Junior quarterback has completed 20 consecutive passes
When Connor Shaw takes the field Saturday night in Lexington, he will have a chance to do something no other quarterback in the SEC has ever done.
After missing his first pass in the 31-10 over Missouri last week, Shaw completed 20 consecutive throws to end the game. The junior needs to complete five more consecutive passes against Kentucky to pass Tennessee’s Tee Martin for the league record.
While the record would be a nice one to add to the Gamecock record books, quarterback coach G.A. Mangus says the focus is still on Kentucky.
“I think everybody likes a record,” Mangus said. “But again, we have to go out there and do what we are supposed to do to go beat Kentucky and give our best effort against an SEC east opponent on the road. If it falls in the flow of the game, then that’s what we will do.”
When asked if there was any way Shaw could duplicate the performance against Missouri, Mangus responded by saying Shaw could go 21-for-21.
The response shows just how much the USC coaches expect out of Shaw and the rest of the offense. During Tuesday’s press conference, head coach Steve Spurrier called the offense “a work in progress” despite the unit averaging 43 points and 324 passing yards per game over the last three weeks.
As for Mangus, he says there is room for Shaw to improve after setting the school’s single-game completion percentage record.
“You try to coach to try to get them to go play the perfect game,” Mangus said. “I don’t know if he can or can’t, but we are going to try to. He got a couple minuses; he graded out at 85 percent, so there were some little things that can get better.”
Mangus did say Shaw has done a good job of spreading the ball and not trying to force the issue.
“I think that shows you to take what the defense is going to give you,” Mangus said. “That makes defenses try to prepare, and they don’t know who we are going to go to all the time. Connor’s good at that. It doesn’t surprise me at all. He is going to look around. He’s a smart guy that kind of understands the game of football.”
Junior wide receiver Ace Sanders says there is no added pressure on the receiving corps to not drop passes.
“The game plan is to go out there and do what we need to do to win,” Sanders said. “We just go out there and do what we have been doing our whole lives. It’s just like pitch and catch to us, so we just have to focus in on the ball. That’s about it.”
Kentucky (1-3, 0-1 SEC) is off to a rough start in 2012, losing a game at home against Western Kentucky and getting blown out by Florida, 38-0, in its SEC opener last Saturday. With the lackluster performance by the Wildcats so far, it may be easy for the players to get caught up in the outside talk of breaking a record.
However, junior tailback Marcus Lattimore says the offense must be ready for a physical Wildcat defense.
“(It’s the) same as the past two or three years,” Lattimore said. “They are physical — that’s one thing that sticks out. And they’re huge. The linebackers are big; (defensive) line is big so we have a big task ahead.”
According to USC coaches, the offensive line took a step forward in the win against Missouri. In the previous game against UAB, offensive line coach Shawn Elliott was disgusted with the line play, calling it “pitiful” and an “embarrassment.” However, according to Spurrier and Lattimore, there was improvement after sophomore Corey Robinson took over the left tackle spot.
“Corey played just about the whole game,” Spurrier said. “Coach Elliott, if they’re playing pretty decent, he leaves them in there. He played pretty well.”
“The guys just came in with a different focus (against Missouri),” Lattimore said. “All five of those guys, they bonded and they played great together, and they’re going to continue to play great together.”