ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- There was a glow about Florida coach Urban Meyer as he stood at the postgame podium Saturday.

His No. 4-ranked Gators had just shellacked South Carolina 56-6 at the Swamp, remaining college football's hottest team and handing Steve Spurrier the most lopsided loss of his illustrious head coaching career.

Admittedly, Meyer was awed -- by his team and by who was in the Gators' locker room afterward.

"Jimmy Buffett was in our locker room. Did you know that?" beamed Meyer, a huge Buffett fan.

"That's way up there. I don't get awed by many people, but that's a hell of a deal, man."

This just in: He's got a hell of a football team, too.

As Meyer answered questions about another awe-inspiring performance from his Gators, Buffett music could be heard playing in the Gators' locker room.

Buffett told the Florida team that he's anxious for the Gators (9-1, 7-1 SEC) to get to Miami for the BCS National Championship Game so that he could play for them.

That might sound a bit presumptuous given that Florida still has three games left to play, including the SEC Championship Game matchup with Alabama.

Then again, if you've watched the Gators play in their last six games, maybe it's not presumptuous at all.

Meyer said it's been like watching sharks in the water during a six-game winning streak that's seen Florida average 49.5 points and beat teams by an average margin of 39 points.

"Yeah, and we're swarming," Florida middle linebacker Brandon Spikes said.

The Gamecocks (7-4, 4-4 SEC) came into the game ranked third nationally in total defense and hadn't given up more than 24 points in a game all season. The Gators had 28 less than four minutes into the second quarter Saturday.

South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said it was the most complete team he's coached against this season "by far."

Florida scored its first two touchdowns thanks to a pair of interceptions by South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley, the first one returned 12 yards for a touchdown by Spikes. The Gators' third touchdown came after the Gamecocks butchered a throwback lateral on a kickoff return.

Florida's long snapper, James Smith, was there to recover at the 1-yar line.

That's how it's been going lately for the Gators, who have scored 30 or more points against all of their SEC regular-season opponents for the first time in school history.

"I think they were embarrassed by the way they played at the end of the season last year," said Meyer, asked what's fueling this team right now. "They believe there's a lot of talent on this team. I don't see the selfish garbage I saw last year. They all block for each other. They all care about each other. The chemistry on this team borders on the phenomenal."

So does the performance.

Percy Harvin had 167 of the Gators' season-high 346 yards rushing on eight carries. He had touchdown runs of 80 and 26 yards. Jeffery Demps also had a 38-yard touchdown run, and Deonte Thompson caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Tim Tebow.

"We're always at our best when we're not trying to force-feed one guy the ball," Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said. "We have plays where we're tying to get Percy the ball. But in the big picture of the game, we're getting into the flow and we're just calling offensive plays and whoever touches it ... we feel pretty good about it."

In other words, if the Gators were putting right now on a golf course, the cup would probably look about 10 feet wide.

Meyer acknowledged that he'd never been around a six-game stretch quite like this. Spurrier said there was no question in his mind that this Florida team is better than the 2006 team that won the national championship.

"That team was a national championship team," said Meyer, naturally not ready to go there with so much football left to be played. "I'm not disagreeing with coach (Spurrier). We'll make that decision as we keep going."

One thing's for sure, though. Meyer likes the way this football team is going about it.

"I admire their professionalism. I admire the way they approach practice," Meyer said. "They're acting like a bunch of grown men, and it's fun to coach guys like that."

Meanwhile, his players were trying to get a grip on just who this Buffett fellow was.

"That was my first time ever hearing of him," Spikes said innocently. "Somebody told me he sang Margarita-something."