If you didn't hear, you can find that story here. Here are some extras from that game, most of which will focus on the play of the defense.
But first, some news:
-The football squad will arrive to Williams-Brice Stadium today at noon and fans are encouraged to welcome them at the southwest corner of the stadium fresh off the school-record 11-win season.
-Tailback Kenny Miles, who is considering a transfer to a different program, said after the game that he still needs to talk to his family before making his decision.
“I don’t really have one,” Miles said on his timetable for his decision. “I’m enjoying this win, so I don’t know.”
-Two-sport star Bruce Ellington is also still undecided as to whether he will play just one sport exclusively next year, or if he’ll continue to play both football and basketball. He missed the game against USC Upstate on Dec. 31, but will play in today’s game against SC State.
A sparkling debut for Whammy:
Coaching his first game as the defensive coordinator, Lorenzo “Whammy” Ward had a strong debut, as South Carolina’s defense held the Huskers to just 253 yards.
The game didn’t start great, as the defense was gashed by Nebraska’s ground game in the first half, allowing 100 yards on 26 carries. In the second half, the Gamecocks allowed just 37 yards on 20 carries.
“I think we did a better job executing what we had in,” Ward said. “I think we were really excited to get this game started. I think anytime you take 30 or so days off to go play a bowl game, the thing that you lack in that bowl game early is tackling. We talked about it at halftime—it didn’t have anything to do with the game plan. We had to be more physical and just go out there and execute.”
The game marked the first for Ward in the booth, since the Gamecocks are still down a linebackers coach. Ward said he’d like to return to the field once another coach is hired.
“It started out slow,” Ward said of calling the game from the booth. “Even the (first) touchdown pass was my fault—I put the call in late. I said that we’ve got to do what these young men have been doing and no matter the personnel or the group on the field, we have to make a call and let them play, and that’s what we started doing.”
Ward said that he’d like to return to the field after a linebackers coach is hired.
“It’s difficult because I like looking players in the eyes,” Ward said. “I felt like being a coach short, I could see it better up there. My plan for next season is to probably be on the sideline. I like to look at my players and I can tell whether they’re focused or not. We’ll figure it out when we hire a linebackers coach. Hopefully, he’s a guy that we can put in the box so I can be on the field.”
A big key for the Huskers was the performance of running back Rex Burkhead, who was averaging 5 yards a carry in the first half. In the second half, he had just 18 yards as oppose to the 71 in the first half.
Ward said the speed of South Carolina’s defense was important later in the game.
“You have to be fast to play in this league that we play in,” Ward said. “We knew we had speed. We figured if we just let them play fast, it would eventually take over.”
Rings:
The Gamecocks will get rings to commemorate the program’s first 11-win season.
“Eleven wins we said, hey, if we are fortunate enough to beat these guys, we’ll get rings,” said USC coach Steve Spurrier. “We saved 350 bucks out of their allotment from the bowl so they can get rings. It will have a big ‘ole 11 on them, and it is neat for this group of seniors to say, hey, I played on the best team ever from South Carolina. The record speaks for itself as the best team ever.”
He said it:
If you didn’t notice, the kicking game was terrible in the first half. Punter Joey Scribner-Howard was averaging 34 yards per punt, but it did lead to this gem of a quote from Spurrier.
“Every time our punter shanks—generally he’s a great kid and does the best he can,” Spurrier said. “You never see me yell at the punter when he kicks one of those 25-yarders. He does it in practice too. It is what it is. And when Jay (Scribner-Howard) kicked that one out of bounds, I said, ‘Jay, what are you doing?’ I asked coach (John) Butler what is he doing, and he’s demonstrating to Jay that you’re supposed to drive the ball, and I said, ‘Coach Butler, do you realize you’re on television right now acting like an idiot trying to demonstrate how to kick the ball?’”
