COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Only two more games until Alabama. Only two more games to make things right.

Top-ranked Florida defeated South Carolina 24-14 on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. An announced attendance of 79,297 watched the touted Gators drop potential touchdown passes and miss field-goal attempts and struggle to gain 88 yards of offense in the second half. Despite all that, UF finished with relative ease -- thanks to its defense.

South Carolina gained just 41 yards in the second half and the game was all but over when Florida defensive end Justin Trattou intercepted a deflected pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. Quarterback Tim Tebow rushed for a 1-yard score four plays later.

Tebow's score tied him with Kevin Faulk of Louisiana State for the most touchdowns in Southeastern Conference history. Tebow was 14 of 25 with 199 yards a touchdown; he also rushed for 46 yards on 10 carries.

Gators fans might have been anxious with only a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, but a noticeable portion of Gamecocks fans certainly was not. They were leaving -- walking out of Williams-Brice Stadium with nearly an entire quarter to play and being within two scores of the No. 1 team in the nation. But the way Florida's defense finished the game, South Carolina (6-5, 3-5 SEC) never really had a chance.

20TH WIN IN A ROW

``The second half was just dominance with defense as well as I have seen,'' UF coach Urban Meyer said. ``We did not play perfect, and I am not sure we have played perfect in quite a while, but I think that is 20 wins in a row, and I'm awfully proud of our team.''

Florida's 20-game winning streak tied Auburn's undefeated run during the late 1980s for third longest in conference history. Florida has defeated 19 of those 20 opponents by 10 or more points. It's a sustained level of dominance unseen in the history of the SEC. Florida (10-0, 8-0) plays against FIU next week before finishing the season with a home game against Florida State.

After that, it's on to Atlanta for the SEC championship game against Alabama. Despite his team's dominance, Meyer has a long list of things that need improving before Florida's Dec. 5 SEC title game. On Saturday in Columbia, the to-do list was clear.

PROBLEMS FOR UF

Florida built a quick 17-7 lead early in the second quarter. After that, the offense seemed to make one mistake after another. Start with receiver Riley Cooper, who did well to give Florida a quick 7-0 lead with a 68-yard touchdown reception on the team's fourth offensive play of the game. However, Cooper lost his touch after that when he dropped two potential touchdown passes from Tebow.

``They were close,'' Cooper said. ``Any good receiver has to come down with them.''

Said Meyer: ``I'm so tired of seeing those go off the fingertips. We all know what's down the road.''

``Down the road,'' means Alabama, an opponent that likely will force Florida in a situation where it needs a few field goals -- possibly to win the game. On Saturday, UF kicker Caleb Sturgis missed three field-goal attempts. His 32-yard field goal in the first quarter gave UF a 10-7 lead. After that, everything was wide left.

GAME-CHANGING PLAY

The drops and the missed field-goal attempts made things interesting in the second half Saturday. Florida led 17-14 after a scoreless third quarter and South Carolina was threatening behind a confident quarterback, Stephen Garcia of Tampa. It all changed with one play at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

With South Carolina on the UF 22, Garcia watched as a perfectly thrown pass bounced off the helmet of receiver Moe Brown and into the hands of Trattou, the Gators' backup defensive end.

Trattou, to the surprise of seemingly everyone, displayed the speed of a tight end during the interception return and carried the ball 53 yards to the South Carolina 26.

``That should go in some book somewhere saying that was [an] historical play,'' Meyer said.

``We kind of had control and then we started losing it until Trattou made that play. We felt like it was under control until the momentum shifted at the end of the third.''

Trattou's interception return sucked the life out of South Carolina's offense and energized UF. The Gators' defense finished the fourth quarter with four sacks and another interception by cornerback Joe Haden.

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