Flameout12
12-03-2007, 08:00 AM
Skidding USC left out in the cold
Five-game skid dooms Gamecocks as Alabama nabs final bowl spot
By JOSEPH PERSON - jperson@thestate.com (jperson@thestate.com)
A South Carolina season that began with talk of competing for the conference title ended with the thud heard ’round the SEC.
The Gamecocks, 6-1 and ranked No. 6 in the country in mid-October, are not going to a bowl game.
As expected, the Independence Bowl picked Alabama over USC (6-6) for the SEC’s ninth and final bowl slot Sunday, pairing Colorado against a 6-6 Crimson Tide team that dropped its final four regular-season games.
Officials for the Shreveport, La., bowl cited an Alabama fan base that is closer than USC’s as one reason the Crimson Tide is Independence-bound for the second year in a row. But there would have been no debate had the Gamecocks won one of their final five games.
Under NCAA rules, the Independence Bowl would have been required to take a 7-5 USC squad over 6-6 Alabama.
“We’re a little disappointed we didn’t get to a bowl game, but we understand we have no one to blame but ourselves,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said. “We had five games to win No. 7 and we didn’t get it done.”
The Gamecocks were trying to reach a bowl game in three consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. Instead, USC finished with a collapse reminiscent of those in 2002 and ’03, when the Lou Holtz-coached Gamecocks missed bowls after losing their final five and four games, respectively.
Spurrier, who ramped up preseason goals to include an SEC East crown, failed to earn a bowl bid when his team was eligible for the first time since 1988, his second year at Duke.
“We’ve learned some humility around here. I’ve learned some. I think our whole team has learned some after we won our last three last year, and we lost our last five this year,” Spurrier said. “We were only one or two plays in the last game (a 23-21 loss to Clemson) ... from being 7-5, the exact same record we had last year. But we didn’t do it.”
Independence Bowl chairman Joe Darwin said his selection committee did not finalize its SEC pick until Sunday evening, adding USC would have been the choice had Oklahoma State been the Big 12 representative. Oklahoma State and Alabama met last year in Shreveport.
“It was definitely not an easy decision to make. We were in a win-win situation,” Darwin said. “It was not any one overriding factor. I think it was a combination of pros and cons on both sides. Ultimately, proximity played a portion of the process.”
In reviewing his second non-winning season in 18 years as a college head coach — and first since his rookie year at Duke in ’87 — Spurrier second-guessed his decision to alternate quarterbacks Chris Smelley and Blake Mitchell in a 17-6 loss to Vanderbilt, which started the losing streak.
Smelley had led USC to three consecutive wins when Spurrier announced before the Vandy game that Mitchell deserved playing time. What followed was one of the worst offensive performances by a Spurrier-coached team.
“It was like (West Virginia coach Rich) Rodriguez said (after losing to Pittsburgh), ‘That was a nightmare for his offense.’ We had a nightmare for our offense that game. We did nothing right — seven sacks, five false starts by the offensive line. It started a tailspin,” Spurrier said.
“So maybe we should have just said, ‘Let’s let Chris Smelley start and see what happens.’ I don’t think that was the big reason. But you always look back and wonder what could have happened differently.”
Spurrier made staff changes after each of his first two seasons at USC, but was non-committal when asked whether he would do so again. He thinks defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix has “a good shot” at the head-coaching post at Southern Miss, where Nix played and later coached. Nix interviewed with his alma mater on Friday.
Otherwise, Spurrier tried to throw a positive spin on a season that started with promise before riding off the rails. He is confident injured middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley and record-setting receiver Kenny McKinley will return to school rather than jump to the NFL.
He does not want USC followers to jump off the bandwagon, either.
“I just want to encourage our fans to hang in there with us. It didn’t work out this year. There were some reasons,” said Spurrier, pointing to a rushing offense and run defense that ranked last in the SEC. “We hope to be a stronger team next year.”
Note the highlighted sections.
Interesting the Smelley/Blake questioning coming up. Just wonder what effect this had on the team? The offense sure played like it did in the Vandy game.
And....this one..."staff changes"......time for some adjustments Coach. :football:
Five-game skid dooms Gamecocks as Alabama nabs final bowl spot
By JOSEPH PERSON - jperson@thestate.com (jperson@thestate.com)
A South Carolina season that began with talk of competing for the conference title ended with the thud heard ’round the SEC.
The Gamecocks, 6-1 and ranked No. 6 in the country in mid-October, are not going to a bowl game.
As expected, the Independence Bowl picked Alabama over USC (6-6) for the SEC’s ninth and final bowl slot Sunday, pairing Colorado against a 6-6 Crimson Tide team that dropped its final four regular-season games.
Officials for the Shreveport, La., bowl cited an Alabama fan base that is closer than USC’s as one reason the Crimson Tide is Independence-bound for the second year in a row. But there would have been no debate had the Gamecocks won one of their final five games.
Under NCAA rules, the Independence Bowl would have been required to take a 7-5 USC squad over 6-6 Alabama.
“We’re a little disappointed we didn’t get to a bowl game, but we understand we have no one to blame but ourselves,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said. “We had five games to win No. 7 and we didn’t get it done.”
The Gamecocks were trying to reach a bowl game in three consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. Instead, USC finished with a collapse reminiscent of those in 2002 and ’03, when the Lou Holtz-coached Gamecocks missed bowls after losing their final five and four games, respectively.
Spurrier, who ramped up preseason goals to include an SEC East crown, failed to earn a bowl bid when his team was eligible for the first time since 1988, his second year at Duke.
“We’ve learned some humility around here. I’ve learned some. I think our whole team has learned some after we won our last three last year, and we lost our last five this year,” Spurrier said. “We were only one or two plays in the last game (a 23-21 loss to Clemson) ... from being 7-5, the exact same record we had last year. But we didn’t do it.”
Independence Bowl chairman Joe Darwin said his selection committee did not finalize its SEC pick until Sunday evening, adding USC would have been the choice had Oklahoma State been the Big 12 representative. Oklahoma State and Alabama met last year in Shreveport.
“It was definitely not an easy decision to make. We were in a win-win situation,” Darwin said. “It was not any one overriding factor. I think it was a combination of pros and cons on both sides. Ultimately, proximity played a portion of the process.”
In reviewing his second non-winning season in 18 years as a college head coach — and first since his rookie year at Duke in ’87 — Spurrier second-guessed his decision to alternate quarterbacks Chris Smelley and Blake Mitchell in a 17-6 loss to Vanderbilt, which started the losing streak.
Smelley had led USC to three consecutive wins when Spurrier announced before the Vandy game that Mitchell deserved playing time. What followed was one of the worst offensive performances by a Spurrier-coached team.
“It was like (West Virginia coach Rich) Rodriguez said (after losing to Pittsburgh), ‘That was a nightmare for his offense.’ We had a nightmare for our offense that game. We did nothing right — seven sacks, five false starts by the offensive line. It started a tailspin,” Spurrier said.
“So maybe we should have just said, ‘Let’s let Chris Smelley start and see what happens.’ I don’t think that was the big reason. But you always look back and wonder what could have happened differently.”
Spurrier made staff changes after each of his first two seasons at USC, but was non-committal when asked whether he would do so again. He thinks defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix has “a good shot” at the head-coaching post at Southern Miss, where Nix played and later coached. Nix interviewed with his alma mater on Friday.
Otherwise, Spurrier tried to throw a positive spin on a season that started with promise before riding off the rails. He is confident injured middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley and record-setting receiver Kenny McKinley will return to school rather than jump to the NFL.
He does not want USC followers to jump off the bandwagon, either.
“I just want to encourage our fans to hang in there with us. It didn’t work out this year. There were some reasons,” said Spurrier, pointing to a rushing offense and run defense that ranked last in the SEC. “We hope to be a stronger team next year.”
Note the highlighted sections.
Interesting the Smelley/Blake questioning coming up. Just wonder what effect this had on the team? The offense sure played like it did in the Vandy game.
And....this one..."staff changes"......time for some adjustments Coach. :football: