Between mid-September and mid-October, if the Florida Gators weren't the laughing stock of the SEC, nobody was.
Then came the move that could have saved Florida head coach Will Muschamp's job and the Gators' season in one fell swoop, when redshirt junior quarterback Jeff Driskel was benched in favor of true freshman Treon Harris.
Since Harris took over ahead of Florida's clash with Georgia, the Gators have won back-to-back games, including an upset win over the then-No. 11 Bulldogs.
Florida has scored 72 points in the first two games of the Treon Harris era, and while the Gators' offensive stock is skyrocketing, South Carolina's defense is trending in the exact opposite direction.
The Gamecocks rank 108 out of 125 FBS teams in total defense, and they're showing no signs of improvement.
"I don't think nobody saw this coming," redshirt sophomore Chris Moody said.
Within South Carolina's abysmal year overall on defense have been a number of first-year starters hosting coming out parties at the Gamecocks' expense.
What Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill started in game one, Tennessee's Josh Dobbs continued in South Carolina's latest fourth-quarter collapse.
In their first-career starts, the two combined for 1,073 yards of offense. But unlike Hill and Dobbs, Harris has the luxury of two starts under his belt before taking on the Gamecocks.
"[Harris] is a quarterback that can run — I think he had a couple rushing TDs against Vandy — and he's a good passer too," head coach Steve Spurrier said. "We're getting these teams with, sometimes, a new quarterback. But it seems like their best quarterback when they face us."
Dual-threat quarterbacks like Hill and Dobbs are kryptonite to the South Carolina defense. The Gamecocks are experts at losing contain and blowing open-field tackles.
The scariest part for South Carolina: Harris could prove to be the best it's seen so far.
"I think he's more athletic, so it's going to be hard," Moody said. "You've got to keep him in the pocket, which is easier said than done. He's going to make plays."
While Harris is a unique challenge in and of himself, the Florida rushing attack in no way stops with him. Running backs Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor have rushed for a combined 1,150 yards this season.
And according to South Carolina secondary coach Grady Brown, it will be a group effort containing Florida's stable of runners.
"[The secondary] needs to be involved versus the run," he said. "We need to tackle those backs. They'll do some things to get the ball on the edge."
The good news ahead of the matchup is the return of sophomore linebacker Skai Moore. The team's second-leading tackler and the leader of the Gamecocks defense, Moore was sidelined against the Volunteers with an ankle injury.
Florida still has a little more than an outside shot at the SEC East title, but that's been out of the question for a while for South Carolina.
But with a bowl game still a possibility and a number of jobs on the line, the Gamecocks can't afford a flop against the Gators.
"You can never give up," Brown said. "We have three games left to play, and those are opportunities to go out there and get better."