Star freshmen receivers share time

The Associated Press South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery (1) runs for the winning touchdown as Vanderbilt’s Joel Caldwell (29) tries to stop him during the Gamecocks’ 14-10 victory earlier this season.

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA – Two of South Carolina’s best receivers aren’t on the field at the same time.

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier put freshmen Alshon Jeffery and Tori Gurley in the same receiver spot before the season started. Both have flourished, leaving one of the team’s best offensive weapons on the sideline for every play.

In recent weeks, Spurrier has said he is working to teach the receivers different positions, but he hasn’t installed the package into a game yet. He hasn’t said if he’ll finally get everything in place for this Saturday’s game at Arkansas and Gurley is listed behind Jeffery on the depth chart.

Gurley, who has seen his playing time drop since Jeffery’s breakout three-touchdown game against Kentucky last month, is taking the platooning in stride, while practicing hard to learn different receiver positions.

“We’re still working on it. There are a lot of positions that can be played,” Gurley said. “But we have a core of receivers that are really good. We just don’t want to take away from anyone else.”

Jeffery leads the team with 28 catches for 497 yards and five touchdowns, while Gurley is third with 25 receptions for 368 yards and one touchdown. Gurley’s numbers would look even better if he hadn’t had four touchdown catches called back for penalties so far the season.

Both Gurley and Jeffery are South Carolina high school products who initially planned to go to college elsewhere – Gurley to North Carolina and Jeffery to Southern California. Both were basketball stars too in high school and have similar abilities to leap over defensive backs and make eye-popping catches, skills noticed by Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson.

“Their big, young receivers are the guys that stand out the most,” Robinson said.

Jeffery may have joined the team just a few months ago, but Spurrier said he is already becoming a leader and isn’t shy about coming over to the coach and suggesting a play.

“Alshon has a feel for the game. He knows the offense very well now,” Spurrier said.

The young receivers are so similar, sometimes it even confuses Spurrier. Stuck on the Gamecocks’ 1 against Vanderbilt, the coach called a pass play for Jeffery without realizing it was Gurley’s series to play. Gurley made an acrobatic 43-yard catch that started the winning touchdown drive.

“When coach found out that I was in, I found out that he wasn’t too happy about it. But after the catch was made, we were best friends again,” Gurley said after the game.

The freshmen aren’t jealous of splitting playing time. When Jeffery scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown against the Commodores, Gurley was one of the first people out to congratulate them.

“Alshon and I we just continue to compete in practice. Every little thing you can think of, we compete about,” Gurley said “We’re just trying to push each other as well as the rest of the receiving corps.”