Not every little thing Spurrier’s teams do is magic

By Ron Morris
The State
Published: September 10, 2005

ATHENS, Ga. -- South Carolina is close. It simply is not there.

The Gamecocks found out Saturday evening that the difference between winning and losing can be the smallest of margins. A missed extra point, a touchdown-negating illegal motion penalty and a missed field goal added up to a two-point loss to the nation's ninth-ranked team.

"The effort was there," Steve Spurrier said after his USC club played tackle to tackle, block for block and pass for pass with heavily favored Georgia before falling 17-15. "Obviously, the little things here and there made us a loser. . . . We're not sharp enough right now to beat a good team."

But to focus on what cost USC a victory would diminish the overall performance of a team that looked every bit as solid and played every bit as inspired as a Georgia team that some consider a contender for the national championship.

Quarterback Blake Mitchell made most of the throws he needed to make, completing 22 of 34 passes and looking every bit like a poised veteran. His offensive line, which had difficulty blocking against Central Florida a week earlier, provided Mitchell with adequate protection against the Bulldogs.

Defensively, USC was outstanding and deserved a better fate. As Spurrier said afterward, a defense that holds a team such as Georgia to 17 points should be rewarded with a victory.

That big-picture reflection showed a USC team positioned to repeat history and again make Spurrier a big winner in his second Southeastern Conference debut game.

To those Georgia fans who leaned over the facade to curse Spurrier as he entered the Sanford Stadium field before the game, they recognized the visored one only as the coach who dominated the SEC during his 12-season run at Florida.

Those fans, as well as those who booed every time his face was shown on the gigantic video screen in the west end zone, probably had little knowledge of how Spurrier jump-started his program at Florida. Nor did they likely know that the setting for Saturday's game was eerily similar to what Spurrier faced at Florida in 1990.

Just as USC opened this season with a nondescript win against a nonconference opponent, Spurrier's Gators defeated Oklahoma State to start the '90 season. Then Spurrier took Florida to Tuscaloosa to face heavily favored Alabama. At that time, not much was expected of Florida, which was thought to be several seasons away from contending for SEC championships. The only expectations for USC on Saturday were to perhaps keep the game respectable and continue building the program for down the road.

That Florida team pulled off the unthinkable. Mostly on the play of a defense that got three interceptions from Will White, Florida stunned Alabama 17-13 when Richard Fair blocked a punt late in the game and fell on the ball in the end zone. The win gave Spurrier and Florida instant credibility. The Gators finished first in the SEC that season and ultimately dominated the league for the remainder of his 12 seasons there.

For most of Saturday's game, USC was poised to provide the same sort of signature victory in the dawning of the Spurrier era. Just like Spurrier's Florida team, this USC team positioned itself to win because of its defense.

USC gave up yardage in the middle of the field, yet played its best when Georgia neared the end zone. Georgia scored touchdowns early in the second and fourth quarters. Otherwise, the Gamecocks turned the Bulldogs away on a fourth-and-1 play at the USC 39 in the first quarter; wide receiver-turned-defensive back Carlos Thomas intercepted a pass in his own end zone to close out the first half; and, when USC turned the ball over at its 31 early in the third quarter, the defense held Georgia to a field goal.

It was a performance worthy of a victory. Except for a few little things that went wrong.

Josh Brown's extra point bounced off the right upright and kept USC from tying the game at 7 in the second quarter. As a result, the Gamecocks were forced to go for a two-point conversion and possible tie while trailing 17-15 with 6:52 remaining. Mitchell's pass attempt on the conversion missed his mark.

Mitchell's apparent touchdown pass to Sydney Rice in the second quarter was nullified when USC had two backs in motion, and the Gamecocks settled for a field goal. Finally, Ryan Succop's 46-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter fell short and wide to the right.

"It was one there to be had," Spurrier said, "but we knew coming in the chances are we're not going to win them all."

So, for another week at least, USC will have to wait on the first big win of the Spurrier era. Until that happens, the Gamecocks will continue to be close. Just not there.

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