Spurrier hopes to follow Boise State's success against Georgia
Boise State has at least one fan in the Southeastern Conference.
After praising the Broncos on his Sunday teleconference and suggesting he would vote BSU No. 1 in his coaches poll ballot, USC coach Steve Spurrier continued to speak highly of Boise State at his Tuesday press conference.
Boise defeated Georgia, USC’s next opponent, 35-21 in its season opener at the Georgia Dome. Spurrier said he hopes having his team watch film of Boise’s play will “allow our guys to see how you’re supposed to play this game.”
“Boise, you have to admire the way their kids play,” Spurrier said. “They played fundamentally sound, very few mistakes, hustled and gave it their best shot. When they jog down the field, they look like Wofford or Furman or those teams [in terms of size]. They play hard; their quarterback [Kellen Moore] looked sharp throwing the ball.”
Moore, a Heisman candidate, picked apart UGA through the air to the tune of 261 passing yards and three touchdowns. Spurrier said USC and quarterback Stephen Garcia might have to do the same. After tailback Marcus Lattimore gashed the Bulldogs for 182 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries last season in USC’s 17-6 win over Georgia at Williams-Brice Stadium, Spurrier said he is expecting the UGA defense to sell out against the run, but he added nothing is guaranteed.
“They’ll stack the box. I’m sure they watched tapes of the run blocking schemes we used. You have to figure they’ll try to get more guys in the box and defend against Marcus,” Spurrier said. “Maybe we need to throw the ball better than we did last week, pass block better and run better routes. That may be the key for us to beat them. Who knows. Or maybe we can keep running it. Who knows.”
While Spurrier might not have definite answers at this point, he said he is eager to find them. He did nothing to downplay the significance of the game against the Bulldogs, saying it is extremely crucial to USC’s hopes to repeat as SEC East champions and have the type of season it aspires toward.
“We have to play some ball,” Spurrier said. “It’s a huge game. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. The winner is in pretty good shape. The loser’s not in terrible shape, but he’s not as good as the winner.
No Byrd news: No update was given on the status of freshman receiver Damiere Byrd. Byrd missed the ECU game due to an undisclosed compliance issue. Spurrier said he is hopeful Byrd’s situation will be resolved prior to Saturday.
Gamecocks hold in polls: USC stayed at No. 12 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls.
The ‘Dogs are dogs: USC is favored in Las Vegas to beat Georgia for the first time in years, if not ever. The Gamecocks were a three-point favorite per Bodog as of Tuesday afternoon.
Spurrier said that will have no effect on the game.
“We don’t look at who’s favored or who it is,” he said. “We just try to play the best we can. That’s all we’re trying to do, play the game better than we did last week. If we do that we’ll have a chance. If we don’t do that the chances won’t be very good.”
Fumbles not a concern: Spurrier wasn’t pleased with the fact USC fumbled four times against East Carolina, but he also said he wasn’t too concerned.
“Two were on special teams, Connor [Shaw] had one and Marcus spun around and the guy hit the ball,” Spurrier said. “We only had one fumble by a running back or wide receiver. Now if our running backs and wide receivers were catching it and fumbling it, we’d have to have a talk.”
Watkins in fighting condition: Spurrier said right tackle Rokevious Watkins, who was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week, is “in the best shape, probably, of his life.”
“He can play anywhere up front. He had a very good game at right tackle,” Spurrier said. “He came here about 345 or 350 (pounds) and he’s down to 325 now, which he can handle easily. He had a good solid game.”