Nov. 10, 2015

Interim Head Coach Shawn Elliott

Opening Statement
Florida Gators – going to be a tough week. SEC East champs. They are a very well-coached football team, great talent. Unbelievable defensive personnel, they have a good offensive mind in their new head coach and what a turnaround for the 2015 season. Winning the East, they have to be feeling real good of themselves. They certainly are not going to overlook South Carolina. They know they have to finish strong and we know what a challenge it will be to take on their football team this week.

On going against Florida’s defensive line
You have to move the pocket; you have to do other protections. Simple dropbacks are not going to be good enough against a talented group of guys that come off the football and rush the passer like that. We have to be creative. Texas A&M had a good pass rush. I thought we had a pretty good plan for those guys. I think their two ends were not all that destructive. We gave up two at the end but it wasn’t because of pass rush ability. So, moving the pocket, play-action, draws. We will have a plan and hopefully we can handle their great rush.

On moving players around
As a coach you evaluate players whether they are offense or defense. I think that is what you have to do. You have to try to put best players in the best situations to go out there and be successful.

On playing on the road most of the season
To come back and realize you have three home games left, starting with Florida, you say, ‘Wow. What happened earlier in the year?’ We had the early game in Charlotte (vs. North Carolina) and you had the LSU (game moved). It has been an odd season in that regard. We are glad to be back at home. I think in the last couple of weeks we have brought some excitement back to our fan base. I think they are anxious to see us play in Williams-Brice Stadium against a great Florida football team. I want them to be here and I would love it to be sold out and love it to be as loud as it can be. It’s going to be a beautiful Saturday.

On the offensive game plan
We have wrinkles. We are just having fun and trying to create some new ideas. You call it a wrinkle, I call it an idea. We are just going to go with it and see where it puts us. Our little wrinkle last week put us in a pretty good situation.

On playing at home at Williams-Brice Stadium
The people (make it special). The Gamecock fans. The fan base creates Williams-Brice. It has ever since I have grown up coming to football games. Through thick and thin, wins and losses – the passion that these fans have for Carolina Football and Carolina Athletics is what sets us apart. These Carolina fans know how to do it and how to do it right.