Finally, enough was enough for South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier.
Four suspensions weren’t grounds to sit quarterback Stephen Garcia, but the embattled signal caller’s nine interceptions prompted Spurrier to name sophomore Connor Shaw his starter for South Carolina’s game against Kentucky Saturday.
Spurrier spoke candidly throughout the offseason about Garcia’s changed lifestyle. He told reporters at SEC Media Days in July that he felt Garcia was poised for a trouble-free, productive senior campaign.
While keeping his nose clean off the field, Garcia has fired six interceptions in the last two games, and the Gamecock offense has struggled to produce anything outside of the running of sophomore sensation Marcus Lattimore.
“Stephen has struggled the last few games,” Spurrier said. “We’ve got to find out if we can get a little bit better play from the quarterback position and get better play from our offense.”
Shaw started the Gamecocks’ opener against East Carolina, but he struggled mightily. He completed just three of his nine throws and was eventually pulled in favor of Garcia.
This time, Spurrier has no intentions of inserting Garcia into the ballgame.
“We believe in (Shaw),” Spurrier said. “He deserves a chance to play. He’s practiced well. He hasn’t played much, so obviously we aren’t going to send him out there to throw 50 passes.”
Defenseless
Hopefully the scoreboard operator in Fayetteville is well rested.
Auburn and Arkansas butt heads this Saturday in a rematch of last year’s 65-43 shootout. This time, it’s a home game for the Hogs.
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino dismissed any lingering feelings about last season’s loss on The Plains, and he felt like there were a number of positives the 2010 Razorbacks took from the defeat.
“I thought we did some really good things in the game, and we had an opportunity to win it,” Petrino said. “That game motivated last year’s defense the rest of the year, and we improved because of it.”
The 2011 edition of the Arkansas defense yielded 38 points and 628 yards last week in a come-from-behind win against Texas A&M, but but 35 of those points came in the first half.
“We were out of position early and didn‘t tackle well,” Petrino said. “We came back in the second half and did a much better job.”
As poor as Arkansas’ defense has been, their deficiencies have been dwarfed by Auburn’s.
The Tigers enter this week ranked last in the conference in rush, pass, total and scoring defense, but there has been improvement.
Through three games, Auburn was allowing more than 36 points per contest. Over the last two games, the Tigers have allowed 14 and 13 points in wins against Florida Atlantic and South Carolina.
“Defensively, we’ve gotten better the last two weeks,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “Some of the younger guys are understanding what it takes, and they’re getting used to the speed of the game.”
This week’s challenge for Chizik’s defense is the league leader in passing, scoring and total offense.
Last season, Arkansas junior quarterback Ryan Mallett was sidelined with a concussion against Auburn, and then-sophomore Tyler Wilson took the reigns of the offense and threw for four touchdowns.
This year as a full-time starter, Wilson has thrown for 303.4 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. Last week he amassed a school record 510 yards passing against the Aggies.
Chizik knows what his defense is up against.
“This week, out of all the weeks, defensively, that we’ve played and all the good offenses we’ve played, this is certainly going to be the biggest challenge,” Chizik said. “We’ll see.”
Bumps and Bruises
South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram, the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks, will miss the Gamecocks’ game with Kentucky this week with a sprained foot.
Ingram leads the league in sacks and tackles for loss. He’s also scored three touchdowns for South Carolina.
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino says defensive end Jake Bequette is on track to play Saturday for the Hogs. The senior defensive end practiced Wednesday.
Kentucky’s offense should get a much needed boost Saturday when running back Raymond Sanders III returns. The Wilcat running back has missed the last three games after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair a slight cartilage tear in his right knee on Sept. 15.
