Colleges

Florida-South Carolina scouting report

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
Published November 10, 2007

No. 17 Florida (6-3, 4-3 SEC) at South Carolina (6-4, 3-4), 7:45

The third installment of the Florida vs. South Carolina matchup featuring UF coach Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier has the Gators needing a win to keep their SEC East title hopes alive. South Carolina is trying to end a three-game losing streak. After several weeks of struggling on offense - the Gamecocks were held to six points in eight quarters from the second half of the North Carolina game through Vanderbilt and the first half against Tennessee - Spurrier has his offense back in gear: It has scored 60 in the last six quarters. Meyer considers this a golden opportunity to see if the Gators defense, which showed improvement against Vanderbilt last week, is really getting better. Florida's young secondary, particularly Wondy Pierre-Louis and Joe Haden, could have its hands full if Gamecocks quarterback Blake Mitchell gets in a rhythm. Meanwhile, UF quarterback Tim Tebow and his big-play receivers will get to test themselves against Division I-A's No. 1 pass defense, albeit one with an ailing starting safety (Emanuel Cook) and cornerback (Captain Munnerlyn). The key for the Gators could be the running game. South Carolina's biggest weakness is an inability to stop the run - opponents are averaging more than 200 yards per game on the ground.

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 19:34:34]