Gamecocks pull one out

"South Carolina is usually good for one huge win every year, but it won't be this week," I told Wade Neely of WKSR 1420 in Pulaski, Tennessee last Friday.

Though the Gamecocks are a very good team, probably the best team Steve Spurrier has put together in his five-and-a-half years in South Carolina, it didn't seem possible.

Alabama looked like it could beat the Buffalo Bills for the first five weeks of the season.

But it happened. Convincingly, too. South Carolina knocked off top-ranked Alabama, 35-21. And it wasn't particularly close.

The Gamecocks got out to a 21-3 lead in the second quarter behind two touchdown passes from quarterback Stephen Garcia to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.

In a game where Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, wide receiver Julio Jones and running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson were expected to steal the show, it was Garcia, Jeffery and true freshman running back Marcus Lattimore who upstaged the visiting Crimson Tide.

Ingram and Richardson combined for 17 carries for 64 yards, and were held out of the end zone all game. Lattimore ran 23 times for 90 yards and two touchdowns, and added two receptions for 16 yards and another touchdown.

McElroy played great, completing 27 of 34 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. But it was Garcia's 17-for-20 performance for 201 yards, three touchdowns and an interception that helped seal the victory.

Alabama's defense, which had allowed just three touchdowns in five previous games, allowed three touchdowns on South Carolina's first three possessions on Saturday.

The loss knocked Alabama (5-1) down to No. 8 in the country, and vaulted South Carolina (4-1) to No. 10. It's still plenty early for Alabama to rebound by winning out and still have a chance for the National Championship, though. And it's clear that South Carolina is the class of the SEC East this year.