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Ed Reinke/AP/AP
Chris Smelley
GoGamecocks.com
Spurrier may go with QB platoon
Garcia’s struggles against LSU give Smelley another shot vs. Tennessee
Stephen Garcia gains yards against the LSU defense in the first half Saturday.
Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com /Erk Campos
Written by JOSEPH PERSON
jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 10.22.08
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What surprised you the most in the loss to LSU?
Just when it appeared Steve Spurrier had settled on a quarterback, the coach known for his willingness to platoon his passers said he might do just that when South Carolina returns from its open date.
Bothered by the sacks that Stephen Garcia took against LSU and the right-hander’s second-half incompletions, Spurrier said Tuesday that Garcia might split time with Chris Smelley against Tennessee on Nov. 1.
“He may (start), but he may not finish,” Spurrier said of Garcia. “Both of them play better off the bench. That’s what we’ve learned. So maybe we’ll start (walk-on) Zac Brindise and then bring both of them in. Maybe that’s the way to go. Stephen wasn’t near as good the other night as he was against Kentucky — decision making and everything else.”
Spurrier was joking about starting Brindise, but he was not laughing about the six times the Tigers sacked Garcia. By Spurrier’s count, Garcia could have gotten rid of the ball on four of the sacks.
Garcia completed 14 of 26 passes for a career-high 215 yards and a touchdown in his first career start. But Spurrier said Garcia threw behind several receivers in the second half when he seemed to tire.
“His legs seemed to go dead on him,” Spurrier said. “Looked like he was tired.”
Not including the sacks, Garcia had a team-high 13 carries against LSU, about half of which were scrambles. Spurrier also took issue with Garcia’s running style.
“He’s a sideways runner that we’re trying to teach to run forward most of the time. I told him he’s the first quarterback I’ve ever had that ran backwards in the game and run out of bounds. He better quit doing that, too,” Spurrier said. “We’re not going to run backwards. You’re supposed to run up in there and dive forward.”
Smelley, who is 8-4 as a starter, threw for a career-high 327 yards in a Oct. 4 win at Mississippi. But he was replaced by Garcia in the second half of an erratic performance at Kentucky and did not play against LSU.
Now Smelley might get another shot.
“There’s nothing wrong with playing two quarterbacks. LSU plays two,” Spurrier said. “Heck, they won a national championship (last season) playing two. (Ryan) Perrilloux played the SEC championship game and a bunch of other games. We can play with two.”
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.
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