Even in Ugly Win, South Carolina Shows Signs of Improvement for 2015

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier offered a little perspective on his team's nosedive last year when he spoke at SEC media days in July.

"Listen, you ever lost four out of five, you had a chance to win, and two of them by two touchdowns? You've never lost the way we were losing. It wears on you a little bit," he said.

The season opener against North Carolina at the Belk College Kickoff Game in Charlotte, North Carolina, provided a little relief for the Head Ball Coach.

The Gamecocks topped the Tar Heels 17-13 on opening night, survived a late—and perhaps mismanaged—drive and closed the door.

Spurrier wasn't exactly pleased with how his team played in the win, according to Josh Kendall of the State:

It wasn't pretty.

First-year starting quarterback Connor Mitch had first-game jitters early, misfired on his first five passes and finished the day 9-for-22 for 122 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game with an injury. According to ESPN (h/t GamecockCentral.com's Chris Clark), the team was looking at Mitch's left hip.

In true Spurrier form, the head coach didn't hold back in the postgame press conference, according to Matt Connolly of the State:

The rush defense, which gave up a whopping 212.2 yards per game last year, allowed 208 on Thursday night (6.5 per carry). Elijah Hood accounted for 138 of those yards but was noticeably absent from the Tar Heel lineup when they got in the red zone down four with under five minutes to play.

Unlike last year, the Gamecock defense came up big when it mattered most. Skai Moore picked off Tar Heel quarterback Marquise Williams in the end zone for the second time in the game to seal the win.

It's a cliche, but it's appropriate for this particular South Carolina team: "A win's a win."

It was clear that South Carolina didn't have its A-game, and probably not its B- or C-games either. As Bleacher Report National Recruiting Analyst Sanjay Kirpalani noted on Twitter, the Gamecocks showed heart:

Mitch's inconsistency and subsequent injury prevented the offense from getting into a groove until running back Shon Carson caught fire late, starting with his 48-yard scamper for the game-winning touchdown.

The defense got some pressure at times, including from newcomers Marquavius Lewis and Dante Sawyer, which is certainly an improvement from the remarkable absence of a pass rush last year.

Things didn't go South Carolina's way—so much so that ESPN college football analyst Danny Kanell said at halftime on the broadcast that North Carolina was clearly in control of the game despite a minuscule 13-10 lead.

Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

Last year, Spurrier's crew would have found a way to lose this game. This year's crew found a way to win.

That's great news for the future because South Carolina's season is going to be made or broken in the first half of the season.

The Gamecocks visit Georgia in Week 3, Missouri in Week 5 and host LSU in Week 6. Those are all tough opponents, and the two big division games on the road will be challenging.

But all of those teams are loaded with roster holes, and South Carolina just overcame some of its own roster deficiencies in a big out-of-conference, neutral-site game against a border rival.

Talk about a confidence boost heading into the meat of the schedule.

South Carolina survived, and that's a major change from last year's crew that became known for folding late in games.

That kind of progress is huge for a program that's loaded with questions in a division that's there for the taking.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.