Carolina blanked; Spurrier disgusted

Published on 09/10/06

COLUMBIA — South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier screamed himself hoarse during the Gamecocks' 18-0 loss to 12th-ranked Georgia on Saturday night. After the game, though, he still had enough left to whisper his disgust with his team's performance.

"I lost my voice out there tonight," Spurrier said. "I didn't think I would do this again, but I can't stand watching our offense walk up to the line of scrimmage. I kept yelling, 'Let's go, let's go.' We've got some problems on offense. We had a few drives here and there, but we really just stopped ourselves most of the time."

South Carolina's offense misfired time after time, and the Gamecocks had two drives stopped at the goal line.

It was only the second shutout of Spurrier's college coaching career and the first in 193 games. In his first season at Duke, the Blue Devils got shut out by Rutgers.

Spurrier said change will be in the air this week at practice for the Gamecocks (1-1, 1-1 in the SEC).

"We should be playing better than this, but we're not," he said. "I'll announce whatever changes later in the week, but I can't watch what we're doing right now. We've got to get up there and go. If it means playing a bunch of freshmen, we can do that."

Georgia blanks South Carolina

South Carolina's best chance of making a game of it against the Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0) came when the Gamecocks drove to the Georgia 1-yard line, trailing 15-0 with 3:08 to play in the third quarter.

Cory Boyd was stopped on third-and-1, and quarterback Blake Mitchell fumbled into the end zone on a quarterback sneak on fourth down. Georgia took over on the 1-yard line.

Three plays later, facing third-and-8 from the 3-yard line, Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford ran up the middle for a 23-yard gain. The Bulldogs drove for a 42-yard field goal by Brandon Coutu and an 18-0 lead with 14:06 to play.

"We just couldn't get anything going," said Gamecock tailback Cory Boyd. "But he's the coach. If he thinks we need changes, I guess we need changes."

The Gamecocks trailed 15-0 at the half, and the margin could have been larger if South Carolina's defense hadn't come up with two interceptions.

The second of those interceptions came when freshman cornerback Captain Munnerlyn tipped a Stafford pass into the hands of safety Chris Hampton on third and goal from the Gamecock 4-yard line.

Hampton was downed on the 2-yard line, but ultimately it didn't stop the Bulldogs from scoring.

Gamecock tailback Mike Davis was dropped in the end zone on a toss sweep to give the Bulldogs a safety and a 12-0 lead with 51 seconds to play in the half.

Georgia took the ensuing free kick and drove to the South Carolina 28. Coutu's 46-yard field goal on the final play of the half put the Bulldogs ahead 15-0.

Coutu also had a 46-yarder in the first quarter, and a nine-yard touchdown run by Danny Ware capped a 72-yard drive with 10:05 to play in the second quarter.

USC's only real shot at a TD in the first half ended in disaster.

With the Gamecocks facing third-and-3 from the Georgia 19, Mitchell lined up in the shotgun but was unable to handle the snap from center.

He fell on the loose ball for a 15-yard loss. Ryan Succop missed a field goal from 51 yards that glanced off the left upright.

Georgia had 254 yards in total offense in the first half to 64 for the Gamecocks.

Reach Charles Bennett at

cbennett@postandcourier.com.

Source: Click Here