Spurrier: Garcia and Shaw Will Both Play

by Gamecock Man on Jul 22, 2010 1:00 PM EDT in South Carolina Gamecocks Football

This should get a bit of mileage on the message boards:

"We'll definitely have two quarterbacks coming to the ballpark ready to play," Spurrier said.

He noted Shaw's athletic abilities and also said the team needs a solid option should Garcia get injured.

"Stephen is our starter right now," he said. "He'll be our starter unless someone beats him out."

While these statements will undoubtedly divide Gamecocks fans, I'm a little inclined to say that it will be blown out of proportion. Spurrier reiterated that Garcia is the starter and will continue to be the starter unless someone beats him out, and he indicated that one of his main reasons for wanting to play Shaw was to have an option prepared should Garcia get hurt. Nothing about this suggested to me that Spurrier was expressing a lack of confidence in Garcia; indeed, he didn't go as far in that direction as he had in the past, indicating that maybe Garcia really is moving in the right direction.

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Good to know. I’m as high on Shaw as the next guy, but I think having consistency at QB is really important. Shuffling Garcia and Smelley around really slowed down development for both players, IMO, not to mention it made the offense that much more of a jumbled mess. If Shaw ends up being used in limited roles like Newton was and Gilmore will be, I’m fine with that; otherwise, I’d like to see him learn on the sidelines.

by RumblinFish on Jul 22, 2010 4:15 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, I'd agree with that. I'm hoping that what Spurrier means is that he may bring Shaw in from time to time as a change of pace and will give him some time in mop-up duty.

And I’m fine with that. Honestly, I wish we would have taken Garcia out sooner against Florida Atlantic and SC State last year. But like you, I don’t want to see musical QBs. Stick with one unless it becomes clear that he’s not getting it done.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Jul 22, 2010 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions

A QB controversy is the last thing the team needs. If Garcia isn’t ready to play at a high level, the team has no chance to make some noise. Just the fact Spurrier said some QB who has never thrown a pass in the SEC has the slightest chance to beat Garcia out makes me extremely concerned.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Jul 22, 2010 8:41 PM EDT reply actions

Well...

the good news is that this is Spurrier. He rarely acts particularly smitten by QBs whose last names aren’t Wuerfell. The bad news is that this is Spurrier—it’s really kind of hard to know exactly what he means.

I did find it a little curious that he didn’t allow Garcia to represent the team at Media Days. Shaq Wilson was a bit of an odd choice, as much as I like the guy.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Jul 22, 2010 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions