Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Mitchell on receiving end of Spurrier’s hands-on coaching Nick&tres/mV OAMECOCK USC sophomore quarterback Blake Mitchell fires a pass in the Gamecocks’ 44-16 victory against Kentucky in Columbia. ( Aaron Salter FOR THE GAMECOCK USC football coach Steve Spurrier is known for a lot of things. He’s one of the most successful and highly regarded college football coaches of all time. He won a Heisman Trophy in 1966. He’s known for a personality that mixes seriousness with sarcasm. But most of all, he knows how to coach up college quarterbacks. In his first season at USC, Spurrier has taken sophomore quarterback Blake Mitchell to task, looking to make the soft-spoken signal caller his next big surprise. When Spurrier arrived at Duke University in 1987, Duke’s football program was struggling. Spurrier improved the Blue Devils dramatically, eventually turning them into ACC co-champions in 1989. That same year, Spurrier also helped senior quarterback Anthony Dilweg set school records in passing yards and touchdowns after he had been a backup his previous three seasons at Duke. Lmwegs good play resulted in mm being named ACC player of the year. When Spurrier returned to his alma mater Florida to coach in 1990, the quarterback position was very much up in the air. Spurrier eventually looked to sophomore quarterback Shane Matthews — a fifth stringer upon Spurrier s arrival — to lead his offense. Under Spurriers watchful eye, Matthews worked his way into becoming a Heisman candidate by his senior season. Spurrier continued to show his knack fqr coaching college quarterbacks when Danny Wuerffel took the reins of his Gator offense. Wuerffel and Spurrier led Florida to two national championship appearances and won their second attempt at a tide in 1996. Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy that year as well. Spurrier closed out his Gator career with quarterbacks Doug Johnson, Jesse Palmer and Rex Grossman. Johnson and Palmer often drew Spurrier’s criticism, but still led Florida to a 29-8 record during their college careers. Grossman started playing as a redshirt freshman for Spurrier in 2000 and was named first team All-SEC later that year. Spurrier also coached Grossman in 2001 and helped the sophomore to finish second in the Heisman race that season. Grossman was the fifth sophomore ever to finish in the top two of the voting at that time. Fast forward past Spurrier’s short NFL career with the Washington Redskins and that brings us to the current season, 2005, and his present quarterback, Mitchell. Compared to Spurrier’s former quarterbacks, Mitchell’s college career might be most Matthews’. Mitchell seemed out of place in former USC coach Lou Holtz’s offense, and his playing time reflected that. Holtz preferred to go with quarterbacks more known for their legs than their arms, often starting Dondrial Pinkins or Syvelle Newton. * In limited action in 2004,_MitcheII put up less than impressive numbers — 9-of-22 for 86 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and a 61.47 passer efficiency rating. Then came Steve Spurrier and a fresh start for Blake Mitchell. The 2005 season has been a totally different story for Mitchell. He set the tone for the new season when he hit Noah Whiteside with a long touchdown pass against Central Florida on the Gamecocks first drive of the year. He has continued his strong play, leading the team to a 6-3 record completing 62 percent of his passes in the process, and has thrown 15 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Mitchell ranks third in the SEC with a 143.52 passer rating. This is without much of a running game to help support him. It’s widely known by Gamecock players, coaches and fans that Mitchell is a quiet guy. Is it a lack of confidence that an SEC quarterback needs to lead his team, or is it calmness? Mitchell spoke about his calm personality on and off the football field. , “It’s just my personality; I’m kind of calm and laid back. I think that carries over onto the field. I probably should get more excited sometimes but when it comes to pressure time, I just try to stay calm and make plays. I don’t want to be out there panicking and have the other guys on offense looking at me and wondering ‘Oh, what’s going on.’” While Spurrier’s college quarterbacks have been highly successful, it’s not an easy job leading his offense. It is well documented that Spurrier is tougher on quarterbacks than _ . .1__r • _ . .. .1 . r_ - .1. .11 . . _ ... t t CLUJ WU1L1 pvjoiuuu UU UiL lUVLUOli ILOill. A AL lets his signal callers know when they make a mistake, and he expects the mistake to be corrected quickly. Some quarterbacks can handle it, and some can’t. “You just have to take what he says and keep going, take it and apply it to your game,” Mitchell'said. “If you let that get to you, it’s going to get to you when you are out in a stadium and fans are booing you.” Spurrier is hesitant to praise his young quarterback’s progress this season. “He has some good plays and few bad plays. Overall, he’s much improved from earlier in the year; he’s doing fine,” Spurrier said. It’s unknown whether Heisman Trophies and championships lay ahead for Mitchell and Spurrier, but one thing is for certain. The sophomore from LaGrange, Ga., has come a long way from third string. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu Doughty playing big, leading team in sacks Louisiana native working to meet personal, team goals HJ Bembry STAFF WRITER Stanley Doughty is a big guy. He’s every bit of the 6-foot-1 inch, 328 pounds that the USC Web site lists him as. Sometimes, though, big guys play big in big games, and that’s exactly what Doughty has done during the Gamecocks’ four game winning streak. The native of Greensburg, La., is in the middle of his redshirt sophomore season as a nose tackle and is playing like big-time players are supposed to. He leads the team in sacks with 3.5 for the year for a hefty loss of 22 total yards. That Carolina leads the SEC in sacks so far this season with 26 for 161 yards lost makes Doughty’s sfatistir pvpn morp imnrpssive Still, Doughty doesn’t get too wrapped up in personal accolades. “One of my personal goals was to become bowl eligible and to make (the) All-SEC (defensive team),” Doughty said. “That’s one of them I’ve worked towards and helping the team become the best that they can be, and hopefully everybody on the team can be successful.” The team has been successful when Doughty, the man his teammates call “Cheese,” is in the starting lineup as the team has won four of his six starts. When asked about his nickname, Doughty explained the origins of his unusual moniker. “It came from my freshman year when I told them (my nickname is Duckie), and Travelle Wharton, who’s with the Panthers right now, he said, ‘Naw, we’re going to call you Cheese.’ “I said, ‘No, you’re not calling me Cheese, that’s not my name.’ “He said, ‘You’re a freshman so we’re going to call you Cheese’... it just kind of stuck to me,” Doughty said. Doughty chose Wharton and the rest of the Gamecocks over 22 other colleges that offered scholarships. The three schools he was most interested in were Carolina, Southern Miss and his local LSU. Some academic issues caused LSU and then coach Nick Saban to want to grayshirt him and enroll him the spring after his high school graduation, much like USC’s e:__ L:_ AAA AAAsJ freshman year. The Tigers didn’t have a scholarship available for Doughty, and after some careful planning, he chose Carolina. “I enjoy the fans; I enjoy the southern hospitality around here. Basically I told my mom and I told coach Saban that South Carolina is the place for me and the Lord, He blessed me and I’m doing real good here as a Gamecock,” Doughty said. There are still some big differences between the sandy soil of South Carolina and the Cajun culture of Louisiana that remind Doughty of where he is. “The food (is the biggest difference),” Doughty said with a laugh. “It’s a whole lot different. Being from Louisiana I like a lot of spicy food and I’ve been here a good little while now, but I still miss my crawfish and my boudin, my ... etoufee.” Typical cuisine notwithstanding, Doughty is happy to be at Carolina and is very proud of his team’s victories and accomplishments so far this season. “A lot of people weren’t expecting us to become bowl eligible — I’m not talking about the coaches and the players, I’m talking about (the media). But we shocked the \x/r\ rl rl o n rl rnorK ^r^nrri^r Koc ' I done a great job since he’s been here in his first year ... nobody expected us to beat the teams that we’ve beaten.” When Doughty looks toward the future of the Gamecock program and the chance to beat some of those teams on a regular basis, he gets optimistic. “Hopefully next year our offense will be down pat and our defense will be down pat, and maybe we can become a powerhouse in the East.” If that happens, big Cheese and the rest of his defensive line will certainly play a vital role. That’s just what big players do. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksportsQPgwm. sc. edu NAME: Stanley Doughty POSITION: Defensive Lineman HOMETOWN: Greensboro, La. HEIGHT: 6 feet 1 inch VPEIGHT: 328 pounds YEAR: Rcdshirt Sophomore -Was named the team’s Outstanding Defensive Lineman and the defensive player of the spring in the 2005 spring practice -Leads USC in sacks with 3.5 and is tied in tacides for a loss with 6 so far in the 2005 season -Had 15 quarterback sacks in his final year at St. Helena Central High School THifeAMEGOGK , t fie ad sports. 1r ---1 -■— NickEsares/TWY. (iAMKCOCK USC rover Ko Simpson prepares to make a tackle against Kentucky earlier this season. Recent changes in coaching. Lineup, attitude making difference for USC’s scrappy defense fllyssa fiber FOR THE GAMECOCK Less than a month ago, many USC fans were noticeably apprehensive about the abilities of the Gamecock defense, and not without reason. Before the Vanderbilt game, USC coach Steve Spurrier was vocal about the team needing to make more tackles. Stopping the run had also been a well-documented problem with Georgia, Auburn and Kentucky, each rushing for more than 200 yards and Alabama rushing for more than 300 yards against' the Gamecocks. However, during the past couple weeks, USC’s defense seems to have ignited, giving performances one would expect from a 6-3 team. There has been considerable speculation as to the source of the unit’s sudden vigor. Many have accredited the shift in play-calling responsibilities for rejuvenating the program. Starting at the game against Tennessee on Oct. 29, co defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix took over play-calling duties from his colleague, coach John Thompson. In the two games since Nix took over, the Gamecock defense has looked strdjhg keeping the Tennessee Vols, ranked No. 23 LH„I VVH..P.. YVl at the time, to. only 172 rushing yards, and keeping Arkansas, the No. 1 rushing team in the SEC, to only one touchdown and a field goal. However, the Gamecock defenders play down the significance of the change in coaching responsibilities. Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Stanley Doughty said he feels either defensive coordinator could lead the team. “Basically both coaches do a great job coaching; the last two games have come down to the wire, so there really hasn’t been a big change,” Doughty said. “Both of them are good coaches.” Changes to the lineup have also had a positive influence on the team. Spurrier, known for rewarding hard workers with playing time, has given 28 players, including 14 on defense, their first collegiate start this season. Sophomore middle linebacker Dustin Lindsey got his first collegiate start at the Vanderbilt game. “One thing that coach Spurrier does do is pay attention to all of his players, even the ones that don’t start,” Lindsey said. “He knows that the ones who work hard and try their hardest, and actually know and study the game plan and study the othifr team will do the best on Saturday.” iLiim- vv.1.1 a uiimui i.u aim a Lindsey is second only to sophomore free safety Ko Simpson in tackles on the season with 48. His twin brother, sophomore defensive lineman Jordin Lindsey, also earned his first start this season and has since started in the last six games, recording a 16-yard sack against Tennessee. “A lot of the fans thought that we were just some little pretty boys that came out here just to play around and probably not play until their junior or senior year,” Dustin said of him and his brother. “So we proved all of them wrong and got a lot of them changing their minds about US. In addition to the Lindsey twins, a number of other defensive players have earned their first start this season, including sophomore outside linebacker Ryan Brown, redshirt freshman cornerback Stoney Woodson and senior outside linebacker Terrell Davis. A number of freshmen have also had significant playing time, although they have not yet started, including defensive ends Nathan Pepper and Dakota Walker, cornerback Yvan Banag and middle linebacker Marvin Sapp. # DEPEflSE • B1 1 11 VO.Y VUH KdlU. 1 LMUllim..