Back to his old tricks, on the eve of Halloween in UT

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Leave it to Steve Spurrier to point out South Carolina has won more games this season than Phillip Fulmer's Tennessee Volunteers.

The former Florida coach, who beat Tennessee five straight years and made fun of the Vols' frequent trips to the Citrus Bowl, returns to Rocky Top on Saturday for the first time since 2000.
But now Spurrier is wearing garnet and black - and yes, still a visor - and will be trying to lead the Gamecocks (4-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) to their first win over No. 23 Tennessee since 1992.

Unlike during Spurrier's years with Florida, there is no SEC East title on the line, although Tennessee (3-3, 2-3) was considered the preseason favorite to win the league.

"What is stranger I guess is that before the season began I think they were picked pretty much by most people to win the Eastern division and maybe win the SEC. Here we are going into our eighth game and they're going into their seventh, and we actually have little bit of a better record than they do. Who would have thunk that?" Spurrier said this week.

This is a more subtle jab from a man who once said, "You can't spell Citrus without UT" when Tennessee was relegated to the Orlando bowl after coming in second to Florida in the SEC.

The more reserved Fulmer didn't sling one-liners back and over the years got more accustomed to Spurrier's lip.

"I didn't appreciate it then," Fulmer said. "He has a different way sometimes when he gets a microphone in front of him. That's just him."

Spurrier said maybe his jokes were taken the wrong way, explaining how he and Florida State coach Bobby Bowden poked fun at other's team during the summer.

"He'd tell his little corny jokes, we'd tell ours. Fans laugh, no big deal. But you tell one about Tennessee they think it's insulting or something," Spurrier said. "You'll never hear me complain about somebody telling a little corny joke about our team."

As hard as it may be for fans to imagine, Fulmer and Spurrier are cordial.

"We actually get along I think very well," Spurrier said. "I talk with Phil every time I see him."

There were some sparks between the coaches this summer when both programs were dealing with several player arrests.

After criminal charges were dropped against a player accused of hitting someone, Spurrier said: "If you want to read about some full-blown fights, read about the Tennessee players, not our guys."

Fulmer shot back: "He needs to take care of his own house and leave mine alone." And a few minutes later added that Spurrier's comments didn't bother him.

"Maybe it rained that day and he didn't get to play golf," Fulmer said.

Spurrier is 9-5 all-time against Tennessee with eight of those wins coming as Florida's coach.

But the first win he had over the Vols was as Duke's coach when the Blue Devils pulled off a 31-26 upset in 1988, a fact that should make Gamecocks fans hopeful they can break Fulmer's 12-0 record over South Carolina.

"Steve is a heck of a football coach. What he accomplished at Florida was unbelievable but ... winning the ACC at Duke, that's an unbelievable achievement," Fulmer said.

Spurrier also pointed out he was an assistant at Duke for another win in Knoxville in 1982.

"I was head coach in '88. That was a fun one, too. But we'd already beaten them once there, so we figured we had a chance again," he said.

Florida won in Spurrier's last visit to Neyland Stadium in 2000 on Jabar Gaffney's controversial touchdown reception at the end of the game.

Fulmer led Tennessee to a victory in 2001, Spurrier's final game at The Swamp. The win propelled the Vols to the SEC championship, which they lost and then ended up - where else? - in the Citrus Bowl.

After two woeful seasons with the Washington Redskins, Spurrier left. He was hired as successor to Lou Holtz last November.

And just like that South Carolina vs. Tennessee became intriguing.

Gamecock quote of the week

It wouldn't be fair to call South Carolina's football season thus far a disappointment, but it also wouldn't be right to label it a success.
An accurate way to describe it is like eating at a buffet. Sure, it's satisfying and fills you up for a while, but a few hours later, you're feeling kind of empty and not that thrilled about eating there again.

-David Cloninger

Best time of the Year

Today is the start of my second favorite college sport, College basketball, at midnight major basketball programs will have there annual Midnight Madness celebration practice. So the Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, North Carolina, and Duke fans can forget for a few hours about football season here in October. Giving these dominate basketball schools hope for the spring, when all this practice in October will pay off. So while you are either watching in a packed gym or over a webcast, or on ESPN U. Here is to the college programs have a reason to practice at midnight.

Texas football at its best

Baylor on the road in the Big 12
Baylor won its first Big 12 road game ... ever. The 23-13 win over Iowa State makes the Bears 1-37 on the road since the league began ten years ago, and makes them 4-1 so far this year with only an overtime loss to Texas A&M.
And people in South Carolina complain about bad football, this is ridicules. It took 10 years for the Bears to pull off a road victory. Granted the Gamecocks can’t beat the good teams in the SEC, but at least we beat the crappy one on a regular basis.

Oh this truly is Texas football at its best

SEC Defensive and Freshman of the week honors

Some might say that the win over Uk was not all that great, but when you have been playing as poor as Carolina this season, a spark might end up turning the season around. Today the SEC honored two of Carolina's impact players for there performances against the Wildcats.

Simpson, a 6-1, 201-pound sophomore safety, was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week. The Rock Hill, S.C. product tallied a season-best 13 tackles, including nine solo stops with a fumble recovery and an interception in the 44-16 win over the Wildcats. He returned a fumble 19 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and his pass interception led to another USC TD. With USC head 17-16 in the third quarter, the Carolina defense, led by Simpson, held Kentucky to 82 yards over its final seven drives.

Rice, a redshirt freshman from Gaffney, S.C., was honored as the SEC Freshman of the Week. The 6-4, 192-pounder posted career-highs with eight receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. He has caught a touchdown pass in each of his first five collegiate games, tying the school record set by Jermale Kelly in 1997.

oh the Utah state fair is going to be fun

http://jakehilton.com/2005/09/02/napoleon-dynamite-videos/

Uk vs. SC Saturday at 1

Our Prediction this week as South Carolina returns home from a blow out lose to Auburn last saturday on national TV.

Why to watch: While Vanderbilt is sure to throw its hat back in the ring, this might be a battle to see who finishes last in the SEC East. South Carolina has seen its SEC season go from bad to worse with an 0-3 start punctuated by what Steve Spurrier described as one of the worst losses of his career in last week's 48-7 drubbing by Auburn. With Vanderbilt coming up next week, the Gamecocks have a great chance to turn the ship around before facing Tennessee. Kentucky is still looking for its first win this season over a D-I team, and with Ole Miss and Mississippi State ahead, it has the potential to go on a great run with an upset win in Columbia.
Why Kentucky mmight win: The return game. Don't knock it; when teams are struggling to generate consistent offense, a few big returns can change the game around. The Wildcats have been excellent in the return game averaging 34 yards per kickoff return and 20.7 yards on punt returns. By comparison, the Gamecocks are averaging 20.74 yards on kickoff returns and 3.82 yards on punt returns. USC's running game has yet to show up this season, so if Kentucky can tighten up at all against the pass, it has a shot at the win.
Why South Carolina mmight win: Outside of a flourish in garbage time against Florida, the Kentucky offense hasn't done much against D-I teams this year, and failed miserable on the road in its one chance losing to Indiana 38-14. South Carolina might have quarterback issues at the moment after the injury to Blake Mitchell, but it should still be able to Cock 'n' Fire on a secondary that ranks 106th in the nation in pass efficiency defense. South Carolina has the nation's 19th most efficient passing attack.
Who to watch: There's still a question about Blake Mitchell and if he'll be able to go or not with a high ankle sprain, but there's still hope that he'll be able to go after he practiced earlier in the week. If not, it'll be back to Antonio Heffner for another week. The sophomore saw a little bit of time in each of the first four games, and then he went 15 of 23 for 133 yards and a touchdown against Auburn. That might not look too bad on paper, but he held on to the ball too long and couldn't get the offense moving. Desperate for some sort of a running game, the Gamecocks need Mike Davis to come through. He ran well against Troy, but didn't get much work against Auburn. Against a run defense that allows 214.5 yards per game, this is the game he needs to break out.
What will happen: South Carolina might not be smooth, but it'll be good enough on both sides of the ball to keep UK from having its break out game. The Gamecock defense will come up with one of its better performances before letting up late.
Line: South Carolina -13
Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch — 1 The Adam Corolla Project) ... 2.5
Fearless Prediction: South Carolina 31 ...Kentucky 20

Pro's vs. college

My argument isn’t weather NCAA football is better then the NFL but rather are college cheerleaders hot then Pro Cheerleaders. After listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio one day go on and on about how NFL cheerleaders are one dance move away from a striper pole. Looking back I remember always hearing about the Dallas cowgirls and the Miami dolphin cheerleaders on TV, but as I got older and started to take a closer look, these women aren’t as attractive as I had once thought. Watching the Alabama/Florida game last weekend got me thinking. Who wouldn’t want to see 18-21 year old girls being thrown in the air with short skirts on compared to 30 year old make-up covered women dancing like sluts on a NFL field? Let me know your feed back on the comparison of who has the hotter cheerleaders.

Ray does it again

The University of South Carolina has been ranked #1 by collegiate Baseball newspaper’s 23rd annual rundown of NCAA division 1 baseball recruiting classes.

This marks the 2nd time in the last three years that the gamecocks have brought in the nation’s top recruiting class orchestrated by Jim Toman.

The class includes 23 athletes which breaks down to 13 high school players and 10 junior college athletes.

The two players that will play a major role in this years season will be two SC studs Reese Havens from Biship England H.S and Justin Smoak, from Stratford H.S. Both were all-America last year in high school. A few notable players that will shine in a gamecock uniform, Will Atwood, SC AAA player of the Year, and Mike Cisco from Wando H.S.

Poor Clemson, I guess 24 is good too, see you in the spring.