Spurrier: ‘We were terrible’

Alabama running back Kenneth Darby (34) breaks away from South Carolina’s Ryan Brown during the first half Saturday.. Darby ran for 145 yards and a touchdown in Alabama’s 37-14 win. (AP Photo/Perry Baker ) COLUMBIA — Alabama knew it could run all over South Carolina when the quarterback now dubbed ‘‘Vanilla Vick’’ by his teammates lumbered for a 15-yard touchdown on a slow developing draw play early in the first quarter.

Crimson Tide signal caller Brodie Croyle said he’d rather stay in the pocket and pass it. But with his offensive line opening gaping holes, even the senior knew the ground game was going to get it done in Alabama’s 37-14 win Saturday.

‘‘They’re calling me ’Vanilla Vick’ and all this,’’ said Croyle, smiling over his new nickname based on the running exploits of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

‘‘Don’t get used to that. I want to stay back there and throw it if I can,’’ Croyle said.

Alabama (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) ran for 338 yards and had 489 yards of total offense — the biggest totals ever under third-year coach Mike Shula. Kenneth Darby led the Tide with 145 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

It was a rare SEC road win for Shula. Since he took over in 2003, Alabama had only beaten Mississippi State and Kentucky away from Tuscaloosa.

But Shula refused to say his team made a statement with the convincing win Saturday. ‘‘It’s just a small step,’’ he said over and over.

Across the sideline, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier has started 0-2 in the SEC for the first time. In Spurrier’s 12 years at Florida, he only lost more than two SEC games once (6-3 in 1992).

‘‘I’m frustrated, but not shocked,’’ Spurrier said. ‘‘All you got to do is look at the stats. They could have beat us 50to-nothing.’’

The Crimson Tide came into the game believing they’d use their new passing attack that averaged 271 yards in their first two games. But they quickly shifted gears once it became apparent the Gamecocks (1-2, 0-2) couldn’t stop the run.

Alabama’s ground game was so effective, any down became a running down. On third-and-11 in the second quarter, Croyle simply turned and handed it to Tyrone Prothro, who gained 41 easy yards. On the next drive, Croyle — who came into the game averaging negative yards rushing — plodded for 14 yards untouched after spending a few seconds trying to find an open receiver on thirdand 7.

‘‘I thought I was the slowest quarterback in Alabama history,’’ said Shula, who played for the Tide in the mid1980s.

By halftime, Alabama already had 185 yards rushing, better than the Tide’s totals in each of their first two games.

Croyle, whose absence because of injury played a big part in Alabama’s 203 loss to the Gamecocks last year, had an adequate day passing, going 12-of-21 for 115 yards and a touchdown.

Keith Brown had 91 yards receiving, and two of his three catches went for touchdowns, including one from backup John Parker Wilson with just under 10 minutes to go — the kind of trash-time touchdowns Spurrier’s Gators used to rack up.

Even the second-string got in on the action. Glen Coffee ran for 75 yards on 15 carries for the Tide behind a young offensive line that starts two seniors, a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen.

The Gamecocks’ offense looked sharp at first on a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended on a 1-yard fourth-down scoring run by Mike Davis. But then Spurrier’s ‘‘Cock-n-Fire’’ offense started to misfire.

South Carolina gained just 21 yards and no first downs over the rest of the first half. The Gamecocks got past midfield just once in the third quarter, and that drive ended when backup quarterback Antonio Heffner was sacked on fourth-and-2 from the Alabama 36.

By then, shouts of ‘‘Roll Tide’’ could be heard across Williams-Brice Stadium after thousands of Gamecock fans left early for the parking lots in a scene all too familiar to South Carolina football.

Just three games into his career at South Carolina, Spurrier apologized to the fans. ‘‘Offensively, we were terrible,’’ he said, hinting all positions, including quarterback, might be up for grabs during next week’s preparations for Troy.

South Carolina ran for just 71 yards, while starting quarterback Blake Mitchell went 20-of-38 for 173 yards with an interception and a touchdown.

Gaffney’s Sidney Rice caught five passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.

The defense wasn’t much better. It was the worst home loss in 15 years of college coaching for Spurrier (his previous biggest loss was a 35-16 defeat at Duke against Wake Forest in 1988).

‘‘Obviously we didn’t tackle,’’ codefensive coordinator John Thompson said. ‘‘We were not physical. We got whipped.’’