Spurrier: Morale is fine

Steve Spurrier says he doesn’t listen to caller-driven sports radio shows.



If he did, or if he bothered to read some message boards on the Internet, he’d see a faction of South Carolina fans who have taken on a “Chicken Little” outlook in the wake of the Gamecocks’ three-game losing streak — the sky, evidently, is falling.



“That’s what’s easy to do right now,” Spurrier said Tuesday during his weekly news conference at Williams-Brice Stadium.



But Spurrier can worry only about his team heading into Saturday’s game against Southeastern Conference foe Florida, and the Gamecocks, he said, are a resilient bunch from a psychological standpoint.



They’ve certainly had plenty of chances to prove Spurrier true.



After going 6-1 and reaching No. 6 in the BCS standings three weeks ago, USC has lost three in a row — embarrassingly in some aspects, Spurrier admitted, in all three games. The Gamecocks had no offense in a 17-6 loss to Vanderbilt and made crucial errors in a 27-24 overtime setback at Tennessee. Then on Saturday, the Gamecocks’ most reliable unit, their defense, didn’t show up at Arkansas, and the Razorbacks ran for more than 500 yards, including an SEC record-tying 321 by Darren McFadden as the Hogs won 48-36.



The Gamecocks (6-4, 3-4 SEC) had opportunities to fold in all three games — they’ve been outscored 66-16 in the first half combined in those three losses. But USC managed to stay in them, whether because of its defense against Vandy or because its offense caught fire at Tennessee and Arkansas, where the Gamecocks trailed 21-0 and 28-10 at halftime, respectively.



“I think our morale’s fine. I really do,” Spurrier said. “… We’re staying positive around here. Somebody asked the other day, ‘Are you discouraged?’ I said, ’No, I’m not discouraged.’ Our big recruiting class was last year. It wasn’t three years ago. We’ve got a lot of players here we believe are going to be outstanding players. And like I’ve said many times, our best team is not going to be this year.“



Those who don’t know Spurrier might interpret that sort of rhetoric as a sign of throwing in the towel on a once promising season. Those who know better, however, take it for what it is — a reality check.



The Gamecocks’ previous rise into the top 10 was a product of two components. One, USC found ways to win — even though it wasn’t always impressively — during the first half of the season. And two, teams in front of the Gamecocks kept getting knocked off on a weekly basis and sometimes in bunches, lending to USC’s climb.



It finally caught up with the Gamecocks, though, against Vanderbilt.



“I felt like people had us up there pretty high, had us on a pedestal,” senior linebacker Cody Wells said. “We knew we weren’t that good of a team yet. We still hadn’t put together a full game.”



And the Gamecocks still haven’t. There’s something getting on Spurrier’s nerves every week, whether it’s unforced penalties, quarterbacks missing open receivers for touchdowns or the defense not getting on top of three fumbles in the last two games.



“That’s where we are and we’re not the first team to lose some close games,” Spurrier said.



Besides, Spurrier said, the Gamecocks still have goals that can be reached. One win in USC’s next two games would likely assure the Gamecocks of their third straight bowl appearance. If the Gamecocks somehow manage to beat both Florida and Clemson, they figure to get into a postseason game a little higher in bowl pecking order.



But for that to happen, the Gamecocks will have to find a way to snap out of their funk.



“We’re still waiting for a game where our offense is great, our defense is great and we can put together a full game,” Wells said. “… We don’t know how good we can be.”