Oct. 28, 2008
Head Coach Steve Spurrier 
| DE Travian Robertson (Free!) 
DT Nathan Pepper (Free!) | WR Moe Brown (Free!)
Head Coach Steve Spurrier met with the media for his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon in the Crews Building team room. Below are some excerpts from his press conference:
Opening Statement
Looking forward to the game, 7:00 Saturday night against the Tennessee Vols. We’ve played them in three close games since I’ve been here, unfortunately they’ve won two of them and we’ve only won one. Hopefully the ball will bounce our way a little bit better in the fourth quarter and hopefully we’ll play better. Every game stands on its own merit. We’re a team that’s trying to get better as the season goes and we’ll find out if we can do that Saturday night.
Stephen Garcia is set to start the game. If he struggles and has a lot of problems, Chris Smelley may go in. We’ll just have to see how it goes. We’ll give Stephen every opportunity, and if he seems to know what he’s doing in there and making good decisions. Chris seems to know what he’s doing also. It seems like the guy that comes off the bench has played pretty well around here so we have to keep that in mind also.
It’s just another big game, a conference game, we’re going to try to get into the top half of the eastern division. That’s one of our goals right now, to finish in the top three.
On changes in the Tennessee defense
Everybody changes a little bit; teams do things a little differently all the time. They’re one of the best defenses year in and year out and they are again this year. So it will be a challenge for our games.
On approaching close games in the fourth quarter
Our team had done that very well until the last game. In the Kentucky and Ole Miss games, our offense played well in the fourth quarter and hopefully we can do that this weekend. Everyone is playing a lot more close games. I don’t think one team can completely dominate too much the way it was in earlier years. That’s why everyone is not winning as much they’re all playing a lot closer games.
On having a better defense than offense
As far as ranking in the conference, I don’t think our defense has ever ranked higher than our offense. Ellis [Johnson] has come in here, and our defensive coaches have put together a strong defense. They know what they’re doing and they’ve been very good. Offensively, we struggle but we’re working at it and trying to get better.
On the teams USC is facing the last quarter of the season
Certainly the way our defense is playing gives us a chance to compete with everyone we’re playing. We have hope that a lot of good things can happen. We’re disappointed in the way our offense played in the last game, but that’s history.
Arkansas and Tennessee are not having the years they normally have, but they’re still very good teams. And Clemson’s not having quite the year they’ve usually had.
On what a win over Tennessee would mean
We’ve only beaten them twice since South Carolina joined the conference so we’re way behind in the standings with Tennessee.
On the health of the team
Jared Cook, our tight end, might practice a little bit today. He’s got a sprained foot, should be ok by Saturday.
On the benefits of having an open week
I think it was very beneficial to the team. We got a chance to work on the route tree, do a little fundamentals work and go back to the basics a little bit. Also the recovery time…we’ve been playing eight weeks in a row, and the rest will pay off.
On the importance of getting a win over Tennessee
It’s very important. There’s this hump we’ve been stuck on the past few years, and we’re trying to get over it. Tennessee might be down, but they’re still Tennessee, and they’re still an SEC opponent. You’ve got to go in with the mindset of winning the game.
On the frustration of losing two close games to Tennessee
Last year was a heartbreaker, and the year before when it was here was a heartbreaker. It’s one of those things where little plays here and there changed the whole game. Hopefully the ball will fall our way this time.
On feeling comfortable as a receiving corps
I feel like we have grown a lot since the beginning of the season. Coming into the season I felt like we were going to be a receiving corps by committee. Some of the younger guys – Jason Barnes, Joe Hills – are stepping up and getting into the role where we can be a great receiving corps.
On every SEC game having been decided by seven points
It reminds me of my freshman season when we lost a lot of games by seven points or less. It’s just a hump we’ve got to get over. We’ve got to get to that mindset where we want to win, and we’ve got to have that passion to win. We can’t settle for being close. It gets frustrating, but the only thing you can do is watch film, learn from it and get better.
On the improvement of the passing game
It’s gotten a little better. We’ve hit some down-the-field passes. It’s one of those areas where we need to continue to get better. We did a lot of that last week, trying to hit a lot of downfield passes and stretch the defense a little bit.
On how he spent his off week
We took a lot of time to get everybody healed up and rested. I was definitely taking my time to rest and get my body back together to finish out the season.
On the importance of beating Tennessee this week
It’s definitely important because it’s another SEC game. I’ll take all the SEC wins we can get. I don’t think it really matters who it is right now, it just needs to be an SEC opponent for us to get those wins over the top-caliber teams.
On a potential win over Tennessee serving as a springboard for the remainder of the season
It’s something we need to get our ball back rolling. You always need a win to get back going. I don’t know if it will be a springboard, but it will definitely be a step in the right direction.
On the frustrations against Tennessee the last two years
It’s been frustrating because our team has put itself in the right place to get wins, but we haven’t come out with one the last couple of years.
On both teams having strong defenses and struggling offenses
It will definitely be one of those games where it could be a defensive battle. Hopefully our offense will come out on the right page and do the things they need to do, but it could definitely turn out to be a defensive game.
On the day-to-day attitude of the defense
We go out and try to dominate everything we do. We want to be perfect. We go out and get our work done during the week so that once the game comes, we’ll be ready. We’ve been close (to perfect), but we’ve still got a good ways to go. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get better.
