Nov. 9, 2005

The South Carolina football squad continued preparations for Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. matchup against Florida with a two-hour workout at the Bluff Road practice fields on Wednesday. Following the practice, Gamecock Head Coach Steve Spurrier addressed the media:

“It will be an exciting day for somebody. Somebody will be happy when the day is over. It should be an exciting game. I’m looking forward to it.

“We prepare the same way we have every game this year. We try to find plays that work, defenses that can stop the other team’s offense. Obviously, this week is a little different than Arkansas. They were a running team. The team we’re playing this week is a passing team. We’ve got to stop the run and the pass. Defensively, they play a little like Arkansas, a lot of man-to-man and zone blitz. They play very well.

On playing Florida: “Every week around here we try our best to win the game. We’re not a powerful team that can just show up and win by two or three touchdowns. We have to scrape and claw. One or two plays here or there have determined the outcome. We’re on the edge every week around here. We try our best no matter who the opponent is.

On playing against Florida: “It’s just x’s and o’s really. Sometimes we don’t even know the color of the jerseys on the other team. We’re just watching how they line up and how they play their defenses.

“Blake (Mitchell) looks about like he always does in practice. He’s got some good plays and some errant plays. Overall, he’s much improved from earlier in the year.

“We’ve got to block and tackle and play our assignments better than we’ve been playing. I still think we can play a lot better. We’re running short on games. Hopefully it will come together this week for us.

“Our guys have been pretty well focused all the way down the stretch. We don’t over-emphasize games. We’re keeping it like every week. There are no special pep rallies or anything like that. It’s time to gear up and play the best we can Saturday and hopefully it will be good enough.

“Scott Morgan is not playing this week. He is out. So our snapper for extra points and field goals has been suspended a week by our university. We accept it and move on. He’s got a chance to be back next week.

If he remembers playing against South Carolina: “1964? 37-0. I know exactly. That was the best game we played all year, my sophomore year.”