Ellington not expected to miss time after injury 
With the USC offense struggling mightily in the first quarter of quarterback Connor Shaw’s return from a shoulder contusion, the defense sparked the offense, just as it has throughout the start of the season.
Up 3-0 and driving deep into Gamecock territory, it looked like UAB was going to add to its lead. The Blazers were outgaining USC 89-29 in total yards and had held the Gamecocks to -2 yards rushing in the quarter.
But then, senior safety D.J. Swearinger picked off an attempted pitch by UAB quarterback Jonathan Perry in midair, racing 65 yards the other way to give USC a 7-3 lead it would not relinquish.
“I think it was Devin (Taylor) that got pressure, and [Perry] sort of lost the ball and I picked it up and took it the distance,” Swearinger said. “It was definitely a game-changing moment, and we needed that to give us a boost in the game.”
A boost it was, as the Gamecocks outgained UAB 472-178 after the return en route to outscoring the Blazers 49-6.
“We want to be able to create plays for our offense,” defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said. “Whether that’s causing a turnover and putting them in good field position or whether we score on defense. That’s stuff that we try to practice throughout two-a-days, and we continue to do it every day.”
Not only did the USC defense score one more touchdown than the UAB offense, but the unit was stifling in the red zone. The Blazers got inside the Gamecock 10-yard line on consecutive drives in the third quarter, yet came away empty-handed both times, as USC was able to force two turnovers.“I think it’s the attitude,” Ward said. “That’s stuff that we talk about also. We want to protect our home and when we get in the red zone, we definitely want to raise our level of play and I thought the guys did that.”
“We don’t want no one to score field goals or nothing, we are out there with a chip on our shoulder week in and week out,” said sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. “And if they do get in the red zone, we bow up and try to keep them out (of) the end zone.”
Clowney finished with seven tackles, 3.5 for loss, and recorded two of the six Gamecock sacks on the day.
While defensive line coach Brad Lawing said the back-ups had “embarrassed their families” last week against ECU, Ward said they showed improvement this week when they entered the game in the fourth quarter.
“We played with a lot more emotion,” Ward said. “I thought we played on their side of the ball with the second group. They understand if they are going in the game to play, we want them to play at the standard that we want the starters to also.”
Spurrier feeling fans’ pain: While the win was coach Steve Spurrier’s 200th as a college head coach, he remarked that it was “one of the closest 49-6 games I’ve ever been around” and joked he’d have liked to go home early.
“That was a long game,” Spurrier said. “If the fans wanted to leave in the middle of the fourth, I was about ready to leave with them.”
Injury report: Shaw went out in the second quarter after a hairline fracture to his right shoulder. Spurrier said in his Sunday teleconference that he will be evaluated day-by-day, the same way he was in the past week. Wide receiver Bruce Ellington suffered a right shoulder sprain in the win, but will play next week, Spurrier said. In addition, senior defensive back Akeem Auguste could be back for this week’s game against Missouri.