COLUMBIA, S.C. - Marcus Lattimore ran for more yards against Navy than South Carolina Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers ran for in any one game during his remarkable career.
And the No. 10 Gamecocks (3-0) needed just about every one of Lattimore's career-high 246 yards to hold off the Midshipmen 24-21 on Saturday.
The sophomore carried 37 times and averaged 6.6 yards a run. South Carolina ran 37 plays in the second half, and Lattimore touched the ball on 26 of them.
"We figured the best way to try to win the game was to just hand it to him and keep blocking," Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said.
Rogers' best day ever for South Carolina was 237 yards in '78 vs. Wake Forest.
Lattimore said he would have run more if he had to. He ran the ball 13 of South Carolina's 18 plays in the fourth quarter, and that included a kneel down by quarterback Stephen Garcia at the end of the game.
"I feel good right now," Lattimore said. "It don't hit you until about 9 o'clock in the morning."
Navy (2-1) stopped Lattimore for a loss just once, and it was on a fourth down with 5:34 to go, giving the Midshipmen a shot to win with their option attack that had left the Gamecocks defense befuddled at times.
