Coach Steve Spurrier won his 18th straight college opener last night, starting the 2010 season off on the right foot for the South Carolina Gamecocks and for the SEC.  While nobody is really surprised by the victory, it’s important to remember that Southern Miss isn’t an absolute punching bag – although they were clearly over-matched.  South Carolina, where most project them to be the 3rd best team in the SEC east, looked vastly superior on the field – more strength, more size, more speed.

South Carolina passed the eye ball test.  Often times, teams can win against teams they’re supposed to beat while looking average or worse.  South Carolina looked good – and this is important.

Quarterback Stephen Garcia did what he needed to do – put in a strong outing.  After a quick three and out, Garcia finished off the second drive of the game with a strong, 30 yard touchdown run, running over a guy near the five yard line.  That was the start, and the South Carolina offense didn’t look back.

Garcia finished 16 for 23 for 193 yards.  He rushed for two touchdowns.

Perhaps the bigger story was freshmen running back Marcus Lattimore who looked fantastic in his first college game.  Lattimore rushed for 54 yards on 14 rushes with two touchdowns.

Freshman Connor Shaw also saw some time, completing 4 of 5 passes with a touchdown in the air.  Shaw has some legs and ran for 31 yards on 7 rushes.

You have to be excited if you’re a Gamecocks fan.  The team looked solid, but at the same time, essentially you’ve accomplished nothing so far.  Next week is the first test.  Georgia.