The Martin Chronicles: A Night in “Sugar Town”

By Buddy Martin

SouthernPigskin.com

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Sometimes it is befuddling how opposing coaches overthink their own strategies against Spurrier to a point of creating almost a self-induced hex for themselves. They seem to suffer freezes when playing Spurrier the Myth instead of Spurrier the Man.



COLUMBIA, S.C. – “The Capital of Southern Hospitality” was still rockin’ way past midnight and the residue of the celebration covered the city like thick April pollen. A sweet smell of success hung over the late Saturday night celebrations following one of the Gamecocks’ epic football chapters.

South Carolina 38, Georgia 35. Steve Spurrier had done it again – his 16th victory over the Bulldogs, more than any SEC coach ever. And his 201st SEC victory tied him with Vince Dooley for second-most league wins.

The Mighty Georgia Bulldogs, just a week earlier considered the Toast of College Football, vanquished again.

Three weeks ago Spurrier looked out the window of his office on a Friday morning after the Thursday nightmare of a 52-28 beating from Texas A&M and muttered to a friend, “This is a sad day.” But then after a few minutes of reflection, added: “But I don’t know – maybe it’ll turn out to be a wakeup call for us.”

The alarm clock was loud and emphatic Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium, where a boisterous crowd proved that LSU, Alabama and Florida fans have nothing on the Gamecocks’ faithful when it comes to decibels.



Captain Bounceback struck again -- even if he did have to resort to his wizardry and even if he did get a little help from the other sideline. His critics are beginning to wonder how Spurrier constantly brandishes this Harry Potter-like magic.

Winning is something folks are just learning to enjoy at South Carolina. Around here they don’t need much of a reason to have a party, so when USC beats Georgia, they almost declare it a state holiday.

Right now it’s more about the journey than the destination. However, old times here will not be soon forgotten. The nouveau riche of winning are still grateful for newfound wealth.

“Steve Spurrier means everything to this town,” said Mary, a longtime Columbian and former Georgian, who was hanging out with her Gamecocks pal in a private garage-like facility near Williams-Brice Stadium known as “The Man Cave.”

“Just the commerce alone that he brings. The hotels, the restaurants, the bars. Look at this place! He is his own cottage industry. This town is thriving because of what he’s done here. The other day I read an article about why some of the bright new out-of-state students picked USC: ‘Spurrier.’ He has put us on the map.”

They didn’t want the night to end. So the post-game tailgating kept getting a second and third wind. One of the Gamecock assistants even showed up at “The Man Cave” for a brew and, out of courtesy, graciously took a drag out of a Mason Jar of so-called “Lemonade.” Then he disappeared into the night.

Around “The Man Cave,” as a few slightly tipsy people got a little tipsier, they would occasionally stop to glance at the Kentucky-Florida tug-of-war on the SEC Network. Cheering, of course, for the Wildcats to clear the SEC East pathway.

Long ago finished with his TV taping and departed for his home, Spurrier had toasted the Gamecocks’ triumphant moment with his coaches and left to be with his family for another big celebration: The 48th anniversary of being married to Jerri Starr Spurrier. Another impressive record.

* * *

South Carolina fans will remember Saturday’s game as One For the Ages. Most likely, Georgia fans will view it as a game which aged them 20 years.

The pre-game strategy by the Gamecocks was to take a chance on letting Hutson Mason beat them with his arm vs. Todd Gurley doing it with his legs. Mike Bobo and Mark Richt walked right into the booby trap.

After observing him as both a player and coach for nearly a half-century, I have come to the conclusion that Spurrier invokes mystical powers from the cosmos for certain key situations.

Sometimes it is befuddling how opposing coaches overthink their own strategies against Spurrier to a point of creating almost a self-induced hex for themselves. Phil Fulmer made a career of it at Tennessee. They seem to suffer freezes when playing Spurrier the Myth instead of Spurrier the Man.

It appeared to be just that when Georgia coaches forgot to open the gate and let the Big Dawg eat. Thus when they needed it most, the Bulldogs left the awesomeness of tailback Todd Gurley in dry-dock.



Earlier, after fullback Quayvon Hicks carried twice on a scoring drive -- once for the TD -- Gary Danielson of CBS pointed out that while it was a great call, “these kind of calls can be second guessed if they don’t work.”

The Granddaddy of Second Guesses was about to unfold.

With 5:24 left and down 38-35, after getting the ball back on a Damian Swann interception return with a penalty tacked on to the Gamecocks’ 4, Georgia got an early Christmas present. But it never got opened.

Textbook Bulldog Football 101 said to stick it in the belly of Gurley and catch the next thing smoking out of Columbia to Athens.

With one of the best Bulldog tailbacks in history at their disposal, almost nobody expected them to resort to a bootleg pass on first and goal at the 4.

Even the South Carolina coaches would be flabbergasted by what happened next.

Mason found himself staring into the grill of Gerald Dixon, panicked and, trying to ditch the football, flung it to the damp Williams-Brice turf, but no Bulldog was near it. Grounding of the ball, loss of down. That decision would result in a Twitter Hell for Bobo and Richt.

Gurley touched the ball just once on a 3-yard power right play, but on third down J.T. Surratt batted down Mason’s pass. Now the game was put in the hands – or on the foot – of a highly accurate field goal kicker who had just set an SEC record with his 20th straight make.

In the rain and dark of night from the press box, it looked like Marshall Morgan’s 28-yarder was good for the tie. Even on replay it was tough to tell and the CBS crew concluded it had curved around the right upright – AFTER the ball had passed the cross bar. More Spurrier wizardry at work?



“If I had to do it again I would’ve hammered it,” Richt later admitted.

Of the first-down bootleg pass and grounding call, Spurrier said: "That was a good play for us. That was one of the key plays in the whole ballgame. It was interesting they ran that play, I guess.”

Richt saw it a different way. After viewing the film on the intentional grounding call he concluded the ball was mis-directed after hitting a defender.

“If the ball didn’t get hit by the defender it would have landed a lot closer to one of our eligible receivers,” Richt would say later. “I don’t know if we would’ve been called for that or not. It’s a good question, it’s one I’m going to ask our officiating crew.”

* * *

The high drama wasn’t over. The Dawgs could get the ball back if they could stop the Gamecocks. They almost did. But as Spurrier would confess later to Richt, on this night fate favored the Gamecocks: “Sometimes it's just meant for us to win.” Not without a struggle, however, because there was a matter of 262 ticks to play.

Spurrier prides himself on his running game and will gamble on fourth and short almost every time. First there needed to be a clock-eating ground attack and slicing/dicing tailback Brandon Wilds would provide it. Except he came up inches short of the first down with 1:51 to play.

Spurrier wasn’t going to back down now. On fourth and a fingernail, the Gamecocks attempted a quarterback keeper. But the Head Ball Coach worried that Dylan Thompson might have cradled the ball too low.

“They generally give it to you when the nose of the ball is touching the line,” said Spurrier. “Dylan was supposed to be running a sneak. We teach our quarterbacks to hold the ball under their chin so that when they fall forward they’ll get that extra yardage.”

Thompson extended just past the first-down marker -- or so it seemed – but the Carolina crowd held its collective breath until referee Hubert Owens signaled the findings of the chain gain. Then they exploded.

“That was about as loud as I’ve ever heard them,” said Thompson, who has been listening to them for five years and was around when USC established the nation’s longest home winning streak, broken by Texas A&M.



Game, set, match and bragging rights to the HBC.

"Like I said last week, some wins are better than others,” he chirped. “This one was better than most."

Spurrier, who would probably rather beat the Bulldogs more than any team on his schedule, became the coach who has beaten them most. His 16th win broke the tie with the late Ralph “Shug” Jordan of Auburn. Spurrier won once and lost twice to Georgia as a player, plus he suffered one loss as an assistant Florida coach. As the new Gator coach in 1990 he rolled up an 11-1 record vs. the Dawgs. While in Columbia, he has gone 5-5 vs. Georgia.

“I think I might be the winningest South Carolina coach over Georgia,” Spurrier cracked, knowing full well that he was.

Then he tweaked Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network for picking the Gamecocks to lose, though the talk show host tweeted “Hate to ruin a good story …” going on to claim he had picked South Carolina.

"I knew we had a good chance to beat (Georgia) when I heard Finebaum picked them to win by about 25 points," Spurrier said with a laugh. "He picked Alabama to beat Oklahoma by 25, too, I think, so I said, hey, we've got a chance tonight then.

"I like Paul Finebaum, I'm just kidding him a little bit," Spurrier added, "but he has a tendency to miss a lot."



* * *

Richt and Bobo? They were thrown to the Twitter wolves.

@CoachBoboUGA hey dude, just remembered that you called a pass play on the 4 yard line even though we have 3 of the best backs in the ncaa

1st and goal at the 4 and @CoachBoboUGA calls a bootleg when we have the best RB in the country. Just stupid. #SameOldStory

Dr. SEC (@thedrsec) I have been asked if Mark Richt can win a NC with Saban in the SEC. Starting to wonder if the question is can he win with Spurrier in SEC.

* * *

They do know how to celebrate in what is also known for some reason as “Soda Town.” They should call it “Sugar Town,” because Columbia has become the coaching sweet spot for The Head Ball Coach. Unlike after 12 campaigns in Gainesville, the Gamecock fans haven’t been spoiled yet by the taste of success. And just maybe there is more to come.