Yes, Shaq Wilson confirms, he was named after the basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. But in his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., everyone knows him by a different nickname. After five years on the Carolina campus, Wilson can finally spill the secret.
"My middle name is Demesio," Wilson told me after our pre-game radio interview. "It's my Dad's name. He's Puerto Rican. Everybody back home calls me 'Diesel' because of it. My family, my teammates - everybody."
Head coach Steve Spurrier praised Wilson this week for "having an all-conference linebacker kind of year, maybe even an All-American type year." The senior leads the Gamecocks with 44 tackles, including a career-high 14 against LSU. He also recorded a sack and a forced fumble of the Tigers' Spencer Ware, the tailback's first in 242 career carries. 
By any name, Wilson has started to become a household one.
But Wilson takes grim satisfaction in that personal record.
"As a linebacker I feel like either a lot of people aren't making tackles or you're not getting off the field," he said. "The numbers I look at mostly are wins and losses and [stops on] third downs. Those are what matter to me most."
The number Wilson covets most Saturday is the Gamecocks' 7th win. The senior gets one final crack against his home-state school when South Carolina (6-1, 4-1 SEC) faces #2 Florida (6-0, 5-0 SEC) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. A win would slingshot the Gamecocks back up the rankings, and give them inside position for an SEC Eastern Division title. It would also add to Carolina's growing collection of firsts - in this case, its first three-game win streak over the Gators.
Pre-snap reads before Gamecocks and Gators engage in Swamp warfare (3:30 p.m. EST, Gamecock IMG Sports Network):
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Florida has adopted the motto "start fast and physical" in 2012. The Gamecocks might counter with the slogan "start faster and more physical." Did you know: Carolina is one of five (5) teams nationally that has yet to allow a first-quarter touchdown.
No First-Quarter Touchdowns Allowed
1. South Carolina 0
Alabama
Penn State
Notre Dame
Kent State
Like any difficult road setting, the Gamecocks can't let the Swamp get engaged early. The numbers suggest they'll have that ability.
Blue In The Red: Like LSU, Florida has suffered from red-zone issues this year.
Florida Red Zone Offense Percentage NCAA Rank
Scoring Percentage 19 of 20, 95.0% 7th
Touchdown Percentage 11 of 20, 40.0% 85th
While the Gators boast an All-American placekicker in Caleb Sturgis, they've showcased him far too often on chip-shot field goals. Despite getting outplayed in Baton Rouge, the Gamecocks stayed close by stalling LSU drives, and forcing the Tigers to settle for field goals. Will that same strength be a virtue in Gainesville? Florida and South Carolina rank #5 and #6 in the nation, allowing an identical 12.3 points per game. In a clash between two stingy defenses, the difference between a touchdown and field goal could make the difference between a win and loss.
Bet You Didn't Know, Pt. I: Florida senior defensive tackle Omar Hunter won a state championship for Buford (Ga.) HS in 2007, routing Lovett HS 50-0 in the title game. Lovett was coached by Mike Muschamp... brother of Gators head coach Will Muschamp.
Kenny Miles (right) will start ahead of Marcus Lattimore.
Bounce-Back Ahead? With LSU's linemen clogging running lanes, Carolina only managed 34 rushing yards on 25 carries in their 23-21 loss to the Tigers. Their ability to rebound may be further tested, with Wednesday's news that Marcus Lattimore may take fewer carries because of a bruised hip. Florida rolled up a season-high 9.0 tackles for loss against Vanderbilt, with defensive linemen Dominique Easley and Sharrif Floyd leading a brute, physical point of attack.
Yet over the last two seasons, Carolina has shown a surprising ability to be shut down the previous week, only to break out against the Gators. Look at their rushing totals from the week before, followed by their rushing numbers against Florida:
Rushing Yards
Year Rush Yds. vs. ARK Rush Yds. vs. UF Difference
2010 105 239 +134
2011 79 215 +136
2012 34 ??? ????
Bet You Didn't Know, Pt. II: At 6'3" and 303 pounds, defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd leads Florida in quarterback hurries (3), and ranks second in TFL (4.0). Not bad for a guy who was born premature, and weighed 3 pounds, 7 ounces at birth.
He Said It: "You kind of get tired of tackling him. The fourth quarter, that's when he starts wearing on people. He's just a one-cut guy. He's going to stick his foot in the ground and he's going to get north and south. He may not hit the big one every time, but in our league it's hard to hit big ones."
-Florida head coach Will Muschamp. Did he say that about Marcus Lattimore? Plausible, but no. Muschamp actually said it about his senior running Mike Gillislee, whose 102.5 rushing yards per game rank second in the SEC. With Gillislee grabbing most of the carries, Florida's downhill, no-nonsense running game has averaged 233 yards per game, their highest total since 1989.
The 5'11," 200-pound Gillislee also shares one of Lattimore's best traits: the ability to sledgehammer yards after contact. Or to hear Florida running backs coach Brian White describe it, he "pounds nails all day."
Carries Net Yards Loss Yards
Mike Gillislee 120 624 9
Marcus Lattimore 129 593 9
Like opponents do with Lattimore, the Gamecocks' banged-up defense needs to gang-tackle Gillislee. Vanderbilt, though, overcommitted to stopping Gillislee, allowing quarterback Jeff Driskel to puncture them for 177 yards and three touchdowns. The Gamecocks can't let their gang-tackling get in the way of their containment responsibilities, either.
Bet You Didn't Know, Pt. III: Florida will likely match up top cover corner, sophomore Marcus Roberson, against Gamecock wideout Ace Sanders. As a senior at Manatee HS in Bradenton, Fla., Sanders defeated Roberson's St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) HS 28-20 in the Florida Class 5A State Semifinals. The win didn't just advance Sanders' team to the state championship; it snapped Aquinas' 37-game win streak. Sanders scored the game-clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Speaking of...
The Fourth Wall: Last year, Florida's lack of depth cost them several late leads. The Gators were outscored a whopping 72-22 in the fourth quarter of SEC play, contributing to an abhorrent (for them) 3-5 conference record.
This year, the Gators have had a remarkable turnaround, outscoring their SEC opponents 85-16 in the fourth.
Carolina's longest time-of-possession quarters came in the fourth quarters against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. If they enter the final period with a lead - something they did in Death Valley - can the Gamecocks summon a few clinching, "close-out" drives?
Now that we're prepared, we hope you are as well. Our pre-game coverage starts at 12:30 p.m. EST on the Gamecock IMG Sports Network. We'll see you in Gainesville. -AD--
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