Monday, Nov. 15, 2010

Morris: Program takes a step forward

IN THE EUPHORIA over South Carolina’s championship-clinching victory against Florida on Saturday, Gamecocks fans might have believed their football program had reached its destiny.

No doubt, the win was huge for USC, arguably the biggest and most significant in program history. The importance of capturing an SEC East Division title cannot be diminished.

Yet, winning at Florida for the first time and advancing to the SEC Championship Game for the first time really amount to steps — albeit giant ones — in the journey under Steve Spurrier.

That journey is what distinguishes Spurrier and his program from all of his predecessors at USC. From the outset six years ago, Spurrier set out to build a program, one with a solid foundation that could sustain success.

Immediately after Saturday’s game, in a makeshift media room beneath the Ben Hill Griffin stands, Spurrier was giddy at times as he talked about his team’s near-flawless execution of his game plan.

USC’s defense limited Florida to 11 first downs and 226 yards. The offense kept it simple, running the ball 54 of its 76 plays. Beyond that, USC did not turn the ball over and was whistled for three penalties totaling 20 yards.

Written across a grease board in the USC locker room before the game was a simple message, according to Spurrier: “Big-time players make big-time plays in the big-time games.”

Marcus Lattimore made the most big-time plays with 40 carries for 212 yards. Alshon Jeffery had six catches for 53 yards with five of those receptions going for first downs. Stephon Gilmore had six tackles and intercepted a pass.

Not coincidentally, those are the three highest-profile recruits under Spurrier. Jeffery and Gilmore are sophomores from St. Matthews and Rock Hill, respectively. Lattimore is a freshman from Duncan.

“This is for South Carolina,” Spurrier said. He was speaking of the win against Florida, but he easily could have been addressing how his native stars have made their state proud.

“The last five years, our facility improvement is just tremendous. That gives us a chance to recruit the national kids like Marcus Lattimore, Stephon Gilmore, Alshon Jeffery. So we do have a chance there now, a lot better chance because of our facilities.”

That “chance” USC has is the result of Spurrier’s program building. Granted, it has been a slow process. But who believed it would be quick and easy for USC to overcome more than a century of mediocrity? Quick fixes have not worked.

Spurrier’s process has included more than a few bumps in the road. USC lost its final five games of the 2007 season and at 6-6 was shut out of a bowl game. It was humbled in an Outback Bowl loss to Iowa following the 2008 season, then humiliated in a Papajohns.com Bowl loss to Connecticut after the 2009 season.

There have been highlights, too. Under Spurrier, USC has won at Tennessee and Florida for the first time. It has stretched its streak of non-losing seasons to seven for the first time in nearly 80 years. It defeated a No. 1-ranked team (Alabama) for the first time.

Then USC achieved the goal it set, and talked about in the recruiting of quarterback Stephen Garcia, Lattimore, Jeffery and Gilmore.

“We’re going to Atlanta and that’s what we talked about when we first got recruited here,” Garcia said. “(The coaches) said we’re going to play in Atlanta one day. It took four years, but we’re finally here.”

It took four years for Garcia, six for Spurrier. That is because Spurrier took no shortcuts. As facilities improved and top-level recruiting classes followed, USC inched forward as a football program.

That gradual progress is unique to Spurrier among USC’s coaches. Every other coach failed in his attempt to establish a consistent winner, let alone a high level of success.

Lou Holtz might have been the best — or worst — example. His teams challenged for SEC East championships in 2000 and 2001 and even produced back-to-back Outback Bowl victories against Ohio State. Then his house of cards collapsed and the program returned to its same old frustrating ways with 5-7, 5-7 and 6-5 records.

Under Holtz, USC fans believed back-to-back wins in a mid-level bowl represented the ultimate in success. Fortunately for them, Spurrier’s program does not work that way.

Spurrier’s goals for the program extend well beyond an SEC East Division championship. That is why his giddiness over his team’s performance Saturday quickly was squashed by any suggestion that USC had accomplished all it set out to do this season.

Spurrier conceded USC should celebrate the division title more than Florida would have because it was the Gamecocks’ first championship of any kind since 1969. But with a 7-3 record, USC has an opportunity for greatness.

“We’re still not the SEC champs,” Spurrier reminded the media, and by extension his fan base. “We’ve won a division and we’ll try to play our best in Atlanta, but we’ve got two big games prior to that.

“We’d like to win a bunch of games this year. I think eight’s the most we’ve won since I’ve been there. We’ve got a lot of other things to try to do before Atlanta.”

In many respects, the remaining games against Troy, Clemson and then Auburn in the SEC Championship Game will be a better gauge of the progress of Spurrier’s program.

Too often, a step forward for USC football has been followed by a couple of steps backward. This time, you have to believe the foundation is solid enough for USC to continue taking steps forward under Spurrier.

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