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South Carolina has clinched its first trip to the SEC title game, but coach Steve Spurrier doesn't want his team to stop there.
The 17th-ranked Gamecocks could post nine victories for the third time in school history by winning their final two non-conference games, beginning with Saturday's home matchup against Troy.
The Gamecocks (7-3) clinched the SEC East championship for the first time with a dominant 36-14 victory at then-No. 24 Florida, Spurrier's former home. Freshman Marcus Lattimore helped set off celebrations that went into early Sunday morning with a career-high 212 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
"We celebrated a little bit more maybe than most teams winning a division," Spurrier said. "We probably needed to celebrate a little bit."
With that jubilation now subsided, the South Carolina coach wants his team to refocus for this week's game and its regular season-ending trip to rival Clemson.
"Once your horizons are expanded, then that's where you've got to stay. You don't want to go backwards," Spurrier said. "We haven't pushed this season near as far as we hope to."
Spurrier said he doesn't plan to rest any of his players for the next two contests leading up to the SEC championship game. That includes Lattimore, who ran a career-high 40 times against the Gators.
The Gamecocks can match their winningest season in Spurrier's six years at the helm with a victory Saturday, and need two more to record nine wins in a season for the first time since doing it with an Outback Bowl victory in 2001. The only time the program recorded nine regular-season wins came when it went 10-2 in 1984.
South Carolina could use a strong performance from Lattimore to avoid another letdown following a big win. The Gamecocks upset then-No. 1 Alabama 35-21 on Oct. 9 as Lattimore scored three times, but his three TDs weren't enough the next week in a 31-28 road loss to a Kentucky team which had lost three straight.
Lattimore, 36 yards shy of 1,000, ran for 79 on 15 carries in that defeat and has averaged 47.3 yards in the team's three losses. He's averaged 137.0 in his other six games.
South Carolina's defense is looking to duplicate the performance it had last week, allowing a season-low 226 yards after giving up an average of 369.2 in its first nine games.
The Gamecocks limited Florida to 191 yards through the air after entering the game ranked 109th of 120 FBS teams in pass defense. They've given up at least 300 yards in five games this season.
That secondary could face another challenge in the Trojans, the nation's 13th-best passing team (296.2 ypg), but South Carolina's defensive backs also could have a chance for some turnovers.
"(Troy is) real good, very efficient," defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said. "It'll be a big test to see how much we've improved."
Troy freshman quarterback Corey Robinson is 23rd in FBS with 2,553 yards but has thrown at least two interceptions in four consecutive games. He had two passes picked off in last Saturday's 52-35 home loss to Florida International.
The Trojans (5-4) gave up 448 rushing yards and 668 overall in their second defeat in three games.
"It's an embarrassment to come out like that in front of our home crowd," sophomore defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi said. "It all just came down to who wanted it the most."
South Carolina is searching for a third win in as many meetings in this series after beating Troy in 2004 and 2005.
