It's back to the drawing board for South Carolina after a loss at Florida where just about everything that could go wrong for the Gamecocks did.
USC, which is ranked No. 13 in the latest BCS standings released Sunday, turned the ball over early and often in a 44-11 loss to the Gators and now must try to regroup with SEC East rival Tennessee coming to Columbia on Saturday.
USC head coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday during his teleconference that it's important for his team to regroup and be ready to play Saturday. He added it will be nice to play at home after back-to-back road games against Top 10 opponents.
“I know our crowd helps us (playing at home). We've still got plenty of goals out there to achieve this year. We've got a bunch of teams at home here coming up. Hopefully our guys can regroup and get their minds straight,” Spurrier said.
“We're 6-2. There are a lot of teams out there who would like to be 6-2.”
Spurrier reiterated on Sunday how disappointed he was that first-half fumbles didn't give his team a chance to win. The Gators had negative-9 yards in the first quarter and managed just 38 yards in the first half but held a 21-3 halftime lead thanks to three fumbles by USC.
“Everyone was there that saw it and saw it on TV. We fumbled the thing away early and really did not give our team a chance to play to win the game,” Spurrier said.
“We went from 7-3 to 21-3 without running an offensive play. It's embarrassing to lose that way. Good teams don't fumble the way we did yesterday. We're really not a very good team right now. We were pretty good two weeks ago and somehow or another we've gotta get back to that confidence level.”
One position where USC seems to be lacking confidence is at quarterback. Connor Shaw was benched for the second half in favor of former Boiling Springs product Dylan Thompson. Thompson finished the game 8-for-20 for 83 yards with an interception after Shaw was 9-for-20 for 72 yards in the first half.
Spurrier said Sunday he expects Shaw to remain the starting quarterback.
“We haven't talked about it too much. In all likelihood Connor will go back starting. Connor I think, with his ability to run, certainly helps our running game,” he said. “Every Gamecock alive knows we need to run the ball, and I know we need to too.”
Shaw said after Saturday's game he expects the team to regroup for the rest of the season.
“We have a lot to play for. We want to find out a lot about the character on this team. I feel like we have a lot of leaders on this team. We'll step up and get ready for Tennessee,” he said.
Former Byrnes star Marcus Lattimore will look to spark the running game against Tennessee after struggling to get much going on the ground the past two weeks.
The junior had just three carries for 13 yards against the Gators and didn't start the game because of a hip injury. However, Spurrier expects Lattimore to be ready to go against the Volunteers. Spurrier said Lattimore was only given three carries against Florida because once the game got out of hand he wanted to ensure he stayed healthy.
“When the score got out of hand we just felt like it'd be stupid to get him hurt. It just seemed smart to save him for the Tennessee game. He'll be fine this week,” Spurrier said.
Tennessee comes to town with plenty of problems of its own. The Volunteers are 3-4 and have lost three straight games, all to ranked opponents.
There's some talk that Tennessee coach Derek Dooley's job might be on the line in the upcoming weeks if the Volunteers have another losing season. Spurrier said he's not thinking about that, though.
“We've gotta worry about ourselves. We can't worry about our opponents right now, we've gotta worry about the Gamecocks,” he said. “We're worried about trying to hold onto the ball and play a good, solid game against Tennessee.”
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8LrH?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-football
USC, which is ranked No. 13 in the latest BCS standings released Sunday, turned the ball over early and often in a 44-11 loss to the Gators and now must try to regroup with SEC East rival Tennessee coming to Columbia on Saturday.
USC head coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday during his teleconference that it's important for his team to regroup and be ready to play Saturday. He added it will be nice to play at home after back-to-back road games against Top 10 opponents.
“I know our crowd helps us (playing at home). We've still got plenty of goals out there to achieve this year. We've got a bunch of teams at home here coming up. Hopefully our guys can regroup and get their minds straight,” Spurrier said.
“We're 6-2. There are a lot of teams out there who would like to be 6-2.”
Spurrier reiterated on Sunday how disappointed he was that first-half fumbles didn't give his team a chance to win. The Gators had negative-9 yards in the first quarter and managed just 38 yards in the first half but held a 21-3 halftime lead thanks to three fumbles by USC.
“Everyone was there that saw it and saw it on TV. We fumbled the thing away early and really did not give our team a chance to play to win the game,” Spurrier said.
“We went from 7-3 to 21-3 without running an offensive play. It's embarrassing to lose that way. Good teams don't fumble the way we did yesterday. We're really not a very good team right now. We were pretty good two weeks ago and somehow or another we've gotta get back to that confidence level.”
One position where USC seems to be lacking confidence is at quarterback. Connor Shaw was benched for the second half in favor of former Boiling Springs product Dylan Thompson. Thompson finished the game 8-for-20 for 83 yards with an interception after Shaw was 9-for-20 for 72 yards in the first half.
Spurrier said Sunday he expects Shaw to remain the starting quarterback.
“We haven't talked about it too much. In all likelihood Connor will go back starting. Connor I think, with his ability to run, certainly helps our running game,” he said. “Every Gamecock alive knows we need to run the ball, and I know we need to too.”
Shaw said after Saturday's game he expects the team to regroup for the rest of the season.
“We have a lot to play for. We want to find out a lot about the character on this team. I feel like we have a lot of leaders on this team. We'll step up and get ready for Tennessee,” he said.
Former Byrnes star Marcus Lattimore will look to spark the running game against Tennessee after struggling to get much going on the ground the past two weeks.
The junior had just three carries for 13 yards against the Gators and didn't start the game because of a hip injury. However, Spurrier expects Lattimore to be ready to go against the Volunteers. Spurrier said Lattimore was only given three carries against Florida because once the game got out of hand he wanted to ensure he stayed healthy.
“When the score got out of hand we just felt like it'd be stupid to get him hurt. It just seemed smart to save him for the Tennessee game. He'll be fine this week,” Spurrier said.
Tennessee comes to town with plenty of problems of its own. The Volunteers are 3-4 and have lost three straight games, all to ranked opponents.
There's some talk that Tennessee coach Derek Dooley's job might be on the line in the upcoming weeks if the Volunteers have another losing season. Spurrier said he's not thinking about that, though.
“We've gotta worry about ourselves. We can't worry about our opponents right now, we've gotta worry about the Gamecocks,” he said. “We're worried about trying to hold onto the ball and play a good, solid game against Tennessee.”
link: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d8LrH?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=south-carolina-football
