Latest on Saunders, Gurley and Batchelor
USC tight end Weslye Saunders, who started the season with a bang before disappearing in the offense, is one of 22 players on the midseason watch list for the Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s top tight end.
Saunders had 12 catches the first two games at N.C. State and Georgia, but only five in four games since (he missed the Kentucky game with a sprained ankle).
Eight of Saunders’ catches came against Georgia, which played soft coverage and left the middle of the field open. Receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. said last week other teams have used different schemes against USC that made it difficult to get Saunders the ball.
The 6-5, 280-pound Saunders was more involved at Alabama, catching three passes for 38 yards, including a leaping 15-yard reception on a scramble play by Stephen Garcia.
Saunders is third on the team with 17 catches for 194 yards.
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Speaking of disappearing, put out a missing persons report on WR Tori Gurley.
After catching four passes in each of the first four games, Gurley has been nowhere to be found of late. He had one reception against S.C. State and Kentucky, then barely saw the field at Alabama as the Gamecocks tried to ride the hot hands of freshman Alshon Jeffery.
Gurley did see action after Moe Brown left with a concussion, but it was not for very long.
Word is that coaches would like to see Gurley practice with more intensity and do a better job on jump balls.
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It will be interesting to see if OL Heath Batchelor is back at practice this week.
Batchelor left the team last week, but apparently didn’t bother to tell Steve Spurrier.
He wasn’t eligible to play against Alabama, anyway. For the second time in three weeks, Batchelor was suspended for missing classes.
After telling friends last week his heart wasn’t in it anymore, Batchelor now is said to be reconsidering his decision. During his Sunday teleconference, Spurrier seemed to leave the door cracked for Batchelor to return.
Spurrier will want some assurances from Batchelor that he is motivated and has his personal and academic affairs in order.
15 Comments to “Latest on Saunders, Gurley and Batchelor”
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USC football beat writer Joe Person has covered the Gamecocks since the start of the 2002 season. He's been on the college football beat since 1993. 
What has happened to the two big offensive Lineman that transfered into SC and were supposed to make an impact?
yeah cuz south carolina offensive is not so good
let Heath Batchelor go. Its clear that his commitment to the university and team is over. Let him go.
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I think our O line has plenty of size and talent, they just need to be more aggressive like the D line.
Yeah, the D line is real aggressive. Thats why opposing running backs seem to always get their career high yardage against us.
Our O-Line is still improved from the last few seasons for sure. I would like to see them putting just a tad more “hustle behind the muscle” though. One thing I have noticed though is that they are playing hard….there are some fundamental issues that need to be addressed, but overall, I think Wolford is doing a bang-up job! As these young players get more experience and realize how close they truly are….maybe they will collectively have an “AHA!” moment and realize that they CAN beat anybody if they do some of the small things more consistently and with more aggressiveness!! Hope they get fired up for Vandy and let them now that their streak against us ENDS NOW!! Big game for the Gamecocks here…need to get Gurley playing lights out again, Alshon getting red-hot, Miles and Giles just showing a tad more patience and finding the gaps…..and Garcia getting on a steady and consistent streak. I’m telling you, he looks so much more poised than last year…..if the O-Line can reverse that trend of allowing far too many sacks and give him just a little more time to go through his progressions and not miss wide open …streaking recievers who are 10-15 yards clear of any defenders…….It’s going to be ON!! just a few minor adjustments, a tweak here and there, and this team can beat anybody…. guaranteed. New Carolina is for real…I can see it
10-2 may seem lofty to some…but I believe it can happen. I’d take 9-3 , accept 8-4….but 10-2 is more plausible to me now than it has ever been !! GO COCKS!!
Not going to classes, drunk in 5 pts, quiting the team..when does it end? This stuff gets old. Commitment is more than lining up.
play tori gurley! what is going on??? hes not injured. so what if practice isnt great, hes our best receiver
they haven’t played tori because alshon has out played him lately. and i agree with the coaches, he needs to learn to be more aggressive, and GO UP FOR THE BALL, not try to catch it on his hip.
however, that said, if tori can learn the other wide out position, then we could get jeffery, barnes, saunders and gurley on the field at the same time. when we can do that, we will be extremely hard to stop.
Finally got a chance to watch the tape of the ‘Bama game, along with post game press conference w/Spurrier…I had a few takeaways for what it’s worth (not that it will make a difference!):
1) Defense played great for the most part, but why didn’t defensive coaches quickly assign a linebacker/spur to Ingram, solely tracking and attacking him on all plays (run or pass). For that matter, why didn’t D coaches switch to an 8 man front during ‘Bama’s 4Q drive when Ingram was in Wildcat formation and clearly running the ball or handing off to WR Jones. Put 6 in the box to hopefully stuff the inside run, 2 backers rushing hot on the corners toward Ingram’s shotgun position, 2 D-backs further out on the line in charge of containment and 2 safeties in zone in charge of containing breakthrough runs and any Wildcat or trick pass.
2) Spurrier went to the well to often with the fade route pass in the end zone. After a couple of tries, why not try the fade-hook or fake the fade (as ‘Bama had shifted to double coverage on that route) and look for Saunders on a hard-thrown hook or quick slant (he has the size & muscle to block out & position himself well) or another WR crossing in the back of end zone or opposite side of end zone?
3) What happened to calling more plays for Patrick DiMarco? After Georgia game, that option seems to have been forgotten, despite his success at picking up yards after contact. Seems like quick-hitting handoffs to him up the middle against ‘Bama may have had some success despite ‘Bama’s entire bulk, beating them with quickness instead of handing off to tailback and giving Mt. Cody & company time to establish their bulkhead.
4) Why didn’t Spurrier think to go into the game with the no-huddle, while also running outside more often and/or going with “spread” plays, along with the wide screens…all to neutralize the big ‘Bama front and likely get them quickly winded so that they either have to be substituted out of the game or get too exhausted to keep their clamp down on the running game?
5) At times the coaches & Garcia didn’t read well what that ‘Bama defense was spoon-feeding them, especially during late 3Q / early 4Q: e.g., from the shotgun formation w/ the running back next to him (essentially the wildcat formation w/ the same options), Garcia could have kept the ball and run off tackle after faking the handoff (same play as Tebow does so well). ‘Bama had no one from the tackle/end (who tended to go down hard on the handoff every time) and the wideout coverage guys in the secondary.
6) What’s the deal with Spencer Lanning and the special teams’ coaches when it comes to punting strategy, ball placement, and field position? Throughout the season Lanning seems to have a hard time getting distance or hangtime on his punts when he is backed up in Carolina territory, but he seems to always boom his kicks when he is near midfield (for touchbacks), squandering advantageous field position. I know it’s not as easy as it sounds, but by this time of the season a little more finesse in punting for field position should be achievable every now & then at the least.
7) I fear that Spurrier is losing patience and resorting to his typically late season micro-managing of everything on offense, including not sticking to the game plan and getting tunnel vision during the game with certain plays (like the fade route), not thinking about all his options, having Garcia check off too much (thus hurting momentum and any offensive rhythm), not keeping all his playmakers engaged in the game—in aggregate, rendering the offense dysfunctional. Of course, I can understand this, too, when Garcia seems to relapse into bone-headedness and throw his first pass of the game right into coverage, nowhere near a Gamecock player (throw it away, throw it away, even take the sack, anything except for putting the team behind the 8 ball once again…from the start!)
O-Line and, individually, O-Linemen don’t play with killer instinct…none of them! They make initial contact and seem to stop; they don’t relentlessly stick with their blocks. Surely some of them can catch an attitude…possibly, the attitude that Ajiboye so stupidly displayed on the first few plays against ‘Bama (which caused a key unsportsmanlike conduct penalty & kept a ‘Bama drive alive).
9) Finally, The State and other SC press reporters are proving to be lame and simple minded again this year in their questions, typically limited to the “compare and contrast this year with last” or “how is your patience holding up”…come on guys, think a little bit about what just happened in the game and question the coach on play calling, game strategy, timely and appropriate adjustments (like those mentioned above), managing tempo and player/team psyche. For a New Yorker like myself, you guys need to study the NY/Philly/Boston reporters more astutely and hone up on the art of tough, incisive, insightful questioning…not the simple layups that allow the coach to simply say “tough game, good team we played, proud of our guys efforts, is what it is and we’ll try harder next week” and walk off the podium! You all sound like undergrad journalism majors in your questioning, articles and opinion pieces.
I still think Garcia is going to develop into a top flight QB. He’s proven to be slow to change his way of playing in High School. I once worked a a Fortune 500 large company and we always hired people with a load of talent and and drive but we found it harder to retrain a veteran than to start from scratch.
Garcia has the talent, tools, brains and desire but he needs to be RETRAINED to play his position in Spurrier’s Offense. He will get it and when he does, along with our young players, it will “be Katey Bar The Door”. Expect a National champion very soon, 1-2 years.
Finally watched ‘Bama game, along with post game press conference w/ Spurrier…10 takeaways for what it’s worth, since they have relevance to the rest of the season:
1) Defense continues to play great for the most part…extremely talented and dynamic…but why didn’t defensive coaches quickly “paste” a linebacker/spur to Ingram, solely tracking and attacking him on all plays (run or pass) no matter what else is going on? For that matter, why didn’t D coaches capitulate and switch to an 8-man front during ‘Bama’s 4Q drive when Ingram was in Wildcat formation and clearly running the ball or handing off to WR Jones. Put 6 in the box to hopefully stuff the inside run, 2 backers/spurs rushing hot on the corners toward Ingram’s shotgun position, 2 D-backs further out on the line in charge of containment and 1 safety in zone coverage in charge of containing breakthrough runs and any Wildcat or trick pass. Ingram is a dynamic, powerful runner, stack the box and force him to prove he can throw the ball…doubtful! NEWSFLASH! After Kentucky successfully ran the Wildcat with a good back, followed by ‘Bama, Carolina is going to get a strong dose of it each remaining game; although Florida and Arkansas (the Baltimore Ravens of college football) will present special challenges. FLA’s Wildcat back (Tebow) can actually throw the ball, too, while ARK has a strong, pro-skilled QB and a back as good as Ingram, Dennis Johnson (they kicked FLA’s butt, if not for the obvious missed opportunities and 3 key bad calls by officials in the 4Q against ARK, different outcome). And surely Clemson will put the ball in Spiller’s hands under the same Wildcat scheme.
We keep hearing Garcia is much improved, which really means he was so horrible previously that he is now playing like an average qb. The desire to improve is not in him. We keep hearing the oline is better but it does not show on the field. The oline has size but for the most part is not SEC caliber talent. The wr’s are very talented but poorly coached. The rb’s are victimized by a poor oline and unimaginative play calling. Everytime Dimarco touches the football something good happens so the coaches freeze him out! Spurrier is afraid to play Reid because he does not want to chance getting him hurt since he realizes he will need him next year when Garcia continues to disappoint. Hats off to the defense for playing well in spite of injuries and suspensions.
Dido, SRW. These reporters sound like children. On another note, Gurley isn’t playing because he hasn’t learned to catch with his hands yet and to go up and get the ball. Alshon is good though just wait till he grows into his talent, and Barnes looked like a stud the few times he got it last week. Miles is the back of the future…