The USC football team (6-3, 3-3 SEC) worked out on Thursday afternoon at the Bluff Road practice fields as it continued preparations for Saturday’s SEC showdown in Fayetteville against the Arkansas Razorbacks (4-4, 1-4 SEC). Gametime is set for 12:21 p.m. ET and will be televised regionally on the SEC Network.
AUDIO: Steve Spurrier post practice (3:07)
Head coach Steve Spurrier is hopeful the Gamecocks can play better this week. “We can’t play much worse than we did the other game,” admitted the Head Ball Coach. “But then again, we haven’t played super all year. We’ve sort of played ugly at times and won a bunch of games. Obviously, it catches up with you when you play a team that makes no mistakes and plays well.
“If we’re going to beat Arkansas, we’ve got to play well,” continued Coach Spurrier. “We are trying to encourage our guys to play well, which is something we’ve not done regularly on offense this year at all. We’ll see if Stephen Garcia can make good decisions, take care of the ball, hit the right guys, catch ‘em, the line can block, all those kind of things. And see if we can stop Arkansas some. They’ve got a good offense.
“We need to play well on special teams,” added the Gamecocks’ coach. “Their kickoff return’s one of the best in the conference. I think they lead the SEC. And that’s sort of a sore spot for us – kickoff coverage. So we’ve got to be on top of our game special teams-wise if we’re going to have a chance.”
Coach Spurrier confirmed that Kyle Nunn would get the start at left tackle with walk-on Garrett Chisolm scheduled to make his first career start at left guard.
The Gamecocks will leave for Fayetteville on Friday afternoon. Fans are encouraged to wish the team well before its departure by attending a “send off” in the southwest corner of Williams-Brice Stadium beginning around 1:30 p.m.
How many more years do we have to wait? After 5 years of Coach Spurrier, the Gamecock offense still stinks and play calling stinks. Spurrier needs to either go or hire a offensive coordinator that can do the job. Let Spurrier do the fund raising, play golf with the Gamecock Club big wigs, and recruit the players. Please hire a coach that can change the offense.