Georgia coach Mark Richt was asked a few days before his game with Tennessee about the significance of his upset victory in Neyland Stadium four years ago. He didn't minimize the impact.

"Our players started thinking, 'Maybe, these guys do know what they're talking about,' " he said.

Richt was a first-year head coach at the time. Like any other first-year head coach, his success was determined, in part, by how well and how quickly the players bought into his system.

A coach can sell himself and his program with words for only so long. Eventually, he has to back them up with something more substantial. That upset victory over a talented UT team in 2001 helped give Richt credibility.

Now, you can't help but wonder what South Carolina's 16-15 upset over UT last Saturday night will do for coach Steve Spurrier.

In the 1990s, Spurrier won four consecutive SEC titles and a national championship. That does wonders for your credibility.

But that was at Florida, and that was lifetime ago to the players on Spurrier's first South Carolina team. Players don't want to know what you did somewhere else in another decade. They want firsthand evidence.

Spurrier gave it to them Saturday night. He proved he still knows how to win the games that matter most.

My first reaction to Spurrier's hiring: It was a huge coup for South Carolina, which would rise to new heights in college football. My second reaction: The program had slipped so far under Holtz, not even Spurrier could save it; instead, he would grow weary of being pummeled by teams he once dominated and stick with the Gamecocks about as long as he did the Washington Redskins.

My third reaction (after Saturday night): This could get interesting.

Don't get me wrong. One victory doesn't mean South Carolina will suddenly rocket its way into the Top 25. In fact, it's a four-point underdog Saturday against a 2-5 Arkansas team.

You have to look beyond this week and this season. Think "recruiting."

"We can tell a young man now at South Carolina we have a chance," Spurrier said during Sunday's teleconference. "If we can go into Knoxville and beat that team some way, somehow or another, then we have a chance to do some big things here."

Since the end of last season, no team in the SEC has suffered more attrition than the Gamecocks. Only four players who started against UT started the last game of the 2004 season. Among the missing are leading receiver Troy Williamson, who turned pro early; running backs Cory Boyd (suspended for the season) and Demetris Summers (kicked off the team); quarterback/running back/wide receiver Syvelle Newon (suffered a season-ending injury against Vanderbilt).

Despite all the losses, despite playing 12 freshmen, despite breaking in a new quarterback, despite the transition to a new coaching staff, the Gamecocks beat UT for the first time in 13 years and almost beat Georgia. Even if they don't win another game this season, their fans have reason to be optimistic.

Recruits also have reason to be optimistic -- especially if they're a quarterback or wide receiver.

No matter where Spurrier has coached in college football, he always has made the most of his quarterbacks and receivers. And he always has found ways to move the ball, even against good defenses.

Two years in the NFL and another year away from football haven't changed that.

In 12 years at Florida, Spurrier was 8-4 against UT and 11-1 against Georgia. Until Saturday night, those were just numbers to South Carolina players.

Now, the numbers have life.

Never mind how badly the Gamecocks were beaten by Auburn (48-7) or Alabama (37-14), they have proved in two games under Spurrier that they can hold their own against two of the top three programs in the East. That means more for the future of South Carolina football than winning the Outback Bowl.

It doesn't just send a message to this year's team and next year's recruits. It sends a message to the SEC East: An already-tough division is about to get tougher.