September 26? 2005
COLUMBIA -- On the surface, at least, all was right in the South Carolina locker room Sunday.
The Gamecocks were coming off a convincing 45-20 win over Troy, one that evened their record at 2-2 and answered a lot of questions about USC's running game, its defense and whether or not coach Steve Spurrier's plan of substituting in several new starters would work.
The chinks in the armor appeared without too close of an inspection.
USC scored six touchdowns. The first four came after Troy turned the ball over.
The Gamecocks broke the century mark with 116 rushing yards, their best output of the season. Mike Davis led the way with 78 yards on 19 carries, but it was against a defense that entered the game ranking 82nd in the country against the run.
Newly-minted defensemen Tremaine Tyler, Stoney Woodson, Brandon Isaac, Dakota Walker, Marvin Sapp and Ryan Brown all played great, recording several big plays, but how well could they be praised when it was Troy that gave away two early drives, one on a fumble on the Gamecocks' 8-yard line and the other on an interception when the Trojans had done nothing but succeed with the rush?
And the kicker -- the scoreboard showed a lot of points but not USC's stagnant pass protection, allowing eight tackles for loss and five sacks, one of which knocked starting quarterback Blake Mitchell out of the game (and maybe a few more) with a sprained ankle.
"I don't know what kind of game," a flustered Steve Spurrier said afterwards. "I thought most of the time, the guys played with a lot of effort. Play a team like Troy and watch the quarterback get hit time after time after time ...
"Very poor pass protection team."
Spurrier, as per his personality, was brutally honest about the Gamecocks' performance. He was happy to get the win but knew there was an infinite stretch of road to go before USC could be where he thinks it could be.
"I don't want to praise our guys too much for beating this team," Spurrier said. "Had a few good plays here and there. Still a long way off."
The worst part is, this may be as good as it's going to get in Spurrier's first season -- a win where you have to point out everything that went wrong for the opponent while your own team didn't show much improvement, even against a team hand-picked to stuff the schedule.
"We beat two little guys, lost to two big guys," Spurrier said.
With a date at Auburn looming on Saturday, Spurrier is having to address the same problems with a few new ones added on. The running game looked good in spots (Daccus Turman's nine-yard, three tackle-breaking touchdown run was as good as anything George Rogers did in his day), but for the most part was wrapped at the line or forced to run backwards. The defense was shredded early against the run before the Trojans hadd to abandon it and go to the air, which USC could handle a lot better.
And the biggest one -- if Mitchell can't go against Auburn (the latest report has him as "doubtful"), can Antonio Heffner, thought to be the Corey Jenkins to Mitchell's Phil Petty (a guy brought in to run for the first down), handle the switch to starter while Cade Thompson, a true freshman with no varsity snaps, or walk-on Brett Nichols waits in the No. 2 spot?
So while a few folks gathered around to hear the story of Michael Flint's return from a broken hand to catch a touchdown spiral with a gorgeous leaping grab, or to hear how good it felt for 41-year-old receiver Tim "Pops" Frisby to haul in his first collegiate grab, Spurrier slipped out of the interview room and went back to his office.
Still too much work to do.
? NOTE: Spurrier said Sunday that Mitchell's ankle was placed in a cast, which will be switched for a soft cast this week. He will probably miss practice today and Tuesday, and Spurrier said that players who usually miss practice don't play.
Spurrier also seemed to be using Nichols as Heffner's backup, choosing to keep Thompson a redshirt unless he absolutely has to use him.
COLUMBIA -- On the surface, at least, all was right in the South Carolina locker room Sunday.
The Gamecocks were coming off a convincing 45-20 win over Troy, one that evened their record at 2-2 and answered a lot of questions about USC's running game, its defense and whether or not coach Steve Spurrier's plan of substituting in several new starters would work.
The chinks in the armor appeared without too close of an inspection.
USC scored six touchdowns. The first four came after Troy turned the ball over.
The Gamecocks broke the century mark with 116 rushing yards, their best output of the season. Mike Davis led the way with 78 yards on 19 carries, but it was against a defense that entered the game ranking 82nd in the country against the run.
Newly-minted defensemen Tremaine Tyler, Stoney Woodson, Brandon Isaac, Dakota Walker, Marvin Sapp and Ryan Brown all played great, recording several big plays, but how well could they be praised when it was Troy that gave away two early drives, one on a fumble on the Gamecocks' 8-yard line and the other on an interception when the Trojans had done nothing but succeed with the rush?
And the kicker -- the scoreboard showed a lot of points but not USC's stagnant pass protection, allowing eight tackles for loss and five sacks, one of which knocked starting quarterback Blake Mitchell out of the game (and maybe a few more) with a sprained ankle.
"I don't know what kind of game," a flustered Steve Spurrier said afterwards. "I thought most of the time, the guys played with a lot of effort. Play a team like Troy and watch the quarterback get hit time after time after time ...
"Very poor pass protection team."
Spurrier, as per his personality, was brutally honest about the Gamecocks' performance. He was happy to get the win but knew there was an infinite stretch of road to go before USC could be where he thinks it could be.
"I don't want to praise our guys too much for beating this team," Spurrier said. "Had a few good plays here and there. Still a long way off."
The worst part is, this may be as good as it's going to get in Spurrier's first season -- a win where you have to point out everything that went wrong for the opponent while your own team didn't show much improvement, even against a team hand-picked to stuff the schedule.
"We beat two little guys, lost to two big guys," Spurrier said.
With a date at Auburn looming on Saturday, Spurrier is having to address the same problems with a few new ones added on. The running game looked good in spots (Daccus Turman's nine-yard, three tackle-breaking touchdown run was as good as anything George Rogers did in his day), but for the most part was wrapped at the line or forced to run backwards. The defense was shredded early against the run before the Trojans hadd to abandon it and go to the air, which USC could handle a lot better.
And the biggest one -- if Mitchell can't go against Auburn (the latest report has him as "doubtful"), can Antonio Heffner, thought to be the Corey Jenkins to Mitchell's Phil Petty (a guy brought in to run for the first down), handle the switch to starter while Cade Thompson, a true freshman with no varsity snaps, or walk-on Brett Nichols waits in the No. 2 spot?
So while a few folks gathered around to hear the story of Michael Flint's return from a broken hand to catch a touchdown spiral with a gorgeous leaping grab, or to hear how good it felt for 41-year-old receiver Tim "Pops" Frisby to haul in his first collegiate grab, Spurrier slipped out of the interview room and went back to his office.
Still too much work to do.
? NOTE: Spurrier said Sunday that Mitchell's ankle was placed in a cast, which will be switched for a soft cast this week. He will probably miss practice today and Tuesday, and Spurrier said that players who usually miss practice don't play.
Spurrier also seemed to be using Nichols as Heffner's backup, choosing to keep Thompson a redshirt unless he absolutely has to use him.
