Spurrier shrugs off rhetoric by Bowden

COLUMBIA - Steve Spurrier spoke to a gathering of Gamecock fans soon after taking the job as South Carolina coach when one supporter suggested a reason for Clemson's recent success in the state rivalry.

• Photos

The Tigers win more frequently because "we don't hate them enough," Spurrier was told.

"And I said, 'Well, if that was the case when I was at Florida we would've never beaten Georgia after about the first two or three years because they really hated us,' " Spurrier said.

Instead, Spurrier lost only once to Georgia in his 12 seasons as Gators coach from 1990-2001.

Now, the ball coach is taking his 19th-ranked Gamecocks (7-3) into his first rivalry game with Clemson (6-4) on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Even though some in this college football-crazed state let the outcome affect their entire year, Spurrier says he'll treat this week with the same intensity as the Gamecocks did for Troy, Kentucky or Vanderbilt.

"That hate doesn't work," he said. "It's how you play the game. ... Maybe in the old days everybody thought that was the key, 'You know we really got to hate those guys.' (But) you want to beat everybody you play."

Maybe that's the right approach. Ex-coach Lou Holtz gave his newest players a test on the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry each year and talked often of how much he wanted to win the season-ending game.

But Holtz left last year with a 1-5 mark against Clemson.

He shouldn't feel too bad, though. The last Gamecocks coach to have a winning record in the series was Marvin Bass, who went 3-2 against the Tigers from 1961-65.

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden is 5-1 against South Carolina, but he says the Gamecocks have the edge this year.

"There's a new sheriff in town," Bowden said. "And he's shooting different bullets."

Bowden painted a bleak picture for Clemson's chance to continue its successful run.

"Look at all the plusses they have," Bowden said. "They'll have every box checked" in their favor for this week's game.

Bowden has a healthy respect for Spurrier's offensive style. After Bowden was not retained as a Duke assistant by then-incoming coach Spurrier,

Tommy's next employer, Alabama, told him he could travel to a school to study and offensive system - without hesitation, Bowden chose Spurrier and his new Blue Devils' attack.

"We're probably playing the master of all masters in attacking personnel in the course of a game," Bowden said.

Spurrier wasn't putting much stock into Bowden's talk Tuesday.

"You won't ever hear me talk like that," Spurrier said. "I would sort of say it should be a heck of a game and hopefully we can compete with those guys."