COLUMBIA --- Steve Spurrier sent reporters scrambling for the record book after South Carolina's 27-6 win over Tennessee on Saturday night.

"I can't remember the last time I won a game punting eight times," Spurrier said.

The Gamecocks spent so much time punting against the Volunteers that the best thing South Carolina could do was kick it away and let its defense ravage Tennessee's sputtering offense. South Carolina, whose defense is ranked fourth in the country (256.1 yards per game), delivered a performance worthy of that standing by generating two touchdowns (interception return for a TD, fumble return to the Tennessee 4-yard line) and allowing just one scoring drive on 15 possessions.

"I would say we had a great effort of trying to play physical and make good plays against a very talented team," said first-year defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, who recently had his contract extended through 2011. "You put a lot of time in it, and the way they're playing and the way they're trying to do what we tell them to do is very rewarding.

"It's like having a child. You tell them two or three things that you want them to do, and when they do it right, you're really proud of them."

Said quarterback Stephen Garcia, "The defense pretty much won that game for us. They played unbelievable."

Garcia, in three quarters, passed for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He injured his knee after throwing an interception late in the third quarter and didn't return, though Spurrier said he could have re-entered. Offensive guard Lemuel Jeanpierre wasn't as lucky. He was lost for the season on the same play when he blew out his right knee.

Spurrier said Garcia, who led the Gamecocks 82 yards down the field in five plays for their only sustained touchdown drive in the first quarter, is still learning the offense. Garcia and backup Chris Smelley threw a combined 20 passes, and South Carolina rushed 44 times, the second-most ever under Spurrier (45, against UAB this season).

Garcia "is not familiar with everything," Spurrier said. "We have trouble sending plays in. He's just not ready. He hasn't been through a spring practice yet. But he's got a lot of ability to make plays, but he has got to know what's going on out there."

After its first touchdown drive, South Carolina gained only 158 yards on 13 possessions. Just one drive lasted longer than seven plays: a 13-play, 62-yard march that ended with Ryan Succop's first of two 31-yard field goals on the night.

"Two not very good offenses playing against each other, and ours was worse than theirs was at times," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said.

For the record, the Gamecocks have punted three, zero, two, one and two times in their previous five wins this season and actually punted eight times in a 21-15 win at North Carolina last season.

That game, of course, was South Carolina's last win of the 2007 season. It dropped its next five and was not invited to a bowl despite being eligible.

The Gamecocks will try to improve their bowl position this week against Arkansas. The Razorbacks came into the weekend with the worst defense in the SEC (359.2 yards per game), but held high-scoring No. 19 Tulsa to 23 points in an upset win.

Spurrier, who used to needle Fulmer when he was the coach at Florida, said his conversations with the embattled Tennessee coach went thusly: "Wished him good luck, and he wished us good luck."

Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.