Cock ’n’ Misfire

Poor communication and penalties lead to what Spurrier calls ‘one of the worst’ games of his career

By Joseph Person
The State
Published: October 1, 2005

Maybe Daccus Turman and Mike Davis knew what they were doing.

With the orange-clad crowd of 87,451 at Jordan-Hare Stadium howling during USC's first series Saturday, the two running backs left the huddle and ran off the field on successive plays, leaving the Gamecocks a man short.

By the end of Auburn's 48-7 victory, a lot of USC players likely had the same idea.

The ominous start was a sign of things to come for the Gamecocks (2-3), who fell to 0-3 in the SEC for the first time since 1999, when they finished 0-11 (0-8 SEC) in Lou Holtz's first season. The loser of next week's USC-Kentucky game will have sole possession of last place in the East Division.

USC first-year coach Steve Spurrier avoided the worst loss of his 16-year collegiate career by the skinniest of margins. In 1990, during his first year at Florida, the Gators lost 45-3 at Tennessee in his sixth game at his alma mater.

Spurrier called Saturday's loss "one of the worst" games of his career.

"But I've had some stinkers, though," Spurrier added. "I'm just happy we didn't get the big zero on us. . . . We avoided the shutout somehow."

The loss marked the first time that Spurrier has dropped three consecutive SEC games. He lost three conference games in a season only once in 12 years at Florida: The Gators went 6-3 in the SEC in 1992.

Auburn tailback Kenny Irons ran for two touchdowns against his former team, while 12 receivers caught passes for the Tigers (4-1, 2-0).

A minute into the fourth quarter Auburn led 48-0, most of the USC fans had cleared out, and the only questions remaining were whether the Gamecocks would cross midfield and avoid a shutout.

A 45-yard touchdown pass from USC first-time starter Antonio Heffner to Sidney Rice with 6:14 left prevented Spurrier from getting blanked for the second time in his career. The Gamecocks had driven into Auburn territory for the first time seconds earlier on Syvelle Newton's 10-yard reception.

When Heffner came to the sideline after the touchdown, Spurrier extended his right hand to bump fists with the quarterback. But Heffner walked past him, so Spurrier patted him on the helmet instead.

"I was kind of angry, not at myself and not at my teammates," Heffner explained. "They had just blown us out."

Heffner, a redshirt freshman starting in place of an injured Blake Mitchell, had a rocky debut. The Gamecocks were forced to call timeouts before their first two plays because they had only 10 men on the field. Spurrier and Heffner blamed the snafus on miscommunication.

"You never want to start a game like that," Turman said, "but unfortunately, that's how things started off."

The offense went backward from there. USC was whistled for a key penalty on three consecutive drives in the first quarter, drawing a pair of delay-of-game flags when it appeared Heffner was late getting the play from the sideline. The Gamecocks were penalized nine times for 62 yards, both season highs.

USC gained a season-low 199 total yards - 113 of which came in the fourth quarter against the Tigers' reserves. The Gamecocks fumbled five times in the first half, losing one on an option play for Heffner.

Both Spurrier and Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville expected to see more scrambling from Heffner, whose longest run was 7 yards.

"They struggled with a new quarterback," Tuberville said. "He scared us more than (Mitchell) because he was more mobile, but our guys contained him pretty much the first half."

No one in the visitors' locker room pointed a finger at Heffner, who completed 15 of 23 passes for 133 yards and was sacked four times.

"It wasn't him. It was a little bit of everything," right tackle Na'Shan Goddard said. "It seemed like we'd miss something here or there, and the next thing you know we're back at the 10-yard line, making it hard on our defense."

Despite absorbing the second-worst loss of his career, Spurrier remained in good spirits afterward, at one point asking reporters for suggestions for improving the offense.

"We were overwhelmed - that's a good word," he said. "We were overmatched, overwhelmed, over-coached - the whole bit."

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson @thestate.com.

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