When the devil goes down to Georgia ...

From The State
By SETH EMERSON
semerson@thestate.com

Mark Daniel is an attorney in central Georgia, a 1981 graduate of the University of Georgia and a huge fan of his alma mater’s football team. When asked about Steve Spurrier, he laughed.

“We love him. I want to invite him over to Sunday dinner.”

Daniel was kidding, of course. Georgia fans still have plenty of hate for Spurrier — although it has ebbed since the 1990s, when Spurrier and his Florida Gators dominated the Bulldogs for more than a decade.

Spurrier is in his fifth year at USC, and as he prepares to visit Athens today for the third time as the Gamecocks’ coach, there seems to be a lesser degree of animosity toward him.

Not that Spurrier should expect a warm reception at Sanford Stadium. As recently as his last visit, 2007, he was booed as he went to the locker room at halftime. He responded with a wave.

But most of the talk this week on Georgia sports radio and message boards has been about the Bulldogs’ struggling offense. Even Spurrier shrugged when asked about his relationship with Bulldogs fans.

“All that has worn off,” Spurrier said. “I think it’s just Georgia and South Carolina playing now. Simple as that; us against them.”

Chris Beckham, a former sportswriter in Georgia, hosts a Friday night football show in Valdosta, Ga. He thinks the intensity of the Spurrier-Georgia rivalry has decreased for two reasons: “Spurrier isn’t the “bad boy” he used to be, and he’s not beating their brains out every year anymore like he did at Florida.”

Spurrier is 1-3 against Georgia since arriving at USC, with the win coming in 2007. His Gamecocks are a touchdown underdog today.

It’s a far cry from his Florida days.

As the Gators’ coach, Spurrier was 11-1 against Georgia. That included a few blowouts: 45-13 in 1991, 52-14 in 1994, 52-17 in 1995, 47-7 in 1996 and 38-7 twice (1990 and ‘98).

During the 1995 meeting Spurrier tacked on a late touchdown after being told no one had scored 50 against Georgia in Athens.

Spurrier delighted in tweaking opponents, and Georgia was no different. He referred to former Georgia coach Ray Goff as “Ray Goof.” Georgia fans reciprocated.

“I guess we felt a little comfortable directing our anger at Spurrier,” Daniel said. “I think it eased our pain a little bit.”

Tony Barnhart, the longtime writer for the AJC and now an analyst for CBS, said the Georgia-Spurrier rivalry began in 1966, the year Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy as Florida’s quarterback — but lost to Georgia.

Spurrier never forgot that, because it prevented the Gators from winning the SEC championship.

When Spurrier returned to coach his alma mater in 1990, Georgia was used to beating Florida. Spurrier quickly changed that.

“You have to understand what Spurrier accomplished when he was at Florida,” Barnhart said. “One of the biggest things he did at Florida was reverse the psychological edge of the Georgia-Florida game.”

As for Spurrier, he has his own problems, and so does Georgia. Not that there will be much love on the field tonight in Athens.

“I think there’s a lot less excitement surrounding a Spurrier appearance in Athens now than there was a few years ago,” said David Hale, who covers Georgia for the Macon Telegraph, “but there will still be a lot of people with pretty big smiles on their faces if Georgia sends him home a loser.”

Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676

Gameday preview: USC vs. Georgia

From The State



Injuries

USC - LB Rodney Paulk (knee), LB Reggie Bowens (knee) and OL Kevin Young (knee) are out; WR Dion LeCorn (leg) is probable.

Georgia - OT Trinton Sturdivant (knee) and LB Darius Dewberry (groin) are out; RB Caleb King (hamstring) is doubtful.

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Five storylines

1. Will Steve Spurrier open it up?

The Head Ball Coach thinks the Gamecocks were too conservative with their offensive game plan in a 7-3, season-opening win at N.C. State. While Spurrier would like Stephen Garcia to throw downfield more than the three times he did in Raleigh, USC does not want to abandon its revamped running game and run the risk of careless turnovers. Look for Spurrier to pick his spots without putting his defense in bad situations.

2. First team to 20 goes home a winner

The winning team has not topped 20 points in this series since 2003, and the Gamecocks have not managed more than 16 points since Spurrier arrived at USC. Considering how both offenses struggled last week in nonconference games at Oklahoma State and N.C. State, defenses again could rule the day.

3. Paging Logan Gray

Three years ago at South Carolina, Georgia replaced a fifth-year quarterback named Joe (Tereshinski) with a young QB named Matthew Stafford, the first pick in April’s NFL draft. After the 24-10 loss in Stillwater, some Georgia fans wonder if Joe Cox might be another average Joe and are clamoring for Logan Gray. Cox can quiet the criticism if he plays well against a fast defense that stymied N.C. State QB Russell Wilson.

4. Green corners vs. A.J. Green

USC’s young cornerback tandem of Akeem Auguste and Stephon Gilmore passed its first test last week in Raleigh. Auguste had several big hits, and Gilmore preserved the win with a pass breakup in the end zone. But the Wolfpack have no receivers as talented as Green, the Summerville native who caught three passes for 61 yards against the Gamecocks last year. Look for Mark Richt to try to get the ball in the hands of the 6-foot-4, 207-pound Green early and often.

5. The man they love to boo

Spurrier says the Georgia-USC game is no longer about him. But there were plenty of T-shirts poking fun of Spurrier at Sanford Stadium two years ago, and Spurrier waved to the booing crowd when he came out of the tunnel. Georgia fans have not forgotten Spurrier’s 11-1 record vs. the Bulldogs at Florida, including a 52-17 rout in 1995 when the Gators scored on a late touchdown pass. Spurrier is 1-3 against Georgia at USC, but won in Athens in 2007.

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Game Within the Game

DE Cliff Matthews vs. OT Vince Vance

About Matthews: The junior from Cheraw put on a speed show at N.C. State, sacking Russell Wilson twice and running him down from the backside a couple other times. Coaches have been waiting on a breakout season from Matthews, whose opening-game performance nearly matched his sack total (three) from 2008.

How he’ll win: Speed, speed and more speed. The 6-foot-4, 249-pounder runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, and has a quick first step that should allow him to offset Vance’s size advantage. But after his coming-out party in Raleigh, Matthews could see his share of double-team blocks.

Key number: 76. Percentage of Matthews’ 63 career tackles that have been solo stops.

About Vance: The 6-8, 325-pound senior came off the bench last week at Oklahoma State to replace Trinton Sturdivant, who sustained a season-ending knee injury for the second consecutive year. Vance had his own knee issues last season, missing the final seven games after getting injured against Tennessee. Vance began his career at Georgia Military, where he was a teammate of several current and former USC players.

How he’ll win: Given how much Mark Richt has mentioned Matthews this week, it seems likely Vance will get help from a fullback or tight end on certain pass plays. The Bulldogs also could roll the pocket away from Matthews to buy Joe Cox time. But at some point, Vance will have to try to use his superior size to lock out on Matthews and keep him at bay.

Key number: 5. Vance was one of five players who started at offensive tackle for the Bulldogs in 2008.

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Five Questions with Terrence Campbell, left guard/No. 60/Austell, Ga.

The redshirt junior went to South Cobb High in suburban Atlanta, where he was a teammate of USC all-time leading receiver and Denver Broncos rookie Kenny McKinley.

Q: Did Georgia recruit you at all?

A: Toward the end of the process. Not really. They didn’t recruit me heavily at the beginning. They had signed like six defensive ends. Coming out, I think I was number seven on the list.

Q: I know you went to high school in Atlanta. Did you grow up there?

A: Yeah, I moved there in the third grade. So I lived there most of my life. But I never was a really big Georgia or Georgia Tech fan or nothing like that. Just a fan of college ball.

Q: What was your favorite part about living in ‘the ATL’?

A: Just the environment, the atmosphere. It’s a big city. There are a lot of things to do, friends and family out there. So just all of that.

Q: What specific things did you like to do? Did you go to Braves’ games, Falcons’ games?

A: The Hawks weren’t doing so well at first when I was coming up. But Michael Vick and the Falcons, they were doing good. We went to the Falcons’ games. We actually won a camp and we got to go to the Falcons’ arena when they played the Eagles. We saw Terrell Owens and all that, so that was a lot of fun.

Q: But now that Kenny McKinley’s in Denver, are you a Broncos’ fan?

A: Of course, I’m a big Broncos’ fan now. You know I’ve got to stay with my dog. I’m very happy for him. He’s doing real good up there. I believe he was the leading receiver this preseason for the Broncos. He continues to do his thing and just gives me a lot of motivation.

— Compiled by Joseph Person

Rescued in Raleigh: Defense keys USC win

From The State

USC offense fails to put game away, but Wolfpack offense can't get past swarm of talent
By JOSEPH PERSON
jperson@thestate.com

RALEIGH — Throughout the preseason, South Carolina assistant head coach Ellis Johnson marveled at the speed and athleticism of his young defense. What Johnson was less certain about was how the newcomers would respond to adversity.

Now he knows.

With the game in the balance Thursday night, the Gamecocks’ defense came up with a pair of key, fourth-quarter stops to turn back N.C. State in a hard-earned 7-3 victory before a crowd of 57,583 at Carter-Finley Stadium.

USC won its 10th consecutive season opener, although this one was much closer than last year’s 34-0 shutout of the Wolfpack in Columbia.

It marked USC’s first victory when scoring under 10 points since a 7-3 decision at Memphis State on Oct. 2, 1971.

When the Gamecocks’ offense and field goal unit failed to put the game away, the defense came through to push Steve Spurrier’s record to 19-1 in season-opening games.

Spurrier was grateful, giving the defense a standing ovation in the locker room and presenting game balls to a number of defensive players.

“Our defensive guys played their hearts out,” Spurrier said. “Played good, solid football.”

USC’s two defensive captains — linebacker Eric Norwood and defensive end Cliff Matthews — each had two sacks and were instrumental in keeping State quarterback Russell Wilson in check.

Wilson, the ACC’s offensive player of the year in 2008, had several scrambles where it looked like he was going to break off a long gain, only to be run down by Norwood, Matthews or linebacker Shaq Wilson.

Wilson, who replaced Rodney Paulk after Paulk sustained what is believed to be a season-ending knee injury, tied Norwood for the team high in tackles with eight stops in the most extensive action of his career.

USC sacked Wilson six times and held him to minus-17 yards rushing.

“We couldn’t get anything going,” N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien said. “And with our pass protection, we had Russell Wilson running around too much.”

USC defensive end Devin Taylor, a redshirt freshman from Beaufort who replaced the suspended Clifton Geathers, had a huge impact in his first career start. Taylor forced a fumble on N.C. State’s first play from scrimmage to set up USC’s lone touchdown, and later blocked a punt in Wolfpack territory.

A year after limiting State to 138 total yards and 10 first downs, USC’s defense nearly duplicated its performance by holding the Wolfpack to 133 yards and 11 first downs. And while his unit took a couple of personnel hits in the secondary, Johnson believes this year’s defense is faster than last year’s.

“Speed always helps,” Johnson said. “Recovery speed is something you can’t coach.”

USC clung to a four-point lead in the fourth quarter as a result of several missed scoring opportunities. A touchdown pass to Tori Gurley was nullified because of a pass interference call on Gurley, and the Gamecocks also blew two field goal chances — one on a bad snap and the other a missed 27-yard attempt by Spencer Lanning.

After the Wolfpack drove to the USC 38-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward and defensive line coach Brad Lawing told Spurrier they wanted a timeout. Defensive players caught their breaths, switched from a four-man to a three-man front, and held the Wolfpack to 2 yards on three plays after the timeout, forcing a punt.

But State had another shot after Rashard Smith’s 31-yard punt return gave the Wolfpack possession at midfield with 4:15 remaining. Wilson started to pick on USC freshman cornerback Stephon Gilmore, whose pass-interference penalty moved the ‘Pack to the 32-yard line.

Facing a fourth-and-11 four plays later, State took a timeout. Walking back on the field, USC defensive tackle Travian Robertson told Gilmore that Russell was going to come after him again.

“I got your back,” Gilmore told him.

As Wilson lofted a pass into the end zone for Jarvis Williams, Gilmore jumped up and pulled the ball away from Williams for a game-saving breakup.

Gilmore said he knew State would throw his way. “But I like stuff like that,” he said, “so I just had to make a big play on the ball.”

Big plays were the norm for a young defense that grew up a lot in the year’s first test.