Georgia has bigger worry than Spurrier

ATHENS, Ga. - Steve Spurrier doesn't need anyone wagging tongues on his behalf.

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The mouth of South Carolina has that covered, thank you.

So when Lou Holtz - who never spoke of a team that couldn't crush his - opined a month back that the Gamecocks he left behind would roll into Sanford Stadium today and shock Bulldog Nation with a victory, it wasn't constructive dialogue.

Really, Lou, the barely stocked cupboard and NCAA violations were sufficient parting gifts for your golfing buddy. Was this really the time to unveil your newfound honesty?

Spurrier dismissed his predecessor's curious predictions as quickly as he dismissed so many of Holtz's former players. He called it the typical "preseason-be-loyal-to-your-old-school-type stuff."

"I think that was before he saw us play and before he saw Georgia play," Spurrier said this week of Holtz's prognosis. "Go ask him now what he thinks. ... Ask him now that he's watched both games who he's picking, and ask how much he's betting if he's going to bet."

Georgia coach Mark Richt certainly enjoyed the debate, which has been displayed prominently on the cliched "bulletin board" every team has for this sort of motivational speech.

"I was hoping coach Holtz would add the quote that 'We're not man enough,' like (former Auburn) coach (Pat) Dye did," Richt said of Georgia's pre-Alabama rallying cry in 2002. "It would have been hard to make that one up."

As if Georgia needs any additional material to get revved up for Spurrier. This coach has filled the Bulldogs' media guide with fodder for years. He is the answer to almost every worst-case trivia question you can ask about Georgia football.

Example #1: Name the only team to beat Georgia by 35 or more points since the Vietnam War (hint, it happened three times). Answer: Spurrier's Florida Gators in 1994, '95 and '96.

Example #2: Name the only visiting team to score 50 or more points in Sanford Stadium. Answer: Spurrier's Florida Gators, 52-17 in 1995.

That last historical note is a point of particular contention in Georgia. Legend has it that Spurrier game-planned to pin up 50 between the hedges, and the superfluous Gator touchdown in the last 2 minutes still galls the Dawgs to this day.

"We wanted to make it a memorable game for the Gators, and it was," Spurrier said at the time.

Georgia fans crave revenge. This is a new kind of border war with the man best known around here as the Evil Genius. Unfortunately for Spurrier, he now attacks from the much-less-formidable eastern flank.

Bulldog fans believe they've got him this time, and with good reason. As Spurrier noted, the disparity between the two programs' opening performances has led to an 18-point line by the bookies. That's certainly a more reasonable assessment than Holtz's back in August.

Last week, however, didn't really teach us anything. Season openers rarely do. Week 2 is always a better barometer, and it seems that for the umpteenth year Georgia-South Carolina is on the second page of the menu.

"There are key games for everybody early on that set the tone, tempo and confidence level for a team," said Richt. "This game has been that one for us in recent history. ... When you win a game like this, it helps you take off."

This border bash has unveiled a lot of truths in the past six years and defined seasons for both teams. The Gamecocks' 2000 victory exposed Georgia QB Quincy Carter and set the stage for South Carolina's breakout season. The 2001 South Carolina victory in Athens revealed that the Bulldogs hadn't quite arrived yet and the Gamecocks hadn't yet departed. The 2002 Georgia escape in Columbia introduced the legend of David Pollack, the championship heart of the Bulldogs and the ensuing decline of Holtz's program. The 2003 and '04 Georgia wins simply reiterated those points.

That's what both sides should be worried about today instead of victory margins, revenge or evil genuises. Georgia knows better than to stress too much about the verbal and tactical history of the visored man on the other sideline.

"A lot of folks get too focused on Spurrier - there's a myth about him," Georgia backup quarterback Joe Tereshinski said this week. "He has a way of irritating people, and they get sidetracked."

Spurrier isn't sidetracked. He knows his second trip to Athens will be nothing like the first. He knows silly rhetoric and ancient history won't pry open a hole for his running backs, buy more time for his promising quarterback or get a handle on Georgia's multiple offensive options.

But he's not throwing in the towel either. Who knows how deep he is in the heads of Bulldog Nation and whether it matters?

"I'm not going in there thinking we're going to get clobbered," said Spurrier. "If we play the very best we can and Georgia doesn't play at quite as high a level, then certainly we have a chance in the game."

Holtz could hardly have said it better.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.