Spurrier simplifying the offense

In the span of a week, Steve Spurrier has grown more worried about his offense. So the South Carolina coach thinks it is time to get simple.

The offense was beaten by the defense and the clock in Saturday’s scrimmage. Spurrier believes the scrimmage — which was closed to the public — showed that the offense has been too ambitious before the snap.

“Too much shifting and jumping around and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “So we’ll condense the offense down.”

The Gamecocks have 11 days before they open the season against North Carolina State.

“You’re usually adding this time of year, but we’re condensing,” Spurrier said. “We’re doing a little too much. Got too many guys shifting and going in motion and stuff like that. It’s all neat on the board, but that clock runs down real fast as we learned today.”

It wasn’t all negatives for the offense.

Starting quarterback Tommy Beecher was better than his first two scrimmages, completing 9-of-14 passes for 89 yards with no interceptions.

“I liked his decision-making today,” Spurrier said.

Still, the day’s events left defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson in a better mood than last Saturday, when he said it looked like his defense was moving slow. It helped Saturday that the first-team defenders saw plenty of action, unlike previous scrimmages.

“We had two bad practices the past couple of days,” Johnson said. “I was hoping we’d come back and be a little more focused. I think we were. There were a few missed checks, or a little bit of an awareness of down and distance, and things that weren’t very smart. But I thought it was a little more intense.”

Kicker Ryan Succop booted four field goals, three from at least 40 yards. Spurrier also made good on his vow to play all seven quarterbacks, including two walk-ons.

The only defensive concern was the seriousness of an injury to starting safety Darian Stewart, who left the stadium on crutches with an apparent foot injury. Stewart had an interception, as did fellow safety Mark Barnes. And Chris Culliver, who’s playing his way into being the third safety in a 4-2-5 alignment, forced a fumble.

“The defense was all over the field today, making plays,” said backup quarterback Chris Smelley, who threw for 109 yards with a touchdown and an interception. “I thought they did a great job. We have a lot of guys back on defense, and we should have a heck of a defense. We’ve got a lot of guys who can really play over there.”

Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.