Steve Spurrier, South Carolina Take Step Back to Relevance with Win over Miami

South Carolina's defense was the punch line to a depressing joke for the better part of the 2014 season, but it saved one of its best performances for last.

The Gamecocks defense had its best performance since the first 55 minutes of the loss to Missouri in a 24-21 win over Miami in the Duck Commander Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Saturday afternoon. 

Was it sloppy? Yes. Was it well-played? Not really.

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Was it a statement for head coach Steve Spurrier and his crew? Absolutely.

This is exactly the game Spurrier needed to see from his defense and his defensive coaching staff if South Carolina wants to get back to SEC East relevance.

Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward's much-maligned unit was all over Hurricanes quarterback Brad Kaaya, sacking him twice, picking him off once and generally making life miserable for the true freshman signal-caller on the sloppy Shreveport field.

More importantly, the impact players for South Carolina's defense were all youngsters. "Spur" Jordan Diggs and defensive lineman Gerald Dixon Jr. each sacked Kaaya. Linebacker Jonathan Walton picked him off, and Diggs, Dixon and half-brother Gerald Dixon were routinely involved in game-changing plays, including Miami running back Duke Johnson's critical fourth-quarter fumble that led to a Gamecocks touchdown, which put them up 24-14 at the time.

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South Carolina needed this performance for some much-needed offseason confidence. Spurrier said as much to David Caraviello of the Charleston Post and Courier:

Miami came into this game tops in the ACC in yards per play (6.77), yet managed just 5.78 against a front seven that was explosive, disruptive and winning consistently at the point of attack.

On top of the good play up front, defensive coordinator Ward pressed the right buttons, which routinely resulted in defenders unblocked in the Hurricanes backfield.

It was the football equivalent to spotting Sasquatch, as Matt Connolly of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal noted:

When former Florida head coach Will Muschamp was a free agent, there was talk that typical performances from the 2014 season wouldn't be tolerated much longer. But the Gamecocks' performance on Saturday was far above typical.

It wasn't just the defense that made a statement. The South Carolina offense also stepped up—wide receiver Pharoh Cooper, in particular.

He hauled in nine passes for 170 yards and a touchdown, including this circus catch that set up South Carolina for the touchdown that put it up 24-14 in the fourth quarter.

As one of the best all-around players in college football, Cooper's 170-yard performance gave him 1,146 for the season—the second-most in a season in program history. 

There's more where that came from.

With quarterback Dylan Thompson and running back Mike Davis moving on, the 2015 Gamecocks will depend even more on Cooper if they want to jump back into the discussion for the SEC East.

Is the mountain South Carolina has to climb big? Yes.

But it's not like the SEC East is a terrifying gauntlet that is impossible to conquer.

The defense has momentum for the first time since the national anthem of the season opener. A star has been established in Cooper, and impact players are coming back.

After a brief stint of anonymity, there's at least a glimmer of hope for the 2015 season.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.