Spurrier on the sidelines during the SEC chase this fall

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Posted 5:41PM on Thursday, November 2, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Steve Spurrier is unaccustomed to watching the Southeastern Conference race unfold without him. But that's what he and South Carolina (5-3, 3-3) face in the season's final month, which starts Saturday against No. 12 Arkansas (7-1, 4-0) at Williams-Brice Stadium. Spurrier has always given his SEC foes plenty to worry about down the stretch. He won six SEC titles and made the league's championship game two other times during 12 seasons at Florida. Then last year in his South Carolina debut, Spurrier and the Gamecocks put together a sparkling five-game SEC win streak including victories over powers Tennessee and Florida that kept them in the conference chase until the end. The team's hope for the same impact this year ended with last week's 31-24 loss to No. 8 Tennessee. Instead of plotting to win the SEC Eastern Division, the Gamecocks are simply trying to become bowl eligible. ``Yeah, we're just back to trying win a ball game,'' Spurrier said. ``We realize that we're realistically out of the division in the SEC.'' Spurrier thought if things broke right against the Vols, perhaps the Gamecocks could eek out a victory and keep the momentum going into the Arkansas. Instead, it was Tennessee who held off South Carolina's comeback and guaranteed Spurrier would be an outsider in the title chase. ``Now we know that's gone and we just go play football,'' he said. Spurrier says the pressure is off his team. What he probably means is the pressure's on. ``It was a disappointing loss. ... We really would've liked a shot to go at that title,'' offensive lineman William Brown said. ``It just shows us how much we have to work next year if we want to get it.'' Brown said Spurrier doesn't take on-field mistakes lightly and certainly won't let up now that any chance at the SEC is gone. ``One of our goals is to win six games this year,'' Brown said. ``So that's what we're focusing on right now. Anything else I think is a bonus for us.'' Spurrier spoke bluntly entering the season that despite last year's stunning streak, the Gamecocks were not yet a team ready for championships. That couldn't have looked truer by the second game, when then No. 9 Georgia handed Spurrier just the second shutout of his 17 college seasons. Spurrier changed quarterbacks to the more mobile and elusive Syvelle Newton and South Carolina's fortunes improved. But the team still didn't measure up with the best teams in the SEC. The Gamecocks lost to then second-ranked Auburn 24-17 in September. Combined with the Tennessee loss, South Carolina is 0-3 this season against ranked opponents. Last year's success was an amalgam of career highlights and opponent mistakes something that's yet to occur this season. Tennessee fumbled a potential game-winning touchdown through the end zone in 2005. But this year, the Vols ran back an interception for one TD and got another off a deflection to beat the Gamecocks. Other teams are ``playing better than they did last year and we're having a few little errors here and there as you can tell that maybe we didn't quite have last year,'' Spurrier said. Take last year's 14-10 win at Arkansas for instance. Darren McFadden rushed for 187 yards yet was stopped on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter. Then there was defensive back Ko Simpson knocking McFadden out of bounds at South Carolina's 1 at the end of a long run and the Gamecocks held the Razorbacks to a field goal. Arkansas also had an interception returned for a TD called back by a penalty. ``So I mean we were getting a whole bunch of breaks last year,'' Spurrier said. ``They're not quite coming our way the way they were last year at this time. ``But that's football,'' he said. ``It's not always going to bounce your way.''