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COLUMBIA As they walked out of Williams-Brice Stadium following South Carolina's 34-17 win Saturday, Gamecocks tight end Weslye Saunders and tackle Jarriel King stopped and held the Hardee's Trophy aloft and gave fans a chance to snap a few pictures and soak in the moment.
Clemson (8-4) will be playing for a bigger, shinier trophy next week when the 15th-ranked Tigers face No.7 Georgia Tech for the ACC championship in Tampa, Fla.
But South Carolina (7-5) took away something more important than the hardware - salvation of a season.
The Gamecocks rediscovered their running game and overcame C.J. Spiller's NCAA record-setting touchdown return on the opening kickoff to win for the third time in 13 games against the Tigers.
South Carolina had dropped three in a row this season entering Saturday, and was in danger of limping into its bowl during another late-season skid. Instead, the Gamecocks are guaranteed a winning season and will take momentum - and likely more fans - to their bowl destination.
"I feel like we accomplished something. We could easily be down on ourselves after those three games. But now we did something," said Saunders, who had two short touchdown receptions. "A lot of people have been telling us all year, 'As long as you beat Clemson.'
"We just beat Clemson."
But do not expect Steve Spurrier to sell commemorative Clemson game balls on the Gamecock Club circuit in the next spring, as the coach did three years ago following his other win against the Tigers while at South Carolina.
"I think sometimes we celebrate too much when we beat 'em, to tell you the truth," Spurrier said. "I think when Clemson beats us, they don't celebrate wildly. But I think we overdid it three years ago, and I was probably guilty also."
The Tigers barely resembled the team that had won six in a row.
Clemson gave up 223 rushing yards, matched a season high with three turnovers and did little offensively until the fourth quarter. With South Carolina doing its best to surround Spiller, the Tigers managed 48 rushing yards on 19 carries - only the second time since 1980 Clemson has run for fewer than 100 yards against South Carolina.
"It's been a long time since we've lost a game. That's a very sick feeling," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "And we had an opportunity to achieve one of our goals today, and we failed to do it."
Spiller also felt sick, battling a stomach ailment throughout. He looked healthy enough on the opening kickoff.
The Heisman Trophy candidate took the kick 88 yards for his seventh career kickoff return for a touchdown, an NCAA record.
But the Gamecocks recovered to hold Clemson to 138 yards over the first three quarters.
"He didn't score on us. They scored on special teams. They didn't score on the defense," senior linebacker Eric Norwood said. "We wanted to go out there and shut 'em out, and I think that's what we pretty much did for the majority of the game."
South Carolina kept Spiller hemmed in the rest of the game, holding him to 18 yards on nine carries - a 2-yard average that was nearly 6 yards below his career average against the Gamecocks.
"We kept him caged up pretty good," South Carolina assistant coach for defense Ellis Johnson said.
There was no caging the Gamecocks' ground game. Spurrier called 58 run plays - the most in his five seasons in Columbia - and unveiled South Carolina's version of the wildcat with freshman cornerback Stephon Gilmore at quarterback.
The results were a 13-minute edge in time of possession and what quarterback Stephen Garcia called a "statement" in a rivalry that has been largely one-sided.
Before the season, the Gamecocks talked often of using Gilmore in their version of the wildcat because he played quarterback at Rock Hill South Pointe High. It finally happened.
During a first-quarter drive, Gilmore carried the ball five times for 20 yards and he hit Alshon Jeffery on a 39-yard pass. That set up Brian Maddox's 1-yard rushing score to tie the score at 7.
"It only took us 12 games to put him in there," Spurrier said. "We're not the smartest coaches in the world. But he kept running it up in there for yards."
The pass was not a thing of beauty - it was underthrown - but with 6-foot-4 Jeffery on the receiving end, it didn't quite have to be.
"We practiced that during the week," Gilmore said. "My first read was Alshon in the post, and I threw to Alshon. It was kind of behind him, but he made a good catch on the ball."
Gilmore didn't play any more quarterback, but he capably filled his other roles.
He returned three punts for 31 yards, including a 15-yarder.
He had four tackles at cornerback and was part of a unit that largely shut down a Clemson team that averaged 40.7 points per game during its winning streak.
Gilmore also recovered a Spiller fumble on Clemson's first drive of the second half. SETH EMERSON CONTRIBUTED.
