——HOW THEY SCORED——
First Quarter
SC—FG P.White 39, 6:19.
FLA—Henderson 12 pass from E.Jones (Howard kick), 4:47.
SC—J.McDowell 2 run (P.White kick), 2:39.
Second Quarter
FLA—FG Howard 30, 14:52.
SC—FG P.White 35, 11:31.
SC—Vann 24 pass from Jas.Brown (P.White kick), 8:02.
SC—FG P.White 40, 1:13.
SC—Ellis 18 fumble return (P.White kick), :46.
Third Quarter
SC—FG P.White 39, 8:04.
SC—Bell 8 pass from Jas.Brown (P.White kick), 2:53.
Fourth Quarter
FLA—Wells 9 pass from E.Jones (Howard kick), 14:14.
Attendance—70,131.
——TEAM STATS——
- First downs: SC 21-13
- Total yards: 459-340
- Rush yards: 284-82
- Pass yards: UF 258-175
- Time of poss: 36:18 to 23:42
——INDIVIDUAL STATS——
RUSHING—Florida, Pierce 6-39, Jones 11-26, Davis 6-17, Copeland 1-2, Wright 2-(minus 2). South Carolina, Harris 16-128, Z.White 13-111, Lloyd 7-46, McDowell 3-6, Jas.Brown 3-(minus 7).
PASSING—Florida, Jones 17-30-1-258. South Carolina, Jas.Brown 14-24-0-175.
RECEIVING—Florida, Shorter 5-92, Burke 2-73, Zipperer 2-30, Wells 2-18, Copeland 2-9, Fraziars 1-16, Henderson 1-12, Pierce 1-5, Davis 1-3. South Carolina, Vann 7-111, Muse 4-38, Bell 2-8, Kenion 1-18.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 10:48 PM.
