Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008

Morris: Spurrier continues search for answers at QB

STEVE SPURRIER KNOWS all about juggling quarterbacks. He has rotated the starters in nine of his 19 seasons as a college football coach at Duke, Florida and South Carolina. Only once has it not worked.

Unfortunately for USC and its fans, this happens to be that one season, the one in which Spurrier has found few answers in any of his quarterback options. The result has been a tumultuous season, one in which Spurrier has publicly lambasted both Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia.

Yet despite the obvious problems Spurrier has encountered in “coaching up” his quarterbacks, Spurrier believes the team, as well as Smelley and Garcia, have weathered the storm without a lot of damage.

“What’s fortunate is we’ve not lost all these games while we’re going through this quarterback situation,” Spurrier says. “I think I’ve milked it about as good as I can as far as our record is.”

Truth be known, USC’s sterling play on defense is mostly responsible for the Gamecocks’ 7-4 record and likely appearance in the Outback Bowl. Only in USC’s 31-24 victory at Mississippi did the offense seem to click, and the Gamecocks managed more than 400 yards (405) for the only time this season.

The season of turbulence for Spurrier’s quarterbacks became especially rocky during and after USC’s 56-6 loss at Florida. Alternating Smelley and Garcia on virtually every play, the quarterbacks threw three interceptions and passed for a mere 120 yards.

The passing yards were the third fewest for a Spurrier-coached team, surpassing only the 83 Florida had against Alabama in the 1999 SEC championship game and the 97 Duke had in a 1987 shutout loss at Rutgers.

The first of the three interceptions against Florida was particularly galling to Spurrier; as the play developed and Smelley scrambled out of the pocket, the coach began to scream from the opposite sideline for Smelley to throw the ball out of bounds. Instead, Smelley attempted to loft a pass over Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes, who intercepted it and ran 12 yards for a touchdown.

Spurrier crossed his arms, shook his head in disgust and glared at Smelley as the quarterback reached the sideline.

“Now what did we talk about, talk about, talk about?” Spurrier says he told Smelley. “When you get out of the pocket, throw it away and we’ll punt and live another down and go from there.”

It is not the conversation Spurrier expected to be having in the 11th game of a season with a quarterback who has been in the system three seasons. Yet Spurrier has time and again questioned Smelley’s decision-making.

“I wish he was a little sharper. Now, in practice he is very sharp,” Spurrier says of Smelley. “He throws some good-looking balls. He’s just got to take it to the ball park. If he does that, he’s got the ability, he really does.”

Spurrier’s problems with Garcia are of a different ilk. No doubt, Spurrier believes too much hype surrounds a quarterback who has not proven much on the field and has been a problem child away from it.

On top of that, Spurrier sees in Garcia a quarterback who believes he can succeed on talent alone. Spurrier expects much from his quarterbacks, regardless of their talents. Mostly, he expects them to live and breathe the game, much like Danny Wuerffel did in winning the Heisman Trophy at Florida in 1996.

Garcia has not shown a propensity to go the extra mile in Spurrier’s view. Instead of continuing to learn the intricacies of Spurrier’s offense, Garcia must work on breaking old habits. Nothing frays Spurrier’s nerves more than when Garcia runs out of the pocket without first letting a play develop.

Spurrier’s frustration with Garcia has spilled into public comments. As he was leaving the field at halftime of USC’s game at Florida, the television sideline reporter asked if the coach would continue to alternate quarterbacks on every play in the second half. Spurrier cracked that he had no choice since Garcia only could remember one play at a time.

In the aftermath of the loss, when asked about Internet rumors that he was considering retirement, Spurrier said Garcia might drive him to early retirement.

“I know it sounds like I’m really being critical, but what I’m basically trying to say is he needs a lot of training,” Spurrier says of Garcia. “I can’t say he’s a bad player or he can’t think out there. I’m just trying to say he needs a lot of training and developing.”

As the season progressed, it appeared Garcia would get that training and development as a backup to Smelley, and occasionally as a change of pace for the offense. Smelley appeared to be progressing fine and looked like he had all the answers in the sixth game, against Mississippi.

That afternoon in Oxford, Smelley made all the throws. He completed 22 of 32 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once. But good Smelley quickly turned to bad Smelley the following week at Kentucky. In a dismal first half, Smelley completed nine of 23 passes for 105 yards and was intercepted twice.

“Chris, you’ve got to start hitting these guys when they’re open and you’ve got time to throw the ball,” Spurrier recalls saying to Smelley. “If nobody is open, I understand; and you don’t have time, I understand.”

Spurrier went with Garcia in the second half, and the quarterback completed 10 of 14 passes for 169 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Garcia looked every bit like a seasoned veteran while making a couple of spectacular throws.

“Maybe it was because he didn’t know what he was doing,” says Spurrier, who almost without fail salts any compliment of Garcia with a cutting remark. “I don’t know why, but he stayed in the pocket and hit guys.”

In making perhaps his biggest mistake of the season, Spurrier went with Garcia as his starting quarterback against LSU and Tennessee. In Spurrier’s defense, that is the way he plays quarterbacks, always has been. He is much like a baseball manager in dealing with pitchers. When it is time to go to the bullpen, Spurrier does not hesitate.

“I’ve always coached the guys to let them know what we expect them to do as the quarterback,” Spurrier says. “Here’s what we expect. If you can’t do it, then the next guy gets a shot. If the next guy can’t do it, well, we’ll come back to you. That’s the way I’ve always coached. Most of the time, when a guy gets benched he comes back a better player.”

Through the two games that Garcia started and the two games in which the two quarterbacks alternated on every play, it became painful to watch Spurrier on the sideline. Not one to mask his feelings, Spurrier occasionally fired his play sheets to the ground or tossed his headset aside. Occasionally, the quarterbacks walked away from Spurrier apparently to find solace in quarterbacks coach David Reaves.

“Sometimes, I tell Dave and myself, we’ve both got to not yell at them so much,” Spurrier says. “Some people see me yelling at the quarterback, I usually turn back and say, ‘Come on, you’re too good a player to make that mistake. Take your steps, see the field, see where you’re going, trust your protection.’ ”

Spurrier says he has been reminded by his assistant coaches that he has Smelley for two more seasons and Garcia for three more. Spurrier also says there is not a quarterback in this recruiting class who could have an immediate impact and possibly force either Smelley or Garcia to the sideline.

So Spurrier says it falls on his shoulders to continue coaching the two. No doubt, both will be helped down the road should USC develop a running game and a more solid offensive line.

“We’re not giving up on these guys. These are our two guys, and we’ve got to make them players,” Spurrier says. “We’ve won seven games with them and hopefully can win a few more before it’s over this year.”

That kind of talk only disguises much of the frustration Spurrier has faced this season, one in which his quarterbacks have throw more interceptions (20) than touchdowns (17). That has never happened to a Spurrier-coached team.

All of which leaves Spurrier perplexed. During a recent conversation, Spurrier stopped mid-sentence and asked a reporter if he had any suggestions for solving USC’s quarterback quandary.

You know Spurrier has reached wit’s end when he starts asking sportswriters for suggestions.

Listen to Morris Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 93.1 FM

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