USC to now focus on winning all home games
Things change quickly in college football.
Two weeks ago, South Carolina was undefeated and the third-ranked team in the country after notching a monumental win against then–No. 5 Georgia at home. College football analysts around the country were listing USC as the team that could challenge Alabama for the national title, and even coach Steve Spurrier found himself peeking at what the future could hold.
“It was a special day for us,” Spurrier said after the 35-7 win over the Bulldogs. “I was thinking prior that this might be the best one since I’ve been here. Our goal is to see if we can match that emotional level and getting ready as we get through the rest of the season. We’ll see where this leads us. One thing we’ll have to guard against is everyone telling us how great we are, which when you win convincingly, that’s what happens.”
Fast-forward to now and the Gamecocks have gone from No. 3 in the country to No. 3 in their division.
With the consecutive road losses to LSU and Florida that derailed USC’s dream season, there is no longer talk of winning the school’s first-ever SEC championship. The Gamecocks have had to take a step back and readjust expectations entering Saturday’s game against Tennessee.
“We’ve got to accept that we’re not going to win the SEC this year,” Spurrier said. “We have accepted that. We’ve got plenty of other goals out there.”
The main goal for the team now is to win the rest of its home games, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 1987.
One thing USC hopes to avoid is a hangover effect from the past two weeks. Gone are the high expectations of winning the SEC, and with that comes the danger of players giving up. However, senior center and team captain T.J. Johnson says there is still a lot to be done this season.
“As a senior and a leader, you have to go to guys, one-on-one sometimes, and just talk them through things,” Johnson said. “Just trying to work with guys (and) come together and put the past two weeks behind us. I mean, we still have four games left.
“Obviously the goals have shifted a little bit. We still have a lot to fight for, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Spurrier said Tuesday that he hopes his team captains “are ready to turn this season back into a positive.”
Senior spur DeVonte Holloman pointed out that if USC wins the rest of its games, it can match the school-record win total from last season.
“Just because it has been done before, doesn’t mean we don’t have a good year,” Holloman said.
Holloman said he is confident the team will bounce back, and he has not seen any hangover effects in practice so far, particularly from the younger players.
“If they do, it’s not showing out here right now,” Holloman said. “Everybody seems to be focused. We have a lot of winners out here, and everybody wants to win. We took a bad loss, but we watched it, learned from it, and now we are ready to go out and play again.”
Senior linebacker and team captain Shaq Wilson said the team must put the last two weeks behind them and keep a positive approach, noting that while some team goals are off the table, there are still plenty of other ones left to accomplish.
“We just tell those guys that we have to put the pads on the pads and look ahead to what we can still do,” Wilson said. “We can still have a great season, and we’re just looking forward to this week, getting back at home, being comfortable at home and playing great football again. You can’t live in the past; you just have to move on. We can’t do anything about those last two weeks.”