Marcus Lattimore rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns, and Stephen Garcia passed for a touchdown and ran for two more as No. 12 South Carolina rallied for a 56-37 victory over East Carolina on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.

After setting school records for touchdowns (62) and points (478) a year ago, East Carolina picked up where it left off in the first half. Dominique Davis threw three touchdown passes to help the Pirates build a 24-14 halftime lead.

But East Carolina (0-1) opened the second half by losing fumbles on each of its first three possessions and all three led to South Carolina touchdowns. The Gamecocks also scored the fifth of their six touchdowns in the second half after taking over at the Pirates' 31 on an interception.

In addition to forcing five turnovers and scoring a defensive touchdown, the Gamecocks also had a special teams score as Ace Sanders returned a punt 68 yards in the fourth quarter. Sanders also had a 3-yard touchdown reception.

Davis threw a fourth touchdown pass in the second half and rushed for another score. He finished 37-of-56 passing for 260 yards. Lance Lewis had 13 catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns for the Pirates.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier tied Jim Carlen for second on the school's all-time coaching wins list with 45. He is 19 wins behind Rex Enright.

Spurrier improved to 42-0 all-time against teams outside the BCS automatic qualifier conferences, including 16-0 against those teams with the Gamecocks.