Spurrier keeps focus on victory despite poor passing effort
COLUMBIA — South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier doesn’t want to hear about the Gamecocks’ passing struggles, a botched pass-interference call late in the game against Vanderbilt or whether quarterback Connor Shaw’s head-first slides led to the injury that might keep him out of this week’s game.
South Carolina remained at No. 9 in both the AP and USA Today rankings released on Tuesday.
Spurrier said Tuesday what matters is No. 9 South Carolina played hard down the stretch and opened Southeastern Conference play with a 17-13 road victory over the Commodores.
The Gamecocks’ attack wasn’t pretty. They finished with just 67 yards passing — last in the Southeastern Conference among teams that played — and again relied on rushing and defense to pull out the win.
“I want our fans to realize we are not as bad as maybe some people think we are,” Spurrier said Tuesday.
Spurrier was among the skeptics early on, disappointed and humbled with his team’s offensive struggles. Then he got a call from longtime friend Bobby Stoops, coach of fifth-ranked Oklahoma. Stoops offered the wide-angle, big picture view.
“He went on to say, ‘It’s a conference game. You’re on the road, team fired up,’ this, that and the other, quarterback got knocked out in the second quarter. Came back and put a drive together in the fourth quarter to score and put another drive or two together to run off over 10 minutes in the fourth quarter,” Spurrier recounted.
Spurrier also brushed off the controversy of safety D.J. Swearinger’s coverage on Vanderbilt receiver Jordan Matthews. Replays showed Swearinger grabbing Matthews’ arm before the ball arrived on the fourth-down pass that proved to be Vanderbilt’s final play. Spurrier called Swearinger’s effort “outstanding.”
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8pma?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-footbal
COLUMBIA — South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier doesn’t want to hear about the Gamecocks’ passing struggles, a botched pass-interference call late in the game against Vanderbilt or whether quarterback Connor Shaw’s head-first slides led to the injury that might keep him out of this week’s game.
South Carolina remained at No. 9 in both the AP and USA Today rankings released on Tuesday.
Spurrier said Tuesday what matters is No. 9 South Carolina played hard down the stretch and opened Southeastern Conference play with a 17-13 road victory over the Commodores.
The Gamecocks’ attack wasn’t pretty. They finished with just 67 yards passing — last in the Southeastern Conference among teams that played — and again relied on rushing and defense to pull out the win.
“I want our fans to realize we are not as bad as maybe some people think we are,” Spurrier said Tuesday.
Spurrier was among the skeptics early on, disappointed and humbled with his team’s offensive struggles. Then he got a call from longtime friend Bobby Stoops, coach of fifth-ranked Oklahoma. Stoops offered the wide-angle, big picture view.
“He went on to say, ‘It’s a conference game. You’re on the road, team fired up,’ this, that and the other, quarterback got knocked out in the second quarter. Came back and put a drive together in the fourth quarter to score and put another drive or two together to run off over 10 minutes in the fourth quarter,” Spurrier recounted.
Spurrier also brushed off the controversy of safety D.J. Swearinger’s coverage on Vanderbilt receiver Jordan Matthews. Replays showed Swearinger grabbing Matthews’ arm before the ball arrived on the fourth-down pass that proved to be Vanderbilt’s final play. Spurrier called Swearinger’s effort “outstanding.”
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8pma?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-footbal
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