Gamecocks not overlooking Central Florida
Everyone on the South Carolina football team will understand how important Saturday’s game between the No. 12 Gamecocks and Central Florida is once kickoff comes around, coach Steve Spurrier said.
Spurrier has told his team to expect a hostile environment come Saturday.
“A lot of them down there say this might be the biggest game they have had in the history of the school,” Spurrier said. “They have an opportunity, if they win, to jump into the top 25 and have a chance to maybe beat everyone on their schedule. It’s a huge game for all of us.”
It is a monumental game for the Knights. This game will mark the first time that UCF will be playing on network television. The game is the school’s seventh sellout since Bright House Networks Stadium opened in 2007.
Because of the new exposure and the hype of hosting a top-15 team, Spurrier said he knows that UCF will be ready for the game.
“We know that we’re going to get their best shot,” Spurrier said. “But we’re looking forward to it just like they are.”
Both teams are coming off bye weeks, and both held off their last opponents after jumping out to a big lead.
South Carolina opened up a 28-0 lead on Vanderbilt two weeks ago before hanging on for a 35-25 victory, while the Knights ran out to a 21-7 lead at Penn State before churning out the 34-31 win.
UCF’s win was more impressive as their victory over the Nittany Lions was their first ever over a Big Ten program.
The Gamecocks’ players say it is important to ignore the fact that UCF is a school without a lot of history and instead focus on the task at hand.
“We definitely won’t overlook this team,” senior defensive back Jimmy Legree said. “We have to come out and perform as well as everyone knows we can and take this as a big game.”
Spurrier reiterated that the team doesn’t overlook anybody and pointed out that despite preparing for Wofford the same way they did for Clemson, Wofford still nearly pulled off the upset last year. In that game, the Gamecocks and Terriers were tied 7-7 entering the fourth quarter.
However, while that game was at home, this one will be on the road.
“It’s an opportunity for South Carolina to take its football show on the road and see what we can do,” Spurrier said. “Hopefully, we can play very well. That’s the opportunity that is out there for us.”
The South Carolina defense has struggled a bit this season, allowing 66 points in its last two games. Special teams turnovers contributed to a lot of the points Vanderbilt scored, but Legree still sees this weekend as an opportunity to let everyone know that the Gamecock defense is still kicking.
“For us, I feel like this is the opportunity for us to come into their town and shut them down,” Legree said. “We haven’t played so well on defense, but we have the opportunity to get better.”
UCF has been a surprise this season. After being picked to finish fourth in the newly created American Athletic Conference, the Knights are 3-0 for the first time since 1988 and are one of three undefeated teams in the AAC, along with Louisville and Houston.
Spurrier said he can understand how UCF gets its talent.
“There’s plenty of ball players in the state of Florida,” Spurrier said. “They all can’t go to Florida, Florida State or Miami, so a lot of them stay close to home. There are a lot of people in that Orlando area.”
Spurrier would know about talent in the Sunshine State since he won a Heisman trophy at Florida and coached the Gators for 12 years, winning seven SEC championships.
But despite all of the outside noise surrounding the game this weekend, the team will be focused on football at noon Saturday, because as coaches and players have said all week, this is a big game.
“It’s South Carolina versus Central Florida,” Spurrier said. “Once the ball is kicked off, it’s our team trying to beat their team.”