Nov. 13, 2003
Columbia, S.C. – Notes and quotes from USC football camp: Here are excerpts from USC head football coach Lou Holtz’s press conference following Thursday’s practice. The Gamecocks are preparing to host #15 Florida this Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. Kick off is 12:30 p.m. with Jefferson Pilot Sports televising. “Jason Capers (defensive end) will not play Saturday. His back has been bothering all week and he wasn’t able to go today. That could cause us some problems at defensive end … We haven’t beaten Florida in a long, long time. (last USC victory was in 1939) I guess you could say we haven’t beaten them since before teams started wearing hard head gear … We will play another quarterback in the third series of the first half, no matter what the score is or where we have the football. I’d say it would be Bennett Swygert (redshirt freshman from Summerville, S.C.) … The starters at safety will be between Jermaine Harris, Corey Peoples and Taqiy Muhammad. I expect George Gause (defensive end) to be close to full speed (Gause has been slowed with a knee sprain). I expect him to play pretty well … I think Florida is playing the best football of any team in the SEC right now. They have 19 interceptions on defense. That’s outstanding. They do a great job of disguising their coverages. They have a veteran secondary and they present a lot of problems to your team … We are going to have to have some people step up and make some plays that you wouldn’t expect them to make. We also could use some help from Florida, but I don’t expect to get any.”
Game Day: Stadium gates will open at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The game is a sellout. Florida will bring approximately 7,500 fans. Representatives from the Capital One Bowl, Outback Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will be in attendance. At halftime of the game will be USC’s annual Salute to the Armed Forces. USC is looking to become bowl eligible for the third time in the past four years. A Florida victory would insure the Gators of at least a share of the SEC Eastern Division crown.
