New-look Steve Spurrier takes aim at No. 4 Florida

• Spurrier's offense relies on the run, unlike his pass-happy Florida days
• The Gamecocks must win at Florida to keep their SEC title hopes alive
• Spurrier holds a 3-4 record against the school he played and coached for

Steve Spurrier hasn't changed. It's his approach to moving the ball on offense that has changed.

Spurrier still takes delight in tweaking opponents, particularly rival head coaches.

"Most of our guys have never been to Death Valley," he said last week, in advance of South Carolina's game at LSU. "(LSU's stadium) is the Death Valley, isn't it? Or is there another one? There's two of them. That's right. There's two Death Valleys."

The second, of course, is at Clemson, the Gamecocks' fierce in-state rival.

And Spurrier is again smack in the middle of the title chase, one year after South Carolina earned its first top-10 finish in program history. After beating Georgia on Oct. 6, the Gamecocks moved up to No. 3 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, the program's highest ranking since rising to No. 2 for one week in 1984.

After Saturday's 23-21 loss to LSU, they dropped to No. 8. But they have another opportunity to move up with a Southeastern Conference East Division showdown against unbeaten No. 4 Florida this Saturday in Gainesville.

South Carolina has a 17-3 record since the start of the 2011 season, with losses to Auburn, Arkansas and LSU, the latter two on the road.

It's like Florida all over again — with a little Duke thrown in for good measure — for Spurrier, with one substantial and immediately noticeable difference: the offense.

It's been more than two decades since Spurrier turned the SEC on its ear with his Fun 'n' Gun system, a multiple-receiver, timing-based passing offense predicated on simple, can't-miss throws that led, often over the course of a single series, to a quick-strike score.

His offense, so revolutionary at the time, led to an SEC dynasty: Florida went 94-19 from 1993 to 2001, taking home five conference titles and, in 1996, winning the program's first national championship.

Spurrier's offensive philosophy created a dynasty. It also created the image of the Old Ball Coach, the pitch-and-catch, draw-it-up-in-the-dirt gunslinger unwilling to accept anything less than pass-happy perfection. (An image cemented, one could say, by his dismal turn as Washington Redskins head coach.)

South Carolina's recent success has built Spurrier in a new image. Flexible, malleable and willing to adapt his style to new personnel and a new SEC, Spurrier has turned the Gamecocks into championship contenders by turning his Fun 'n' Gun into the Smash 'n' Dash.

In each year from 1993 to 2001, Spurrier's Florida teams averaged at least 31.7 pass attempts a game. In 2001, his final season with the program, the Gators threw the ball an average of 38.7 times a game.

Since Oct. 8, 2011, when Spurrier replaced quarterback Stephen Garcia with Connor Shaw, South Carolina has averaged 22.9 pass attempts a game. Four times during this span, twice in 2011 and twice in 2012 (against East Carolina, when Dylan Thompson replaced injured Shaw, and against LSU, when the run game struggled for the first time this season), have the Gamecocks attempted more than 25 passes in a game.

Spurrier's offense at South Carolina revolves around the dirty work, not the finesse style of Florida's old passing game. Behind Shaw and running back Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina ranks second in the SEC and 20th nationally in carries. In the win against Georgia, the Gamecocks attempted 10 passes while running the ball 51 times for 230 yards.

In his eighth season at South Carolina, Spurrier's Heisman Trophny contender is a running back, Lattimore, and not his quarterback. If Spurrier is throwing his visor less than in the past, it's because his team is throwing the football less than in the past, although he looked like he wanted to toss his visor plenty against the Tigers.

Shaw attempted 74 passes through his first five starts in 2012. Once in those five wins, against Missouri, did he have more than 18 attempts; Shaw hit 20 of 21 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Against LSU, he threw the ball 34 times and tossed a costly interception late in the game.

South Carolina was credited with 25 runs for 34 yards vs. LSU, and that is where the formula fell apart. Lattimore had 13 carries for 35 yards. He carried the ball twice in the second half. Shaw had the remaining 12 carries for minus 1 yard.

Lattimore left Death Valley banged up and with a bruised hip. He was expected to play against Florida but was likely to miss a few days before returning to the practice field.

"Marcus didn't get many," Spurrier said afterward. "Didn't make many yards when he got it early. You go back, and we should have called this, we should have called that. We were three-and-out a lot, and they were very seldom three-and-out."

Said Shaw: "They really stunned us in the first half, and we couldn't establish the run. And that's usually what we've been doing this season."

Lattimore described the LSU defense as one of the best the Gamecocks had seen, "probably ever."

"We've just got to keep working," he said. "I think we could have got it going if we did some different things."

Spurrier also said he would focus on getting Shaw ready for the Gators. He said his quarterback often didn't make good decisions with the ball.

"Connor struggled," he said. "I don't know how else to say it. He struggled. I think there were some throws there where he didn't throw it; he took off a little quickly. So we'll watch the tape and see if we can get him to stay in there and make the throws when they are there."

Despite the move in offensive philosophy, Spurrier doesn't think he has changed his overall formula for winning games in the SEC.

"Whether it's been here or Florida, we always try to get that lead and then run the ball and use up the clock," he says. "When you have the lead and the ball and you're gaining yards running it, the defense has to take some risks, and that just plays into your favor."

Spurrier and South Carolina have to quickly get back to what has made them so successful. They must beat Florida to have a chance at winning the East, and if they win out, they will land in the SEC title game.

"All of our goals are still there," Lattimore said, "and we can accomplish them."

Spurrier's South Carolina vs. Florida

Steve Spurrier has a 3-4 record against Florida since becoming head coach at South Carolina. Spurrier won the 1966 Heisman Trophy for the Gators and returned to coach there, posting a 122-27-1 record over 12 seasons. He won at least nine games each season, six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1996 national championship. Spurrier has said the aura of facing Florida wore off long ago, but his appearance on the other sideline still carries weight. How Spurrier's Gamecocks have done vs. the Gators:

2005: South Carolina 30, No. 12 Florida 22

After downplaying the matchup, Spurrier won the first meeting in Columbia, S.C., behind a pair of rushing touchdowns each by Mike Davis and Daccus Turman. The Gamecocks broke the Gators' 12-0 streak in the series (Spurrier was 10-0 at Florida). The loss ended the Gators' hopes of reaching the SEC title game.


2006: No. 6 Florida 17, South Carolina 16

In Gainesville, Fla., Jarvis Moss blocked a 48-yard field goal as time expired after blocking an extra point earlier in the game as the Gators moved to 9-1 and ruined Spurrier's return to the Swamp. Florida's Ray McDonald also blocked a 47-yard field goal in the first half.


2007: No. 17 Florida 51, South Carolina 31

In Columbia, sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow rushed for 120 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. He also threw for 304 yards and two more touchdowns.


2008: No. 3 Florida 56, No. 24 South Carolina 6

In Gainesville, Percy Harvin had eight rushes for a career-high 167 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Tebow completed 13 of 20 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns.


2009: No. 1 Florida 24, South Carolina 14

In Columbia, the Gators held the Gamecocks scoreless in the second half. Tebow threw for 199 yards and had a passing TD and a rushing touchdown, and Florida had 339 yards of total offense. South Carolina's Stephen Garcia was intercepted twice.


2010: No. 22 South Carolina 36, No. 24 Florida 14

In Gainesville, Marcus Lattimore ran 40 times for a career-high 212 yards and three touchdowns as the Gamecocks clinched the SEC's East Division and a spot in the title game against Auburn. It was the first time South Carolina made the league title game since joining the conference in 1992.


2011: South Carolina 17, Florida 12

In Columbia, South Carolina jumped to a 13-3 halftime lead behind 160 rushing yards and went on to its first sweep of the SEC East. The Gamecocks won six conference games for the first time since joining the league. At 3-6, Florida finished with its first conference losing record since 1986 and its most SEC losses since going 0-6 in the league in 1979.