Filed under: Florida, South Carolina, SEC
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- On Saturday Steve Spurrier went home again. Back to the Swamp sideline, location of so many of the epic SEC beatings he's delivered over the years. Only this time he wore garnet and black and coached on the visiting sideline in the stadium he made famous, beneath the white placard with his number 11 jersey retired. Coming into tonight's game it had been nine long years since the old ball coach left the Swamp a winner.
At long last the wait is over.
With nary a visor toss, Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks stormed onto Florida's home field and did something no Gamecock team ever had done before -- won the SEC east title. Riding a dominant defense and a freshman running back, Marcus Lattimore, who gouged the Gator defense, Spurrier delivered a 36-14 beating so bad that only firings on the Gator offensive coaching staff will cure. In the process Spurrier provided the sweetest victory in South Carolina Gamecock history. Yep, the biggest of all time. That's even though Spurrier shot down his quarterback, Stephen Garcia, for suggesting how big this game was in the days leading up kickoff.
This time it wasn't Steve Spurrier slamming down his visor with a rueful grimace on his face. It was Urban Meyer spiking his headset after a late third quarter stop on fourth down. It was South Carolina, the team that season after season redefined failure, serenading its fans as Spurrier was carried off the field on the shoulders of his team after a water jug drenching. Asked to sum up where this win in the Swamp ranked, Spurrier paused and then replied, puckish wit tugging at the corner of his upturned mouth, "I'll tell you where it (the win) is," Spurrier paused for an extra beat, "it's my latest."
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