Florida's Quinton Dunbar scores on a 13-yard pass play.
/ AP
The third ranked Florida Gators pasted the ninth ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 44-11, before a crowd of 90,833 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville Florida on Saturday.
Florida capitalized on South Carolina turnovers and a strong second half in a dominating performance. The Gators recovered three fumbles and held the Gamecocks to just 36 yards rushing. South Carolina star Marcus Lattimore had just three carries for 13 yards.
South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw completed 9 of 20 passes for 72 yards. He was sacked once. Dylan Thompson finished the game. He completed 8 of 20 for 83 yards and was intercepted once.
Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel threw four TD passes. Three of them came off turnovers. The Gators hogged the football for at total time of 35:28 to just 24:32 for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina could not get into the end zone against the Florida defense. Adam Yates booted three field goals, and Darlington High product Victor Hampton returned a blocked extra point for two points. Hampton also made four tackles and was credited with two pass break-ups.
Following the blowout loss, Gameocks head coach Steve Surrier said, "The Florida kids, they don't fumble, they can cover kickoffs." The Old Ball Coach continued, "We had a bad one today. LSU was bad. This one was worse."
The Gators can clinch a spot in the SEC Championship game with a win in Jacksonville against #13 Georgia next week. Florida is now 7-0 overall, 6-0 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are now 6-2 overall, 4-2 in the SEC.
South Carolina returns to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia to face the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday, October 27. Kickoff is set for Noon. The game will be televised by ESPN.
