Defense has strong day, pitches shutout
South Carolina's scrimmage Saturday was more or less a tryout for the starting punter job between Joey Scribner-Howard and Patrick Fish.
Working without the services of Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery and with limited participation from its starting linemen, the USC offense was outclassed by the defense to the tune of a litany of punts, a meager 61 yards of total offense and no scores of any kind.
It was an ugly performance that likely made the 5,000 or so fans who came to Williams-Brice Stadium for the open scrimmage wish they had spent their midmorning doing something else.
"Overall, the defense had a much better day today," said coach Steve Spurrier. "They made very few mistakes, tackled well. I was impressed with how the defense played."
Considering the offensive personnel on the field mostly consisted of second- and third-team players, little concern will be drawn from the scrimmage. However, Spurrier still was not pleased with the performance, which he called "very lethargic."
"It was a little bit disappointing that the offense couldn't do much," he said. "But that's where we are right now."
One starter who did play was incumbent quarterback Stephen Garcia, who did not have his best of days. With heavy defensive pressure on almost every play, the fifth-year senior was three-of-11 for 33 yards and an interception. Along with Dylan Thompson and Andrew Clifford, the USC quarterbacks went a combined six-of-19 for 58 yards.
When asked to assess Garcia's performance, Spurrier bit his tongue. He claimed he didn't want to be accused of being too harsh on the quarterback and that Garcia's day should have spoken for itself.
"Y'all watched him," Spurrier said. "You were here. That's why I like for you guys to be here. Everybody thinks I'm critical of him. I'm not going to say anything."
Backup quarterback Connor Shaw, who was brilliant in USC's previous scrimmage Wednesday, throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns with the first team before suffering a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand, was held out Saturday due to the same injury.
Spurrier said Shaw, who is wearing a brace on his right hand to protect the thumb, expects to return to practice early this week.
"[Shaw] thinks he's going to be able to practice Monday or Tuesday," Spurrier said. "He feels he's going to be able to go out there and throw."
Spurrier was also displeased with the lack of execution from under center. After playfully jabbing center T.J. Johnson about his high shotgun snaps after practice earlier in the week and being told by Johnson they would stop, the junior and his understudies had a handful of poor snaps Saturday, including one that flew over Garcia's head.
"It's embarrassing that we can't snap the ball in the shotgun," Spurrier said. "[The centers] are doing 50 snaps after practice now. We'll do that every day. That's the only way maybe we can get our centers to throw it back correctly."
In a sense of ironic timing, USC learned Saturday it will start the season as the No. 12 team in the Associated Press poll. USC had already been ranked 12th in the preseason USA Today coaches' poll. Spurrier was quick to say his team didn't look it, though.
"We're probably an overrated bunch of dudes right now, overrated bunch of coaches right now," Spurrier said. "That's the way it is. We've got two weeks to see if we can learn how to play smart, play with discipline, play physical and all those kind of things."
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Passing: Garcia 3-11-33, INT; Clifford 2-6-16; Thompson 1-2-9
Rushing: Wilds 4-19; Carson 2-7; E. Baker 4-2; Clifford 1-(-4); Ellington 1-(-7); Thompson 2-(-14)
Receiving: Byrd 2-20; Smith 1-16; Brent 1-12; Simmons 1-6; Jones 1-4;
Interceptions: Markett 1