USC ground game, stingy D smack Clemson

USC rides momentum of a Palmetto Bowl victory into its bowl game
By JOSEPH PERSON
jperson@thestate.com

As they walked out of Williams-Brice Stadium following South Carolina's 34-17 win Saturday, USC tight end Weslye Saunders and tackle Jarriel King stopped in the southwest corner and held the Hardee's Trophy aloft and gave Gamecock fans a chance to snap pictures and soak in the moment.

Clemson (8-4) will be playing for a bigger, shinier trophy next week when the 15th-ranked Tigers face No. 7 Georgia Tech for the ACC championship in Tampa, Fla.

But USC (7-5) took away something more important than the hardware - salvation of a season following a rare win against its Upstate rival.

The Gamecocks rediscovered their running offense and overcame C.J. Spiller's NCAA record-setting touchdown return on the opening kickoff to win for the third time in the past 13 games against the Tigers.

USC had dropped three in a row entering Saturday's game and was in danger of limping into its bowl game in the midst of another late-season skid. Instead, the Gamecocks are guaranteed a winning season and will take momentum - and likely more fans - to their bowl destination.

"I feel like we accomplished something. We could easily be down on ourselves after those three games. But now we did something," said Saunders, who had two short touchdown receptions. "A lot of people have been telling us all year, 'As long as you beat Clemson.' We just beat Clemson."

But do not expect Steve Spurrier to sell commemorative Clemson game balls on the Gamecock Club circuit in the spring, as he did three years ago following his only other win against the Tigers at USC.

"I think sometimes we celebrate too much when we beat 'em, to tell you the truth," Spurrier said. "I think when Clemson beats us, they don't celebrate wildly. But I think we overdid it three years ago, and I was probably guilty also."

The Tigers barely resembled the team that had won six in a row entering the game.

Clemson gave up 223 rushing yards, matched a season high with three turnovers and did little offensively until the fourth quarter. With USC doing its best to surround Spiller, the Tigers managed 48 rushing yards on 19 carries - the second time since 1980 Clemson has run for fewer than 100 yards against USC.

"It's been a long time since we've lost a game. That's a very sick feeling," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "And we had an opportunity to achieve one of our goals today, and we failed to do it."

Spiller also felt sick, battling a stomach ailment throughout the game. He looked healthy enough when given a mulligan when USC was offsides on the opening kickoff.

The Heisman Trophy candidate took the re-kick 88 yards for his seventh career kickoff return for a touchdown, an NCAA record.

But the Gamecocks recovered to hold Clemson to 138 yards over the first three quarters.

"He didn't score on us. They scored on special teams. They didn't score on the defense," senior linebacker Eric Norwood said. "We wanted to go out there and shut 'em out, and I think that's what we pretty much did for the majority of the game."

USC kept Spiller hemmed in the rest of the game, holding him to 18 yards on nine carries - a 2-yard average that was nearly 6 yards below his career average against the Gamecocks.

"We kept him caged up pretty good," USC assistant coach for defense Ellis Johnson said.

But there was no caging the Gamecocks' ground game. Spurrier called 58 run plays - the most in his five seasons at USC - and unveiled the "WildCock" formation with freshman cornerback Stephon Gilmore at quarterback.

The results were a 13-minute edge in time of possession and what USC quarterback Stephen Garcia called a "statement" in a rivalry that has been largely one-sided.

The Gamecocks gained much of their rushing yards up the middle on read-options by Garcia and runs by tailback Kenny Miles, who finished with 114 yards on 17 carries.

"I believe at one stretch towards the end of the game, we ran the same play maybe six, seven times. The first two or three times you're like, what in the world?" USC receiver Moe Brown said.

"But you see it keeps getting five yards, and by the fourth time it was kinda funny. Like, y'all aren't gonna stop this (expletive). So we kinda got a laugh out of that."

The Gamecocks and their fans figure to be laughing for a while.

When USC was struggling to win down the stretch, Spurrier gave his players 24 hours to mourn a loss. Saunders was asked whether there would be a similar time limit to celebrate the Clemson win.

Saunders smiled and said, "I think we're going to have to up that to 30 days."

Gamecocks' bowl bid needs 1 for the road

Written by JOSEPH PERSON


BCS Championship game, Jan. 7, Pasadena, Calif., 8:30 p.m., Florida

Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1, New Orleans, 8:30 p.m., Alabama

Capital One, Jan. 1, Orlando, 1 p.m., LSU

Outback Bowl, Jan. 1, Tampa, 11 a.m., Mississippi

Cotton Bowl, Jan. 2, Arlington, Texas, 2 p.m., Arkansas

Chick-fil-A , Dec. 31, Atlanta, 7:30 p.m., Tennessee

Liberty, Jan. 2, Memphis, 5:30 p.m., Georgia

Music City Bowl, Dec. 27, Nashville, 8:15 p.m., Auburn

PapaJohn's.Com , Jan. 2, Birmingham, Ala., 2 p.m., South Carolina

Independence Bowl, Dec. 28, Shreveport, La., 5 p.m., Kentucky

Unlike two years ago, South Carolina will not be left home for the holidays this year come bowl season.

Barring the unexpected - Florida losing to Florida International, Alabama falling to Chattanooga or Mississippi State beating Arkansas and Mississippi the next two weeks - the Gamecocks will snag one of the SEC's bowl slots regardless of how they fare against Clemson next weekend.

By defeating the Tigers, USC (6-5) could improve its bowl stock in a muddled middle-of-the-SEC pack. With the possibility that 10 conference teams could finish with at least seven wins, the Gamecocks would be headed to one of the SEC's bottom-run bowls - probably the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham against a Big East team - if they finish the regular season 6-6.

But there should be a spot for them, which was not the case in 2007 when the Independence Bowl took 6-6 Alabama over a USC team with the same record.

USC's omission prompted SEC officials to line up a ninth bowl slot - the so-called Pizza Bowl in Birmingham, where the conference office is based.

"When you looked at the landscape of all bowl games, most every spot now was being taken. There were no at-large (bids)," SEC spokesman Charles Bloom said Wednesday. "To protect ourselves and protect our ninth team ... was important."

As it turned out, the SEC could not fill all of its bowl tie-ins last season when eight teams were eligible. This year the league has nine bowl-eligible teams, with Tennessee (5-5) needing one win in its final two games against Vanderbilt and Kentucky to join the list.

Mississippi State (4-6) would need to upset Arkansas and Ole Miss to reach the six wins required for bowl eligibility.

The SEC will be able to accommodate 10 teams this season because - as was the case last season - No. 1 Florida and second-ranked Alabama are both locks for BCS bowl games.

So where does that leave USC?

The Gamecocks' destination hinges on the Clemson game.

Win, and USC is in the hunt for the Chick-fil-A and Music City bowls. Those games would be attractive to Gamecock fans because of their metropolitan locales in Atlanta and Nashville, and the matchup with an ACC opponent in each bowl.

Chick-fil-A president Gary Stokan said he would prefer an 8-win team from the SEC, but is not sure there will be one available when the Chick-fil-A selects after the Capital One, Outback and Cotton bowls.

USC has not played in the Atlanta bowl since 1969, when it was in its second year of existence and still known as the Peach.

"We think enough of South Carolina's fans that, certainly, if they were to beat their archrival Clemson, South Carolina fans would get excited" about coming to Atlanta for the Dec. 31 game, Stokan said.

The Gamecocks have never played in the Music City and faced Vanderbilt in Columbia this season, so fans would not be making a second trip to Nashville.

A loss to Clemson likely would send USC to the Independence or Papajohns.com, which get the last two picks from the SEC's bowl pool.

The Gamecocks lost to Missouri in the Independence in 2005 in Steve Spurrier's first season. USC officials might have trouble convincing fans to travel to Shreveport, La., if the Gamecocks drop their past four games.

It would be an easier trip to Birmingham, where Spurrier coached his final game with Duke in the 1989 All-American Bowl. Spurrier also coached in two SEC championship games with Florida at Legion Field, site of the Papajohns.com Bowl on Jan. 2.

"South Carolina would be a good match for us," Papajohns.com executive director Mark Meadows said. "I think Spurrier would add a lot to the local interest here in Birmingham."

South Florida, Rutgers and West Virginia are in the running for the Big East slot in Birmingham. Choosing last in the SEC bowl lineup, Meadows said USC might not be available at 7-5.

"If they beat Clemson (and) wind up with seven wins, I think they would certainly be attractive to other bowls as well."

Coach Johnson backs Culliver

Coach wants fans to lay off safety; Spurrier again talking SEC title in future
By JOSEPH PERSON
jperson@thestate.com

Ellis Johnson does not condone how South Carolina safety Chris Culliver acted this week. But the Gamecocks' assistant head coach for defense said it is time for fans to get off Culliver's back.

Culliver, a junior with 22 career starts, will not make the trip to Arkansas. He was benched because of a shoulder injury and an incident Monday when Culliver walked out of practice after an argument with coaches.

Culliver has come under fire for his effort in last week's 31-13 loss to Tennessee. Culliver had a couple of glaring missed tackles, although it was later revealed he reinjured his surgically repaired shoulder in pregame warmups.

Lorenzo Ward, who coaches USC's safeties and cornerbacks, said Culliver told him about the injury before the game but indicated he was OK.

"Really it's our fault for not seeing that he wasn't himself," Johnson said Thursday. "Now what happened after that, he didn't handle it well. And as a result, he's not going. But I'm tired of all the Chris Culliver bashing."

Johnson said anyone questioning Culliver's desire has not watched the Gamecocks enough.

"The kid has played 647 snaps for us, and the only guy that's played more is (All-SEC linebacker Eric) Norwood by three snaps. And he's played (darn) well," Johnson added. "He needs to take his medicine because he didn't handle it the right way. But we don't need to get into Chris Culliver bashing."

Raising the bar

USC coach Steve Spurrier has not mentioned the SEC championship as a goal since prior to the 2007 season - until Thursday.

"Our plan is within the next three years, we've got a team that can compete for the SEC championship. That's our plan," Spurrier said on his call-in show. "If we can't do it within three years, they probably need to hire another head coach here and let him start his plan."

The 64-year-old Spurrier said USC was in "good shape" to contend for a title, citing the new assistant coaches, the incoming recruits and improved facilities.

"Maybe what we did the first four years, we didn't build it the right way," he said. "So we're trying to build it the right way right now."

Starting them young

USC is not the only SEC team playing a lot of freshmen this season. Arkansas has started six true freshmen this season, tied for second most in the country.

Four true freshmen have started for the Gamecocks: tight end Justice Cunningham, receiver Alshon Jeffery, cornerback Stephon Gilmore and strong safety DeVonte Holloman.

Eat more chicken

The Chick-fil-A Bowl will have a scout at Saturday's game to watch the Gamecocks for the second consecutive week.

"To stay on our list their offense will have to keep pace with their defense and carry them through the last three (games)," Chick-fil-A official Leeman Bennett wrote on his weekly team selection blog. "If they can win two of them, we'll give them a good look."

Auburn and Tennessee were the other SEC teams Bennett mentioned in his blog.

Extra points

After video review, USC has credited its blocked field goal against Tennessee to Norwood instead of defensive end Devin Taylor. It was Norwood's third block this year. ... Fifth-year defensive tackle Nathan Pepper will serve as one of four captains this week in place of injured defensive end Cliff Matthews. ... Spurrier said Mississippi coach Houston Nutt called him to say he appreciated Spurrier's comments this week about being bowl eligible. The Rebels (5-3) need one more win for bowl eligibility.