A few weeks ago, I predicted that South Carolina would average 45 rushing attempts per game this season.

After one game, I'm right on schedule, and then some.

The Gamecocks ran the ball 47 times for 205 yards in last week's hard-fought 17-13 win at Vanderbilt.

Exhibiting a dominant running game wasn't good enough for some Gamecock fans, however.

As expected, the lackluster showing by the USC passing game (67 yards) brought out the usual naivety from some so-called supporters following the WIN over Vanderbilt.

Most, of course, blasted Steve Spurrier's play-calling, wondering why the football wasn't flying around the field into the arms of wide receivers such as Bruce Ellington (zero catches), D.L. Moore (zero catches) and heralded freshman Shaq Roland (minimal playing time).

I've written in the past about the Pavlov's Dog response some Gamecock fans have to any USC football game regardless of the outcome, and this appears to be another sad example of that.

(Note: The fact that the Gamecocks failed to cover the spread against Vanderbilt in the victory won't be addressed here, although one ignores at his peril the influence that gambling has on fans' passions and how they view outcomes of games and the way they unfold.)

That approach would have been unfortunate and would have ignored reality about what makes the current Gamecocks' offense tick.

Unquestionably, Spurrier loves to throw the football. In fact, he WANTS to throw the football, as Sunday's teleconference showed yet again for about the 1,000th time since he took over the USC program eight seasons ago.

But he loves one thing more than a well-oiled passing attack - winning.

Why? Because Spurrier is being paid more than $3 million annually to win football games. His main job is not to keep USC fans entertained for three hours on a Saturday afternoon or night. That's a small fragment of his job, but far down the ladder of priorities.

And, just as important, his job isn't just to prepare his team to play well, but to play well AND win. Playing well and losing accomplishes absolutely nothing.

I realize we live in an age that lavishly favors style over substance, so the preference for 45-41 games is hardly a shock. But any coach who loses a bunch of high-scoring shootouts won't be employed very long.

Recent history teaches us that USC wins - and wins emphatically with ruthless efficiency - when it focuses on running the football. The win in Music City marked the ninth time since Lattimore joined the program that USC has rushed the ball more than 39 times and thrown it less than 23 times in a single game.

USC's record in those games? 9-0.

Since 2010, the Gamecocks have NEVER lost when they've rushed 40 or more times in a game. They're also unbeaten when Lattimore rushes for 100 or more yards in a game.

Simply, the moment Lattimore, a five-star prospect, signed his letter-of-intent in February 2010, everything changed for Spurrier and the Gamecocks. Sure, USC still had Alshon Jeffery, but there is no wide receiver currently on the roster with his size, skill and ability to take over a game.

The solution? Run the football. And that's exactly what the Gamecocks did last week.

Granted, the games may not be as exciting and action-packed for today's fickle TV audiences as those contests when USC throws it 30 or more times, but you can't argue with success. Winning, after all, is everything.

My view: The worst thing USC can do is start chucking the football all over the field in a desperate effort to generate passing yards and revive Florida's thrilling Fun-'n-Gun days.

Just like "Gorillaball" in college baseball, those days are gone forever. SEC defenses today are too complex and too talented for a quarterback to just stand back in the pocket and throw it around at will.

Instead, what the Gamecocks must do is make the passing game enough of a threat to keep defenses honest and prevent them from stacking the box with eight or nine defenders, which is what occurred last year prior to Lattimore getting hurt.

The next four weeks won't provide worthy tests because USC should be able to beat East Carolina, UAB, Missouri (a little tougher task) and Kentucky without adhering to the above formula.

But, if Connor Shaw's bruised right shoulder won't allow him to play on Saturday when USC faces East Carolina in the home opener, that could alter Spurrier's thinking in how he wants to attack the Pirates.

However, it's "Game on" when Georgia comes to Columbia on Oct. 6 for a game that could determine the SEC East's representative in the conference championship game.

Oh, by the way, Lattimore has rushed for 182 and 176 yards (350 total yards on 64 carried) against the Bulldogs in the last two meetings between the border rivals, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Yes, USC won both games, in case you've forgotten.

What should USC strive for in order to maximize its chances to win that potentially monstrous game? Give the ball to Lattimore, of course, and keep running the inside zone and zone-read. Why not? Georgia hasn't figured out how to stop him yet. Frankly, Spurrier would be foolish to try anything else until they do.

Running the football should and MUST remain the centerpiece of the USC offense as long as Lattimore is healthy and able to tote the football, and Shaw remains amazingly proficient at running the zone-read.

In Nashville, Lattimore had 26 'touches' of the football (23 rushes, 3 receptions), so the offense consistently fed the ball to the main playmaker.

Here's the bottom line: USC won a SEC road game last week in "ugly" fashion, as we commonly use that term, because it chose to stay on the ground. Good choice. The stat sheet speaks for itself.

I prefer to describe it as "big-boy football." Frankly, how well you play when you go on the road in this conference is irrelevant. Jobs 1, 2 and 3 are to win the game, collect your belongings, drive straight to the airport and fly home with the "W."

It doesn't matter if the final score was 45-42 or 17-13. The verdict would be the same and the Gamecocks would be 1-0 either way. In this case, it was the latter scenario that got the job done.

That doesn't necessarily mean that USC was afflicted with poor play-calling, poor execution or something else, as some have alleged. Again, it did enough to win the game.

Could USC's play-calling have been better? Sure. Spurrier, a perfectionist to the very end, admitted on Sunday that he could have done a better job. But his performance in Nashville also put USC into the "W" column.

How does USC keep winning (the streak is five games and counting; a 21-7 record since start of 2010 season)? Right now, feeding the running backs the football, playing strong defense and winning close, hard-fought games is USC's best business model.

Run with it.