COLUMBIA — In all the talk of Steve Spurrier’s future and South Carolina’s late-season skidding, one fact seems to have been overlooked this week.

Oh yeah, the No. 1 team in the country is coming to town today (3:30 p.m., CBS).

Florida hasn’t been nearly as flashy as it was a year ago, but even those Gators lost a game.

This team is 9-0. It sewed up a berth in the SEC title game three weeks ago.

“They’re a good team,” Spurrier said Thursday. “We all know that.”

But do we?

The defense is regarded as arguably the best in the country, but the Tim Tebow-run offense has been put under a microscope this season.

“There has been frustration,” said Tebow, who’ll be playing his last SEC regular-season game. “Not clicking as well as we want to has been a little bit frustrating. But we haven’t had to deal with a loss.”

Added Florida coach Urban Meyer: “Obviously, on offense, we’re still a work in progress.”

But South Carolina isn’t buying that these Gators are all that vulnerable.

“Don’t kid yourselves,” Gamecocks defensive head coach Ellis Johnson said.

“They’re one of the top two or three offenses in the conference. They can run it or throw it.”

A quick stat comparison says they’re really not far off their pace from last season’s national championship run.

They’re 6 yards off their total offense average (445 a game in 2008, 439 in ‘09). They’re actually picking up about 9 more yards a game on the ground.

Points a game is really the only area where Florida has slightly regressed.

They put up 43.6 points a game last year, compared to 35 a game this season.

Hard to feel too badly for a team averaging five touchdowns a game.

Like South Carolina, the Gators haven’t been quite as good in the red zone.

They’re second in the league with 21 field goals attempted.

But that’s easily put in perspective.

“I’d rather be talking about field goals than a loss,” Tebow said.

Perhaps people are getting too accustomed to the offense’s success. The Gators are basically competing with their own lofty track record.

“That’s the way life is,” Spurrier said. “They were so good last year. They haven’t been quite as, well, proficient — scored as many points. But they score when they have to.”

Johnson had a creative take on it all.

“It’s like watching a rerun; it’s not as exciting the second time around,” Johnson said. “But it’s still the same movie.”

A little later, he took the analogy a step further.

“Everybody watches Tebow and says, ‘It isn’t the same Tebow’,” Johnson said.

“He’s the same Tebow, but everybody’s been watching him for three years. It’s just like watching the Godfather three times; the blood doesn’t look as bad the third time.”

Tebow ran for five touchdowns and threw for two more here two years ago, basically winning the Heisman that night.

“That game probably helped,” Tebow said. “They’re a little bit different team this time around than they were then.”

Last year, Florida took advantage of early turnovers for a 21-0 first-quarter lead and a 56-6 romp in the Swamp.

“We were really sorry,” said Spurrier, the 1966 Heisman winner as a Gator.

But Percy Harvin was a giant reason for the Gators’ blowout a year ago. He had a career-high 167 rushing yards against the Gamecocks.

Spurrier happily noted on his call-in show Thursday that Harvin is now playing with the Minnesota Vikings.

“I said last year he’s the best athlete in college football,” Spurrier said.

“They’re missing about three long touchdowns from him in every game right now.”

Without Harvin, Florida has shifted away from home-run plays. Now the Gators are something akin to Alabama; they want to physically beat you down in the run game.

Emmanuel Moody is the bigger Florida back that might get a good number of carries today. Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey are the speedsters that average more than 7 yards a touch.

“This year, to me, they’re more physical,” Johnson said. “They’re staying on the field longer and they’re controlling the ball. They’re creating a problem of a different nature.”

South Carolina hung in against then-No. 2 Alabama, holding the Tide without an offensive touchdown until the last five minutes of the game in a 20-6 loss.

The challenge is the same today, Johnson said.

“Possession time will be key,” he said. “If we don’t stay on the field offensively, and we don’t find a way to create some turnovers defensively, it’s going to be a long day.”

And that’s a movie Gamecocks fans would presume to not see again.

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