OTHER PICKS
Arkansas 41, UTEP 10Florida 42, New Mexico St. 7Kentucky 34, UL-Lafayette 19LSU 49, McNeese State 6Ole Miss 56, UT-Martin 15Miss. State 38, Southern Miss 9Mizzou 45, S.E. Missouri St. 14Texas A&M 30, Arizona St. 23Duke 33, Tulane 22Clemson 47, Wofford 8UCLA 38, Virginia 13N.C. State 42, Troy 10FSU 62, Texas State 11Ohio State 33, Virginia Tech 24TCU 28, Minnesota 19Notre Dame 37, Texas 24MTSU 45, Jackson State 13
Here we are at the dawn of what could be the final chapter of Steve Spurrier's coaching career.
The winningest coach in Florida and South Carolina football history will begin his 11th season with the Gamecocks tonight at 6, when they face North Carolina in Charlotte on ESPN. Spurrier will become the first 70-year-old head football coach in Southeastern Conference history - Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant retired at age 69 - but he still has the same opening-game uncertainties as a 42-year-old taking over Duke in 1987.
"I get the same nervousness, the same butterflies and the same concerns," Spurrier said Wednesday on the SEC teleconference. "What's going to happen when our quarterback runs with the ball? He hasn't been tackled since he's been here, because we don't tackle or hit the quarterbacks in practices or scrimmages. There are a lot of unknowns that concern you, but when game time comes, you kick it off or receive it and just start playing. You call your ball plays and see what happens.
"That's all, as coaches, that we can do, and hopefully we've got them trained up and ready to play, but I have the same feelings as always."
Spurrier's first Duke team finished 5-6, but his upstart Blue Devils won the Atlantic Coast Conference two years later, and he was off to a 12-year stint at Florida that featured six league championships and the 1996 national title. Posting three straight 11-win seasons recently at South Carolina is an accomplishment of equal amazement, but Spurrier nearly suffered his second career losing season last year and could have a team that hovers around .500 this fall.
A fixture on the Rushmore of all-time SEC football coaches with Bryant, Tennessee's Robert Neyland and current league kingpin Nick Saban, Spurrier is facing roadblocks on the recruiting trail because of his age. His program, while still solid, no longer has the elite likes of running back Marcus Lattimore and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, nor does it have quarterback Connor Shaw, perhaps the league's most underappreciated player of the past decade.
The Gamecocks still have someone who's fixated on winning, with Spurrier hiring Jon Hoke this past winter to repair a defense that rapidly deteriorated following Clowney's departure to the NFL. North Carolina coach Larry Fedora had some defensive work to do as well, so he hired Gene Chizik as coordinator.
"Gene Chizik had tremendous success as a head coach at Auburn, and he's had tremendous success as a defensive coordinator," Spurrier said. "He's got those players jacked up and ready to play, and I think we'll be fired up also."
Let the games begin.
Pasquali's Pix (20th anniversary edition):
North Carolina vs. South Carolina: Had the NCAA passed a rule last year to shorten games to 55 minutes, the Gamecocks would have gone 9-4. The Tar Heels last won an ACC title in 1980 but have offered athletes a lot of manageable courses since. Tar Heels 34, Gamecocks 27.
Alcorn State at Georgia Tech: It's not like this will be the first bunch of Braves to get thwacked this season in Atlanta. Yellow Jackets 63, Braves 6.
Western Kentucky at Vanderbilt: The Commodores are actually 12-1 in their last 13 nonconference games, but it's that one - last year's 37-7 opening loss to Temple - that remains so troubling. Hilltoppers 38, Commodores 30.
Louisiana-Monroe at Georgia: What an outstanding opportunity for Greyson Lambert to start improving on his 3-6 career mark as a starting quarterback. Bulldogs 42, Warhawks 13.
Auburn vs. Louisville: The winner of this year's Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic gets to hoist the Old Leather Helmet Trophy and gets dibs on the next defensive back dismissed from Georgia. Tigers 35, Cardinals 29.
Tennessee vs. Bowling Green: College football's top three neutral-site rivalries: Texas vs. Oklahoma in Dallas, Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville, and the Vols vs. the Falcons inside Nashville's Nissan Stadium. Vols 38, Falcons 13.
Jacksonville State at UTC: An absolute class act by the fine folks with the Chattanooga FC soccer power to lend Finley Stadium to the Mocs just in time for this top-10 showdown of FCS teams. Mocs 27, Gamecocks 22.
Alabama vs. Wisconsin: The only thing more certain than an impressive Crimson Tide victory is Saban stressing afterward that this is only one game. Crimson Tide 34, Badgers 13.
Last week:
Winners 0
Sarkisians 0
Pasquali is 0-0 on the season but promises to improve.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.