ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- South Carolina's defensive ranking coming into this game (No. 3 nationally) suggested the Gamecocks were pretty good on defense.

They've played that way, too, but have nothing to show for it.

Florida leads 28-3 at the half, thanks to a pair of interceptions by South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley and a special teams gaffe by the Gamecocks.

The game was already getting away from South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier when the Gamecocks buried themselves with a botched throwback lateral on a kickoff return late in the first quarter.

At that point, you could sort of see the wind come out of South Carolina's sails defensively.

The Gators went ahead 28-0 early in the second quarter on Tim Tebow's 46-yard touchdown pass to Deonte Thompson, who looked like he might have gotten away with a push-off.

People will look at this halftime score and think Florida's offense has gotten the best of South Carolina's defense. But that's not the case at all.

The Gamecocks simply haven't been able to block the Gators, and the two South Carolina quarterbacks haven't had time to throw. Spurrier has rotated Stephen Garcia and Smelley on just about every play in the first half.

For all the talk about Florida's high-scoring offense, the real story right now is the Gators' defense.

They've allowed just two first-half touchdowns all season, and what was an inexperienced, unproven defensive line to start the season just seems to get better and better. And then there's junior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, who makes a game-changing play every week.