A lot has changed at South Carolina in seven years,” Spurrier said. “I’ve got a couple good friends that have been there for 30, 40 years. One of the guys said, ‘We used to come to the ballpark hoping for a good game. If we’re playing Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, we were just hoping not to get blown out. Now we sort of come to the ballpark thinking we’re going to beat those guys, and we’re sort of mad if we don’t.’
“That’s the way you’re supposed to feel, mad and a little upset if you don’t beat them.”
The Gamecocks are coming off a program-best 11-2 season in 2011 and return seven offensive starters and six defensive starters. USC opens the season Aug. 30 against Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., and likely will be favored to win its first six games.
Senior safety D.J. Swearinger believes the Gamecocks can go 14-0 this season — which would result in the school’s first SEC title and, in all likelihood, its first national championship.
“I picture South Carolina getting,” to the national title game, Swearinger said, “but it’s going to take a lot of hard work, and we just have to take it one game at a time.”
Junior wide receiver Ace Sanders thinks South Carolina should be grouped with Alabama and LSU in preseason talk, he said. The Crimson Tide and Tigers finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the nation last season.
“I think it’s safe to mention our name when you mention the top teams in the SEC,” he said.
The Gamecocks ended 2011 ranked No. 9, marking the first time in their history they have finished in the nation’s top 10.
South Carolina, which has had a school-record eight straight .500 or better seasons, has won nine of 10 games versus SEC East opponents the past two seasons. The Gamecocks also have been in The Associated Press’ Top 25 for a school-record 31 consecutive weeks, and Spurrier finds himself in the unfamiliar position of tempering expectations.
“We know we could fall flat on our face if we don’t stay on our toes and make sure we’re ready to play every game,” Spurrier said. “Historically, when South Carolina has had some good years in the past, they fell flat on their face the second year. Check the history.”
He’s right. After winning 10 games in 1984, South Carolina won five in 1985. The Gamecocks have won eight or more games in a season 10 times. They’ve only followed that up with another eight-plus win season four times.
“Hopefully,” Spurrier said, “we’re smart enough to know that just about everybody we play can beat us if we’re really not ready to play.”
