After experiencing unprecedented success with 11 wins in each of the past three seasons, hopes were high entering the 2014 season.
But at 4-5, things haven’t quite played out the way the Gamecocks would have liked.
“I was telling our coaching staff, I think Taylor Swift’s got a song called ‘Shake it Off.’ Ugh. That’s what we’re trying to do, shake it off and get ready for the Florida Gators next week,” Spurrier told Josh Kendall at The State. “That’s what we’re going to try to do, see if we can regroup and try to win a close game. You know we’ve had our share of close ones, though we’ve struggled on defense and so forth.”
And while Spurrier might be discouraged — did you see his one-minute press conference after Satuday night’s overtime loss to Tennessee? — he said there’s no plan for this to be his final season in Columbia.
“The plan is to definitely be back here and so forth,” Spurrier told The State on Tuesday. “Just say that’s the plan.”
The Gamecocks had three consecutive 11-2 seasons entering this season — they had just one 10-win season in school history before the streak — but things took a downturn quickly.
In the season opener, Texas A&M blew out South Carolina, 52-28, at home on a Thursday night. After bouncing back with three straight wins, the Gamecocks have lost four of five by a total of 18 points.
“It hasn’t been as much fun as the last four years, that’s for sure,” he said.
South Carolina is off this week and plays Nov. 15 at Florida, where Spurrier coaches the Gators to the 1996 national championship and won the 1966 Heisman Trophy.
Abdullah left last week’s game against Purdue in the first quarter after injuring his left knee while recovering QB Tommy Armstrong Jr.’s fumble. He sustained a mild sprain and a bruise to his knee and did not return the rest of the game. He finished with six carries for one yard.
Abdullah is the first player in Nebraska history to top 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. He was flirting with a 2,000-yard season prior to his injury. Through nine games, he has 1,250 yards rushing, including four games with at least 200 yards.
Abdullah will have three more regular season games and one or two more games beyond that. A win against Wisconsin goes a long way in getting Nebraska to the Big Ten Championship Game. With one-loss, the Cornhuskers also remain in contention for the playoff. They were ranked 15th in last week’s rankings.
The Nov. 15 matchup against Wisconsin also features Badgers RB Melvin Gordon, the conference’s second-leading rusher with 1,296 yards in eight games. Gordon also has 18 TDs, best in the Big Ten just ahead of Abdullah’s 17.
John Clune, a lawyer for the woman who says Winston sexually assaulted her, confirmed the time frame Tuesday to The Associated Press.
Winston is facing a university hearing to determine whether he violated four sections of the code of conduct — two for sexual misconduct and two for endangerment. The former female student said he assaulted her in December 2012.
Though the time frame has been set, both sides can request postponements of the scheduled date for reasons that would have to be individually reviewed.
Florida State’s Jameis Winston won the award last season and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota has been a semifinalist since 2012. The Davey O’Brien Award is awarded to college football’s top quarterback.
The 16 semifinalists will be trimmed to three finalists on Nov. 24 and the winner will be announced Dec. 11 on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.
The semifinalists are: J.T. Barrett, Ohio State; Trevone Boykin, TCU; Shane Carden, East Carolina; Rakeem Cato, Marshall; Connor Cook, Michigan State; Everett Golson, Notre Dame; Brett Hundley, UCLA; Marcus Mariota, Oregon; Nick Marshall, Auburn; Bryce Petty, Baylor; Dak Prescott, Mississippi State; Blake Sims, Alabama; Clint Trickett, West Virginia; Bo Wallace, Ole Miss; Jake Waters, Kansas State; and Jameis Winston, Florida State.
The past four Heisman winners — Winston, Johnny Manziel, Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton — are also the past four winners of the Davey O’Brien Award.
On Tuesday, the top-ranked Bulldogs and adidas unveiled the TECHFIT uniforms they will wear against Ole Miss on Nov. 29 in Oxford.
The white uniforms feature gold numbers with outlines of the state of Mississippi within each number and the outline of the state is also featured on their white pants.
The new uniform has a chrome maroon helmet with gold facemask that matches the Golden Egg trophy that goes to the winner.
TECHFIT Shockweb technology is used in the uniform — it fits tighter and makes it more difficult to tackle players, according to the Adidas statement.
Mississippi State was ranked No. 1 in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings and is expected to remain in one of the top two positions when this week’s rankings are released tonight. Ole Miss was ranked fourth, but lost to Auburn last weekend, 35-31.
Contributor: Ken Bradley, The Associated Press
