Stephon Gilmore saved the game with this pass breakup after a weak performance by the USC offense./AP

Now we know why, when South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier overhauled his staff this offseason, most of the defensive coaches got to keep their jobs. Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, linebacker Eric Norwood and freshman cornerback Stephon Gilmore kept the Gamecocks from getting plucked Thursday.

South Carolina beat NC State 7-3 (BOX | RECAP), in a game that might have set offensive football back 140 years. The game's only touchdown came after a gift fumble that gave South Carolina the ball on the NC State 14-yard line. Otherwise, the offenses floundered. NC State gained just 133 yards. South Carolina wasn't much better, gaining just 256.

Even though neither team will want to watch the tape Friday, South Carolina left Raleigh with a reason to hope. The Gamecocks got the win, obviously, and their defense bottled up Russell Wilson, a quarterback more athletic than most of the signal-callers on their schedule. The play of Gilmore was especially promising. Sure, he made one huge freshman mistake - blatant pass interference in the fourth quarter - but he rebounded. Four plays after the penalty, Gilmore saved the win when he ripped the ball out of the hands of Jarvis Williams in the end zone on fourth-and-11 with 3:03 remaining.

Still, Spurrier has to be disappointed in his offense. His staff changes - Spurrier turned over his coaches for the quarterbacks, offensive line, tight ends and running backs - were supposed to signal a new era for the Cock 'n' Fire, which remains a mere shell of its high-scoring ancestor, the Fun 'n' Gun. Last week, Dr. Saturday (Yahoo! writer Matt Hinton) and Smart Football's Chris Brown tag-teamed for a fascinating two-part analysis of the decline of Spurrier's offense, and the Gamecocks did little to dispel that southbound notion Thursday until the final play of significance.

Needing to convert on third-and-four to seal the win, Spurrier called up a play that worked as well in 2009 as it did in 1996. With the Wolfpack threatening to rush six, Spurrier had more-mobile-than-he-looks quarterback Stephen Garcia roll right. NC State dropped one of the would-be blitzers, but Garcia needed the breathing room anyway. The flanker on the wide side of the field ran a hitch, while slot receiver Moe Brown ran a corner. Two NC State defenders bit on the hitch, leaving a safety sprinting madly to catch up to the wide-open Brown. Garcia calmly tossed the ball over the defense to Brown for a 33-yard gain.

It was just one pass, but it offered a glimmer of hope that the Head Ball Coach still has a few ball plays left in him. But with Georgia and Ole Miss on the schedule this month, the Gamecocks' offense will have to catch the defense for South Carolina to have a chance.