Spurrier: QB Garcia might start vs. UAB

Stephen Garcia's name might have been on the lips of thousands of USC fans Saturday night. Two minutes into coach Steve Spurrier's news conference, the quarterback’s name was on Spurrier's too.

Nearly discounted last spring and a third-stringer when this season began, Garcia appears to be the front-runner to start Saturday against Alabama-Birmingham.

Spurrier stopped short of naming Garcia the starter after a 23-13 victory against Wofford. But he seemed to be leaning in that direction.

"I'm thinking about it," Spurrier said. "I'm just at the point where Chris (Smelley), we sort of know what we get with him, and I don't know if Garcia can do better or not.

"He (Garcia) had the best ball in pregame warm-ups, whatever that's worth. Whether or not he knows where they're going or not, I think we've probably got to hurry up and find out."

Spurrier waffled later, but at one point he was more definitive:

"We've got to try Garcia now. We've go to find out if he can play."

Garcia didn't play against Wofford, after taking three snaps the week before in his debut against Georgia. A redshirt freshman, he began the season behind first-stringer Tommy Beecher and Smelley.

After Beecher faltered in the opener, throwing four interceptions, Smelley has started the past three games. The redshirt sophomore threw three interceptions against Wofford, completing 23 of 33 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.

Spurrier had faint praise for Smelley's performance, saying he "wasn't terrible." Smelley thought he was better, saying he "played well" but acknowledged room for improvement.

By trying Garcia, Spurrier would be seeking to find out whether the offense's foibles are due to quarterback play or other factors, such as the line, the lack of big-play receivers or something else.

Whatever it is, the lack of a downfield passing game has been glaring. It hasn't helped that star receiver Kenny McKinley has been out with a hamstring injury since the second quarter of the second game. But even with McKinley playing in the opener against N.C. State, the long ball wasn't available.

Smelley said the Gamecocks practiced vertical plays but didn't try them much because Wofford was setting up its defense deep.

"Sometimes it's what the defense is giving you," Smelley said. "I'm sure we'll look at it on film and try and fix some things."

Told of Spurrier's comments, Smelley was asked if he felt like he was fighting for his job.

"I don't know about fighting for my starting job. I'm just gonna go back out there and put it all on the line like I did out there tonight," he said. "I went out there and played as hard as I could, trying to put the team in an opportunity to win the game, and we ended up winning, which was the overall goal. Did we play as well as we'd like to? No, but we got the win."

Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.