Go ahead, admit it.

Although Steve Spurrier was coy about who’d get the start for USC in Saturday’s road game at Ole Miss, you knew it was going to be Stephen Garcia. It had to be, right?

The slightly tarnished Golden Boy with the Golden Arm got most of the snaps against UAB, leading the Gamecocks to a workmanlike victory. At last the freshman saw quality playing time and followers of the program in Columbia figured a new era was under way.

His performance was nothing fancy by any means, and it came against a team that would struggle at the Football Championship Subdivision level. But the fans needed something to get them excited again, and Garcia provided the spark.

So when Spurrier tapped Chris Smelley to start against the Rebels, it came as a bit of a surprise.

Maybe even a letdown.

Here was a guy who had been the poster child for the team’s offensive struggles, throwing just six touchdowns against six picks and registering 844 yards.

Obviously the Head Ball Coach knew something fanboys and fangirls didn’t. And at the end of the day, there was nary a complaint from those clad in Garnet and Black that Garcia spent a sunny day in Oxford riding the pine.

Why? Because USC was able to ride Smelley’s arm to a big 31-24 victory on the road.

Certainly the embattled signal caller wasn’t a one-man show — after getting stunned early the defense came up big, scoring a touchdown and ending a late drive that could’ve possibly pushed this one into overtime. Yet with his team at the crossroads, Smelley finally stepped up and looked like a guy who can help salvage the season.

While no one is ready to name the up-and-down QB the starter for the rest of the 2008 season — although Spurrier did say he is definitely the starter for the foreseeable future — Smelley put together the type game Darth Visor demands from his field generals. The 327 aerial yards the sophomore piled up was a career high, and three touchdowns on a 22-31-1 day behind center is as solid as the Gamecocks have seen at the position in quite a while.

The significance of this win can’t be overstated. A loss would’ve dropped Carolina to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the SEC, and that could’ve sent the team into a nosedive.

Whether pushed by Garcia or simply determined to be a leader when his team needed one most, Smelley responded to the challenge yesterday. With the balance of the season featuring Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida and Clemson, 4-2 USC now looks like a team that can and will go bowling.

Will Smelley be the one that leads the way?

The ball is definitely in his court — even if the court of public opinion might still be leaning toward Garcia.