S.C. QB's antics may ring a bell
LSU will play something between South Carolina's version of Ryan Perrilloux and the second coming of Steve Taneyhill on Saturday.
He is redshirt freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia, who was the No. 4 dual-threat prospect in the nation coming out of Jefferson High in Tampa, Fla., in the 2006-07 recruiting season, according to Rivals.com.
The 6-foot-2, 221-pound, strong-armed Garcia will make his much-awaited first collegiate start at 7 p.m. Saturday when the No. 13 Tigers (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) and their troubled pass defense plays at South Carolina (5-2, 2-2 SEC) on ESPN.
"They're big, fast and physical just like any other SEC team,"
Garcia told South Carolina reporters this week. "It is LSU, and they've got some of the best athletes in the country, obviously. They won the national championship. But I definitely think we can beat 'em. But I think we can beat anybody. We just have to play our game. That's about it. We've got to go out and play, simple as that."
Garcia graduated from Jefferson in December of 2006 and arrived the next January at the Columbia, S.C., campus in a large red pickup truck with long hair and attitude. He did a blog on his recruitment for the Tampa Tribune. He turned down Florida. He reminded South Carolina fans of Taneyhill, the infamous, ponytailed, highly recruited former Gamecock quarterback from Altoona, Pa., who once mimicked hitting a home run after throwing a touchdown and led South Carolina to its first-ever bowl win after the 1994 season. Taneyhill predicted that he would start as a freshman and did.
Trouble with the law followed Garcia's entry into college as it did Perrilloux, the nation's No. 1 dual threat prep quarterback in the nation who signed with LSU in 2005. Though never arrested, Perrilloux had several scrapes with the authorities and LSU coach Les Miles, who dismissed him from the team last May. Perrilloux landed at Jacksonville State in Alabama.
Like Perrilloux, Garcia was suspended multiple times and given multiple second chances after three arrests in his first 15 months on campus.
Garcia's first arrest was in February of 2007, just a month after his arrival, for public drunkenness and failure to stop on police command. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier suspended him indefinitely two days later, then reinstated him three days later. Garcia, who once wore a ponytail to a bond hearing, was arrested again in March after keying the car of a college professor visiting South Carolina. He was suspended again and barred from spring practice. He publicly apologized and got a haircut. Then over the summer, he entered a pre-trial intervention program, similar to the one Perrilloux entered, to clear him of his two arrests. He was reinstated in late August and redshirted for the 2007 season.
On March 22, 2008, after the first day of spring practice, he was arrested for underage drinking and for setting off a fire extinguisher in a dormitory. He missed his second straight spring drills after Spurrier suspended him through Aug. 15. He was allowed to come back to the team on Aug. 1 after good behavior. So far, there have been no more incidents. He is likely on his last chance.
"I'm just thankful the university didn't boot me out of here,"
Garcia told reporters in Columbia in his lone media session on Tuesday. "I'm glad they stuck with me. I owe it to coach Spurrier and the university for sticking with me and not kicking me out of school. I'm really appreciative that they didn't do that."
Garcia is easily the most sought after quarterback Spurrier has been able to sign since he took the South Carolina job before the 2005 season. Garcia threw for 8,081 yards and rushed for 1,345 in his career at Jefferson, including more than 2,500 passing yards and 29 touchdowns in his senior year in 2006.
"Certainly, we thought he had a lot of potential,"
Spurrier said during his press conference Tuesday. "And he still does. He can throw the ball beautifully as we found out last week. He can move around. It was encouraging. He actually checked off, which our guys haven't been able to do too much around here."
Garcia, who did not play the week before at Ole Miss, entered the Kentucky game cold last Saturday late in the third quarter with South Carolina down 17-14 under struggling sophomore starter Chris Smelley. Smelley had been the starter since game two after replacing junior Tommy Beecher, who threw four interceptions in South Carolina's opener.
All Garcia he did was lead the Gamecocks on four drives into Kentucky territory and to 10 points for the 24-17 victory. He completed 10 of 14 passes for 169 yards with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Weslye Saunders that was set up by a 37-yard completion to Jason Barnes. Spurrier immediately named him the starter for the LSU game.
"It was just a game, and I had fun playing it,"
Garcia said. "I had a good time. When I went in there, I was a lot more vocal than I ever have been playing football. The adrenaline was pumping, and I was in the game."
His first start will be against the defending national champions, who are No. 51 in the nation in pass defense.
"It's pretty nerve-wracking, your first start against LSU,"
Garcia said. "But I think coming off two wins at Ole Miss and Kentucky has been huge, and we're going to be ready for them."
For the season, Garcia is 23 of 35 (65 percent) for 300 yards and two touchdowns with one interception and an impressive 150.86 rating. He completed 13 of 20 passes for 131 yards against UAB on Sept. 27 and rushed 18 times for 86 yards. He is South Carolina's No. 2 rusher with 109 yards on 26 carries.
He continues to keep his hair short and his nose clean.
"I don't know if many people recognize me,"
he said. "But that's a good thing. I'm just trying to go to class and do the right thing. I'm not trying to stick out. I'm cutting my hair all the time. I'm just trying to stay low profile."
