I'm not one of these people who hates Steve Spurrier. I think he's very smart and very funny, and when you've been a winner as a player and coach like he has and you expect everybody around you to keep up, you can't help but be a little sarcastic when they don't.
After Vandy beat the Gamecocks in Columbia two years ago, a reporter asked Spurrier what he was going to do about his offensive line and he said, "Play ’em. This isn't the NFL, we can't trade ’em."
Last week before the Alabama game, everybody was asking him how he planned to beat the Tide and Spurrier said his team was closer in talent to Vanderbilt and that he was more worried about beating Vanderbilt.
May have been the first time in history anyone has looked past the No. 2 team in the nation to focus on Vandy — or at least said it.
Anyway, here's a few things Spurrier said about the Commodores in his recent press conference:
On playing Vanderbilt: It's a big game for us and we all know the importance of the game. Hopefully we'll be prepared to play our best one of the year. That's what it will take to beat Vandy Saturday night."
On facing Vandy the past two seasons: "They outplayed us the last two years. They were better than we were. Give them credit. We'll try to play better this year and coach better, and see if we can come out on top against Vanderbilt."
On Vanderbilt's offense: "Vandy is a team that has struggled a little on offense... They're not bad on offense. They've not thrown very well but they have run it. They run it better than we have.
On Vanderbilt's defense: "Their defensive end, No. 90 (Broderick Stewart), is a good player. He has given us some pressure. They're a zone blitz team. They do it very well. They make few mistakes. They're in position where they're supposed to be. You have to execute to beat them."
On Bobby Johnson: "Bobby has done an excellent job there. I know him a little bit. He's a South Carolina native from Columbia. They've been very competitive at Vandy. That's a difficult job. Their schedule is just as tough as ours every year. They're right there in the Eastern Division like us. They played Georgia Tech out of conference and we played NC State. Georgia Tech has proven to be better than NC State this year."
10 comments:
I think Spurrier's pre-game media quotes, these days, have gone from "spitting in your face", a la old Phil Fulmer jabs, to "lying to your face" a la "I respect your team."
Of course, maybe he's not lying, but he can't be totally serious.
I think Spurrier understands that even he couldn't win consistently at Vanderbilt. Heck, he can barely win consistently at SC.
The ol' ball coach better have his guys ready to play this week.
And Vandy still loses by double digits...close to 20 actually...
I hate to say this, but I'm concentrating my energy on Montana football, who I think would give Vandy a hell of a game, even in Nashville...
Go Grizzlies.
Montana is ranked highe rthan Vandy in the Sagarin rankings.
They are ranked higher(57) than most FCS schools. Only Richmond (who won nat'l title last year) is ranked above us in I-AA.
In Wash-Griz stadium, Griz win by 14...
in Dudley...Griz win by 7...
I love Vandy and flew 2000 miles for the bowl game last year, but it's time that fans come down to earth a bit. Think, the sophomores at Vandy have not known a Vandy with a losing record...
Meant FBS schools....
Vandy at 133...(should be lower?)
Come on. It's a common ploy for Vandy fans to throw themselves under the bus when their team is down. How else do you cope? But we'd beat Montana at Dudley today and if the ghost of Doc Blanchard wasn't on a hunting trip in Montana, we'd probably beat them there too.
And Montana would go winless if the Grizzlies were in the SEC. Boise State would be lucky to go 3-5 in the SEC.
If Kroy Biermann were still at Montana, he would eat Larry Smith's lunch.
Mark my words, best NFL defensive end you've never heard of.
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