TheState.com: GoGamecocks: Football

Commentary: Play-call duties at heart of debate

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:37 EST

FOUR GAMES, 49 POINTS and one looming question: Is it time for Steve Spurrier to take over all of South Carolina's offensive play-calling again?

That was the $1.75 million question on Gamecock message boards following Saturday's 33-16 loss to Arkansas - the fourth consecutive game in which USC failed to break 17 points.

This is not the lowest-scoring, four-game stretch during Spurrier's five-year USC tenure. The Gamecocks managed a total of 37 points over the final three games of last season - lopsided losses to Florida, Clemson and Iowa - and the 7-3 opening win at N.C. State this year.

But the inability to find the end zone consistently has prompted many fans to wonder whether the Gamecocks would be better off with Spurrier calling all the plays, as he did his first three seasons in Columbia.

Since Spurrier began sharing play-calling duties with his son, receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr., before the 2008 season, the Gamecocks are scoring about 21 points a game. USC averaged 26 points in 2006 and '07.

Notes: Saunders critical of pass opportunities

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:39 EST

USC tight end wants more passes thrown his way; coaches want more Sherman

It was Weslye being Weslye.

After a good game at Arkansas, USC tight end Weslye Saunders suggested his lack of involvement in recent weeks was related to the fact that Steve Spurrier Jr., who shares play-calling duties with his father, coaches the Gamecocks' receivers.

It is not the first time Saunders, whose father is a columnist with The News & Observer in Raleigh, has spoken out this season. Before the opener against N.C. State, Saunders said he would ask Steve Spurrier if he could take a 15-yard, celebration penalty if he scored against his hometown school.

"Sometimes Weslye says things I don't think he really means what he's saying, and it comes out as if he's very individualistic about just wanting passes thrown his way all the time," Spurrier said Sunday.

Spurrier defends play-calling system

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:01 EST

After another game in which the offense failed to score 20 points, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier defended the Gamecocks’ play-calling system Sunday during his teleconference with reporters.

A day after Gamecocks tight end Weslye Saunders referred to receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. as the main play-caller, Spurrier said he is still calling most of the plays, including the ill-fated fade route to Alshon Jeffery that Arkansas picked off to change momentum in the Hogs’ 33-16 win.

Spurrier Sr. did not put a percentage on the number of plays he calls. The process starts in the press box with Spurrier Jr., who relays a call down to the field, where quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus signals it in.

Sometimes Spurrier Sr. overrules it. Sometimes offensive line coach Eric Wolford suggests a play.

Bottom line: When USC averages 12 points a game, as it has over the past four games, the system is going to come under question.

Oh, snap: O-line's crumble continues

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - It was another poor day for the South Carolina offensive line.

Once again, the troubles of the Gamecocks mirrored those of their front five. After a solid first half, the offensive fell apart in the 33-16 loss at Arkansas.

The line committed four false-start penalties.

It yielded two sacks and several other pressures.

Then there was the play that seemed to signal the team's demise.

QBs aim to be elite company

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Stephen Garcia has known Arkansas' Ryan Mallett since the two attended the Elite Eleven quarterback camp in 2006.

Having witnessed Mallett's arm strength for a week in California, Garcia is not surprised by his success.

"He's got a cannon. I saw that when I first met him. He throws the ball as hard and as well as I've ever seen anybody throw it," Garcia said. "It's very impressive to watch. He's a good player."

Mallett and Garcia entered Saturday's game ranked 1-2 in the SEC in passing yardage, and neither did anything to hurt his standing in the Razorbacks' 33-16 victory.

Mallett set a school record with a .852 completion percentage (23 of 27) and finished with 329 yards. Garcia completed 20 of 34 passes for a career-high 327 yards and one touchdown.

Saunders speaks out: Targets a concern

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - South Carolina's Weslye Saunders kept looking at his counterpart at Arkansas, and feeling envious.

D.J. Williams, the Arkansas tight end, was the featured receiver for the Razorbacks, catching seven passes for 145 yards.

Saunders, meanwhile, was absent from the Gamecock passing game in the first half of USC's 33-16 loss. He emerged in the second half, catching three passes for 55 yards, but also dropping a touchdown pass on the final drive.

Saunders hoped it was a sign that his involvement in the offense was going to increase again. But he sounded unsure.

Twice, the junior pointed out that Steve Spurrier Jr., the main play-caller on offense, coaches the receivers, who in Saunders' words are Spurrier Jr.'s "priority."

USC-Arkansas: Thumbs up, thumbs down

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

THUMBS UP

Walking on the team over the summer

Garrett Chisolm started and played throughout at left guard. Tailback Bryce Sherman saw his first significant action, returning three kicks for 69 yards and catching a 48-yard pass on the final drive.

Defensive tackles

Reserve Melvin Ingram had a shoulder-rattling tackle behind the line. Nathan Pepper had a 10-yard sack. Ladi Ajiboye had five tackles.

Morris: Lack of progress maddening for USC

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. | THERE IS A SURE-FIRE WAY to judge teams this late in the college football season. Some appear to get better from week to week. Others seem to regress.

Put South Carolina in the latter category after Saturday's demoralizing 33-16 loss to Arkansas. It followed a disheartening 31-13 loss at Tennessee.

What makes both losses difficult for USC faithful to swallow is that while the Gamecocks appear to be heading south, Tennessee and Arkansas looked to be much improved from early in the season.

"We're just not real good right now," Steve Spurrier said. "I don't know how to say it. Coaches are coaching their butts off. We're just not getting results right now."

Garrett Anderson is a senior who has made 26 starts in his four seasons at USC. He knows all about frustration. Yet even he was at a loss for the precise words to describe just how maddening the past two games have been to him, the USC offense and the team as a whole.

Coming unraveled: Hogs handle Gamecocks

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. | About the only positive to come from Arkansas' 33-16 thrashing of South Carolina on Saturday was there was no evidence of finger-pointing outside the losing locker room.

This was the epitome of a team loss.

USC's defense gave up a season-high in passing yards and total yards, and the offense unraveled in the third quarter. Throw in a botched extra point and a couple of questionable coaching decisions, and there was plenty of blame to go around following the Gamecocks' third loss in four games.

"We're just not real good right now. I don't know how else to say it," USC coach Steve Spurrier said. "Coaches are coaching their butts off, just not getting much results right now. Maybe all the good fortune we had earlier is catching up with us a bit. ... We're not quite good enough to beat a good team like Arkansas."

USC (6-4, 3-4 SEC) managed 16 points against an Arkansas defense that entered the game giving up 27 per game, next to last in the SEC. It was the fewest points surrendered by the Razorbacks (5-4, 2-4) in an SEC game in Bobby Petrino's first two seasons.

Postgame comments: Spurrier, Garcia, Johnson

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

Steve Spurrier

Stephen Garcia

Ellis Johnson

Gameday blog: USC vs. Arkansas

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

Join Seth Emerson as he blogs live Saturday from South Carolina vs. Arkansas.

http://blogs.thestateonline.net/gameday/

USC-Arkansas scoring summary

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:05 EST

FIRST QUARTER

South Carolina 3, Arkansas 0

Scoring play: Spencer Lanning 23 field goal

Drive: Fourteen plays, 65 yards, 5:45

Key play: Kenny Miles gets the offense going with a 21-yard burst up the

Norwood not satisfied, eyes strong finish

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:34 EST

South Carolina launched a Web site this week to promote senior linebacker Eric Norwood.

Now the All-American hopeful intends to add some new highlight videos and records.

Norwood, a two-time All-SEC selection and USC's all-time sacks leader, has been mired in a midseason drought, from a statistical standpoint.

Norwood has gone more than five weeks without a sack, dating to the Gamecocks' 16-10 victory against Mississippi on Sept. 24. He had two sacks that night to give him 28 for his career and move past Andrew Provence atop the school's career list.

Since the Ole Miss game that was televised nationally for every SEC offensive coordinator to see, Norwood has faced a number of double teams, chip blocks from running backs and offenses on the lookout for where the Gamecocks' No. 40 lines up.

Gameday preview: USC vs. Arkansas

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:34 EST

Injury report; five game storylines; five questions with wide receiver Tori Gurley; and more.

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Injuries

USC - DE Cliff Matthews (shoulder), FS Chris Culliver (shoulder), FS Jarrett Burns (finger) and OT Jarriel King (concussion) are out.

Arkansas - CB Ramon Broadway (hamstring) is questionable; RB Michael Smith (hamstring) is probable.

Joe Person's gameday forecast, prediction

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01 EST

Speaking with reporters after Thursday’s practice, Ellis Johnson downplayed the loss of free safety Chris Culliver, who was benched because of a shoulder injury and an incident Monday when he walked out of practice.

“Cully didn’t play well last week,” said Johnson, USC’s assistant head coach for defense. “So you say we’re going to miss him. We ain’t going to miss him with a bad shoulder.”

Johnson did not try to minimize the absence of defensive end Cliff Matthews.

No one around the Gamecocks’ program has tried to.

USC will wake up Saturday morning in Fayetteville, roll out of bed for the 11:21 a.m. local kickoff, and prepare to face a quarterback Johnson called the SEC’s best pocket passer running a “well-conceived” offense – again, Johnson’s words – that averages just under 300 passing yards a game.

Morris: Game scars will endure with Rogers

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:21 EST

GEORGE ROGERS IS hurting these days. All over.

During an 11-year period covering his careers at South Carolina and in the NFL, Rogers carried the football 2,646 times. His body was beaten to a pulp with injuries ranging from a thumb that once was bent behind his pinky finger to a dislocated shoulder that prevents him from effectively swinging a golf club.

Today, Rogers is a 50-year-old operating in a 65- to 70-year-old body. He is Exhibit A for what ultimately happens to a bruising running back that used his body with a total lack of restraint. He represents the brutal aftereffects of the sport.

"Some days I hate to wake up," Rogers says, "because I know I can't stand on my feet. I have trouble walking some days."

Rogers remains employed by the USC athletics department, serving as a goodwill ambassador for the school where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1980. A year later he was the NFL rookie of the year with the New Orleans Saints. His professional career lasted seven bruising seasons.

Coach Johnson backs Culliver

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:34 EST

Ellis Johnson does not condone how South Carolina safety Chris Culliver acted this week. But the Gamecocks' assistant head coach for defense said it is time for fans to get off Culliver's back.

Culliver, a junior with 22 career starts, will not make the trip to Arkansas. He was benched because of a shoulder injury and an incident Monday when Culliver walked out of practice after an argument with coaches.

Culliver has come under fire for his effort in last week's 31-13 loss to Tennessee. Culliver had a couple of glaring missed tackles, although it was later revealed he reinjured his surgically repaired shoulder in pregame warmups.

Lorenzo Ward, who coaches USC's safeties and cornerbacks, said Culliver told him about the injury before the game but indicated he was OK.

"Really it's our fault for not seeing that he wasn't himself," Johnson said Thursday. "Now what happened after that, he didn't handle it well. And as a result, he's not going. But I'm tired of all the Chris Culliver bashing."

Pep rally to send off Gamecocks

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:03 EST

The Gamecock Club will hold a send-off pep rally Friday for the USC football team as they prepare for their trip to Arkansas this weekend.

It will be held Friday in the southwest corner of Williams-Brice Stadium (outside Gate 11). Fans are encouraged to arrive as early as 1:30 p.m., as the team is scheduled to leave the stadium at approximately 2:15 p.m.

Cocky, the Gamecock cheerleaders and dance team are expected to be on hand for the send off.

Spurrier does not let Culliver walk over team

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:03 EST

USC is getting ready to face the SEC’s top-ranked passing offense and No. 1 passer.

If there was a game the Gamecocks could have used their starting free safety, this Arkansas game certainly qualifies.

But Steve Spurrier was right to bench Chris Culliver this week before Culliver’s attitude problem festered into something more detrimental that could disrupt the Gamecocks’ locker room during this key, three-game stretch to close the regular season.

Culliver walked out of Monday night’s practice after an argument with an assistant coach, according to sources.

Lorenzo Ward, Culliver’s position coach, told 1400 The Team on Wednesday that Culliver would not accept a move from safety to corner, and responded with a poor attitude. Ward said Culliver’s shoulder injury made him a better fit at corner, where there is less hitting required.

Walk-on Chisolm impresses USC staff

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:34 EST

As a walk-on who could not begin practicing until preseason drills were nearly over, it took offensive lineman Garrett Chisolm several weeks to get the attention of South Carolina coaches.

It is not like he was going to speak up.

While kick returner Bryce Sherman was the walk-on generating the buzz in August, the quiet Chisolm kept showing up and making life miserable for the Gamecocks' starting defensive linemen.

As injuries and defections began to take their toll on USC's offensive line depth, Chisolm continued to climb the depth chart. The transfer from Pikeville, an NAIA school in Kentucky, will make his first start at left guard Saturday at Arkansas after playing most of the second half last week at Tennessee.

The next interview he grants will be his first.