SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

What does South Carolina linebacker Ernest Jones most remember about the Gamecocks' loss at Florida last season?

"They ran the ball up and down the field," Jones said, the dread in his voice, just thinking about the game. "And they came back, and they ran the ball some more. That's what I remember. 300 yards of rushing, I believe."

It was 367 rushing yards to be exact, as the Gators rushed the ball 62 total times and scored the final 21 points in a 35-31 come-from-behind win in Gainesville.

"They got us with a couple of scheme things, they out-numbered us on the edge in the run game," linebacker T.J. Brunson said. "That was the biggest thing. I think that we'll make the right adjustments for that."

The loss put a damper on a South Carolina season that appeared at the time to be looking up, especially after the Gamecocks raced out to a 31-14 lead with 4:41 to go in the third quarter.

But a beaten and battered Carolina defense, dealing with a rash of injuries and a Florida offense that was able to make first downs and stay on the field, succumbed to the Gators rushing attack in the second half of the game.

"I think it was both (fatigue and scheme-related)," Muschamp said. "I think schematically, we weren't as gap sound as we needed to be. We've tried to rectify those issues, and we weren't as good as we needed to be, personnel-wise at that point in the season."

The Gamecocks are a far more complete defense as they get ready for the Gators this year than they were in Gainesville last year. But the Florida offense will still present its share of issues, led by its head coach, Dan Mullen, who Muschamp calls an "outstanding play-caller."

"I just think Dan does a really good job of presenting issues," Muschamp said. "He sees the game from a defensive perspective, meaning he knows there's some issues with different looks that he can give you. The run game is the run game and their passing game is the pass game, but how they manipulate and get to those looks are going to be different each week."

Muschamp explains it like this: the Gators have their staple plays, like any other team, and while those don't change, the formations, motions and pre-snap movements can change from week to week. That makes it difficult on a defensive staff to prepare their players for what they're going to see in a particular game.

"They're going to get to this run (play)," Muschamp explained. "I don't know how they're going to get to it, but they're going to get to it. So whatever window dressing is created on gameday, our players need to be able to adjust and we need to be able to adjust as a staff."

The Gators running game hasn't been near as explosive this year. After averaging 213 yards on the ground last season, Florida is rushing for just 141 yards per game this year.

But with running backs like Lamical Perine and Demeon Pierce and a head coach who will put the offense in a position to succeed, the Gamecocks know they'll have to be ready for multiple offensive looks from the Gators on Saturday in Williams-Brice Stadium.

"With the stuff that we worked on today, the coaches have a good plan going into this game," Brunson said. "We know the things that they beat us on last year, so we'll try not to let last year beat us this year too. We'll watch the film from this year and see what they have new and make the adjustments and play off that."