Spurrier Call-In Show Blog - Thur. 10/15
posted by Scott Hood, Thursday, October 15, 2009
7:00 PM - We're awaiting the start of the show.
FIRST SEGMENT: Kickoff Sat. at 7:45 p.m. ESPN TV. Rain this week. Disruptive? Preparation has been OK. Indoors Mon and Tue. USC has played well when they've practiced indoors. Temps expected to be in the 50's in Tuscaloosa. Night game. Team must hang out in hotel all day. USC ready to take on Top 5 team? USC has treated this game like any other game. Treat all games the same. Similar game plan for preparation this week. Players know how good Ala is. Can't give them TDs like turnovers, special teams, etc. Must make Alabam earn its way. USC is pretty healthy. McKnight "bonked" in the head. Slight concussion. Won't travel. Dion LeCorn hasn't come back from broken in lower leg. Similar injury to Noah Whiteside in 2005. NW cam back full go. But with DL treatment and rehab haven't worked. Doctors may have to operate to clean some stuff out.
SECOND SEGMENT: Will USC stack the box to stop the run? USC must play smart and can't give UA anything. Special teams must be sharp. Alshon Jeffery might lead SEC in TD catches. he has four. Alshon is quiet and has really come around. Has picked up the tempio in practice. Wants to get entire team to practice at high tempo like Sidney Rice did in 2005-2006. Get Alshon the ball in the red zone? USC got in red zone 4 times last week and got 4 TD. USC was throwing to Alshon in RZ last week. Will Alabama double team Alshon" Hasn't even started a game yet. O-Line starters: LT Nunn, LG King, C Jeanpierre/Anderson, RG Johnson, RT Eckerson. Spurrier said Eckerson has played better this year.
THIRD SEGMENT: Most of production on offense from younger players. 47 percent of touches on offense have gone to freshmen. We do have a lot of redshirt freshmen. That's where we are. Miles had 100 yards last week. Jeffery has 3 TD. Spurrier said USC must recruit better and get players to stick around for 4 years and go to class. Alabama starts 7 seniors on defense. But USC has best 2 pass rushers with Norwood and Matthews. How will Garcia do this week? Threw a couple of careless passes last week. But hadn't done that all year. Must throw the ball down the field more. He's by far our best QB. Maybe a few scramble plays.
FOURTH SEGMENT: What about the USC running game? USC won't be able to push Terrence Cody around this week. . .1969 team will celebrate 40th anniversary of ACC title, while 1984 team will have 25th anniversary next week for Vanderbilt game. How will team chemistry beat Alabama? Both teams probably have good team chemistry. Alabama will probably be favored in all of their remaining games. USC has the formula to win: 4 or 5 long drives against the UA defense. USC has outscored the opponents by 89-36 in the 2H. Tribute to Craig Fitzgerald and his staff. Shows USC is in better shape. That's encouraging.
FIFTH SEGMENT: Spurrier insisted he doesn't talk trash on the golf course, contrary to a recent article inthe local paper. Cliff Matthews is one of the best players and a great person. High class.
SIXTH SEGMENT: Move Brian Maddox to FB? Will LBs be overmatched? Answer to first question is no. We have no need to FB unless DiMarco gets hurt. Maddox is scheduled to play quite a bit. Shaq Wilson must stay free and keep the big O-linemen off him. Josh Dickerson and Tony Straughter have played well. What about Bryce Sherman? USC must utlize him some more. Hide the ball play? Trying to look for it. Weslye Saunders is back. Must catch passes and block better. USC's policy re: concussions is to hold players out for 2 weeks.
SEVENTH SEGMENT: Spurrier said recruiting is going very well. New facilities have helped. Excellent group of coaches. Shane Besamer got a game ball for recruiting Alshon Jeffery.
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Steve Spurrier held his weekly call-in show on Thur. night. Here is a summary of what he said:
7:00 PM - We're awaiting the start of the show.
FIRST SEGMENT: Kickoff Sat. at 7:45 p.m. ESPN TV. Rain this week. Disruptive? Preparation has been OK. Indoors Mon and Tue. USC has played well when they've practiced indoors. Temps expected to be in the 50's in Tuscaloosa. Night game. Team must hang out in hotel all day. USC ready to take on Top 5 team? USC has treated this game like any other game. Treat all games the same. Similar game plan for preparation this week. Players know how good Ala is. Can't give them TDs like turnovers, special teams, etc. Must make Alabam earn its way. USC is pretty healthy. McKnight "bonked" in the head. Slight concussion. Won't travel. Dion LeCorn hasn't come back from broken in lower leg. Similar injury to Noah Whiteside in 2005. NW cam back full go. But with DL treatment and rehab haven't worked. Doctors may have to operate to clean some stuff out.
SECOND SEGMENT: Will USC stack the box to stop the run? USC must play smart and can't give UA anything. Special teams must be sharp. Alshon Jeffery might lead SEC in TD catches. he has four. Alshon is quiet and has really come around. Has picked up the tempio in practice. Wants to get entire team to practice at high tempo like Sidney Rice did in 2005-2006. Get Alshon the ball in the red zone? USC got in red zone 4 times last week and got 4 TD. USC was throwing to Alshon in RZ last week. Will Alabama double team Alshon" Hasn't even started a game yet. O-Line starters: LT Nunn, LG King, C Jeanpierre/Anderson, RG Johnson, RT Eckerson. Spurrier said Eckerson has played better this year.
THIRD SEGMENT: Most of production on offense from younger players. 47 percent of touches on offense have gone to freshmen. We do have a lot of redshirt freshmen. That's where we are. Miles had 100 yards last week. Jeffery has 3 TD. Spurrier said USC must recruit better and get players to stick around for 4 years and go to class. Alabama starts 7 seniors on defense. But USC has best 2 pass rushers with Norwood and Matthews. How will Garcia do this week? Threw a couple of careless passes last week. But hadn't done that all year. Must throw the ball down the field more. He's by far our best QB. Maybe a few scramble plays.
FOURTH SEGMENT: What about the USC running game? USC won't be able to push Terrence Cody around this week. . .1969 team will celebrate 40th anniversary of ACC title, while 1984 team will have 25th anniversary next week for Vanderbilt game. How will team chemistry beat Alabama? Both teams probably have good team chemistry. Alabama will probably be favored in all of their remaining games. USC has the formula to win: 4 or 5 long drives against the UA defense. USC has outscored the opponents by 89-36 in the 2H. Tribute to Craig Fitzgerald and his staff. Shows USC is in better shape. That's encouraging.
FIFTH SEGMENT: Spurrier insisted he doesn't talk trash on the golf course, contrary to a recent article inthe local paper. Cliff Matthews is one of the best players and a great person. High class.
SIXTH SEGMENT: Move Brian Maddox to FB? Will LBs be overmatched? Answer to first question is no. We have no need to FB unless DiMarco gets hurt. Maddox is scheduled to play quite a bit. Shaq Wilson must stay free and keep the big O-linemen off him. Josh Dickerson and Tony Straughter have played well. What about Bryce Sherman? USC must utlize him some more. Hide the ball play? Trying to look for it. Weslye Saunders is back. Must catch passes and block better. USC's policy re: concussions is to hold players out for 2 weeks.
SEVENTH SEGMENT: Spurrier said recruiting is going very well. New facilities have helped. Excellent group of coaches. Shane Besamer got a game ball for recruiting Alshon Jeffery.
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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 @.