D.J. Swearinger wraps up Tennessee’s Marlin Lane during fourth-quarter action at Williams-Brice Stadium on Oct. 27. Photo by Travis Bell/SIDELINE CAROLINA
Goals, continued from page 10
It’s Miles’ Turn
Spurrer’s Long List of Achievements
For the second straight year, Spurrier will have to play the rest of the season without the player he wanted to win a championship with: running back Marcus Lattimore. Lattimore was carted off the field during the Tennessee game after a brutal hit that caused massive damage to his right knee. While Spurrier and Lattimore are hopeful that he will be able to return some day, the rehabilitation process will be long and hard. Spurrier was naturally upset over Lattimore, this injury being much worse than last year’s. While he maintained a stoic face about it, the coach’s mind was clearly churning with concern over a player who is so much more to the team than just his performance on the football field. The outpouring of support from the nation has proven how special Lattimore is. Keeping a brave face, Spurrier pointed out that USC would simply have to channel last year, when the team also lost Lattimore. In an eerie coincidence, the Gamecocks again lost Lattimore in a game just before the bye week, a game they managed to narrowly win (two points last year; three points this year), and a game in which the
Spurrier has accomplished so much in his eight years at USC that the list is never done. Some of the highlights: the Gamecocks’ first 11-win season; the first six-win season in the SEC; the first SEC East championship; the first Top 10 finish. Spurrier has made it known that he wants to be the winningest coach at USC, which he will be with three more victories (Rex Enright holds the record with 64). That wish has been greeted by some with a sense of joy and dread: Once Spurrier becomes the winningest all-time coach at two SEC schools (USC and Florida), would he then want to retire? Not likely. Spurrier wants an SEC title. Only two other coaches have ever won an SEC championship at two schools (Bear Bryant at Kentucky and Alabama; Nick Saban at LSU and Alabama) and Spurrier wants to be the third. With the Gamecocks out of the running this year, Spurrier, who has constantly said he feels much younger than his 67 years, shouldn’t be leaving any time soon.
12
clinching play was an interception. In 2011, Brandon Wilds came on to replace Lattimore. He rushed for 100 yards or more in three of the next four games, and when he pulled a hamstring, Kenny Miles was activated. Miles, who had been an afterthought all year with a torn wrist tendon, took over for USC’s final two games and led the rushing game. It’s Miles’ show again this year. As the No. 2 back all season, Miles has always been ready to go in. He received an extra dose of game prep for the past two weeks and will have freshman Mike Davis behind him; Wilds, on the potential redshirt list after a preseason ankle injury, will be ready to go in if need be. “Kenny is our No. 1, Mike Davis is our No. 2,” Spurrier said. “We have complete confidence in both of them.”
Will the Passing Game Be Ready? A key objective now for the Gamecocks to keep the passing game they established against Tennessee going. Now more than ever — with the running game again in flux — Connor Shaw has to show that he can lead the team with his arm. Shaw wasn’t hesitant last year, saving his best three performances
for his final three games. Like Spurrier, he took the Lattimore news with a stiff upper lip, assuring fans that the Gamecocks would play as hard as they normally do. “I really feel like we rallied around [Lattimore], there were a lot of guys including Tennessee players,” Shaw said. “If there’s anybody who can overcome this, it’s Marcus.” With their leader on the sidelines to supply an emotional lift, perhaps USC can re-channel what it had in the closing stretch of 2011. The talent is still there, and for what it’s worth, the Gamecocks won’t be facing teams the caliber of LSU and Florida, which ended their SEC championship hopes.
Win Anyway … Again Last year, the Gamecocks borrowed the slogan “Win Anyway” from the baseball squad, after the team had risen through numerous injuries but still won the 2011 national championship. It’s more of the same this year. “I think all of our players understand that no matter what happens, you have to move on,” Spurrier said. “You can’t sit around and mope.”
usc VS arkansas