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Throwback's 'spark' instead blows up
USC, Kentucky could vie for Outback, Chick-fil-A berths
Florida special teams player James Smith No. 43 dives for the end zone stopped just short by South Carolina safety Chris Hail No. 29 during the first quarter.
Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com
CommentsGAINESVILLE, Fla. — If they had it to do over again, South Carolina coaches would probably throw the throwback pass out of Saturday’s game plan.
Trailing 14-0 in the first quarter after Florida scored a pair of quick touchdowns after turnovers, Steve Spurrier and special teams coach Ray Rychleski decided to try a trick play on the Gators’ kickoff.
The kick went to Dion LeCorn, who threw a lateral across the field to backup receiver Chris Hail. But Hail could not pull it down. Florida recovered at the Gamecocks’ 1-yard line and scored three plays later to take a 21-0 lead en route to a 56-6 victory.
“We tried the ill-advised throwback pass. I told coach Ray go ahead with it. I thought maybe we had a shot at it,” Spurrier said. “We did have 1-on-1 over there. Unfortunately, our guy couldn’t catch it. He couldn’t even fall on it, and their guy got it. So that was a dumb play on my part. We thought it could make a spark and get us up to midfield.”
Quarterback shuffle returns. For the second game in a row, Chris Smelley started the game and alternated with Stephen Garcia nearly every play — at least in the first half. On a couple of possessions in the second half, Smelley and Garcia each stayed in the entire series.
“It didn’t really matter too much. Chris made a little bit more than Stephen, but he had some ill-advised plays, also,” Spurrier said. “It wouldn’t have mattered tonight. It wouldn’t have mattered who played, but we may go back to one.”
Smelley completed 13 of 24 passes for 92 yards but was intercepted twice. Garcia was 6 of 13 passing for 28 yards. He was intercepted once and sacked three times.
Rough start. Free safety Chris Culliver, who was suspended for the first half after his ejection for fighting last week against Arkansas, had an inauspicious return. On the Gators’ first play of the second half, Culliver took a poor angle on Percy Harvin, who raced past Culliver for an 80-yard touchdown run to put Florida up 35-3.
Stoney Woodson, who started the first eight games of the season at cornerback, stepped in for Culliver at safety in the first half.
“Stoney didn’t play bad at the position,” USC defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said. “But the thing was we had corners going in and out of the ballgame.”
Tastes like chicken. While much has been written about the Gamecocks’ chances of returning to the Outback Bowl for the first time in seven years, the Chick-fil-A Bowl continues to scout USC.
The Atlanta-based game selects after the Outback in the SEC pecking order. Chick-fil-A president Gary Stokan believes his bowl and the Outback are targeting Kentucky and USC.
“South Carolina and Kentucky, as they’re appealing to us, have to be appealing to the Outback Bowl as well, I would think,” Stokan said.
The feeling among bowl scouts is the Outback will take the SEC team with the better record, though the Tampa bowl is not required to do so. The Outback could have a tough decision if USC and Kentucky finish with the same record.
Outback co-founder Chris Sullivan is a graduate of Kentucky, and the Wildcats have not played in the game since the 1998 season when a seven-win Kentucky team was selected ahead of an eight-win Georgia squad.
Though Atlanta does not have a beach, Chick-fil-A scout Tilden Martin said the Georgia Dome has its advantages.
“Tell (USC) fans it’s 73 degrees the entire game with no rain,” Martin said.
The Chick-fil-A matches an SEC team against an ACC school at 7:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and is televised by ESPN.
Extra points. Fifth-year senior Jamon Meredith started at left guard for the first time since the LSU game. Meredith had been bothered by a sprained ankle in recent weeks. ... The open date comes at a good time for cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, who said he’s been playing through turf toe for a couple of weeks. ... Spencer Lanning averaged 40 yards on a season-high 10 punts.
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.
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