Gamecocks remember last win in '05

Defining moments in sports history.

They are easy to remember, when the questions involve where you were when your alma mater won a national championship, or your favorite teams won Super Bowls or World Series titles. What about those Ali fights, or when Len Bias and Magic Johnson taught mainstream sports fans about cocaine and HIV, respectively?

For South Carolina, it has become "where were you when the Gamecocks beat Florida?"

Don't laugh. It's only happened once since 1939, and only when South Carolina hired Steve Spurrier in one of those "he can take his and beat yours, or he can take yours and beat his" situations.

Moe Brown remembers.

The South Carolina senior captain and accomplished wide receiver had a front row seat for that magic moment, which unfolded in 2005 for the only time since "Gone With the Wind" was beating out "The Wizard of Oz" and "Wuthering Heights" for an Academy Award.

"I was a senior in high school, and it was the most electrifying game I have ever seen," said Brown, a 6-foot-1, 183-pounder from Anderson, S.C., who was on a recruiting visit for the 30-22 Gamecocks win four years ago. "It was an incredible scene, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that."

The beating-Florida thing hasn't worked out for Brown, but he has made the name for himself he had envisioned since leaving the shadow of Clemson's Death Valley for the state university a couple hours to the southeast. Brown has 29 catches for 433 yards and three TDs this season, and has totaled 81 receptions for more than 1,000 yards in his collegiate career.

Brown and the Gamecocks, bowl eligible with a 6-4 record, will get another opportunity Saturday, when No. 1 UF (9-0) visits Williams-Brice Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. game that will be televised by CBS to a national audience.

"Coach Spurrier, you can tell it means something to him, this week, every year, but he sticks with saying 'the next game is the biggest game of your life' every week," Brown said. "But Florida is No. 1, and that's his old team, where he played and coached, and you just know he (gets a thrill) out of upsetting people when the hype is up high.

"We almost got it done my freshman year, but Florida kept blocking kicks (in a 17-16 UF victory in Gainesville). We had a run at them, but they (won), and went all the way to the (2006) national championship."

Ten years earlier, Spurrier guided the Gators to their first national championship at roughly the same time Brad Scott was beginning to wear out his welcome in Columbia, S.C, where, after 118 years of football, the Gamecocks are one game over .500.

A highly decorated former FSU offensive coordinator, Scott took the Gamecocks to their first bowl victory in school history (on Carolina's ninth try) — 24-21 over West Virginia in the Carquest Bowl to end the 1994 season — but bottomed out soon afterward, including a two-year span of 1-21 he tag-teamed with Lou Holtz to end the century.

Holtz had some high-water marks (leading Carolina to back-to-back bowl wins over Ohio State) before giving way to Spurrier, who made a splash with the win over Florida in Urban Meyer's debut season. But Spurrier has little else to show for his five years of service, save a 2006 Liberty Bowl win over Houston.

Still, the Gamecocks are undefeated at home this season and would like nothing better than to give Spurrier the ultimate feather in his cap.

"We've been perfect at home, and that's important for us," Brown said. "Just like everybody else, we don't want to lose at home."

South Carolina, 1-3 the past month after a 5-1 start, has been without an open date since the start of the season. The Gamecocks had only a light workout on Monday in an attempt to conserve critical energy.

"Basically, we just took a day to get our legs back under us," Brown said. "We've been going strong for 15 straight weeks with no bye week, and (Spurrier) wanted us as fresh as we could be. For me, personally, it's my senior year and I realize I don't have many of these (college games) left. I think we're all beginning to feel that way. We're going to try to go out strong."