Game Highlights: South Carolina vs. FAU

The South Carolina Gamecocks came into Saturday night’s contest looking not only to rebound from a heartbreaking loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, but to make a statement that this is a “New Carolina”. Here is an overview of the highlights from the Gamecocks 38-16 victory.

Highlights

-Saturday Night was the first time since 2007 (Oct. 27 versus Tennessee) that South Carolina has had a 100 yard rusher (Jarvis Giles) and a 100 yard receiver (Tori Gurley) in the same game. It’s also the first time that a pair of freshman has pulled off the feat since Sidney Rice and Mike Davis did it twice in the 2005 season against Clemson and Missouri.

-The Gamecocks got off to a fast start on the night when Moe Brown rushed for 50 yards on and end around from his WR position. The Gamecocks scored just three plays later on a Brian Maddox touchdown run.

-After having 9 different receivers catch passes against the Georgia Bulldogs, the Gamecocks had 10 different players catch passes on the night. -Spencer Lanning continued his strong play from the Georgia game by kicking a career long 41 yard field goal.

-Senior linebacker Eric Norwood tied the school record for sacks held by Andrew Provence with his 26 career sack. On the sack, Norwood caused FAU QB Rusty Smith to fumble the football which the Gamecocks promptly recovered.

-Chris Culliver now holds the all time record for most Kickoff returns with 78, passing Robert Brooks old record of 77.

-The Gamecock rushing attack amassed 287 yards on the ground against the Owls.

-The Gamecocks averaged 8.2yards per carry on the ground for the night. That was also how many yards the Gamecocks averaged per play.

-Kenny Miles saw his first action of the season and rushed for 56 yards on just 5 carries before exiting the game with a shoulder contusion.

-Stephon Gilmore had a big night on defense, hauling in an interception and recovering a fumble. Both were firsts in his career.

-linebacker Tony Straughter had his first start in his career as the Gamecocks opened the game in a 3 man defensive front.

-Freshman running back Jarvis Giles had the best night of his young career by rushing for 113 yards on 11 carries.

-Senior wide receiver Scott Spurrier reeled in his first career reception late in the fourth quarter.

-Redshirt freshman QB Reid McCollum took his first career snap as a Gamecock on the final play of the game.

-Head Coach Steve Spurrier improved to 172-63-2 all time as a collegiate head coach. He is now 30-23 in his fifth year as head coach of the Gamecocks, and 2-0 against FAU.

-There were only two injuries on the night. Both Eric Norwood and Kenny Miles suffered shoulder contusions. Norwood returned to the game and played the rest of the game, whereas Miles was done for the night.

-The Gamecocks were 5-6 in red-zone opportunities. The only blemish came on a fumble on a 4th and 1 play mid 4th quarter.

-The Gamecocks now have 5 days to prepare for a top 5 ranked Ole Miss team. The Gamecocks will return to the practice field tomorrow in preparation for next Thursday.

-Total attendance for the game= 72,107