Woeful South Carolina survives visit from WoffordBy Charles Bennett (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Photo GallerySouth Carolina vs. Wofford South Carolina hosteds Wofford in football Saturday night.
COLUMBIA — There was a funny aroma wafting over Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night, and it seemed to be emanating from the South Carolina Gamecocks. They absolutely reeked of desperation. South Carolina had to fight for its life to escape from the Wofford Terriers, eventually holding on for a 23-13 victory. "We knew Wofford would give us all we could handle and more and certainly they did," said USC coach Steve Spurrier. "It was interesting that our offense never punted, but it was a struggle." How close were the Gamecocks to losing to the Terriers? Very close. Leading 16-13, South Carolina chose to go for it on fourth and one at its own 39-yard line with 6:17 to play. A quarterback sneak by Chris Smelley got the Gamecocks the first down. "I did something I've never done," Spurrier said. "I said, 'Ask Ellis what he wants us to do.' " Ellis Johnson, South Carolina's defensive coordinator, told Spurrier to go for it. South Carolina went on to put the game away, finishing off a 75-yard drive that took 5:52 off the clock and culminated in Smelley's 17-yard touchdown pass to Dion LeCorn. The score came with 1:58 to play. "I thought our chances of making one yard were better than punting and getting them three and out," Spurrier said. "Fortunately we stuck it up in there and made it." Smelley said he had confidence in the call. "We knew we could make it," he said. "We wanted to stay out there and go for it. I guess it was a pretty big play in the game as it turned out." South Carolina (2-2) struggled on both offense and defense all night against Wofford (2-1). The Terriers finished with 285 yards in total offense, including 185 rushing. The Gamecocks finished with 376 yards in total offense, including 172 rushing. Smelley completed 23 of 33 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown, but also threw two interceptions and had a fumble. Most of his success came in the short passing game. "I went out there and played as hard as I could," Smelley said. "I tried to put the team in position to win a game, which was the overall goal. Did we play as well as we'd like to? No. But we won." Spurrier said he may go with redshirt freshman Stephen Garcia at quarterback next week. "Right now we can't score a lot of points against the air out there," Spurrier said. "Somehow or another we've got to find a way to score some touchdowns." It was the second time in three seasons Wofford almost upset the Gamecocks. The Terriers lost 27-20 in 2006, and Saturday night came dangerously close once again to pulling off the biggest upset in school history. Ryan Succop's third field goal of the game, this one from 19 yards out, had the Gamecocks clinging to a 16-10 lead with 14:49 to play, but Wofford countered with a 36-yard field goal by Patrick Mugan with 7:50 to play to cut the lead to 16-13. In the third quarter, Succop connected from 38 yards out. Both field goals were greeted by a smattering of boos from the crowd of 76,599, frustrated over the Gamecocks' inability to finish drives and put the Terriers away. "That was OK," Spurrier said of the boos. "I was all right with it." Trailing 10-7 at the half, the Terriers had tied the game on their opening possession of the third quarter, driving for a 25-yard field goal by Patrick Mugan. Thanks to a 7-yard touchdown run by Brian Maddox with 8:10 to play in the half, the Gamecocks had a rather tenuous 10-7 lead at halftime. And while the Gamecocks' defense only allowed one score, South Carolina's confusion against Wofford's triple option was evident from the outset. The Terriers controlled the ball for 16 plays and ate 7:38 off the clock on their first possession, but Mugan missed a 37-yard field goal. South Carolina countered with a long drive of its own and drove 75 yards in 18 plays, but had to settle for Succop's 22-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead. The lead didn't last long. Quarterback Ben Widmyer scored on a 50-yard run, the longest of his career, on Wofford's next position to put the Terriers ahead 7-3 with 10:50 to play in the second quarter. "We had our chances, but I'm proud of our kids," said Wofford coach Mike Ayers. "I think we're a better football team coming out of this game than we were going in." |
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Comments
This article has 16 comment(s)
Posted by UrGatorbait on September 21, 2008 at 1:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Poor Stevie, in the coaching graveyard at USCe. Wofford gave him fits? Who'da thunk it in the home of mediocrity?
Posted by lowcountrydawg on September 21, 2008 at 6 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I hear the moving trucks coming down I-20 and heading to the Spurrier residence...retirement looms...
Posted by youmanyo on September 21, 2008 at 8:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think they are pointing out the obvious , that you guys have one of the greatest coaches in the history of football and yet you still not that good. The old ball coach won at Duke , he took a Florida school which had never done anything and made them a powerhose , which helped make the SEC the powerhouse it is today. I still think Spurrier is a great coach he is just at a school that is hard to win at.
Posted by youmanyo on September 21, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is why you chicken fans should not get to caught up in the whole sec thing, the fans at other schools view you as a joke. It is the greatest conference in college football but its because of the Gators , Tigers , vols(maybe not anymore), and the bulldogs . Its not because of Vandy , Miss. State and you guys. Its like us in basketball the ACC has been great over the years but its because of the Tarholes , Puke and Maryland.
Posted by moonpie on September 21, 2008 at 9:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
youmanyo sums it up.
USC took a national champion coach (twice, Holtz too!) and turned them into this, a coach that could barely beat Wofford!
USC just doesn't have the football athletes and never have.
AND THE SEC IS THE GREATEST FOOTBALL CONFERENCE HANDS DOWN.
Posted by youmanyo on September 21, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That LSU , Auburn game was a heck of a game yesterday, the best of the day ,SEC at its finest .I would love to see both schools (Clemson and USC)elevate there programs to be top 10 teams , I just dont know if it will ever happen , grr .
Posted by dbeast420 on September 21, 2008 at 9:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
From the looks of it the biggest party SS will go to this year will be the "Feather Gathering" in November.
Come on Steve,go to another school with a decent program and continue your career in the glory you had at Florida.
Posted by SCHoser on September 21, 2008 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ummmm...any of you cock lovers actually been watching the lamecocks? Steve is a great coach, no doubt-but USC sucks right now. All the touchy feely past crapola doesn't cut it-Lou WAS a great coach too, but he failed miserably at USC and damaged his legendary status with a no win season. The rep of the coach ain't gonna cut it-programs need to WIN. I don't think ss intimidates anyone-he doesn't put the pads on-is this ya'lls way of trying to make yourselves feel better?
Posted by UrGatorbait on September 21, 2008 at 12:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We know what Stevie can do. We aren't afraid of him nor are many teams. We respect his abilities and talents as a coach. He can beat you if you aren't paying attention or listen to his poor mouthing. That's why they play the game.
Lou came here and perished, sadly, SOS is going to run off to a golf course somewhere in Florida, Georgia or South Carolina and enjoy life instead of trying to turn lead into gold.
UF was up and coming in the 80's until those fine folks at 'Bama and UT pushed the NCAA into investigating us and giving us the death penalty under Charley Pell. SOS came and did his thing and the rest is history.
I don't think USCe will ever attract the caliber of athletes needed to make USCe competitive. The game as passed SOS by. Sad but true. I saw an article about how the tactics of CFB have changed to a continuous adjustment of tactics/strategies instead of the slow chess match that SOS used while other coaches were playing checkers. If I can find the link I'll post it.
Posted by bigriver1 on September 21, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Stick a fork in them, they are done! LOL. WOFFORD had more rushing yardage! Where is that great defense? Is it baseball season yet? Next legend please! LOL.
Posted by lowcountrydawg on September 21, 2008 at 5:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
With Vandy now ranked #21 in the country does that make USC the new SEC pushover?
Posted by mnbvcxz on September 21, 2008 at 6:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
they should have signed AJ Green
Posted by chs294 on September 21, 2008 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Is it a coincidence that Spurrier's decline(appearant) came about the same time the rest of the SEC brought their schemes out of the 60's? This was a power , grind it out conference when Spurrier was "throwin' it around" and driving every coach crazy. Now everyone does that(for the most part) and know how to prepare.
Posted by UrGatorbait on September 21, 2008 at 11:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Spurrier pioneered the match/mismatch game planning but now people have advanced that method. He's kinda left behind now.
AJ Green is going to be super receiver.
Posted by wonderdog on September 22, 2008 at 7:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's great to see AJ Green making such an impact as a freshman in the SEC.
I realize many think that AJ should have gone to USC, but why would AJ want to do that when he was being recruited by so many others?
Posted by ertman on September 22, 2008 at 3:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Gamecocks come away with a victory and you guys just start bashing?
Simple fact is, Spurrier needs to stay there for longer than four years to establish consistency. That's where championships come from - a long-standing coach that develops a community and a personality to their program. Up until recently, Spurrier has been trying to change the mindset left over by Lou/Brad and what was left of Lou's players. This is the first year that Spurrier's players are truly there, and they're very young.
Their offense struggles mightily right now, trying to find an identity, but their defense is ranked #9 overall in the country, and that includes the UGA game. Do you really think Clemson or any other ACC team could hold UGA to 14 points? I think not.
No one can say that USC is anything more than an average team, but to paint them as horrible is not only wrong, but is also ignorant and hateful. Then again, that's what I've come to expect from Clemson fans - folks you have a program that is just as mediocre as the Gamecocks. Last ACC Championship game in 1991? You are a mid-level program in the ACC, which doesn't even come close to being mid-level in the SEC. The one feather in your cap is that you beat USC more often than not. Wow. I'd rather never win that rivalry game if it meant playing for a conference championship. It means nothing in the big picture, yet that's ALL YOU CAN TALK ABOUT.
Make no mistake: Spurrier will be in Columbia for several more years. Every year there will be small improvements, and every year Spurrier's players will get better, and the overall talent level will increase. Tammy will continue to lead Clemson astray, failing to gameplan for your opponents, letting guys who beat women up off the hook while simultaneously claiming to be a good Christian, and wasting the awesome talent that you somehow get year after year. Clemson is happy staying right where they are, in the middle of a weak conference, while Carolina is on the way up.
Oh, and Tammy cried on National TV. Ha.