AIKEN --- With blood seeping out of a bandage finger, Steve Spurrier arrived at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.
The South Carolina coach proved to be a gamer Tuesday night, talking football with the hundreds in attendance at the annual Aiken County Gamecock Club spring meeting.
Much like the Ol' Ball Coach, the Gamecocks finished last season bloodied and battered after a 6-1 start. South Carolina failed to capitalize on a 16-12 upset win over border rival Georgia, which finished No. 3 in the national rankings. The Gamecocks lost their final five regular-season games, including close defeats to Tennessee and Clemson.
"We didn't play well in a lot of victories. And we played well in some losses," Spurrier said. "When you're ranked 10th in the league in defense and ninth in offense, special teams you get a bunch of punts blocked and this, that and the other, you probably should finish 6-6."
Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.
ON STROM THURMOND QUARTERBACK ARAMIS HILLARY: "It's hard to play a true freshman. We're really all happy with Aramis, because he loves football. He's going to be a good player for us."
ON THE PROSPECT OF HILLARY REDSHIRTING: "Most likely. We'll see how it goes. If the other two guys do well, he should redshirt and be ready to compete in '09."
ON THE PROSPECT OF HILLARY SWITCHING POSITIONS: "He's a quarterback all the way. He's a good passer. And the ability to avoid people is what you've got to have nowadays."
ON SENIOR LINEBACKER JASPER BRINKLEY'S RECOVERY FROM INJURY: "He's full go. He's 100 percent healthy."
ON THE QUARTERBACK SITUATION: "Tommy Beecher and Chris Smelley are probably our top two right now. If we had to play tomorrow, Tommy Beecher would be the quarterback. But who knows? During the summer, maybe Chris Smelley can improve a lot.
"I think we're in good hands with those two. Tommy Beecher's got a lot of talent. So maybe he deserves a chance."
ON THIRD-STRING REDSHIRT FRESHMAN QUARTERBACK STEPHEN GARCIA: "He's a wait-and-see guy. We can't worry about him right now. We've got to concern ourselves with Tommy Beecher and Chris Smelley."
ON THE TOUGH 2008 SCHEDULE: "That's SEC ball. On the other side of that is LSU proved you can lose two games in the conference and win the SEC and win the national championship. That's one advantage of being in the SEC. People know we've got a tough league."
ON SOUTH CAROLINA'S WIN over Georgia last season, its first since 2001: "Didn't do much. We didn't play all that well. We were sort of fortunate."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
-- Chris Gay, staff writer
IMPORTANT DATES
SEASON OPENER: Home vs. North Carolina State, Aug. 28
SEC OPENER: at Vanderbilt, Sept. 4
RIVALRY GAMES: Home vs. Georgia, Sept. 13; at Clemson, Nov. 29
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