A REAL, BIG VICTORY

This one had all the makings of a 24-0 loss. Man, the Gamecocks were fast and nasty on defense, and they were wearing us out. Nickson would finish with something like 17 yards on 16 carries.

But Nickson was a winner. Didn't fumble. Didn't throw any picks.

Bobby Johnson was the star of the game. The Vandy coach flat out-maneuvered Steve Spurrier. Before that punt bounced off a Gamecock's leg, we had little hope. I even joked that we should forfeit the game before all our players got hurt. But the Commodores were hanging tough. If anybody's offensive line should have fallen apart, it was ours, not theirs. But our five brand-new starters stuck together and did the job when they had to.

Carolina was trying to avoid DJ Moore, but they forgot about Dalron Spead and Reshard Langford and Ryan Hamilton and Myron Lewis, who bounced back nicely after getting toasted for a TD by the brilliant Kenny McKinley in the first quarter.

The turning point, I thought, was when Captain Munnerlyn, the freakishly talented cornerback for the Gamecocks, got two penalties in three plays and had to be pulled from the game before he had a complete meltdown.

And in the end, it was our Harry Potter look-alike running back operating behind that brand-new line that sealed the victory. Way to go, Jared Hawkins.