SEC Media Days Update: Day 1
posted by Scott Hood on Wednesday, July 25, 2007
1. Offensive line – The center and guard positions are the “great unknown” areas.
2. The group of freshman wide receivers should make a significant impact. “It’s going to interesting to see how fast they develop,” Spurrier said. He talked briefly about Chris Culliver, who Spurrier described as “maybe the fastest player on the team”, Jason Barnes, Joseph Hills and Dion Lecorn and Matt Clements.
3. The defense should be “much improved.” While Spurrier noted that USC returns 10 of 11 starters, he predicted that not all 10 will retain their jobs. “Not all 10 will start this year because we’ve added some players at certain positions that could be All-SEC type players in a couple of years.”
4. Spurrier said his belief that USC is a contender for the SEC Championship is based on a number of factors, including experience in the backfield with QB Blake Mitchell, RB Cory Boyd and RB Mike Davis. “We have a fifth-year quarterback going into his third year as a starter,” Spurrier said. “That always seems to be advantageous when you have a fifth-year quarterback.”
5. Spurrier stopped short of saying the Georgia game (9/8) was a “must-win” game because recent history shows the SEC East winner will have one or two losses in the conference. But he did say the game was “extremely important.“ He added that, “It wouldn’t be the end of the road but to get to the championship game you have to win your division rivals.”
6. Spurrier said Chris Smelley was doing “pretty well” and that “hopefully he’ll be much improved heading into fall practice.”
7. With Boyd and Davis at RB, Spurrier said, right now, USC “is more of a running team than a passing team.” He didn’t foresee USC throwing the ball more than 30 times per game.
8. Spurrier said the coaching staff has to decide earlier who the best five on the offensive line are. “We need to settle on who our best linemen are,” he said. “Last year we didn’t decide until our fifth or sixth game. We had a completely different lineup late in the season than what we had early in the season. We have to do a better job of identifying who the best players are. Kevin Young needs to come on and play for us.”
9. He blamed some of Stephen Garcia’s problems early last semester on the “superstar” treatment he received from fans and the media. “These guys get too much attention nowadays,” Spurrier said. “And they get too much attention when they get on campus. Stephen Garcia came in as a superstar. He hadn’t thrown a pass, he hadn’t done anything. Sometimes we annoint these kids coming in as All-Americans. We have to let them earn their way.”
10. Spurrier said all USC proved last year that it “could play some close games.” But USC hasn’t “proven it can beat the top teams yet.”
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Steve Spurrier made his first stop of SEC Media Days in the radio/internet room. Here’s a synopsis of what he said:
1. Offensive line – The center and guard positions are the “great unknown” areas.
2. The group of freshman wide receivers should make a significant impact. “It’s going to interesting to see how fast they develop,” Spurrier said. He talked briefly about Chris Culliver, who Spurrier described as “maybe the fastest player on the team”, Jason Barnes, Joseph Hills and Dion Lecorn and Matt Clements.
3. The defense should be “much improved.” While Spurrier noted that USC returns 10 of 11 starters, he predicted that not all 10 will retain their jobs. “Not all 10 will start this year because we’ve added some players at certain positions that could be All-SEC type players in a couple of years.”
4. Spurrier said his belief that USC is a contender for the SEC Championship is based on a number of factors, including experience in the backfield with QB Blake Mitchell, RB Cory Boyd and RB Mike Davis. “We have a fifth-year quarterback going into his third year as a starter,” Spurrier said. “That always seems to be advantageous when you have a fifth-year quarterback.”
5. Spurrier stopped short of saying the Georgia game (9/8) was a “must-win” game because recent history shows the SEC East winner will have one or two losses in the conference. But he did say the game was “extremely important.“ He added that, “It wouldn’t be the end of the road but to get to the championship game you have to win your division rivals.”
6. Spurrier said Chris Smelley was doing “pretty well” and that “hopefully he’ll be much improved heading into fall practice.”
7. With Boyd and Davis at RB, Spurrier said, right now, USC “is more of a running team than a passing team.” He didn’t foresee USC throwing the ball more than 30 times per game.
8. Spurrier said the coaching staff has to decide earlier who the best five on the offensive line are. “We need to settle on who our best linemen are,” he said. “Last year we didn’t decide until our fifth or sixth game. We had a completely different lineup late in the season than what we had early in the season. We have to do a better job of identifying who the best players are. Kevin Young needs to come on and play for us.”
9. He blamed some of Stephen Garcia’s problems early last semester on the “superstar” treatment he received from fans and the media. “These guys get too much attention nowadays,” Spurrier said. “And they get too much attention when they get on campus. Stephen Garcia came in as a superstar. He hadn’t thrown a pass, he hadn’t done anything. Sometimes we annoint these kids coming in as All-Americans. We have to let them earn their way.”
10. Spurrier said all USC proved last year that it “could play some close games.” But USC hasn’t “proven it can beat the top teams yet.”
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.