Steve Spurrier's world has really changed: Spurrier is entering his eighth -- that's right, eighth -- season at South Carolina and is coming off the first 11-win season in school history.
South Carolina won those games despite the fact that its offense ranked No. 74 nationally (373.54 yards per game). The Gamecocks ran 870 plays last season (553 rush, 317 pass). On average, South Carolina ran 42.5 times per game and passed just over 24.
"We may be that way this year," Spurrier said. "If we can't throw it very well, we're not going to try to."
It is quite a departure from the Fun 'n' Gun days at Florida from 1990 to 2001. Spurrier's 1996 national championship team at Florida was about 50-50 run to pass (442 run plays, 412 pass). Spurrier would use the pass to get the lead and then run the ball a bunch in the fourth quarter to milk the clock.
Spurrier realized early on at South Carolina that he would not get the athletes in enough numbers to dominate the way he did at Florida. So he found another way to win. South Carolina finished No. 3 nationally in total defense last season behind Alabama and LSU.
"We'll probably be more of a running team, play defense, pick your spots to throw the ball," Spurrier said. "That's not a bad formula. A little different than I've coached in the past. As all of us know, you can win a bunch of ballgames doing it that way."
link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19687496/five-things-i-learned-spurriers-fun-n-run-gators-closing-problems
South Carolina won those games despite the fact that its offense ranked No. 74 nationally (373.54 yards per game). The Gamecocks ran 870 plays last season (553 rush, 317 pass). On average, South Carolina ran 42.5 times per game and passed just over 24.
"We may be that way this year," Spurrier said. "If we can't throw it very well, we're not going to try to."
It is quite a departure from the Fun 'n' Gun days at Florida from 1990 to 2001. Spurrier's 1996 national championship team at Florida was about 50-50 run to pass (442 run plays, 412 pass). Spurrier would use the pass to get the lead and then run the ball a bunch in the fourth quarter to milk the clock.
Spurrier realized early on at South Carolina that he would not get the athletes in enough numbers to dominate the way he did at Florida. So he found another way to win. South Carolina finished No. 3 nationally in total defense last season behind Alabama and LSU.
"We'll probably be more of a running team, play defense, pick your spots to throw the ball," Spurrier said. "That's not a bad formula. A little different than I've coached in the past. As all of us know, you can win a bunch of ballgames doing it that way."
link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19687496/five-things-i-learned-spurriers-fun-n-run-gators-closing-problems