South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier still a thorn in Georgia’s side

ATHENS -- The Steve Spurrier effect is still alive and well. Never mind the fact South Carolina is coming off of a loss to Kentucky. Forget the notion that this is one of Spurrier’s worst teams in recent memory. It’s Spurrier, and he’s going against one of the teams he loves to beat.

As a player, Spurrier went 2-2 against the Georgia Bulldogs. After taking over as Florida’s head coach, he went 11-1 from 1990-2001. At South Carolina, he’s 5-5. Tally the score, and Spurrier has a career 18-8 record against the Bulldogs.

Each time Spurrier goes against Georgia, it seems his teams play up to a higher standard. A year ago, the Gamecocks won 38-35 before falling to a 7-6 finish.

Spurrier is already someone who loathes losing. Add Georgia to the equation, and it reaches a new level.

“He’s the most competitive person I think I’ve ever met,” said Georgia offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who played under Spurrier at Florida from 1994-96. “It doesn’t matter what we played, whether it’s golf or different things we played over the years.”

In last year’s meeting, the Gamecocks won with a balanced attack. Former quarterback Dylan Thompson threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns. The running game accounted for 176 yards, with Brandon Wilds totaling 93.

This year’s squad still features Wilds but will start second-string and former walk-on quarterback Perry Orth due to a shoulder injury to Connor Mitch.

Still, Georgia’s defenders understand the brilliance of Spurrier and what he brings to the table.

“He can run everything from the field,” outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “It’s like he’s living out his glory days again as a quarterback -- making all the checks, looking at the defense. He’s just that good of a coach, where he can see a defense from the sideline and make the changes and do a lot of coaching on the fly.”

Spurrier is no stranger to mind games either. During the 2012 offseason, with South Carolina and Georgia playing in Week 6 instead of earlier in the year, Spurrier famously told an ESPN reporter, “I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended.”

With the team he has this year, Spurrier has taken a different path with his words -- perhaps with the hope Georgia takes the Gamecocks lightly compared to other big matchups.

“I say it’s one of our rival games,” Spurrier said. “I don’t think it is for Georgia. Georgia’s got too many other rivals. We hadn’t beaten them enough for them to worry about us too much.”

Georgia fans growing up in the 1990s know all too well the success Spurrier had against the Bulldogs on the Florida sideline. Sophomore fullback Christian Payne, an Athens native and lifelong Bulldogs fan, was only 5 years old when Spurrier left the Gators to coach the NFL’s Washington Redskins following the 2001 season.

But when he was asked about Spurrier, Payne immediately answered with the trademark offense he made famous at Florida.

“Oh yeah, the Fun ‘n’ Gun,” Payne said.

Payne, whose cousin Stan Payne was a pitcher on Georgia’s 1990 College World Series championship team, grew up knowing the villain Spurrier was to his team. Payne said history indicates Spurrier will have the Gamecocks ready to go Saturday.

“He’s a great coach. He’s going to have his guys ready to play,” Payne said. “We have to be ready to play this game. A lot of people are banking on, ‘Oh, they lost to Kentucky.’ But when someone plays Georgia, they’re going to play their ‘A’ game. It doesn’t matter who it is.”

Georgia head coach Mark Richt said the key to these kind of games is throwing out the past. That’s easier said than done when you take into account South Carolina has won four of the past five meetings between the two teams.

“We know the margin for victory is slim, and that’s why we’ve got to have attention to detail in what we do and just believe in each other, trust each other to take care of business,” Richt said. “That’s the thing we focus on the most. Just like if you’re going to take a math test, and you’re thinking, ‘Well, about my last math test, I got an F.’ If that’s all you’re thinking about, what’s the chance of succeeding?”

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 6:28 PM with the headline "South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier still a thorn in Georgia’s side ."