Hey, Spurrier Said Something Nice About Garcia!
posted by Scott Hood, Monday, December 29, 2008
It reminded me a little bit of the post-game interview room following the Kentucky game when Garcia came off the bench to lead USC to a stirring, come-from-behind win on the road over the Wildcats.
I can still see the amazement on Spurrier’s face after that game, as if Garcia’s performance had been a bolt of lightning.
Since then, Spurrier has made every effort to keep Garcia grounded, and the expectations of Gamecock fans realistic. Over and over, he’s said the redshirt freshman wasn’t ready to play.
And maybe he wasn’t, which is the major reason Garcia and Chris Smelley split snaps against Arkansas and Florida with disastrous results in the latter game.
But then came the Clemson debacle. As has been well documented, Smelley threw four interceptions in the loss to the Tigers.
Now Garcia gets his chance.
Whether he truly deserves the opportunity or Spurrier was just playing to the audience (the Outback Bowl), we’ll never know. The bottom is this: Garcia will start and probably go the distance against Iowa.
Spurrier doesn’t pass around praise often, which is, I believe, one reason for the players-only meeting a few days after the Clemson defeat.
So when he started talking about Garcia in glowing terms on Sunday, more than a few ears perked up. Of course, it wasn’t much – he said Garcia appeared to know more about what USC was trying to do on offense and appeared “capable” of leading the offense.
Of course, what Spurrier was really saying is that Garcia was learning to stay in the pocket and wait for his receivers to break open rather than tucking it and running at the first sign of trouble as he had been prone to do earlier this season.
In Spurrier’s view, that means Garcia is improving as a quarterback. But, the nice words from the head coach came with an important caveat – practice is one thing, the game is another. In short, the progress shown by Garcia in practice won’t mean a darned thing if he goes out and repeats his old habits.
After the Kentucky game, it appeared Garcia was on the fast track to becoming USC’s permanent starter. I’m sure many Gamecock fans had visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads after that game.
The euphoria lasted all of one half the following week against LSU.
As you recall, despite the best efforts of lineman Wilbur Hackett, USC led, 17-10 at halftime against the defending national champions.
But the second half was a miserable experience for the USC offense. Garcia struggled and was sacked several times in the final 30 minutes. Spurrier’s frustration was evident after the game because he knew the Gamecocks had let one slip away.
Two weeks later, Garcia played most of the snaps against Tennessee but the win did little to soothe Spurrier’s frustrations. By the time the Nov. 8 game against Arkansas rolled around, Smelley and Garcia were rotating every play.
Frankly, after the Clemson game, Spurrier had no choice but to turn to Garcia. The fact he did it less than 24 hours after the loss to the Tigers was stunning.
I think Spurrier did that to send a message to his team, the fans, and, most importantly, the Outback Bowl.
I’m sure bowl president Jim McVay and the Outback folks performed cartwheels when they heard Garcia would be the starting QB for the Gamecocks. How many more tickets could they sell with a hometown hero?
Let’s put it this way: the Outback Bowl got what they wanted. Garcia’s return to his hometown has created a media stir here in Tampa. It has been trumpeted by the local media as one of the main storylines of an otherwise undistinguished bowl game featuring a pair of non-Top 25 schools.
Spurrier promised to be less critical and more encouraging of his players a few weeks ago when news of the players-only meeting broke.
At Sunday’s press conference, he seemed to fulfill part of that pledge. I believe Garcia is still a ways off from becoming a top-flight QB, but there’s no questioning the physical ability is there.
After working with the first-team offense for the past 2-1/2 weeks, it appears the mental part is coming along as well for Garcia. But are his mental skills sharp enough to beat the tough Iowa defense?
Spurrier realizes USC needs Garcia to play well to have any chance of beating Iowa on New Year’s Day. If that happens, the next eight months will pass quickly while we await the start of the 2009 season.
The anticipation is growing.
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Yeah, I heard something Sunday I hadn’t heard in about 2-1/2 months – Steve Spurrier saying something nice about Stephen Garcia to a group of reporters.
It reminded me a little bit of the post-game interview room following the Kentucky game when Garcia came off the bench to lead USC to a stirring, come-from-behind win on the road over the Wildcats.
I can still see the amazement on Spurrier’s face after that game, as if Garcia’s performance had been a bolt of lightning.
Since then, Spurrier has made every effort to keep Garcia grounded, and the expectations of Gamecock fans realistic. Over and over, he’s said the redshirt freshman wasn’t ready to play.
And maybe he wasn’t, which is the major reason Garcia and Chris Smelley split snaps against Arkansas and Florida with disastrous results in the latter game.
But then came the Clemson debacle. As has been well documented, Smelley threw four interceptions in the loss to the Tigers.
Now Garcia gets his chance.
Whether he truly deserves the opportunity or Spurrier was just playing to the audience (the Outback Bowl), we’ll never know. The bottom is this: Garcia will start and probably go the distance against Iowa.
Spurrier doesn’t pass around praise often, which is, I believe, one reason for the players-only meeting a few days after the Clemson defeat.
So when he started talking about Garcia in glowing terms on Sunday, more than a few ears perked up. Of course, it wasn’t much – he said Garcia appeared to know more about what USC was trying to do on offense and appeared “capable” of leading the offense.
Of course, what Spurrier was really saying is that Garcia was learning to stay in the pocket and wait for his receivers to break open rather than tucking it and running at the first sign of trouble as he had been prone to do earlier this season.
In Spurrier’s view, that means Garcia is improving as a quarterback. But, the nice words from the head coach came with an important caveat – practice is one thing, the game is another. In short, the progress shown by Garcia in practice won’t mean a darned thing if he goes out and repeats his old habits.
After the Kentucky game, it appeared Garcia was on the fast track to becoming USC’s permanent starter. I’m sure many Gamecock fans had visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads after that game.
The euphoria lasted all of one half the following week against LSU.
As you recall, despite the best efforts of lineman Wilbur Hackett, USC led, 17-10 at halftime against the defending national champions.
But the second half was a miserable experience for the USC offense. Garcia struggled and was sacked several times in the final 30 minutes. Spurrier’s frustration was evident after the game because he knew the Gamecocks had let one slip away.
Two weeks later, Garcia played most of the snaps against Tennessee but the win did little to soothe Spurrier’s frustrations. By the time the Nov. 8 game against Arkansas rolled around, Smelley and Garcia were rotating every play.
Frankly, after the Clemson game, Spurrier had no choice but to turn to Garcia. The fact he did it less than 24 hours after the loss to the Tigers was stunning.
I think Spurrier did that to send a message to his team, the fans, and, most importantly, the Outback Bowl.
I’m sure bowl president Jim McVay and the Outback folks performed cartwheels when they heard Garcia would be the starting QB for the Gamecocks. How many more tickets could they sell with a hometown hero?
Let’s put it this way: the Outback Bowl got what they wanted. Garcia’s return to his hometown has created a media stir here in Tampa. It has been trumpeted by the local media as one of the main storylines of an otherwise undistinguished bowl game featuring a pair of non-Top 25 schools.
Spurrier promised to be less critical and more encouraging of his players a few weeks ago when news of the players-only meeting broke.
At Sunday’s press conference, he seemed to fulfill part of that pledge. I believe Garcia is still a ways off from becoming a top-flight QB, but there’s no questioning the physical ability is there.
After working with the first-team offense for the past 2-1/2 weeks, it appears the mental part is coming along as well for Garcia. But are his mental skills sharp enough to beat the tough Iowa defense?
Spurrier realizes USC needs Garcia to play well to have any chance of beating Iowa on New Year’s Day. If that happens, the next eight months will pass quickly while we await the start of the 2009 season.
The anticipation is growing.
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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 @.