Spurrier says 6-3 is good for young South Carolina

The Associated Press South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia (5) rolls out to pass as he's chased by Tennessee's Ronald Byrd (99) during the Gamecocks' 31-13 loss last week in Knoxville, Tenn.

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA – South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier doesn’t want to hear any talk about whether his Gamecocks are setting themselves up for another late season swoon.

Spurrier said Tuesday his young Gamecocks are 6-3 and “for this team, that’s pretty good.”

“We’re not as bad off as some of you guys want to attempt to make us feel,” said Spurrier, after interrupting a reporter’s question. “We don’t feel bad. We’ve got a bunch of young guys playing and we’re 6-3 and it could be worse.”

The fast start likely brought up some unattainable goals for this team, said Spurrier, who didn’t expect the Gamecocks with just nine seniors on their roster to compete for the Southeastern Conference title or make a major bowl game.

“We’ve lost to some pretty good teams on the road. So don’t try to make us feel bad. We don’t. We don’t feel bad,” Spurrier said. “We had a lousy game last week, but we don’t feel bad. And you guys can’t make us feel bad.”

South Carolina is coming off a 31-13 loss to Tennessee last weekend where the breaks the Gamecocks had been getting all year went the other way.

It brought back memories of the past two seasons, when South Carolina has started fast, but melted down about the time the leaves started falling from the trees. The Gamecocks lost five in a row to close 2007 and four of their last six in 2008.

The schedule isn’t much kinder this season. After going to improving Arkansas, South Carolina finishes by hosting No. 1 Florida and Clemson.

“We’re going to be underdogs all these games,” Spurrier said.

Receiver Tori Gurley said the coaches aren’t mentioning past seasons, instead emphasizing staying focused and sticking to the game plan and let the results take care of themselves.

“Some people like bringing up the past, but we can only worry about the present and that’s Arkansas,” the redshirt freshman said.

The Razorbacks may be the easiest team left because South Carolina matches up well. The Gamecocks are second in the SEC and third in the nation in pass defense, allowing 141 yards a game.

The Hogs have the best passing game in the league at 296 yards a game, while their running game is ninth in the SEC.

South Carolina is second in the SEC in passing at 237 yards per game and is going against an Arkansas pass defense that is the worst in the SEC at 264 yards a game.

But Spurrier said the stats can be misleading.

“Just because you’re near the bottom of the SEC in some defensive categories doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a bad defense. It just means somebody has to be down there near the bottom, I guess,” Spurrier said.

South Carolina will be without starting safety Chris Culliver on Saturday. The junior hurt the left shoulder he had offseason surgery on during warmups against Tennessee, but told his coaches he could play. He favored the injury all night, even missing tackles because he didn’t want to hurt the shoulder any more, angering Spurrier.

“We had a little talk with our team that if you have an injury and you can’t perform, you need to tell the coaches,” Spurrier said. “If that was the biggest problems, and we think it was, it was certainly embarrassing for all of us. We don’t like it and I don’t like it. Hopefully, that will not happen again.”