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Morris: Spurrier shows genius is still there
USC head coach Steve Spurrier
Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com /The State
Posted on 10.08.08
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IF YOU THINK STEVE SPURRIER has lost his magic touch, consider that on one Saturday in Oxford, Miss., he turned six months of stupidity into pure genius. Amazing, isn’t it? One of the great minds in the history of college football knows what he is doing, after all.
A week ago at this time, many South Carolina fans were telling Spurrier how to do his job. Radio talk shows were loaded with cries for Spurrier to give up on Chris Smelley and go with newcomer Stephen Garcia.
Internet chat rooms had it all figured out. Smelley had his chance, the fans said, and could not produce desired results. They said Garcia more than proved in three quarters against Alabama-Birmingham that his arm and legs provided the best chance for USC to attain a winning season.
Despite all the hollering and screaming from fans, Spurrier never heard a word. He never heard a word of your wisdom. He never heard your advice. He never heard a single suggestion.
“I turn to the country music station and then my CDs, country music,” Spurrier said of his daily car rides from his home in Elgin to his office at Williams-Brice Stadium and back. Sorry, folks, Spurrier is not an Internet chat room reader, either. To Spurrier, blogging might someday be the name to a new ball play. Nothing more.
Spurrier tunes into Kenny Chesney on his headset and makes his decisions based on what he sees in practice. Imagine that. He watches his quarterbacks every day at practice, then determines which one gives USC the best chance to win on Saturday.
So even when Spurrier named Tommy Beecher the quarterback following spring drills, you had to believe Spurrier knew what he was doing. Even when Beecher flopped in the season-opener against North Carolina State, you had to believe Spurrier would still find answers to USC’s problems on offense.
After Beecher, Spurrier turned to Smelley. Then subpar performances in losses to Georgia and Vanderbilt had fans again questioning Spurrier’s decision. The taste of seeing Garcia against UAB teased USC fans and brought clamors for another change.
Maybe fans did not listen carefully the past few weeks. Nearly every time Spurrier talked about the quarterback situation, he emphasized that he wanted to see how each performed daily in practice.
Each time, Spurrier came back to Smelley.
Finally, on Saturday at Mississippi, Smelley showed USC fans what Spurrier had been seeing. Smelley passed for three touchdowns and a career-high 327 yards. He made sensational throws or decisions on each of the three touchdown passes.
So good was Smelley against Mississippi, he became the first USC quarterback to earn SEC offensive player of the week honors since Blake Mitchell against Middle Tennessee in 2006. In fact, Smelley is only the fourth USC quarterback to be so honored, joining Steve Taneyhill and Syvelle Newton.
Bottom line, Smelley made Spurrier look like a genius Saturday.
“I know I’m not a genius. I know why (the offense) works and why it doesn’t work,” Spurrier said when asked about his transformation from idiot to savant. “We all can see why it works and doesn’t work.”
For now, it appears USC’s offense works best with Smelley calling the plays and making the throws. Yet Spurrier is the first to say that there is much room for improvement.
Spurrier believes Smelley will continue to improve as the offensive line blocks better. Smelley will be a better quarterback as more receivers, such as Jason Barnes, consistently make big catches as Barnes did Saturday. Finally, Smelley will look better as USC’s running game develops into a legitimate force.
“Chris had a good game,” Spurrier said. “He needs to play better, though. He had some errant plays there that we need to correct. We need to audible a little bit more. Our communication skills aren’t very good. I think we only changed about two plays the whole day and it wasn’t that loud at Ole Miss last week.”
At least for another week, USC has a quarterback it can rally around.
“I hope so,” Spurrier said. “I hope sometimes we pass block a little better if we want to rally around him. We open the gates too many times, tight ends included in that. We can always block a lot better.”
In Smelley, USC has a quarterback with physical abilities that can’t match Mitchell’s. Smelley’s leadership skills fall short of those possessed by Phil Petty. What Smelley appears to have, though, is new-found confidence.
We also have to believe Smelley has shown in practice that he provides USC with the best chance to win on Saturday at Kentucky. In that, we should forever trust Steve Spurrier’s judgment. Believe it or not, Spurrier knows what he is doing.
Listen to Morris Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 93.1 FM.
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