Sept. 6, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier met with the media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss this week’s game at Georgia.

“We are looking forward to the ball game on Saturday. It will be a tough game, tough assignment but we are looking forward to it. We feel like we can play a lot better than the last time out. We are looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.”

(On playing at Georgia)
“The time I went there, they were not near the team they are now. The fans left by about the third quarter, the last time I was there. It’s a different environment, real different. Different team, different head coach, the fans, their enthusiasm is about 10 times greater than it was that day. Certainly, Sanford Stadium is one of the tops in the SEC but so is ours. Williams-Brice, that atmosphere we had last week, was about as big-time anywhere I have been. They are going to have 90,000 (at Sanford Stadium), but our 80,000 were there for pre-game warm-ups and were ready to scream and yell.”

(On The Georgia Bulldogs)
“Georgia had a very impressive showing. Team speed has always been there. Their defense is certainly outstanding as their offense was as well. Boise State turned it over something like six times, so that makes it a lot more fun when you are an offensive coach, when you get a lot of turnovers. Obviously our last game, I don’t think I have ever had a team go approximately 11 minutes without having to call an offensive play. That’s the way it turned out and fortunately we were able to win the game.”

“They (Georgia) are a top team. We think we have got a pretty good team too, but haven’t yet showed it.”

(On Georgia head coach Mark Richt)
“He certainly has proven to be an outstanding head coach at Georgia. I remember one time he asked me when I was at Florida, the Virginia and Georgia head coaching jobs were coming open, and he asked me which one did I think. I said the `Virginia job is great you ought to go there.’ Certainly the Georgia job is one of the best in the country and we have got one of the best too. We have got to pump it up some and take it to the level we are capable of taking it to.”

(On Blake Mitchell)
“Blake has got to play extremely well for us to have a chance. Obviously we are not running the ball like we should right now. We have got to find a way to make some yards rushing. He played very well most of the game against UCF. He had a few plays here and there he could have been a little bit better. He got hung up on some plays where he took some sacks and you can’t take those. He’s got to keep thinking and focusing and keep his mind working all the time.”

(On Georgia offense vs. South Carolina defense)
“I hope we can keep them off the field. Our third down defense will have to be better. We had a lot of good plays last week; I think we had six sacks. Lots of good things. There were five fumbles in the game and they got everyone of them. That shows you how alert we were as a team. We have got to get some loose balls. Our field position was horrible. There is a lot of room for improvement.”

(On cornerback Johnathan Joseph)
“We are going to let him concentrate on covering guys. He’s much better at covering guys and playing his position then he showed last week. He’s probably one of our best cover guys. I don’t know if he was a little tired but we are going to let him concentrate on playing defensive back.”

(On Syvelle Newton)
“He’s scheduled to play. We wanted to try and get the ball in his hands vs. UCF and let him run a little bit. He’s a very good runner when he has the ball. Of course we threw that little screen to him and Kris Clark made a good block Syvelle saw it and made a quick move outside and went all the way.”

(On playing at Georgia)
“This is why we coach and play. The big game, big opportunities. Of course last week was a big game and big opportunity. They all are. Think about how much effort from players, coaches, support staff, that everyone puts into 11 games in one year.”

(On Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley)
“I didn’t watch all that much of him but obviously he had an excellent day and he’s already got a little bit of Heisman hype. If he has a big year, he certainly will be a candidate. Hopefully we can slow him down a little bit. He can run, he can pass and that’s a tough combination for the defense.”