Spurrier reflects on early coaching in anticipation of 200th win on call-in show 
For the second game in a row, the starting quarterback for South Carolina won’t be known until gameday. USC coach Steve Spurrier said on his weekly call-in show Thursday that it is still a wait-and-see process with Connor Shaw, who is out with a deep bone bruise on his shoulder.
“Connor threw the ball around a little bit today,” Spurrier said. “The trainers and doctors told him not to throw too much, but I expect him to throw it around a little bit more tomorrow. He hasn’t been quite 100 percent yet but there is still a chance he might get there. We’ll see how he feels Saturday morning.”
If Shaw cannot go Saturday, the Gamecocks will again turn to sophomore Dylan Thompson, who filled in nicely for Shaw last week against East Carolina, throwing for 330 yards and three touchdowns.
Spurrier said Thompson has “done fine” this week during practice and is hoping for a little more support from the offensive line, which he said is struggling a bit with the new emphasis on pass protection.
“Sometimes as coaches we don’t realize that our players go to classes every day of the week,” Spurrier said. “They have a lot of stuff on their plate, and as coaches all we do is sit over there and look at ball plays all day. We know what’s going on, but they have a lot more to do, so we have to be good teachers when we have time to do that.”
Spurrier shows appreciation to 200 college wins: A couple of days after showing no pleasure in joining the 200 career wins club, saying “a bunch of dudes have won 200 games,” Spurrier admitted he has been lucky to reach the mark.
“I know how fortunate and blessed I’ve been to have been around excellent players, assistant coaches, athletic directors ... that gave us a chance to do that,” Spurrier said.
Spurrier said he remembers the score from the first game he ever coached as the head man, a 21-17 victory over the Boston Breakers of the United States Football League when he was coaching the Tampa Bay Bandits. Even then, 28 years ago, Spurrier remembers being the aggressive offensive-minded coach who has made him famous.
“We had to run out the clock to win the game, and we were on our own 40 (yard line) with a fourth-and-1 with two minutes left, and they had already burned all of their timeouts,” Spurrier said. “And we went for it. I remember somebody saying, ‘Did you make it?’ and I said that we never found out because the other team lined up offsides. The fans thought that was the gutsiest call in the world.”
Spurrier not overlooking UAB: After Louisiana-Monroe came back to defeat No. 8 Arkansas in Fayetteville last week, Spurrier is cautious about this week’s game against the Blazers. Coincidentally, UAB’s head coach, Garrick McGee, was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas the last two years.
“They talk like they got a chance to come in here and beat us, which they do,” Spurrier said. “Louisiana-Monroe was a 30-point underdog and beat Arkansas, so I know a lot of stuff can happen. A lot of crap can happen if you allow it to and if you’re not ready to play. But we’ve had some pretty good practices this week because our team has not been very happy with the way they have played thus far.”