Smelley earns SEC praise

COLUMBIA — The SEC's league office was pretty impressed by South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley's career day at Ole Miss.

His head coach? Not quite as enthusiastic.

"That was nice he was named the SEC offensive player of the week," Steve Spurrier said of Smelley. "He had a good game. He had a few careless plays that we can hopefully get rid of. They didn't wind up hurting us. We had several careless plays by linemen and some people. We fortunately had some good breaks."

He's mentioned a couple of times Smelley's first-down interception in Ole Miss territory in the third quarter. Spurrier's also talked about a couple of overthrows and one errant throw near the goal line late in the game.

On Sunday, all told, Smelley's day was classified by Spurrier as "good."

"When he eliminates those careless plays I'll say he had a great game," Spurrier said. "He had a good game."

Still, not bad for a guy who wasn't named the starter until Thursday.

The sophomore finished 22-for-33 for a career-high 327 yards and three touchdowns, tying a career high.

Some of the credit for Smelley's afternoon surely belongs with the receivers. In particular, Kenny McKinley in his return from a hamstring injury and Jason Barnes as he continues to emerge.

McKinley had a big 24-yard catch to set up the Gamecocks' final score. Barnes caught seven passes, including two for touchdowns.

Tight end Jared Cook also had a 63-yard catch to set up Barnes' first score.

"The guys caught it and ran with it a long way. He hit a few balls down the field," Spurrier said. "He had a good game. Hopefully, he'll have a better game this week."

And at least there are no quarterback questions this week. Smelley will start Saturday at Kentucky. He could the rest of the year, Spurrier said.

"We thought he was our best quarterback and we still think he is," Spurrier said. "I think he can go the distance all the way through. We've got to get (Stephen) Garcia ready in case he gets hurt. You never know what's going to happen."

Not so special

Despite the win, Saturday wasn't a special teams dream for units coach Ray Rychleski.

Spencer Lanning had a 9-yard punt. Chris Culliver fumbled the second-half kickoff return, but it was recovered by Gerrod Sinclair.

Ryan Succop hit 1 of 2 kicks, missing from 38 yards. It was the senior's first miss since the Sept. 4 Vanderbilt game.

"It was below average," Rychleski said. "Our expectations are higher than what happened Saturday. We didn't help our team win that game."

Rychleski said the units hit four of 11 special teams goals, unlike the 100 percent success rate in the UAB win.

Still waiting

SEC and TV officials are still trying to determine what to do with the Oct. 18 conference games, including LSU's trip to Columbia. They plan to decide today, league and USC officials said.

The other games still being determined are Ole Miss at Alabama and Vanderbilt at Georgia.

The three games will be divvied to the 12:30 p.m. Raycom game, the 3:30 p.m. CBS game and the 7:45 p.m. ESPN start.

Bluegrass praise

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks took note of USC's win in Oxford, its first SEC victory in a year.

"We're looking at a South Carolina team that looked like they got their act together last week, unfortunately for us," said Brooks, who, like Spurrier, didn't have a joyful stop in the NFL. "They had their best game on the road against the team that had beaten Florida the week before. They got some things going."

Extra points

Rychleski said he's hopeful to have Cook (foot) back by Wednesday. Spurrier said he fully expects Cook to play at Kentucky. ... Spurrier said USC ran more spread formations against Ole Miss to keep the team's tight ends from having to block as much. ... Monday night, Spurrier didn't want to talk until freshman DB Akeem Auguste had a chance to. He said Auguste, who made a big hit to break up a pass against the Rebels, deserved "some pub." Spurrier said Auguste is close to cracking the starting lineup.