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Tape gives Spurrier new view

Coach revises his verdict on Smelley’s effectiveness, but Garcia will get a look

Written by JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 09.22.08
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With a night to sleep on it and the benefit of video replay, Steve Spurrier decided his South Carolina offense — quarterback Chris Smelley in particular — played better against Wofford than Spurrier originally thought.

That said, the Gamecocks coach still wants to give backup quarterback Stephen Garcia a shot at the starting job this week.

“At some point we’ve got to see what Stephen can do,” Spurrier said Sunday. “Whether or not he’s ready to play, I don’t know. But we’ve got to find out pretty soon. We’ll go through practice this week and announce a starter sometime Wednesday or so.”

Garcia, a redshirt freshman from Lutz, Fla., arrived in January 2007 as Spurrier’s highest-rated quarterback recruit at USC. But the right-hander was suspended for spring practice his first two years after a series of off-the-field problems, and he did not appear in a game until playing three snaps against Georgia.

But with the Gamecocks unable to complete the downfield throws that are the staple of his offense, Spurrier could turn to Garcia on Saturday against Alabama-Birmingham.

“If Stephen Garcia can show us something in practice this week, that’s he’s capable, that he can manage the game and take care of the ball, then, yeah, let’s put him out there,” Spurrier said. “But if he appears lost, if it appears he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing out there, then we should not put him out there.”

Smelley, a redshirt sophomore who is 5-4 as a starter, completed 23 of 33 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown in the 23-13 victory against Wofford. Smelley was intercepted on his first pass and had three turnovers in the first half.

But Spurrier pointed out that Smelley faced a lot of pressure from the Terriers. And though Smelley was sacked twice, he escaped the rush several times and scrambled for 17 net rushing yards, a career high.

“Chris Smelley played a little bit better than maybe we gave him credit for at the end of the game. After watching the tape, he had guys coming right at him way too many times,” Spurrier said. “Our pass protection was not as good as it should have been at times, and that probably led to some quick throws.”

Among quarterbacks with at least 50 pass attempts, Smelley has the SEC’s best completion percentage (63.8), which ranks ahead of more notable passers such as Florida’s Tim Tebow (59.4) and Georgia’s Matthew Stafford (60.8).

Smelley is fourth in the conference in passing yards (200 a game) and pass efficiency.

“We’re not down on Chris,” Spurrier added. “We wish a few plays here and there he could start hitting.”

The quick strike has been missing from the Gamecocks’ offense this season. Against Wofford, USC’s longest gain was a 20-yard reception by Moe Brown on a hitch route.

Smelley was intercepted when he tried to go deep to tight end Jared Cook on the final play of the first half, which is how the Georgia game ended the previous week. The pressure and interceptions prompted Spurrier to abandon the vertical throws.

Asked if he was hesitant to throw downfield, Smelley said: “No, not at all. We were hoping to have a few opportunities to let a few loose.”

Those opportunities could fall to Garcia, who has the strongest arm among USC’s quarterbacks. But it will be his decision making, not his arm strength, that will go a long way in determining if Garcia gets his first career start.

“He’s pretty close to playing. I don’t know what will happen when he plays,” Spurrier said. “I wish we knew, but we’ll never know until he plays.”

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.

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