THE GARCIA RELEASE
Posted 02:34 p.m., November 30, 2008
From USC. We'll have our story in tomorrow's paper.
-- Th
GARCIA NAMED STARTER FOR BOWL GAME
Redshirt Freshman To Quarterback Bowl Game
COLUMBIA, S.C. (November 30, 2008) - Redshirt freshman Stephen Garcia has been tabbed as the
starter at quarterback for the Gamecocks' bowl game, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier
announced today.
"We're going to give the bowl game to Stephen, just like we gave the last game to Chris (Smelley),"
said Coach Spurrier. "We are going to coach him as hard as we can and get him as ready as we can to
play at a high level in the bowl game. We'll give him a chance to take it and see what he can do."
Garcia, a 6-2, 221-pounder from Lutz, Fla., has appeared in seven games this season, making a pair of
starts. He has completed 53.8 percent of his passes (56-for-104) for 753 yards and six touchdowns with
five interceptions. He also has rushed 65 times for 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Garcia has made two starts this season, getting the nod in a loss to LSU and in a win over Tennessee. He
was 14-of-26 for 215 yards and a touchdown against the defending national champion Tigers, and was
9-of-19 for 139 yards and two touchdowns against the Volunteers.
The Gamecocks completed the 2008 regular season with a 7-5 record (4-4 in the SEC) and are bowl
eligible for the fifth straight year, including all four years under head coach Steve Spurrier. They won
their last bowl game, posting a 44-36 win over Houston in the 2006 Liberty Bowl.
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Comments
Posted by ashleyriver on November 30 at 7:42 p.m.
Every one of you usuck fans are frauds and gutless cowards for not coming on to the main board and answering for the lying trash you spineless dimwits have spewed this entire football season long.
NEVER, EVER, EVER, respond again to any post that I or any other Clemson fan makes on this board again. This running and hiding so typical of you loudmouths.
Posted by thaney ( Travis Haney ) on November 30 at 7:47 p.m.
Thanks for bringing the bickering to the blog ...
Posted by softbatch on December 1 at 10:29 a.m.
I won’t go as far as ashleyriver, but its just frustrating for Clemson fans to have to listen to Carolina fans claim they are a better team because they have Spurrier and play in the SEC. It was proven a while back that Steve isn’t the same coach he was at UF. And I know SC fans don’t want to hear this, but the ACC is ranked higher than the SEC as far as conferences go. Clemson out-played, out-coached and out-classed Carolina, and some Carolina fans still won’t admit it.
We had to listen how Carolina would destroy Clemson after the Bama game, after CU’s 3 game losing streak, after Bowden got canned, after Carolina’s 2 weeks to prepare, every week in the Braggin Rights barometer. Nobody ever mentioned that Clemson had a better QB, running backs, WR group or defense, but we all saw it on Saturday.
TH, I give you and most of the Carolina fans credit for pointing the finger directly at Spurrier and the players. But there is still a large group of Carolina fans claiming that the gamecocks are the better team.
Posted by ddelving31 on December 1 at 11:40 a.m.
I read Travis' blog daily, and I didn't even realize there was a "main board". Looks like I'm not missing much.
Posted by thaney ( Travis Haney ) on December 1 at 2:24 p.m.
I hear ya, S-Batch (fantastic cookies, by the way).
Going into the year, I believed what you said: That Clemson was better at QB, RB, WR and pretty close to USC defensively. Better across the board. Better than most teams in the country, actually.
But that had never been clearly demonstrated during the course of the year. Not really even remotely. Not like Saturday, anyway.
If Clemson had played like that at any point this season, a trip at least to the ACC title game would've been a lock. And, if the Tigers had played like that before, I assuredly would have picked them to beat USC. No doubt.
In fact, in our QuickPeek thing we did in July, I picked Clemson to beat USC and send the Gamecocks to an 8-4 finish (had them beating Vandy this year).
But things changed, and I didn't believe Clemson was capable of pulling it together like that. Nor did I believe USC was as bad as it showed at Florida.
I do not think USC is better than Clemson. In terms of talent, I'd say they're pretty even. But Saturday we learned that EFFORT plays a big, big part above talent. If you don't care, you're going to get whipped.
I definitely think the Gamecocks are better than 31-14, even if their effort Saturday most certainly was not.
-- Th
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