Steve Spurrier likely to bring his 'A' game - as in Angry

Kentucky knows what it is to be on the receiving end of the vengeance of Steve Spurrier.

Back when the Head Ball Coach still tossed his visor in Gainesville, the then-Florida head coach was said to hold a grudge against the then-UK coach Bill Curry.

Allegedly, Spurrier was peeved because Curry had not retained him on the Georgia Tech coaching staff when the ex-NFL center was named head coach by Tech.

How did Spurrier show his displeasure?

Florida 73, Kentucky 7.

Florida 65, Kentucky 0.

Ouch.

Which brings us to Kentucky's trip to South Carolina Saturday.

With offensively struggling UK scheduled to visit Spurrier in his current workplace, no one should blame UK fans for taking a large collective gulp. Going into Saturday's game, there is much reason to think "Steve Superior" has rebuilt his wrath.

One season ago in Commonwealth Stadium, Kentucky finally snapped its oh-for-all-eternity record against Spurrier. Down 28-10 at halftime, Kentucky scored 21 unanswered in the second half and scored a 31-28 victory.

It was UK's first win over a Spurrier-coached team after 17 straight losses.

"They felt like they had the game last year, and we sort of snuck in and took it away from them," UK senior linebacker Ronnie Sneed said Monday. "I'm sure Coach Spurrier will definitely have those guys fired up."

A lasting memory of that night were the literally hundreds of UK fans who congregated near the exit from the South Carolina locker room hoping to get a cellphone picture of Spurrier on the night Kentucky finally beat him.

You think he might remember that scene, too?

The Kentucky players are expecting a highly motivated foe Saturday in Columbia.

"We beat them last year, after so many years," said UK safety Winston Guy. "Then, them losing to Auburn (last week), I'm sure they feel like they have something to prove."

If revenge from last season were not enough motivation for Spurrier and South Carolina, Kentucky (2-3) is also catching the Gamecocks (4-1) coming off their first defeat of the season, a surprise 16-13 home loss to Auburn.

To add insult to Spurrier injury, a South Carolina offense expected to make scoreboards light up like the Vegas strip instead seems to be mired in a deep funk.

After putting 56 points on East Carolina in the season opener and 45 on Georgia in a road victory, the Gamecocks have not scored more than 24 in their past three games. This even though, in running back Marcus Lattimore and wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey, Carolina has two of the most gifted offensive playmakers in the country.

Spurrier — who built his coaching reputation on his near-genius as a play caller and the proficiency of his teams' passing attacks — said Sunday in his weekly teleconference that South Carolina "has to shake things up offensively."

He followed that Monday night by announcing a quarterback change.

True sophomore Connor Shaw, who started the opener against East Carolina, will replace Stephen Garcia as the starter versus Kentucky. "This is his game, it's his opportunity to go play and we think he's ready," Spurrier said of Shaw. "Connor had a good practice tonight and, as most everyone knows, our quarterback play has not been as good as we hoped. We've got to do something."

Garcia, S.C.'s much-maligned fifth-year senior signal caller, was 9-for-23 against Auburn for 160 yards with two interceptions. It was the third time in the past four games that Garcia has tossed multiple picks. He is completing only 51.7 percent of his passes.

"We've coached Stephen, but Stephen seems to play very similarly about every game," Spurrier said Sunday.

So Kentucky travels to Columbia Saturday to face a South Carolina with motivation to pay back the Cats from last season. Plus, UK will get a Spurrier offense on a week when it will be out to prove something to the world — and to the Head Ball Coach.

Said UK's Sneed: "I'm sure South Carolina is going to play with a chip on its shoulder. We have to match them in intensity."

Added Guy: "I know how Steve Spurrier is as far as playing against Kentucky. I'm pretty sure he's got a couple of tricks up his sleeve."

This story was originally published October 4, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Steve Spurrier likely to bring his 'A' game - as in Angry."