Orange in the end zone

Just drove by Williams-Brice. Reports/message board posts of the Clemson-themed vandalism have been greatly exaggerated.

Unlike last year, the vandals did not paint the weight room windows. They did manage to get inside the stadium, and use orange spray-paint in the south end zone.

Equipment manager Chris Matlock said you can barely notice the damage.

The stadium’s locked up pretty tight now, btw. Unless you want to scale an 8-foot fence in broad daylight, you’re not getting on the field.

Here’s the brief I wrote for Thursday’s paper:

Whenever Clemson scores a touchdown, Tigers play-by-play announcer Pete Yanity makes his signature call, “There’s orange in the end zone.”

Another angle on Garcia INT

Upon further (video) review, USC coach Steve Spurrier said he can “sort of understand” what QB Stephen Garcia saw in the Florida secondary on the fourth-quarter interception that halted the Gamecocks’ drive and essentially snuffed out their upset hopes.

Immediately after Florida’s 24-14 win, Spurrier seemed perplexed that Garcia would throw a backside slant to Moe Brown rather than stick with primary receiver Jason Barnes, who was running a slant on the right side of the field.

Brown was not expecting the ball, which zipped past him (it actually never hit him as many of us reported Saturday night), caromed off a Florida D-back and into the arms of DE Justin Trattou, who returned it 53 yards to the USC 26.

Tebow delivered the dagger with a 1-yard TD run four plays later.

Here was Spurrier’s take on the interception Sunday:

“Actually the guy covering Moe Brown was a little bit on his outside shoulder. And the guy covering Jason was a little bit on his inside. So he chose to go over there, and I think the ball sort of snuck up on Moe somehow or another. It went right past his facemask and actually hit the Florida guy’s facemask and ricocheted to the D-linemen there. Just an unfortunate thing. Hopefully, we can learn from it to execute that play a little better.”

Spurrier also said:

–He liked the way TB Brian Maddox ran the ball. Maddox ran hard between the tackles and finished with more than 80 yards rushing after basically serving as a situational back for the past six weeks.

–His involvement in the offensive play-calling was not much different than in previous weeks, despite signs to the contrary (a much more involved Spurrier on the sideline, etc.).

“I’ve been calling plays. It wasn’t anything hugely different than what we’ve been doing. I wish I’d let someone else call ‘em, how’s that?” said Spurrier, laughing. “It wasn’t much different than what I’ve been doing really all year.”

–The atmosphere at W-B Stadium was big-time and created a favorable impression for the recruits at the game (although he noted that most of them had visited other, big, loud stadiums). Said the “Carolina Walk” from the bus to the locker room was the best during his time at USC.

Gameday forecast for Florida

Saturday should be fun.

Weather’s supposed to be nice. The No. 1 team in town. A military fly-over before the game, and USC wearing camo jerseys to raise awareness and dollars for the Wounded Warrior Project. (USC’s Steve Fink says fly-over is at halftime, not pre-game. My bad.)

What could be better?

Well, a close game would be nice.

The Gamecocks let things get away from them in a hurry last year in Gainesville, thanks to a couple of Chris Smelley picks and a poorly timed, poorly executed double pass on a kickoff return.

A scoreless game turned into a 21-0 rout in a matter of minutes, and you could see the fight go out of the Gamecocks’ defensive players.

What ensued was a 56-6 beatdown that was the worst loss of Steve Spurrier’s career – as an Ol’ Ball Player or Ball Coach. Florida apparently does not know how to treat its own.

But this year could be different. The Gators are merely beating teams soundly this season, not clamping down on opponents and squeezing the life out of them.

No Percy Harvin. No Louis Murphy.

But this Tebow kid is supposed to be pretty good.

Ellis Johnson, who runs the USC defense, said the Gamecocks are not going to throw a bunch of blitzes at Tebow. They hope to create pressure with their base, 4-man front, giving them ample defenders to drop back in coverage.

After watching the Gators rip off a number of big plays against his guys last year, you get the idea Johnson will be willing to concede the 12-yard out routes and have his safeties keep the play in front of them.

And while Tebow does not always throw the prettiest spirals, he can read a defense as well as anyone. And if the Gamecocks don’t do anything to disrupt him, Tebow will take the Gators down the field, via the read-option or whatever throws USC is giving him.

A healthy Cliff Matthews would add to the Gamecocks’ chaos quotient. And while Matthews might play in key situations, it’s hard to imagine him being effective at less than 100 percent and wearing a bulky brace under his shoulder pads.

So then it falls to Eric Norwood to try to get to Tebow. Norwood sacked him twice last year at the Swamp. But he might have to do more Saturday, namely strip him of the ball and end the defense’s three-week drought without a turnover.

Offensively, the Gamecocks don’t have to be perfect. But they do have to maximize their scoring chances – an Achilles heel for Spurrier and his team of play-callers all season.

Spurrier says he’s calling the plays, although his players said this week they had not seen any change in the system. It might not matter, anyway: Charlie Strong’s defense is giving up an NCAA-low 10 points a game, and Arkansas is the only team to score 20 on the Gators.

This won’t be a blowout. But it won’t be an upset, either.

Florida 28, USC 13

Urban Meyer on Spurrier, USC defense

Now in Year Five, the Steve Spurrier vs. Florida storyline has lost some of its juice.

Spurrier had his run in Gainesville. Now it’s Urban Meyer’s turn. Both coached a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback with the Gators, and each won a national championship (Meyer is gunning for his third in four seasons).

Spurrier, who won his own Heisman playing for the Gators, still keeps up with his former team and has a bunch of friends in Gainesville. But he said Wednesday he has given no thought to what it would mean to spoil Florida’s national championship hopes.

Likewise, Meyer said the notion that he and Spurrier have a not-so-friendly rivalry – an idea some suggested the first couple of times the two squared off – is unfounded.

“Since day one, we walked in the press conference and he was one of the first guys I called. He knows how I feel about him. He knows how I feel about his resume,” Meyer said. “One of the things about coach Spurrier, I’ve never heard him – and I wouldn’t imagine it because of the kind of guy he is – him and his wife speak awful fondly of the Gators, which they should. And the Gators are fond of them.”

Meyer also had nice things to say about USC LB Eric Norwood, whom he called a candidate for SEC defensive player of the year, and the rest of the Gamecocks’ defense.

“The personnel on that defensive team since we’ve coached against them have been top five in our league. And this is no exception,” Meyer said. “I put them up even higher. I think they’re three or four, maybe even as high as two – as far as just personnel, speed and athleticism. They’ve got that good, young corner (Stephon Gilmore) out there that I think is tremendous.”

The Spurrier play-calling arrangement

Interesting press conference Tuesday.

Steve Spurrier took a lot of questions about his future, the direction of the program, and predictably, the play-calling arrangement.

Spurrier indicated he “probably” would serve as the Gamecocks’ principle play-caller, a responsibility he gave to his son, receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr., before the 2008 season.

I have little doubt Spurrier will be more involved in the offense. He mentioned being in the huddle when the offense is meeting along the sideline during timeouts, whereas previously he has let quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus run many of those huddles.

But as for the actual play-calling, I have a hunch it’s going to proceed much as it has for the first 10 games – Spurrier Jr. sends the plays from the press box to Mangus, who signals them to QB Stephen Garcia.

Spurrier Sr. overrules occasionally, and offensive line coach Eric Wolford also makes suggestions, particularly on goal-line or short-yardage runs.

Maybe Spurrier will call all of the plays. But looking over the transcript of the press conference, Spurrier qualified nearly all of his play-calling comments with words like “probably” and “may.”

He also pointed out a couple of times that he doesn’t think the offense has played that poorly of late – better, in fact, than in wins against N.C. State and Ole Miss, he said.

Spurrier is the face of the program. He’s ultimately responsible for every offensive call that’s made.

But as a father, the last thing he wants to do is anything that would remotely resemble throwing his son under the bus, a la Lou Holtz with Skip before the 2004 season.

Spurrier never mentioned his son’s name during the 30-minute press conference. He denied an interview request for Spurrier Jr. on Monday.

Where Skip Holtz had a handshake deal to succeed his father at USC, there’s been no talk or even hints at anything like that with the Spurriers. And while Skip was put before the media often during his six seasons in Columbia, Spurrier Jr. has been content to be seen, and not heard.

I think Spurrier felt like he had to say something Tuesday with all the fan unrest about the play-calling. And maybe he can find the right balance of calling enough of the plays to keep fans happy, while allowing his son enough space to continue growing as a play-caller.

Bottom line: If USC can move the ball and score against Florida and/or Clemson, this will all quiet down.

If not, get ready for another round of it. And count on Spurrier to take the blame.