Preseason media vote first in program history
For the first time in program history, South Carolina was named the preseason favorite by media vote to win the SEC East at last week’s conference Media Days in Hoover, Ala.
For USC coach Steve Spurrier, reaching new milestones is part of the thrill of the job. “That’s the fun part, achieving things that never happened before,” Spurrier said. “Our fans there at South Carolina, I think, have paid their dues over the years because not much has happened in football or really a lot of sports.”
Spurrier said the USC baseball team, which won its second straight College World Series last month, will remain a source of inspiration for his team.
“Of course, we’re fired up about our baseball team winning back-to-back national championships,” he said. “It’s not only super and great for our university and for the baseball program, but it sort of sends a message to all the other sports: ‘Hey, it can be done at South Carolina.’ We admire coach Tanner, the team, the way they played. They played well. They played like winners. We’re all extremely proud of what the baseball team has accomplished the last couple years.
“So that gives us hope that maybe, hey, something big in football, basketball, some of the other sports can start happening.”
That being said, Spurrier wasn’t quite ready to buy much into the hype his team received at the Wynfrey Hotel courtesy of the attending media.
“You know we lost our last two games last year, so we’re not sitting around patting each other on the back too much,” Spurrier said. “We got clobbered in the SEC game by Auburn and didn’t play when the game was on the line. Against FSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, we fought back, got back in the game, but when it was on the line, didn’t do much.
“We’ve got a long way to go. I think it’s nice to have the magazines say we’ve got a chance. Some of them are picking us to win the East. We know that Georgia, Tennessee and Florida were down last year. That’s what gave us hope and probably the big reason we won the East last year. Whether or not they’ll be down this year, only time will tell. You don’t know. We, again, have a ways to go.”
Roberston on Clowney, Garcia: Senior defensive tackle Travian Robertson, who was one of three USC players in attendance at SEC Media Days, said heralded freshman Jadeveon Clowney has looked good since enrolling early and beginning workouts with the team.
“He’s a great guy. He’s fitting in well,” Robertson said. “He’s been there a few weeks. He’s young and we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think he’s going to play a good part on our defense this year. He’s got a lot of speed. We’ve just got to figure out where we’re going to put him.”
Robertson was also supportive of embattled quarterback Stephen Garcia, saying Garcia’s teammates want to see him finish his career the right way.
“It’s whatever Coach wants to do with him,” Robertson said. “We’ve been supporting him real well. He’s been with us the entire time, so we want to continue to play with him and finish this last year.”