Sept. 1, 2009
Head Coach Steve Spurrier met with the media Tuesday afternoon to preview the Gamecocks’ Thursday night season-opening contest with North Carolina State. That contest will kickoff at 7:01 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Opening Statement
“We’re a couple of days away from kicking off the `09 season. We have a good group of players here. We think we’re ready to play with a lot of spirit and a lot of fight. We have a lot of new players that will play important roles in whatever success we have this year. Eric Norwood is our all-conference returnee. Other than that we do have a lot of players that have played a bit. Cliff Matthews and Nathan Pepper have been here a while. We have some older guys on the offensive line in Garret Anderson and Lemuel Jeanpierre.”
On Stephen Garcia’s preparation
“We’ve had a lot of preparation time. Gaining experience is what it comes down to now. Stephen Garcia has made strides. He’s practiced a lot better the past week. We think he’s a lot better prepared, so we’ll find out this week. We have confidence that Stephen will play well.”
On improving from last season
“We haven’t played yet so we have to play (and see). We’re not talking big. We need to earn our way as we go. This is a new team. We have five new assistant coaches. Attitudes have been very good and summer workouts were the best they’ve been. Academically we had the best GPA ever last semester. We think we’re headed in the right direction, but we’ll find out when we kick it off Thursday night.”
On being the underdog
“I’ve been the underdog many times. I want our players to know this is a very good team we’re playing. People go by the score of last year’s game, but really you cant. N.C. State became a much better team as the season progressed. Hopefully that’s what we’ll do is become a stronger team as the season progresses.”
On team chemistry
“It’s important in any team sport. They all have to get along and pull for each other. We’re unknown and we have to prove it. Hopefully our guys on the bench will cheer for their teammates Thursday night and show a lot of team spirit.”
On opening the season Thursday night on ESPN
“We have to thank Dave Brown of ESPN Sports for putting us on first. When I first got here Dave said if you let us put you on Thursday, we’ll let you be the first game of the college football season. We try to use it in recruiting. We tell the guys you can have the first game on national television of college football. I heard people around the country say (they’re) excited to see South Carolina play that first game and see what we look like.”
On the running game
“Hopefully it will be more productive but hopefully our quarterbacks will take care of the ball much better. We can’t win games with a lot of turnovers. We’ll try to play smart and run the ball. All the good teams run the ball. Even if they throw it well they still run, so we hope to be a much-improved running team.”
On key to success this year
“It’s called taking care of the ball, running and passing and mixing it up, but also putting Stephen Garcia in position where he knows what to do. We don’t want him running all over the place. It all starts with the offensive line and the ability to run the ball and help with pass protection. We’re looking for a lot more mix than in previous years.”
On running backs
“All of them have been hurt except for Jarvis Giles and our little guy Bryce Sherman. Bryce has been over (to the scout team) most of the time, but he comes with the regular guys also. We want to give everyone a chance in the real games as much as we can, and after that we want to find out which one the best is. Brian Maddox is scheduled to start, and after that Jarvis and Kenny Miles will get some shots also. We’ll get Eric Baker and Bryce in there also, but you can’t get five on the field (through the course of a game). It’s hard to do that.”
Senior wide receiver Moe Brown
On Thursday’s season opener at NC State:
“Obviously, it’s a very key game. We’re on a three-game losing streak right now. Anytime you’re on a losing streak, you want to snap that streak. We’re going into this season not really harping on the past. We’re trying to (establish) a new era around here, a new way to play Gamecock football. The first game is going to be the statement of how we want to do that.”
On sophomore Stephen Garcia’s development as a quarterback:
“Stephen put a lot of time in during the offseason learning the offensive plays and learning the conceptual things about our playbook. I think he’s really gotten to the point where he understands that he can’t just rely on his talent, that he has to understand the mental part of the game. He has definitely been putting in the time and preparation to understand the offense better, and it’s been showing on the field, especially within the last week. He seems a lot more confident back there in the pocket, making his reads, taking his steps and getting the ball out of his hand. I think even Coach Spurrier made a comment on how well he’s been throwing the ball lately. It’s really encouraging.”
On pressure facing the offense after a tough 2008 season:
“When you have Coach Spurrier as a head coach, there’s always going to be pressure on the offense just because of his offensive reputation. Yeah, there’s pressure on us, but you can fold under it or you can embrace it. And I think our offense is ready to embrace that pressure and have a great year. We’re really looking forward to Thursday night and showcasing what we can do.”
On improved team chemistry:
“It’s a team effort. We put a lot of emphasis on team during the offseason. We’re in this thing together, from the coaches to the trainers down to the fans. In order to do that, we’ve got to have great team unity. We do a lot of team bonding things…at the end of summer workouts, we went out and played paintball together. That’s one of the most fun things I’ve been able to do as a Gamecock. Different things like that throughout the offseason have grown this team and the chemistry we have together, and we’re going to try to show that on the field. I think that’s the difference, when you’re in a tight game, when you know that person beside you is going to go out there and fight for you, and you want to fight for that person, you don’t want to let that person down. When you have that mentality, you’re going to win a lot more games just because of the closeness of the team.”
On team newcomers and their productivity:
“I think they can be really productive. I think our running backs will be very productive. We have four really good, quality backs. Brian Maddox is going to lead them, and I think they’re going to make a big (impact) Thursday night. Being able to give them the ball, make a move, make somebody miss might give them an extra 10 to 15 yards. Last year we didn’t have that. We have some big play ability with our backs, as well as (redshirt freshman WR) Tori Gurley. He’s ready to go out there and make some plays for us. He’s got a big, physical body and he can go up and get the high ball. D.L. Moore is going to come in and make some plays; no one has really said much about him, but he’s had a good camp, and he’s ready to go play Thursday night.”
Senior linebacker Eric Norwood
On improved team chemistry:
“In terms of chemistry, I think we’ve gotten a whole lot better, and we’re getting better prepared for the game. Hopefully, everything we’ve worked on since the beginning of January works in our favor for the rest of the season.”
On similarities between NC State and South Carolina:
“They’re kind of similar in some of the stuff they run, as far as shotgun reads and all of that. It’s just a matter of the way their offensive linemen block, but that’s about the only difference.”
On the team needing an attitude adjustment after the way 2008 ended:
“I guess you could say that. We’re just trying to go out and start something new, a tradition of winning. When you win, everything else you did in the past doesn’t matter. You start doing something new, and things start working out in your favor.”
On the importance of the season opener, given the upcoming schedule:
“I don’t think it’s any bigger than it was last year. We’ve pretty much got the same schedule every year in the SEC, so it’s tough every week, regardless of conference or non-conference.”
On playing the very first game of the college football season:
“I like it. It’s something I was excited about my freshman year, and being able to start the season off my senior year is a great thing.”
