Florida got another huge effort out of its offense, and the Gators kept a lackluster South Carolina offense in check to reach bowl eligibility, and win 38-6 on Saturday.

It was mainly the Gators’ rushing attack early on ass they piled up 281 rushing yards by halftime, including a huge run by Trevor Etienne. Not to be outdone, the Florida defense turned in one of its best efforts of the season. Florida bottled up the Gamecocks to the point where they averaged 1.4 yards per rush, and had 120 total yards of offense and 6 first downs by the midway point in the third quarter.

While Florida has hit its stride offensively of late, South Carolina continues to have trouble moving the ball. With less than 6 minutes left in the game, the Gamecocks were just 4-for-12 on third and fourth down conversions, and mustered just 54 rushing yards.

Florida, meanwhile, had some memorable performances. For starters, once the Gators passed 322 rushing yards, it was the most against the Gamecocks this season. Florida had 3 rushers with at least 90 yards, and at the point when they reached the 322 rushing yards, they averaged 7.5 yards per rush.

Anthony Richardson finished 11-for-23 passing for 2 touchdowns, and 15 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown. Overall, Florida finished with 374 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Florida now has 6 straight quarters of shutout ball.

The game became lopsided early, and part of that was because Etienne went 85 yards for a touchdown. Only 2 South Carolina defenders laid a hand on him en route to the long touchdown run.

The Gators entered Saturday with the third-best rushing offense in the SEC at 209 yards per game, but they got 291 yards last week against Texas A&M on 50 carries with 3 touchdowns. In another theme of the season, Montrell Johnson continued to be as efficient as they come. With his fourth quarter touchdown, Johnson has 9 rushing TDs in 10 games this season and 21 rushing TDs in 24 career games.

For South Carolina, playing without the injured MarShawn Lloyd, who didn’t make the trip, one of the few highlights was another fake punt by Kai Kroeger, who improved to 3-for-3 passing on the season. Kroeger found Dakereon Joyner for a 48-yard touchdown.

A big play early in the second half came to Florida when mammoth defensive tackle Desmond Watson forced and recovered a fumble and ran the ball 9 yards into the red zone for Florida’s offense. After review, Florida got the ball at the South Carolina 12, and scored 3 plays later to make it 31-6.