JerryBeeds
10-18-2005, 07:37 PM
Oct. 18, 2005
Columbia, S.C. - South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier met with the media on Tuesday afternoon as the Gamecocks continue preparation for Saturday's homecoming game with the Vanderbilt Commodores.
(Opening statement)
"We are looking forward to our fifth home game of the year and as we talk about Vanderbilt, it's probably the best team they have had in a long time in Nashaville. A very competitive team that has won four and had a chance to win about one or two others. They will be a big challenge for us. We keep thinking we are going to play our best game of the year and hopefully this will be the week. We are going to need to play real well to beat Vanderbilt. Our guys are well rested right now, we are actually a very healthy team for this time in the season, so we should be ready to play very well."
(On Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler)
"I haven't watched (Cutler) as much as our defensive coaches but he can obviously run and pass. He can do it all. I think they lead the conference in third down conversion. He's a very good player, a preseason all-conference pick at Vanderbilt."
(On Vanderbilt)
"You have to give Bobby Johnson credit for what he has done. Their athletes look faster, quicker than in the past. They are certainly a well-coached bunch of guys and they play hard. You don't see those guys loafing around, dodging tackles, they play all around. We need to play our best all out to beat these guys this week."
(On the rest of the season)
"We realized we're approaching the last half of the season, and whatever our record is going to be, whatever kind of team we're going to have, is going to be determined in the next few weeks. It's really the five biggest weeks of the year for us, coming up. We are going to be a winner or a loser when it's all over. The seniors want to finish their career here with a positive so we'll see if we can do it."
(On the game)
"We're not in the upper echelon by any means. We have to scrape and claw for any victories we can get. I think our guys know we need to play well. We don't have to play perfectly but we need to play well to beat these guys. It should be a heckuva game. It should be a good one. We are expecting a tough, physical game. Never know how it's going to happen, but we are looking forward to having maybe an even game in the fourth quarter and we see what happens."
(On Blake Mitchell)
"I think we have made improvements. Our quarterback definitely has, Blake Mitchell has come a long way. He can still play much better, that's what is encouraging. When he does it right, he can make all the throws. He's sort of learning this game right now. Blake this is really just his first year in the offense so he's really like a freshman. I look back at all the guys we had at Florida; Danny Weurffel was redshirted, Rex Grossman was redshirted, so they were all in their second years before they really started playing much at all. So Blake has come a long way and I think he can go farther."
(On the team improving throughout the season)
"Our receivers have done a pretty good job catching the ball and running decent routes. We've made some progress there. Defensively, I know at times we've struggled some against the run but I think if you look at our overall defensive statistics they are not that bad. We've kept guys out of the end zone pretty well. We've played hard."
(On Vanderbilt defense)
"They play a little bit more zone than most people. They are three deep, sometimes sort of a four deep, two deep, they mix it up. They do their zone blitzes, to get six, seven, eight guys up to the line of scrimmage. They are little bit different than the teams we have played. They haven't done a whole lot of bump and run but they possibly could against us. They have an active group of defensive players, who play with a lot of effort."
(on Syvelle Newton)
"Syvelle is slated to play some tailback, slated to play some wide reciever and if need be, some quarterback. Turn him loose, we feel like he's a guy who can make some plays with his hands on the ball. We need to get it to him more often. The closet guy like him that I coached was Gary Anderson at the Tampa Bay Bandits. He was a tailback, who could play wide receiver. We moved him outside several times and he played tailback also but he didn't play quarterback. Syvelle is a very intelligent player and person, he really is. He picks up things quickly. He watches and working at quarterback sort of helped him with knowing where the tailbacks are going. He can play all three and has an understanding of what happens."
Columbia, S.C. - South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier met with the media on Tuesday afternoon as the Gamecocks continue preparation for Saturday's homecoming game with the Vanderbilt Commodores.
(Opening statement)
"We are looking forward to our fifth home game of the year and as we talk about Vanderbilt, it's probably the best team they have had in a long time in Nashaville. A very competitive team that has won four and had a chance to win about one or two others. They will be a big challenge for us. We keep thinking we are going to play our best game of the year and hopefully this will be the week. We are going to need to play real well to beat Vanderbilt. Our guys are well rested right now, we are actually a very healthy team for this time in the season, so we should be ready to play very well."
(On Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler)
"I haven't watched (Cutler) as much as our defensive coaches but he can obviously run and pass. He can do it all. I think they lead the conference in third down conversion. He's a very good player, a preseason all-conference pick at Vanderbilt."
(On Vanderbilt)
"You have to give Bobby Johnson credit for what he has done. Their athletes look faster, quicker than in the past. They are certainly a well-coached bunch of guys and they play hard. You don't see those guys loafing around, dodging tackles, they play all around. We need to play our best all out to beat these guys this week."
(On the rest of the season)
"We realized we're approaching the last half of the season, and whatever our record is going to be, whatever kind of team we're going to have, is going to be determined in the next few weeks. It's really the five biggest weeks of the year for us, coming up. We are going to be a winner or a loser when it's all over. The seniors want to finish their career here with a positive so we'll see if we can do it."
(On the game)
"We're not in the upper echelon by any means. We have to scrape and claw for any victories we can get. I think our guys know we need to play well. We don't have to play perfectly but we need to play well to beat these guys. It should be a heckuva game. It should be a good one. We are expecting a tough, physical game. Never know how it's going to happen, but we are looking forward to having maybe an even game in the fourth quarter and we see what happens."
(On Blake Mitchell)
"I think we have made improvements. Our quarterback definitely has, Blake Mitchell has come a long way. He can still play much better, that's what is encouraging. When he does it right, he can make all the throws. He's sort of learning this game right now. Blake this is really just his first year in the offense so he's really like a freshman. I look back at all the guys we had at Florida; Danny Weurffel was redshirted, Rex Grossman was redshirted, so they were all in their second years before they really started playing much at all. So Blake has come a long way and I think he can go farther."
(On the team improving throughout the season)
"Our receivers have done a pretty good job catching the ball and running decent routes. We've made some progress there. Defensively, I know at times we've struggled some against the run but I think if you look at our overall defensive statistics they are not that bad. We've kept guys out of the end zone pretty well. We've played hard."
(On Vanderbilt defense)
"They play a little bit more zone than most people. They are three deep, sometimes sort of a four deep, two deep, they mix it up. They do their zone blitzes, to get six, seven, eight guys up to the line of scrimmage. They are little bit different than the teams we have played. They haven't done a whole lot of bump and run but they possibly could against us. They have an active group of defensive players, who play with a lot of effort."
(on Syvelle Newton)
"Syvelle is slated to play some tailback, slated to play some wide reciever and if need be, some quarterback. Turn him loose, we feel like he's a guy who can make some plays with his hands on the ball. We need to get it to him more often. The closet guy like him that I coached was Gary Anderson at the Tampa Bay Bandits. He was a tailback, who could play wide receiver. We moved him outside several times and he played tailback also but he didn't play quarterback. Syvelle is a very intelligent player and person, he really is. He picks up things quickly. He watches and working at quarterback sort of helped him with knowing where the tailbacks are going. He can play all three and has an understanding of what happens."