What Will Muschamp doesn’t want to hear a word about this week

The way things set up, this week could be taken as South Carolina football’s FCS appetizer to a big, orange Thanksgiving entrée a week later.

Some fans will see it this way. Surely some media will do the same.

Will Muschamp would have none of it.

“That’s one of the first things coach Muschamp said to us in our meeting” Tuesday, Gamecocks quarterback Jake Bentley said. “He didn’t want to hear a word about next week, or anything that’s involved with next week.”

That’s a strong approach, but it makes sense given the “letdown” spot the Gamecocks are in. They’re coming off the conference grind and a week away from trying to spoil things for a playoff team.

But Wofford, with a tricky offense and a Top-10 team it its level, is hardly a squad to be taken lightly, even if it is from the FCS.

More than a few Gamecocks know that well, and have set a tone early in the week.

“I think the leaders on our team control that,” Bentley said. “I think the older guys in the locker room know. They were here when they played The Citadel.”

That tight loss two seasons ago was the low point in the worst USC season since the dawn of the Lou Holtz era. Sports Illustrated reported it changed the course of South Carolina’s coaching search.

So with that in mind, Clemson can wait.

This story was originally published November 14, 2017 at 1:18 PM with the headline "What Will Muschamp doesn’t want to hear a word about this week."