 "Photo: John Raoux, The Associated Press")
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Ol’ Ball Coach never experienced anything like this.
Not as a player. Not as a coach. Not at Florida. Not at Duke. Not at South Carolina. Not even with the USFL’s Tampa Bay Bandits or with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins.
Percy Harvin ran for a career-high 167 yards and two touchdowns. Tim Tebow accounted for three scores. No. 3 Florida thrashed 24th-ranked South Carolina 56-6 Saturday, handing Steve Spurrier the worst loss of his playing or coaching career.
“A loss is a loss, whether it’s by one point or 50 points,” said Spurrier, who fell to 81-9 as a player and coach at Florida Field. “Sometimes getting your butt beat real good is better than a one-pointer or two-pointer.”
The Gators won their sixth in a row and kept their national title hopes alive by beating the Gamecocks for the 16th time in the last 17 years. The 50-point drubbing was South Carolina’s worst loss since falling 63-7 to Spurrier’s Gators in 1995.
“We got clobbered,” Spurrier said. “I don’t know what we could have done differently except try to keep things close.”
Florida finished with its most rushing yards (346) since 1989 and became the first team to win six straight SEC games by at least 28 points.
The Gators (9-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) scored three touchdowns in eight plays in the first quarter, capitalizing on three consecutive turnovers by South Carolina (7-4, 4-4), and put the game away when Harvin went 80 yards for a score on the opening play of the third.
Brandon Spikes started the scoring barrage when he intercepted Chris Smelley’s pass — the quarterback was under heavy pressure from linebacker Brandon Hicks — and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown.
“If there was a play of the game, that was it,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said.
The Gamecocks also hadn’t given up more than 24 points in any game, and all three of their losses were by seven points.
Not anymore.
“We heard about that all week. They came out saying they were the best defense,” Hicks said.
Spurrier and Meyer met at midfield after the beatdown, and Meyer said Spurrier told him, “Good luck. Go on a four-game winning streak.”
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