Despite suffering a heartbreaking 23-21 loss at LSU Saturday night, South Carolina still has plenty to play for. USC still controls its own destiny for a spot in the SEC Championship and could go a long way toward securing a trip to Atlanta if it's able to win Saturday afternoon at Florida.
The Gamecocks are two-thirds of the way through one of the toughest three-game stretches in the country and will take part in a third straight top-10 matchup when it travels to The Swamp to face the Gators at 3:30 on Saturday. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.
ESPN's College GameDay will also be in Gainesville, marking the second time in three weeks the popular ESPN college football preview show will be on hand for a Gamecocks' game.
USC came in at No. 7 in the initial BCS standings, which were released Sunday night, and the Gamecocks could jump back into the national title discussion if it can win at Florida, which is ranked No. 2 in the BCS.
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday during his teleconference that despite the loss his team knows it can still reach its goals.
“Even if we somehow would've lucked up and won the game (against LSU) we've gotta beat Florida. We've gotta beat Florida to win the Eastern Division or have a chance to win the Eastern Division,” he said.
The Gators are the only remaining undefeated team in the SEC East. Georgia and South Carolina each have one loss, while Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Missouri and Kentucky each have at least three losses.
If USC can win at Florida it will need wins against Tennessee and Arkansas at home to secure a trip to the SEC Championship. With a loss, the Gamecocks are all but eliminated from contention.
“Florida's pretty much in the driver's seat but yet they've still gotta beat us and Georgia. It's wide-open pretty much. Three teams are still in it. A lot can happen in the next two or three weeks,” Spurrier said.
USC running back Marcus Lattimore, a former Byrnes standout, said following the loss to LSU that the team knows it still has a chance for a special season.
“That's what we talked about (after the game). All of our goals are still there, and we can accomplish them,” he said.
If USC is to win at Florida its defense will likely have to play better than it did against the Tigers. LSU dominated up front, rushing for 258 yards. Sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said after the loss to the Tigers he was disappointed with the way the defense played.
“Our front seven didn't come to play. We gave up too many yards and too many third-down conversions. We can't win like that,” Clowney said. “Some guys came out to play, but some guys didn't. It may have been because of injuries. It may be because they were scared. We will address that in practice. We can't come out against Florida like that.”
Spurrier agreed with Clowney, saying he noticed some players seemed to be playing timid.
“(I was) extremely disappointed in the effort. Some of our guys got smashed last night. They acted like they were afraid of LSU,” Spurrier said. “It was very disappointing, the overall effort and energy level of some of our guys. It's hard to figure out why we couldn't really get into the game. As we know, football is a game of emotion. It's a game of who's got the most fire in their tank and LSU had a lot more fire than we did.”
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8Hkh?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-football
The Gamecocks are two-thirds of the way through one of the toughest three-game stretches in the country and will take part in a third straight top-10 matchup when it travels to The Swamp to face the Gators at 3:30 on Saturday. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.
ESPN's College GameDay will also be in Gainesville, marking the second time in three weeks the popular ESPN college football preview show will be on hand for a Gamecocks' game.
USC came in at No. 7 in the initial BCS standings, which were released Sunday night, and the Gamecocks could jump back into the national title discussion if it can win at Florida, which is ranked No. 2 in the BCS.
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday during his teleconference that despite the loss his team knows it can still reach its goals.
“Even if we somehow would've lucked up and won the game (against LSU) we've gotta beat Florida. We've gotta beat Florida to win the Eastern Division or have a chance to win the Eastern Division,” he said.
The Gators are the only remaining undefeated team in the SEC East. Georgia and South Carolina each have one loss, while Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Missouri and Kentucky each have at least three losses.
If USC can win at Florida it will need wins against Tennessee and Arkansas at home to secure a trip to the SEC Championship. With a loss, the Gamecocks are all but eliminated from contention.
“Florida's pretty much in the driver's seat but yet they've still gotta beat us and Georgia. It's wide-open pretty much. Three teams are still in it. A lot can happen in the next two or three weeks,” Spurrier said.
USC running back Marcus Lattimore, a former Byrnes standout, said following the loss to LSU that the team knows it still has a chance for a special season.
“That's what we talked about (after the game). All of our goals are still there, and we can accomplish them,” he said.
If USC is to win at Florida its defense will likely have to play better than it did against the Tigers. LSU dominated up front, rushing for 258 yards. Sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said after the loss to the Tigers he was disappointed with the way the defense played.
“Our front seven didn't come to play. We gave up too many yards and too many third-down conversions. We can't win like that,” Clowney said. “Some guys came out to play, but some guys didn't. It may have been because of injuries. It may be because they were scared. We will address that in practice. We can't come out against Florida like that.”
Spurrier agreed with Clowney, saying he noticed some players seemed to be playing timid.
“(I was) extremely disappointed in the effort. Some of our guys got smashed last night. They acted like they were afraid of LSU,” Spurrier said. “It was very disappointing, the overall effort and energy level of some of our guys. It's hard to figure out why we couldn't really get into the game. As we know, football is a game of emotion. It's a game of who's got the most fire in their tank and LSU had a lot more fire than we did.”
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8Hkh?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-football
