Dec. 4, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Quarterback Stephen Garcia met with members of the media for 20 minutes Thursday morning on the second floor of the Charles F. Crews Football Facility. Below are some excerpts.

On being the starting quarterback
“I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve been talking to coach Spurrier every day, and yesterday after the run, I went and threw the ball with Melvin Ingram a little bit. I’m really excited about it; it’s a big opportunity for me as a quarterback and for the team in general. I’m really excited about it.”

On the possibility of being in Tampa
“That’s going to be pretty fun. (Media Relations Director) Mr. (Steve) Fink and I were joking earlier about how many tickets I’m going to have to get, it’s going to be a lot. Hopefully, we can make it down to the Outback (Bowl). Like you said, it’s where it’s looking like, so hopefully that happens.”

On possible distractions in Tampa
“There’s going to be distractions, I think, no matter what bowl we go to. Maybe more in Tampa than anywhere else, but I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to being back home and seeing my family, everybody is really excited about it.”

On the location of a practice site in Tampa
“Jefferson (High School), right? I remember when Iowa was playing I think Florida a couple years ago, and Iowa practiced at Jefferson. They were kind of recruiting me a little bit. I remember seeing it; it was pretty exciting.”

On going from not playing against Clemson to being named the starter for the bowl game
“I honestly have no idea. Coach Spurrier thinks neither one of us has played well enough to be named the full-time starter throughout the whole year, and that’s me and Chris’ fault. We’re still learning and still trying to get better, and that’s all we can do.”

On having the flu last week
“I was pretty sick. Throwing up throughout the entire night on Sunday night. I felt terrible. A couple guys have it on the team now. It’s not a good sickness to have. I lost 10 pounds. I’m starting to gain it back now, but I lost 10 pounds in three days, so I wasn’t feeling too good.”

On the thought of playing the entire bowl game
“It’s definitely going to help me a lot. Not worried about being taken out if I make a mistake. I think it will be helpful.”

On coach Spurrier motivating him by saying he’s not ready to play
“Definitely. I’m going to try to learn as much as possible, going over film with him. Coach Reaves is gone, so now it’s going to be more directly coach Spurrier coaching us and coach (Steve Spurrier) Junior coaching us.”

On what he can improve on
“I think he (coach Spurrier) wants me to come in and watch film on my own a lot more. Just stuff like that. I feel like I watch film a lot, but he wants me to watch film and really learn about what I’m supposed to be doing.”

On figuring out what to do to play at South Carolina
“It’s on-the-job training. I’m still learning how the system works. It’s my first year playing. I’m still learning and going from there.”

On the impact of spring practice
“Spring is when they really try to coach you up a lot. Missing those spring practices is pretty detrimental to my learning ability, but I’m just trying to make up for it.”

On his first season at South Carolina
“I expected to play a lot better and to play a lot more. I’m still learning, like coach Spurrier said, just keep learning and keep getting better every day.”

On criticism from coach Spurrier
“It’s pretty tough, but he’s been doing that his entire career. Some guys respond to it and some guys don’t. That’s just a matter of how the quarterback takes it.

“You can’t let it bother you, especially when you’re playing quarterback. The team sees if you’re frustrated and that’s the worst thing you can do, to let the team know that the leader is frustrated about stuff.

“I wasn’t really used to it at first. My high school coach chewed me out a little bit, but not nearly as much as coach Spurrier does. It’s pretty motivating sometimes.”

On this game being a new beginning for him
“Not just for me, but for the team as a whole. After the past two weeks, we struggled a lot and a big win here would be very helpful for the team. Going into next year and winter conditioning, it would be very helpful for us.”

On Spurrier’s timetable for Garcia to fully understand the system
“Hopefully I’ll learn it in the spring and during the summer during seven-on-seven. I’ll be able to call plays that I think he would want called. Hopefully spring I’ll learn as much as possible and just go from there.”

On growing up since January 2007
“I had to mature pretty quick. I did some dumb things when I first got up here, and I was unaware of how big this was. It was pretty tough and overwhelming at first but I’ve definitely figured out how it all works. Just trying to keep a low profile as much as possible.”