TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Steve Spurrier starts running through some of No. 2 Alabama’s strengths, then realizes it’s not really necessary.

“Everybody knows how good they are,” the South Carolina coach said. “It appears them and Florida probably are the top two right now in the country the way it’s played out. But we’re looking forward to going over there and seeing what happens. Obviously we’ve got to play a whole bunch better than we’ve been playing so that’s what we will try to do.”
In his typical folksy fashion, Spurrier summed up the popular sentiment these days in college football — and the challenge facing his 22nd-ranked Gamecocks. They could have something to say about that projected 1-2 Southeastern Conference championship game matchup, after all.
The Gamecocks (5-1, 2-1) visit the Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0) Saturday night for its homecoming game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Then get a visit from No. 1 Florida next month.
Not surprisingly, Spurrier doesn’t plan to suddenly become Coach Conservative when his team is a 17-point underdog.
“You certainly have no chance if you play conservatively against a team like this, unless you feel like your defense can play really well,” he said. “If we feel like our defense can stop them almost every time then you can play conservatively.
“... Playcalling goes with how you feel your team can do with the other guys. Simple as that.”
Keeping it simple, Alabama has been awfully hard to run against, and the ground game hasn’t been South Carolina’s offensive forte. Plus, it wouldn’t be a proper Spurrier vs. Nick Saban game without a little clash of styles.
The two have met twice before. Spurrier’s last two Florida teams routed Saban and his first two LSU teams in 2000 and 2001.
It’s another test for a Tide team that has mostly breezed so far. ’Bama has already brushed aside No. 5 Virginia Tech and dispatched then-No. 20 Mississippi 22-3 last weekend to vault over Texas into the No. 2 spot.
Saban has been trotting out his well-worn “climbing a mountain” analogy ever since that game. His point: The higher you get, the harder the fall.
“Things are a lot more critical if you make a mistake,” he said. “I think our players understand that. They need to understand it.”
Spurrier sure does. His old Florida teams spent plenty of time trying to stay on top of the mountain, back when the Gators’ Fun ’N Gun offense seemed to clash almost annually with the Tide’s tenacious defenses for the league title. The two teams met in the first three SEC championship games after the league split into divisions in 1992.
Spurrier figures the view is a little less nerve-racking from lower down.
“Obviously we’re going to go give it our best shot and see what happens,” he said. “But there’s not a lot of pressure on us.”
South Carolina has already pulled off one top-five upset this season, dispatching then-No. 4 Mississippi 16-10. But the Gamecocks haven’t ever beaten a team ranked higher than third. In fact, that win over the Rebels ended a six-game losing streak versus ranked teams, against whom Spurrier is only 6-13 with the Gamecocks.
An Alabama win would keep alive the national title buzz. As Tide cornerback Javier Arenas put it, the team is trying “to sustain and maintain.”
A South Carolina win would be an indicator that Spurrier’s Gamecocks are finally an SEC force. Their only loss was 41-37 at Georgia on Sept. 2.
The contrast in styles isn’t nearly so marked as those old Florida-Alabama matchups. Sure, the Tide defense is still formidable, ranking second nationally overall. But the offense is 12th in scoring and 17th in total yards.
This Spurrier team has a bit of Fun ’N Stun quality to it, too. Eric Norwood and Cliff Matthews have combined for 10 sacks and the Gamecocks could provide a serious test to quarterback Greg McElroy and Alabama’s passing game.
South Carolina has the nation’s sixth-best passing defense, one spot ahead of the Tide.
Protecting the quarterback could be paramount for both teams. Alabama leads the SEC in sacks; South Carolina is tied with Ole Miss for second.
Alabama has a more formidable running game to counter the blitzing style. Mark Ingram made Ole Miss pay last week with a career-high 172 yards, while South Carolina gave up 205 yards on the ground in a 28-26 win over Kentucky.
“Alabama’s got such a good defense,” Spurrier said. “Offensively, they don’t have to try a whole lot. They make sure they don’t have a bad play that would give the other team a score.”
Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia, meanwhile, faces a defense that has picked off seven passes in the last two games.
He does have emerging young talents in his supporting cast.
Freshman Alshon Jeffery had three touchdown catches in a 138-yard receiving day against Kentucky. Redshirt freshman running back Kenny Miles zapped the Wildcats for 100 yards rushing.
Saban said that balance is a big difference in this South Carolina offense.
“This is a good all-around football team,” he said. “They’re ranked and they’re 5-1. Other than a four-point loss at Georgia, this team would probably be undefeated and ranked a lot higher.
“This is certainly going to be a challenging game for us.”
AP-WS-10-16-09 1620EDT