Nov. 26, 2013

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Senior offensive guard Ronald Patrick

On more intensity at practice…

We are a little fired up. Anytime you play your rival, you know, it’s a big game, (it is) bragging rights.

On blocking the front four…

They have a great front four. We watch them on film, they have Vic (Beasley), Corey (Crawford), Grady (Jarrett), they play with great motors. Vic has a great first step, I know he’s quick off the line, he’s got great moves. Grady plays with great leverage and Corey, you know, he get’s off the line. So it’s going to be a nice matchup, a great challenge, so we are looking forward to it.

On the motivating factor to win…

For me, the motivating factor is it’s my last home game. So being my last game, winning streak on the line, I mean, it’s Clemson. I really couldn’t picture finishing my last (home) game any better; it’s going to be an exciting, fun night. I’m looking forward to it.

On hearing about this game all week…

You hear about this game all year being in the state of South Carolina. It’s us and (it’s) Clemson. So we hear about it, trying to block it out, just worry about us as a team, but you know, it’s talked about regularly.

Senior cornerback Jimmy Legree

On being undefeated by Clemson…

It would mean the world. Coming from South Carolina being able to defeat Clemson as the last home game, last game of the regular season, it would mean the world to us.

On what will make them successful against Clemson…

Well, for the secondary, we know we’ve got to be on our A game; we have got to keep our eyes in the right places. We can’t give up any big plays. Clemson is a team that is known for its explosive plays, they’ve got explosive receivers, and we’ve just got to do what the coaches tell us to do and be in the right place at the right time.

Head Coach Steve Spurrier

Opening Remarks

Looking forward to the ballgame Saturday night, 7 o’clock, two top-10 teams going at it. Again, it’s very neat for our state to have two teams that started in the top-10, after 11 games we are still in the top-10! So it should be a heck of a game. All the national media boys, they’re talking about Alabama and Auburn Obviously, Alabama and Auburn have had fantastic years also and they’ve got a huge game going but we are looking forward to (our) game, see what we can do. Clemson’s a very good team as we all know, I don’t know if they’ve even had a real close game. The one that they lost, they didn’t play very well and FSU was really hot that night and so forth. (Clemson) pretty much clobbered everybody they’ve played since then. So they’re a very good team and we’ve got to play very well if we’re going to stay on the field with them here Saturday night. Our defense in the past has played very well against Clemson and for us to be in the game that certainly has to happen. Offensively, we can run the ball a little bit, get some passes here and there and play like we’re capable. We’ve had some good offensive games and some so-so games lately, but hopefully we can put it all together here Saturday night. Should be a good crowd, a live crowd, we are going to need the fans screaming and yelling and hopefully making it difficult for them and be a little quiet when we have the ball – that would be helpful for us. But again, one of the biggest games we’ve had with them and should be a thrilling contest, to see what happens. We are very healthy this time of year, I think about everybody that started this season should be just about ready to play, so we’re fortunate on the injury front this year. We’ve been pretty healthy the entire year.

On the defense growing and evolving…

We’ve certainly improved. The young linebackers, about all of them are freshmen, I believe, have gotten better and seem to be in better position. The secondary also, linebackers, secondary play has been very good. Victor Hampton has had an excellent year, especially the past couple games, his coverage has been very good. So we’ll need to cover their guys the best we can, get a little pressure on the quarterback, all those kind of things. Our pass rush has not been quite as good as we hoped, but hopefully we can rush the passer, obviously if we want to stop (Tajh Boyd) we’ve got to get some pressure on the quarterback, so that will be a big key Saturday night.

On Elliot Fry…

Elliot is a very good kicker, he’s had an excellent year. (Clemson’s kicker) is 13-of-15 of or something like that, so you’ve got two excellent kickers. It could come down to a field goal. Who knows how it will play out? But certainly Elliot has been a very pleasant surprise for us. We did not know who our kicker was going to be in preseason practice and he seemed to earn it during practice and he has certainly deserving of the job.

On Clemson’s tackle for a loss statistic…

Yeah, they’re probably as good as any defensive front we’ve faced. You’ve got to try and block them a little bit. Sometimes, we block pretty well, sometimes so-so, but they are very good, they’re active. So if we are going to have a chance we’ve got to run the ball some, we’ve got to pass block. Our line, every football game, the line of scrimmage is crucial.

On the Missouri game this Saturday…

Yeah, we have no control over that game and after we play ours here some of you guys here will tell me what happened. We’ve got enough on our hands trying to beat our instate rival, trying to win 10 games again, all that kind of stuff.

On Clemson’s passing game…

They’ve been very impressive. I mean (Boyd) hits guys on a dead run down the field and they catch everything that comes their way. It will be a challenge for our guys, I will say that this will be by far the best passing team we’ve faced all year.

On Clemson’s defensive game compared to last year…

Yeah, I think they are just a little better upfront, linebackers, d-line, their d-line especially is impressive and their linebackers are very good. Secondary… they’ve got some young guys playing back in their secondary, probably not as experienced as the other positions.

On South Carolina never beating Clemson five straight times…

We haven’t talked about it that much at all. Our guys know what it is and if we are going to have a good game, we’ve got to go play, play the assignments, play with tremendous effort – things like that.

On having all the running backs healthy…

All of a sudden all of our running backs are healthy. Mike Davis will get the start. He should be at 100 percent. If he gets beat up a little bit, Brandon Wilds may be next in line and then Shon (Carson) and Jamari (Smith) will be after that.

On his relationship with Dabo Swinney…

I do like Dabo, I think he’s done an excellent job there. He’s a good person, got a good wife, one of the nicest ladies you’ll ever meet, and I think we have a good rivalry with Clemson. A little different than when I got here maybe, talking about that ’04 game and so forth.

On talking to Connor Shaw about emotions…

Well, I hope (I don’t have to), I hope he’s approaching it like all of the home games, because he’s been pretty good in his home games and he’s got to concentrate on what he needs to do with the ball every play, he doesn’t need to worry so much about last home game, last this, that and the other.

On home field advantage…

Well, it could be (more of an advantage during a rivalry game), I don’t know. I will tell you after the game how important it was. But certainly, the streak we’ve had here is because of the fans, it is because our players feel comfortable playing here and hopefully it will continue.

On beating Clemson versus a SEC Championship…

If you’d ask me if I’d rather win the SEC Championship or beat Clemson, I’d rather win the SEC Championship, if I had a choice. Now first of all, I think Missouri is a very, very good team that’s probably not going to lose a game, but there’s a chance, everybody has a chance, but we have no control over that, whether or not we get to the game or not we can’t worry about that right now. We’re worried about beating our instate rival.

On Connor Shaw’s growth…

Yeah, to be 25-5, I think is very special for Connor and for our team. To go down in record books as maybe the best quarterback to ever play here, he certainly could be considered that because of the win-loss record statistic. I don’t know how many quarterbacks in the country have 20 touchdowns and only one interception, I think that’s what it is right now. So he’s played really well. And again, hopefully he will end it up with one of his best games here Saturday night.