Sports Editor
COLUMBIA --- South Carolina took the field Saturday against No. 1 Florida with the words "courage," "honor" and "integrity" stitched onto their special jerseys.
Associated Press
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow scores during Saturday's game. The play, set up by Justin Trattou's 53-yard interception return, put the top-ranked Gators up by 10 late in the fourth quarter.
Associated Press
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow scores during Saturday's game. The play, set up by Justin Trattou's 53-yard interception return, put the top-ranked Gators up by 10 late in the fourth quarter.
Associated Press
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow scores during Saturday's game. The play, set up by Justin Trattou's 53-yard interception return, put the top-ranked Gators up by 10 late in the fourth quarter.
The Gamecocks displayed all of those traits in keeping the game close for three quarters, but the Gators forced a crucial interception and clamped down in the fourth quarter to preserve a 24-14 victory at Williams-Brice Stadium.
After all, Florida had one player with the word "Tebow" on his jersey. The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback didn't have his best game, but he threw one touchdown pass and rushed for another to keep Florida's undefeated season and national championship hopes intact.
The Gators' defense rose to the occasion early in the fourth quarter. With South Carolina down 17-14 and driving toward the end zone, Stephen Garcia's pass for Moe Brown bounced into the air and was intercepted. Justin Trattou returned it 53 yards to the South Carolina 26, and four plays later Tebow barreled into the end zone to put Florida ahead by 10.
"A lot of guys played their hearts out tonight," said South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who fell to 1-4 in games against his alma mater. "We were in position to maybe tie it up. One play seemed to doom us."
The Gamecocks' offense wilted in the fourth quarter. Its three drives in the final 15 minutes went like this: three plays for -13 yards, three plays for -8 yards and five plays for 1 yard.
"We were down 10 and kept trying to throw," Spurrier said. "We're not good enough to pass block those guys."
The Gamecocks (6-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) wore camouflage jerseys to honor the Wounded Warriors Project. Through three quarters, South Carolina had a chance to do something it had never done before: beat a No. 1 team. Instead, it dropped to 0-4 all-time against top-ranked teams, with two losses coming against Florida.
"It was huge," Florida coach Urban Meyer said of Trattou's interception. "The whole field was tilting (in South Carolina's favor). Then the field shifted back and momentum completely swung. You felt it in the stadium."
Florida (10-0, 8-0) snapped South Carolina's seven-game home winning streak and became the first SEC team to go undefeated in league play since Tennessee in 1998. The Gators also extended their winning streak to 20.
"Going through the SEC undefeated really means a lot," Tebow said.
Spurrier defeated Florida in 2005 in his first game against his former team, and a year later the Gators nipped the Gamecocks 17-16 in Gainesville. The last two years, however, were blowout wins by Florida.
When South Carolina had a fake punt called back for an illegal shift, and Tebow hit Riley Cooper on a 68-yard touchdown pass, it looked like it might be a long day for the Gamecocks.
Instead, Garcia led South Carolina on an 84-yard drive that was capped by Brian Maddox's 1-yard run for a touchdown.
After a Caleb Sturgis field goal and a 17-yard TD run by Emmanuel Moody put the Gators ahead by 10, South Carolina refused to fold. Garcia drove his team 65 yards for a TD, a 9-yard reception by Weslye Saunders in the corner of the end zone.
"We definitely thought we could pull it off," Saunders said of the team's mood heading into the final quarter. "We had the momentum and there was no doubt in our minds that we were going to go out and score. For that to happen, it was a big disappointment."
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