ATHENS, Ga. - South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia has been in and out of trouble with coach Steve Spurrier, but not this week.
The redshirt junior is in good graces after a solid all-around showing in last Thursday's 41-13 opening win over Southern Miss at Williams-Brice Stadium. Garcia completed 16 of 23 passes for 193 yards and ran five times for 38 yards and two touchdowns, including a head-lowering score from 22 yards out.
More importantly, the Gamecocks were turnover-free, which occurred only once last season.
"He's getting rid of the ball much better than he ever has, I think," Spurrier said. "Only one time did he take a peek at the rush because he wasn't sure if we were protecting, but overall he stayed in there and threw the ball. In the past, he would have free guys coming at him and he would take off running, try to juke them and usually take a sack, but he was able to get the ball out of his hands.
"He was thinking through a play much better than in previous years."
An improved Garcia was noticed by Georgia coaches, who have prepared this week for what could be the best offense Spurrier has assembled in Columbia. The Gamecocks have two sizable sophomore receivers, Alshon Jeffery (6-foot-4, 237 pounds) and Tori Gurley (6-5, 230), and a freshman tailback, Marcus Lattimore, who may be the answer to what has been an anemic ground game.
Freshman receiver Ace Sanders had a 53-yard reverse against the Golden Eagles and sophomore cornerback Stephon Gilmore had a 14-yard run out of the Wildcat formation, but the primary catalyst in South Carolina's productivity was Garcia.
"It just looks like he's more in charge," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said. "I've always known him to be a tough kid and a physical kid, and he's kind of a linebacker mentality type of QB, which hasn't changed much. He seems to be making decisions more quickly and putting the ball where his coach wants it. I think he's improved a lot."
Said new Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham: "It will be a big challenge for us to match his play from the other night."
Grantham is back in college coaching after 11 years in the NFL, but he doesn't need a crash course on the imprint Spurrier has made on the SEC. Spurrier is 1-4 against Georgia while at South Carolina, but he went 11-1 against the Bulldogs during his 12 seasons coaching Florida.
"First of all, he won at Duke," Grantham said. "That's not a knock, but I'm just saying. If you look at him, he won at Duke and then got Florida to where it is now. I think he's an excellent coach who knows what he's doing, and he's good for the game."
Garcia, a 6-2, 230-pounder from the outskirts of Tampa, enrolled in January 2007 but missed his first spring practice after arrests for public drunkenness and for keying a professor's car. He redshirted that season but missed the 2008 spring practice following a night of underage drinking and discharging a fire extinguisher in a dormitory.
After making three starts during the '08 season, Garcia started all 13 games a year ago. He had a career-best 313 passing yards at Georgia, which he later topped with 327 in a loss at Arkansas, but he concluded last year with a horrific, 129-yard performance in a Papajohns.com Bowl loss to Connecticut.
"During this past offseason, ever since Coach Spurrier said we need to get rid of the ball quicker, that's pretty much what I've been trying to do," Garcia said. "No yards is better than a loss of 5 yards. That's pretty much what I'm thinking."
Spurrier said backup quarterback Connor Shaw has been beneficial because Garcia wasn't pushed last season. Shaw is a freshman from the Atlanta suburb of Flowery Branch who threw a touchdown pass against USM and rushed seven times for 31 yards.
Then again, Lattimore may be the difference after rushing for two scores in his debut.
"That's what we need to get going this year," Garcia said. "We have the talent and the strength up front. If we can run the ball, we're going to be tough to beat."