Notebook: Spurrier wants more players to see action
South Carolina four-star freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez has been expected to contribute this season, but he did not get on the field in Thursday night’s opener.
“You know, we didn’t play as many players as we had planned or hoped to play,” Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said. “It was an extremely close game all the way. Our defensive coaches did not substitute much at all. We did not substitute much at all on offense. That’s one of the disadvantages of playing a good team.”
South Carolina won its season opener 17-13 over ACC rival North Carolina.
“Sometimes you might wish you played Davidson or somebody like that where everybody gets to play, all the guys get to catch a pass, run with it, everybody is happy,” Spurrier said. “You get in a tough game against a quality opponent and you don’t get to play all your players who have been busting their tails all preseason. Hopefully, at some point we can get more guys on the field, one or two plays or so forth, because I think it is important for camaraderie to let the guys play some.”
South Carolina used 25 offensive players against the Tar Heels.
Overlooked Cats?
Kentucky, which comes to Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, struggled to hold off Louisiana-Lafayette 40-33 on Saturday night, but Spurrier isn’t concerned his team will overlook the Wildcats because of it.
“Kentucky looked awfully good the first half of that game,” Spurrier said. “Give Kentucky credit, they drove down there and got the touchdown. Kentucky looks awfully good. Their athletes are fast and quick. Their quarterback has played a bunch. They are a real solid team, good team.”
The Wildcats led 33-10 late in the third quarter, but ULL scored 23 straight points to tie the game 33-33 midway through the fourth. Kentucky scored the decisive touchdown with 57 seconds remaining.
ULL outgained Kentucky 479-435 and had 28 first downs to Kentucky’s 18. The Ragin’ Cajuns rushed for 247 yards.
Tickets available
South Carolina’s home opener has yet to sell out, and Spurrier issued a call Sunday for those tickets to be moved one way or another.
“We are looking forward to playing at home in front of the home crowd,” he said. “Hopefully, we can do something to get them to the students and get a big crowd here. We need a loud crowd here for our first home game this year.”
The Gamecocks are 22-3 in their last 25 games in Williams-Brice Stadium.
Moving Up
Senior tailback Shon Carson, who led South Carolina with 75 yards on four carries last week, could be higher on the depth chart than third against Kentucky, Spurrier said.
Quotable
“We are happy to be 1-0. We believe we can play a lot better. I know we have to coach a lot better and get our players in position to play this game.” – Steve Spurrier.
This story was originally published September 6, 2015 at 4:21 PM.