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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 28, 2010

Steve Spurrier

THE MODERATOR: We'll have 30 minutes with each of our two participating head coaches. We will start with Steve Spurrier.
COACH SPURRIER: We're obviously fired up, excited to be in the game, to win the Eastern Division for the first time ever.
And we're happy we're coming in with a victory over our big rival here in the state of South Carolina, Clemson, last night.
So our team has played very well the last three games. We played about as well as we have all year, which is what you hope to be at the end of the season. And I know Auburn feels probably the same way. They played extremely well.
They have found a way to win all their games. They've had a tremendous year. So I really respect what they have done this year. They've been -- I wouldn't say the surprise team -- but they've been one of the best teams in the country, if not the best team through the course of the first 12 games. They're to be commended for that. And it should be a heck of a game.
Our guys will be excited and ready to play. And we're looking forward to it.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Steve, can you just describe what you guys have done to change the Monday schedule and maybe how that's helped the team? And is there any superstition involved in that, considering how you played?
COACH SPURRIER: We've only changed it a little bit after we played so poorly against Arkansas. We decided to try to do something different. We watched a lot of the Arkansas tape and just went out and ran a little bit on Monday.
And then we got the report Tuesday for the Florida game and started concentrating on them. So we played pretty well down there. So we've sort of left it like that. But we'll talk a little bit about Auburn when we meet up on Monday.

Q. First question, you know you talked about at the top about playing really well these last three games. I mean, when you compare how this team is playing now compared with when you went to Auburn earlier this year, what is the biggest improvement you think your team has made?
COACH SPURRIER: I think the biggest improvement we've probably made is pass defense. After we left Kentucky, we were sort of in disarray and really Arkansas picked us apart pretty well. But they've picked apart everybody. So maybe shouldn't go by that game.
But our defense and our pass defense has really improved here these last three games. And that's what's given us a chance certainly to win. But other than that, the special team play, our kicker, Spencer Lanning, has been very good in his field goals and his punting, and he might have been the most valuable player in the game last night against Clemson. Punting I think two or three inside the 5-yard line and three out of four of his field goals.
So we've got a very good kicker/punter, and our defense is playing well now, which always gives you a chance.

Q. As a follow-up, I wanted to ask you about just being here again and what this means and could you have ever envisioned this in 2001 when you left Florida?
COACH SPURRIER: Well, that was our goal here at South Carolina was to be there and to win the game there. And it's obviously still our goal. And we didn't think we had a team until maybe this year. And our guys in preseason I sometimes allow the team and captains to set their goals maybe a little higher than what's realistic.
And our guys set a goal of winning the East, winning the SEC and beating Clemson and doing a lot of things.
So we'll see if we can finish off our goals this Saturday afternoon.

Q. I'm sorry, not to interrupt you, meant for you personally in 2001, when you left Florida, could you have ever imagined being back in this game?
COACH SPURRIER: Not when I left Florida in 2001. I thought I'd coach in the NFL five or six years and hang it up. But sometimes your plans as a coach don't always follow through the way maybe you imagined.
So anyway after a couple of years in the NFL, well, that situation -- (Operator interruption) I was lucky to be available when South Carolina's job came open, and what's given a chance here is our Athletic Director Eric Hyman and our boosters have really done a super job building facilities here. We're the best in SEC right now in all facilities, athletically, and prior to five, six years ago we were near the bottom. So this gives us a chance to recruit top kids in the state and out of state also.

Q. You played in the very first one of these games. When this game was first created there was some rumblings from coaches how you could never get to a national championship game, how this game wouldn't be good for the league; but you seem to embrace it right from the beginning. Why was that?
COACH SPURRIER: This game has helped more teams than it's hurt in the SEC. Now, it may have hurt a team or two out of the Big 12 occasionally or somewhere else. But if we had one loss during the regular season and then you're able to win the SEC championship game, that will certainly put you in the national championship game as long as there's not a bunch of undefeated teams out.
But to me this is a playoff system here. And I just sort of believe every coach in a conference, his main goal would be to win his conference championship each year. And if you're lucky enough to get in the final game for the national, well, that's just sort of a bonus deal. But when you play for your conference championship in SEC, every team has a chance, somewhat of a chance; if you can win your division, you can get to the final game. If you can win it, you will be the champ.
So it's clear what you gotta do. You don't have to worry about people voting. You don't have to worry about your schedule. You can lose all the out-of-conference games you like and just win the crucial ones and you'll have a shot at your conference championship.
So I just think it's the way it gives every team in the country hope to have a championship year when you can go play for your conference championship.

Q. When you took those jobs, there were many naysayers who said you would never take the game to this kind of game, so what do you have to say to them now?
COACH SPURRIER: That was probably a fair assessment when you look at the history of South Carolina football. But that was really one of the reasons I was excited about the opportunity to coach here, is that they had not achieved very much at all, but the opportunity to do it is here. We've got a big stadium. Seats about 80 something thousand and the fans buy all the tickets. We usually have sell-outs. Although the last year or two not quite sell-outs like most schools.
But we pack it in. And tremendous fan support. The university support. It's all here. And high school football in this state's very good.
So I just -- I just told my wife, "Let's go to South Carolina and see if we can do some things that have never been done before." And it had been a struggle a little bit. Although, we've been Bowl-eligible every year. When I get around a lot of my coaching buddies at the convention, and we ask each other how you did and I say, "Well, we were 7-5 again." They say, "Dang, wish I was 7-5," things like that. In reality we've done okay. But obviously this year's been the best we've been thus far. And hopefully we can finish it off this Saturday afternoon/night there in Atlanta.

Q. What were you expecting to get out of Marcus Lattimore this year? And how does his pass catching ability enhance your passing game?
COACH SPURRIER: We knew Marcus was an outstanding running back. We didn't know he could carry the team in several big games the way he has this year. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, several other games, he's been the guy that we just kept giving the ball to. But I tell you what, Clemson held him down the other night. We just couldn't block much the other night.
They got a big, strong defensive front. So fortunately it was a game we just didn't have to depend completely on Marcus. Alshon Jeffrey came on, made some big catches. Stephen Garcia played solidly, and our defense was outstanding as well as our kicking game.
So to go a long way, you need it all, offense/defense and a good kicking game. That's what we had the other night.
But Marcus, he's been better than we thought as a freshman. And hopefully he'll have a big night this Saturday night there in Atlanta.

Q. How does his pass catching enhance your passing game?
COACH SPURRIER: He's a good pass catcher. He actually dropped one the other night, though. But I think he caught two or three others. But, yeah, he can come out of the back field and catch the ball. So he's good that way also. He's very good.
He's just a total tailback, running back. He can do it all. He can block, too. He can go in there, chip off those defensive ends. He does everything you ask. And he's just a wonderful young man, wonderful family. And when your star players are really real good teammates, you have a chance to achieve a lot as a team.

Q. Going into the first game against Auburn, Cam Newton really hadn't done a lot of things he's done in that game since then. Has anything he's done since then surprised you? Have you seen a player like him before?
COACH SPURRIER: You have a good point there. Auburn, the week before, they had sort of come from behind to beat Auburn. I think Auburn had them 17-0. And of course we had them 20-7 going into, right near the end of the first half. I think it was 20-14 at the half they went down and scored.
But the first touchdown that Auburn scored, I think he ran 50 yards. And he sort of broke up the middle there. Our safety had him. And then our strong safety was coming outside. And he put a side step on and juked both of them. I think they ran into each other, and then skirted down the sideline and dove into the end zone for about a 50-yard touchdown. We were like, wow, we're telling our DBs you've got to play your angles now.
But then we found out that he was doing that to everybody as the season progressed. He's hard to tackle. He's a real good passer, too. And obviously their last game against Alabama, their running wasn't all that great like it normally is, but he hit three big passes for touchdowns.
So you gotta give Auburn credit for the year they've had. Their coach, Gene Chizik, Ted Roof, the defensive coach, and Gus Malzahn, the offensive guy, they've kept their guys in the game and they've done whatever it takes to win them all thus far.

Q. If I could ask a follow-up. I know you don't necessarily study Auburn's offense and everything as much as you do the defense, but have you seen film on Gus Malzahn, what he does to kind of keep defenses off balance, anything that impresses you?
COACH SPURRIER: Certainly. Obviously the offense I coach now is a lot different than we did 10 years ago at Florida or 20 years ago. And Gus and probably the guy at Oregon, Chip Kelly, are the guys that probably coach that spread offense the best in the country, I think.
I know there's a lot of other good guys out there. But they're 1 and 2 in the nation, Oregon and Auburn. And so you gotta give Malzahn and Oregon Coach Chip Kelly, they're the guys that make it happen. They probably know it better than anybody in the country, I think.

Q. Steve, could you just talk about the dynamic of playing a team twice? You've done it a few times in this game I know a couple times, I guess. And how it's different than when you're playing them the first time or just playing them once.
COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, it's just another game. I mean, it's another new game. It's another time to play an opponent. We don't sort of look at it too much.
Certainly we'll watch a tape of our last game with them. But we'll watch a tape of their last two or three games also. And your game plan might be a little different, certainly. But generally we all do what we have to do to win games and go from there. You don't try to change too much.
But I've had some games where, well, back in 2000 we were actually able to beat Auburn a couple of times. In '99, Alabama beat us a couple of times. And then we were lucky to get a rematch with FSU in the national championship there in '96 and were able to beat them the second time after losing the first.
I think it can go either way. You can win both of them or split.

Q. You hear about Auburn and everybody automatically kind of thinks of Cam Newton. What do you think of Auburn's defense? How do you think they've played over this last stretch?
COACH SPURRIER: I think their defense rises to the occasion when they need to. They've obviously given up some yards and some points here and there, but their offense has been so good that they're in the game.
And obviously the last game there, what Auburn's defense did the second half to really shut Alabama down, was impressive.
I think Ted and those defensive coaches have done an excellent job. Well, they're 12-0. So they've done a very good job of getting the stops when they need to have them to win the game.

Q. Quick follow-up. Nick Fairley, their defensive tackle, how much of a burden will he be to your defense?
COACH SPURRIER: We had a couple of tackles that were a burden to our offense last week, Clemson guys. So we gotta just hope our guards and our center can somewhat hold them in check a bit.
But, anyway, we hope not to throw 40, 50 times. Alabama came out fine and obviously hit a whole bunch of passes early there. We're more of a mix-it-up-type offense. So hopefully we won't be sitting back there in the pocket a whole bunch of times, maybe the way a lot of teams do.

Q. Steve, can you relate or put into words how hard it must be for a star player like Cam Newton to perform with all the national controversy swirling around him?
COACH SPURRIER: Obviously he's had the ability not to let any of that bother him. And he acts like he doesn't read the newspapers or hear any of it. So he's a sharp young man that has the ability to focus on helping his team win the game. So that's what he's done ever since it came out.

Q. How much does having a strong team, the people around you, help that?
COACH SPURRIER: Certainly that's helpful. Certainly that's helpful. And probably the big reason Auburn's 12-0, they have tremendous team chemistry. We do, too. That's why we're 9-3. We haven't had many 9-3 years around here, so we're happy to be where we are also. But, anyway, you've got to have good team chemistry. And obviously Cam Newton's the leader of that Auburn team.

Q. Cam Newton, do you think he's deserving of the Heisman?
COACH SPURRIER: Certainly. Certainly. I think he's been the most dynamic player in college ball this year.

Q. Played Auburn. Lattimore carried the ball 14 times. Is that a low number, or is that basically the flow of the game, the way it went?
COACH SPURRIER: It was a little bit of the flow of the game. He carried about all of them the first half. The third quarter, we only had the ball six plays. Actually, I think we went about 70 yards in three plays. Hit a long pass that Alshon ran about 70 of it or something like that.
We didn't have the ball much. Then in the fourth quarter we started fumbling, and next thing you know we were behind, I guess, by 8, about the middle of the fourth quarter. And we didn't run as much. But probably should have. Although we had some turnovers that hurt us in the fourth quarter there the last game.
But who knows if they had have gone on to score, maybe they could have, I think they only punted couple times in the game. They had a good night offensively. Hopefully our defense is better now than we were earlier in the season.

Q. They ran 21 more plays than you all that game. I know their hurry up, that's their offense, how do you kind of slow the pace of the game down to kind of make it more even?
COACH SPURRIER: Oh, I think you just gotta be ready. Gotta be ready to go. And offensively we need to stay out there also. That's what slows down some of the fast tempo teams is that when the other team can stay out there a while.
So we didn't do it all that well the last game. But still it was a very close game. Heck, we had a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter. We had our chances. We didn't play -- with the turnovers, we didn't have our best game.

Q. Was there anything remarkable that Marcus Lattimore did in summer camp that caught your attention and said: He's doing this or we've got to make sure we get him in the game plan? Was there anything -- is there something that jumped out at you at all?
COACH SPURRIER: We knew he was a very good player. We didn't start him the first game. One reason was I said, "Marcus, I don't want anybody to think I told you when I was recruiting that you would start the first game." He said, "I understand, Coach, just get me in early." I said, "You'll be in early. Don't worry." I think he was in the second possession. He didn't get a bunch of carriers against Southern Miss, maybe 14, 15, 70 or 80 yards, I'm not sure exactly.
The next game was when he opened everybody's eyes against Georgia and had 37 carries for 180 something yards. And that's when we noticed he was breaking tackles all over the place. Going forward and this, that and the other.
That's when we realized we've really got a special player here.

Q. Against Clemson the other night, you kept running him into the middle of the line. I never saw much to the flanks with him. But he's got a little bit of quality speed, doesn't he?
COACH SPURRIER: Yes, he does. We probably should have had a few more outside plays, you're right, than what we tried to do the other night.

Q. Is there anything to playing in the dome, is there anything you'll tell your guys to prepare them? Or is it any different at all?
COACH SPURRIER: Josh, we've already talked briefly about playing on the big stage of college football. And our guys get a twinkle in their eye when I say that. I said, You guys, when you came here, we talked about some day playing on the big stage here at Williams Price against Alabama, down at Florida, at Clemson, at Auburn, at Tennessee, at Georgia, when we played there. And we play on the big stage.
And I told them the other night, I said, now we're going to the biggest stage in the south I think for college football, the SEC championship game. So if you want that big stage, we've got it coming up this week. And our guys have played very well in that atmosphere.
So hopefully it will continue, and we can have our best game of the year Saturday night.

Q. What about playing in an actual dome, is there any difference about that?
COACH SPURRIER: No, not really. Once the game kicks in it's still blocking and tackling and running and passing and all that kind of stuff. You sort of forget where you are.
But it will be 70 degrees and maybe about 80 when you get 78, 80,000 whatever it holds. So it gets hot in there a little bit with all the people yelling and screaming and all this, that and the other.
But other than that, I don't think we've played on the sport turf, grass type thing they have there in the dome this year. But we were on it a couple times last year. So our guys, I think, have all played on it somewhere even in high school or whatever.
But we'll go in there, run around a little bit Friday afternoon. I think we're in there at 4:00. So hopefully they'll get the feel of it.
But it will be extremely loud, and it's the big stage. So they're looking forward to it.

Q. Can you talk about Alshon Jeffery? Does he compare to any of the Florida receivers you had, in particular?
COACH SPURRIER: He's a little bit different. He's not quite that quick-step guy that Ike Hilliard and some of those guys, Redell, Hanson and Jacques. He's more of a possession -- he's got a quick step, don't get me wrong. What he does so well is when it hits his hand, it sticks. Very seldom is there a break-up pass when he and the defender go after a ball.
So he's got great hands. He loves to compete. When I tell him about the big stage, you oughta see the twinkle in his eye. He loves it. And he is a wonderful teammate, too. He and Marcus and all of our guys, Stephon Gilmore, a lot of these guys highly recruited coming out of high school, they were really good team players, and that's what's given us a chance to have a big year.

Q. And until this year, Stephen Garcia seemed very inconsistent from game to game. This year he seemed to settle in. Can you talk about his season and how he's managed games?
COACH SPURRIER: Stephen has matured into a very good quarterback. G.A. Mangus, our quarterback coach, spent a lot of time with him. And Connor Shaw, the rest of our quarterbacks.
But I really believe it's just Stephen's a player that has learned through experience and is just now sort of coming to him how to play the game, how to take care of the ball, how not to go down with sacks.
The other night he must have thrown about four or five away out of the pocket, avoided sacks. A year ago he would go down with it. And he'd come off the sidelines and you'd say why didn't you throw it away, sort of look at you funny. But now he throws them away and he takes care of the ball very well and makes a lot of good throws. The sort of throw-back pass to Alshon last night was close to perfect. He can still get better, certainly take his steps and let it go with a little bit better rhythm occasionally. But he's been very productive and very smart with the ball.
And I think the word is he's matured into a very good quarterback.

Q. I know that Stephen popped his hand on a helmet yesterday, I didn't know if there was any swelling in that and how is his health overall?
COACH SPURRIER: He has a sore hand. His right hand is very sore and his left shoulder got popped a little bit there that one hit. He probably won't do too much the first couple of days this week, but hopefully by mid-week or so forth he should be pretty close to full go. But he's a little banged up right now but should be okay, we think.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

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