The 2009 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina

University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...

 in the college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 season of 2009–2010

2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on September 2, 2009, progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in Pasadena, California on January 7, 2010, featuring the...

. The team's head football coach was Steve Spurrier

Steve Spurrier

Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American college football coach and player. Spurrier is the current head coach of the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks football team. He is also a former professional player and coach...

, who was in his fifth season at USC. The Gamecocks played their home games at Williams-Brice Stadium

Williams-Brice Stadium

Williams-Brice Stadium is the home football stadium for the South Carolina Gamecocks, the college football team representing the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina...

 in Columbia

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

. Carolina finished the season 7–6, winning the Palmetto Bowl over in-state rival Clemson 34–17 in their final regular season game, before losing in the PapaJohns.com Bowl

2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl

The 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies of the Big East Conference and the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference , on January 2, 2010 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama...

 20–7 against Connecticut

2009 Connecticut Huskies football team

The 2009 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2009 college football season as a member of the Big East Conference. The team was coached by Randy Edsall and played its home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut...

.

Preseason

On April 11, 2009, the Garnet squad defeated the Black squad, 30–14, in the annual Garnet & Black Spring Game, in front of a crowd of 25,157. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Stephen Garcia finished the game 13–20 with 144 yards and two TDs, while true freshman Jarvis Giles led the ground game with 114 yards and two TDs on 12 carries.

Schedule

|-
!colspan=8| Post Season

Schedule notes

• Carolina's 2009 schedule was rated the toughest in the nation by college football guru Phil Steele
  Phil Steele
  Phil Steele is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He currently writes a column for the Orlando Sentinel, and is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media...
  
  .
• Radio coverage for all games was on the Gamecock Sports Radio Network.
• The week four game against Ole Miss were played on Thursday, September 24, as part of the ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime
  ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime
  ESPN College Football Primetime is a live game presentation of Division 1-A college football on ESPN. In the past, the presenting sponsor was Cooper Tires, but since the 2006 season, the current presenting sponsor is Applebee's. The game telecast airs every Thursday night at 7:45pm ET during the...
  
   package.
• The week eleven game against Florida on November 14, 2009 featured the Gamecocks wearing special black and desert camouflage uniforms designed by Under Armour
  Under Armour
  Under Armour is an American sports clothing and accessories company. The company is a supplier of a wide range of sportswear and casual apparel mainly focusing on hi-tech sportswear for professional athletes...
  
   in support of the Wounded Warrior Project
  Wounded Warrior Project
  The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to "honor and empower wounded warriors" of the United States Armed Forces...
  
  .

NC State

Georgia

Florida Atlantic

Ole Miss

SC State

Kentucky

Alabama

Vanderbilt

Tennessee

Arkansas

Florida

Clemson

Connecticut

Depth chart

Projected starters and primary backups versus Clemson on November 28, 2009.

Awards

• Devin Taylor - SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week, 9/7/09; College Football News Third-Team Freshman All-American; SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC All-Freshman Team
• Jarvis Giles - SEC Freshman of the Week, 9/21/09
• Eric Norwood - SEC Defensive Player of the Week, 9/28/09; Butkus Award Finalist; First-Team Coaches All-SEC; First-Team AP All-SEC; First-Team ESPN All-SEC; Walter Camp First-Team All-American; First-Team AP All-American
• Alshon Jeffery - SEC Freshman of the Week, 10/12/09; College Football News First-Team Freshman All-American; SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC All-Freshman Team; Scout.com Freshman All-American Team; FWAA Freshman All-American Team
• Ladi Ajiboye - SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week, 11/30/09
• Cliff Matthews - Second-Team Coaches All-SEC; Honorable Mention AP All-SEC
• Chris Culliver - Second-Team AP All-SEC
• Stephon Gilmore - College Football News First-Team Freshman All-American; SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year; Scout.com Freshman All-American Team
• T.J. Johnson - SEC Coaches All-Freshmen Team; Rivals.com SEC All-Freshman Team

2009 recruiting class

Rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. ██ Selected for BCS National Championship Game.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	25	22	23	21	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	22	23	21	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Harris	Not released				NR	NR	22	NR	21	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
BCS	Not released							24	22	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Scores by quarter

Team

class="wikitable" style="white-space:nowrap;">		USC	Opp
Scoring	261	245
Points per Game	21.8	20.4
First Downs	227	188
Rushing	86	97
Passing	125	79
Penalty	16	12
Total Offense	4311	3656
Avg per Play	5.3	4.8
Avg per Game	359.2	304.7
Fumbles-Lost	23-10	16-10
Penalties-Yards	76-654	71-586
Avg per Game	54.5	48.8

class="wikitable" style="white-space:nowrap;"> USC Opp Punts-Yards 62-2594 63-2460   Avg per Punt 41.8 39.0 Time of Possession/Game 30:54 29:06 3rd Down Conversions 67/173 63/172 4th Down Conversions 10/19 6/19 Touchdowns Scored 30 29 Field Goals-Attempts 17-20 14-21 PAT-Attempts 28-30 27-28 Attendance 527,580 407,469   Games/Avg per Game 7/75,369 5/81,494

Rushing

Name	GP-GS	Att	Gain	Loss	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Kenny Miles	12-6	111	616	14	602	5.4	1	26	50.2
Brian Maddox	12-5	100	324	19	305	3.0	5	14	25.4
Jarvis Giles	9-0	52	298	21	277	5.3	1	38	30.8
Stephen Garcia	12-12	105	372	242	130	1.2	4	21	10.8
Moe Brown	11-11	5	105	0	105	21.0	0	50	9.5
Bryce Sherman	11-1	7	58	4	54	7.7	0	23	4.9
Patrick DiMarco	12-8	10	31	0	31	3.1	0	7	2.6
Stephon Gilmore	12-12	5	20	0	20	4.0	0	8	1.7
Total		409	1860	360	1500	3.7	11	50	125.0
Opponents		431	1956	312	1644	3.8	15	61	137.0

Passing

Name	GP-GS	Effic	Cmp-Att-Int	Pct	Yds	TD	Lng	Avg/G
Stephen Garcia	12-12	124.5	223-394-9	56.6	2733	17	80	227.8
Reid McCollum	2-0	176.3	4-6-0	66.7	39	1	20	19.5
Total		125.8	228-402-9	56.7	2811	18	80	234.2
Opponents		114.1	183-327-6	56.0	2012	10	69	167.7

Receiving

Name	GP-GS	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Alshon Jeffery	12-6	43	735	17.1	6	80	61.2
Moe Brown	11-11	32	479	15.0	3	69	43.5
Weslye Saunders	11-9	30	360	12.0	3	30	32.7
Tori Gurley	12-5	28	426	15.2	2	44	35.5
Jason Barnes	12-6	24	266	11.1	0	22	22.2
Brian Maddox	12-5	17	135	7.9	2	24	11.2
Kenny Miles	12-6	17	114	6.7	0	20	9.5
Patrick DiMarco	12-8	14	78	5.6	1	15	6.5
D.L. Moore	12-0	6	61	10.2	1	35	5.1
Jarvis Giles	9-0	5	26	5.2	0	12	2.9
Dion Lecorn	6-0	4	27	6.8	0	13	4.5
Total		228	2811	12.3	18	80	234.2
Opponents		183	2012	11.0	10	69	167.7

Defense

Name	GP	Tackles				Sacks	Pass Defense		Interceptions				Fumbles		Blkd Kick
		Solo	Ast	Total	TFL-Yds	No-Yds	BrUp	QBH	No.-Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Rcv-Yds	FF
Total		505	264	769	77-269	27-172	44	29	6-113	18.8	1	54	10-23	13	4

Special teams

Name	Punting								Kickoffs
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TB	FC	I20	Blkd	No.	Yds	Avg	TB	OB
Spencer Lanning	62	2594	41.8	56	8	18	15	0	9	437	48.6	0	1
Adam Yates									48	2963	61.7	1	2
Total	62	2594	41.8	56	8	18	15	0	57	3400	59.6	1	3

Name	Punt Returns					Kick Returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Chris Culliver						26	585	22.5	0	61
Bryce Sherman						19	409	21.5	0	35
Stephon Gilmore	13	148	11.4	0	35
Akeem Auguste	6	17	2.8	0	13	1	15	15.0	0	15
Total	21	177	8.4	0	35	49	1056	21.6	0	61

Coaching staff

• Steve Spurrier
  Steve Spurrier
  Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American college football coach and player. Spurrier is the current head coach of the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks football team. He is also a former professional player and coach...
  
   - Head Coach
• Ellis Johnson
  Ellis Johnson (football coach)
  Ellis Johnson is an American college football coach. Johnson is currently the Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Johnson's 27 years as a collegiate coach include four as a head coach and 13 as a defensive coordinator. Johnson was formerly the Defensive...
  
  - Assistant Head Coach & Defense Assistant Coach
• Lorenzo Ward - Defensive Coordinator & Safeties
• Shane Beamer - Cornerbacks/Special Teams & Recruiting Coordinator
• Jay Graham - Running Backs
• Johnson Hunter - Tight Ends
• Brad Lawing - Defensive Line
• G.A. Mangus - Quarterbacks
• Steve Spurrier, Jr. - Wide Receivers
• Eric Wolford - Offensive Line
• Craig Fitzgerald - Strength