Chick-fil-A Bowl 2010: South Carolina vs. Florida State: What We Learned Tuesday
As Bleacher Report's official media representative at this week's Chick-fil-A Bowl between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Florida State Seminoles, it will be my pleasure to share with you all what's going on behind the scenes this week.
Tuesday was the second day of Bowl Week for the two teams, and it was filled with fun, learning opportunities and practice throughout the day.
Read on to see just what we learned on Tuesday about the bowl game.
The Extracurriculars
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The athletes' days began with an FCA Breakfast. While there, they had the pleasure of listening to former Florida State head coach and football legend Bobby Bowden.
After engaging in press conferences and practices, the players had the pleasure of going to Andretti Racing. While there, the teams competed in the third leg of the Battle for Bowl Week. This competition consisted of go-kart racing.
South Carolina ended up taking the race and going up 2-1 in the Battle for Bowl Week, which will continue on Wednesday with a milkshake-making contest.
Florida State's Seniors
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At the beginning of the Florida State press conference, Jimbo Fisher was asked about his senior players and how he thought they were carrying the program.
His response was, "Our seniors have showed us how to win a game. They've shown us how to work. They put us back in a situation where we're back in the national title talk. We're a factor in our conference again. What they have done for us is set a standard for these young guys of how you work and how you overcome adversity. These young guys now have to carry that on. Then you start to build a program and not a team."
One of the seniors he was referring to was quarterback Christian Ponder, who, as you may know, is recovering from recent elbow surgery.
Christian Ponder's Injury
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Jimbo Fisher, when asked to elaborate on Ponder's injury status, said, "He's ready to go. I declared him yesterday. He's practiced well for two days. He's made all the throws. There's been no swelling. His body is sorer than his elbow is. He's been sitting on his tail for a month."
From watching Ponder throw during practice, his arm is completely ready to go.
He was completing the short passes to running backs and the deep ones to his wideouts. In the 15 minutes that I watched him throw the ball, he literally hit the receiver between the numbers each and every time.
Ponder did talk about the difficulty of getting through the season with his injury. The quarterback said, "It hasn't been too difficult. I think some people might have been frustrated but I just wanted to play. I think when you have that number one goal in mind, it doesn't matter. I spent a lot of time in the training room, but it's football. The year has gone really well and when you win, it makes things a lot easier. The elbow feels fine. The past couple of practices, no swelling, no pain. I'm just getting my rhythm back."
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Christian Ponder's Development
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From watching them interact in front of the cameras at the Florida State press conference, it is clear that Christian Ponder and Jimbo Fisher have developed a special relationship.
As Fisher said, "Watching Christian grow as a player, seeing his confidence grow and his belief in what he is has been special. He's special for me, he really is. He embodies everything I want this program to be—as a person off the field, what he does as a student and what he does as a competitor on the field. Whether it's good or bad, we compete the same way, but Christian embodies that with his work ethic, his toughness. Most guys would have played two or three ball games this year and sat down. That didn't happen until the end when he finally couldn't go in the championship game."
I could see why Fisher was so effusive with his praise after watching the young quarterback speak. He was quite well-spoken, didn't back down from any questions and seemed like an intelligent young man.
The Bowl Experience
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Jimbo Fisher also spoke about the greatness of the Chick-fil-A Bowl. He said, "Atlanta has a great city. Chick-fil-A represents what I think is right about the bowl experience. Everything they do is first class. And then they're giving back to the schools with the dollars they give back to scholarships to helping underprivileged children to the kids in the hospital. What Chick-fil-A stands for is the betterment of the human race. It's an honor to come here and every time it gets better and better."
In a more lighthearted explanation of why the Chick-fil-A Bowl is a good experience, South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia said, "It's a lot nicer, a lot nicer than the weather we were in last year for our bowl game. Hopefully we play a lot better too."
What This Game Means for South Carolina
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"You never reach where you're trying to go. We did reach some stuff this year. Beating Clemson back-to-back years, beating Alabama, we've had some great games this year. We're still in the process of building, recruiting. This team has played extremely well. I think we've maximized the talent. It's been a very good year for us thus far, so hopefully we can finish it with a win."
Those were the words of Steve Spurrier, South Carolina's head coach. Spurrier is trying to lead South Carolina to its first 10-win season since 1984.
According to tight end and fullback Patrick DiMarco, Spurrier has been drilling it into their heads: "Well, we all remember the last time. Coaches remind us how we have a chance to go out and win 10 games. We can go out as one of the best teams ever at South Carolina."
Interestingly enough, Florida State was one of the teams that South Carolina beat back in 1984. Despite Spurrier's past history with Florida State during his tenure at Florida, he insisted that he doesn't have any emotions about playing the Seminoles. He just hopes he doesn't have to hear the "Indian chant," which he proceeded to sing for us.
Playing Florida State
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Patrick DiMarco said during the press conference about Florida State's defense, "They are a balanced defense, and very athletic. We should hold our own because we've seen just about everything through 13 games."
Cliff Matthews added that the offense is balanced as well and shouldn't be too different than what they've seen throughout the season.
One thing that South Carolina has to be worried about is their preparation, as it seems as though they've been unprepared for the last two games. However, Steve Spurrier insisted that preparation was not and would not be a problem.
Marcus Lattimore
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One of the biggest factors in the game is going to be the play of freshman running back Marcus Lattimore.
Lattimore has run for 1,198 yards and 17 touchdowns this year despite only playing in 11 games.
Most impressively, he hasn't fumbled once this year. During the South Carolina practice, Lattimore commented on this, saying, "Every play, if it's a running play, I'm telling myself, don't fumble. It's just pressure points on the ball, you've just got to hold it tight to your body, keep your elbow tight, and high so they can't grab it. There's plays [where I almost fumbled] where I was so into the game I wasn't telling myself hold onto the ball and it almost came loose. It's a great compliment, I want to go my whole career without fumbling and if that's the case I'll be really proud of myself."
He'll be running against his former high school teammate, Everett Dawkins. Dawkins, a defensive tackle for the Seminoles, said about Lattimore, "It's gonna be fun. Gonna be like in high school. I think he's got even better, it's gonna be a big challenge to stop him."
Wednesday's Events
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Highlights of Wednesday's activities include the following.
The teams will go to practice and press conferences as they did yesterday.
Besides that, they will each visit a hospital. South Carolina will go to Egleston Hospital, while Florida State will go to Scottish Rite Hospital.
Finally, the day will end with a milkshake party. While they're there, the players will compete in a milkshake-making contest, the fourth leg of the Battle for Bowl Week.
Make Sure to Check Back
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I'll be posting a summary of each and every day leading up to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, so make sure you check back to keep up to date.
Until then, leave some comments with your thoughts on the bowl game.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
