What South Carolina's coordinators and players said during Citrus Bowl press conference

Just a few days away from playing its final game of the season, South Carolina’s coordinators and two players met with the media on Saturday to preview the Citrus Bowl.

From the offense, offensive coordinator Mike Shula and center Vershon Lee spoke first. Defensive coordinator Clayton White and defensive tackle Boogie Huntley followed them up and spoke for the defense.

Here’s what they all had to say.

Mike Shula

— Thrilled to be here. Playing in late December or January is the goal every year. They’re excited to play in this bowl game.

— They want to put their best foot forward and play their best football.

— It’s been very busy since getting the OC job. Very grateful. It’s very refreshing to be back in college football. That’s something he noticed from one of the first days he was at South Carolina. Got their work cut out for them to try and get this win and send the seniors off with a win.

— He’ll be on the field calling the plays in the bowl game. Jokes Sellers can’t get rid of him that way.

— They want to keep on keeping on with what they’re doing on offense. They want to keep building on what they’ve done all year. All three phases have done a great job this year and the offense wants to do its part.

— It’s probably human nature to judge the RB room as an audition for 2025 with Rocket Sanders not playing. They want everyone to not think, just go out there and play.

— Says the running back room is going to be a little bit by committee for this game. It’ll be a feel thing and talk about who to ride with in between drives.

— They want to be about collecting good football players, especially at the quarterback position. He wants it to get to a point where quarterbacks are a commodity at South Carolina. It’s exciting to have guys on (this is in reference to Air Noland).

— With Brady Hunt being doubtful, each week they have to be ready. It would potentially be a different personnel grouping or other guys stepping in. If they have to tweak personnel, they’ll do that.

Vershon Lee

— Feeling good. No lingering effects from missing yesterday’s practice.

— You get to spend a lot of time and learn a lot about guy. You want to finish on a positive note with your brothers.

— Thought about this last game for a while now. Thought about his last practice coming up. He will start to train for the NFL Draft.

— Him and Boogie Huntley go up against each other day. Appreciates him for all the years they’ve repped against one another. They always try to keep a competitive edge but try to remember they’re brothers on the football field.

— It’s really exciting to go up against a physical team like Illinois. You always pride yourself on physicality. It’s been something the team is really focused in on.

— Remembers everyone during the meeting after the Alabama loss. Everyone felt the same way after that game. They set the plan in motion to be better after that point.

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Clayton White

— It’s always great to be playing football in the state of Florida in the month of December. They have goals to finish out the season strong.

— Wasn’t surprised with how good Illinois was after watching the tape. There’s not really a weak spot at all.

— You want to try and get the best both worlds with recruiting and playing for the bowl game. Shane Beamer tries to make sure that’s the case.

— It’s an honor when one of your older teammates say good things about you, like the veterans did about Fred Johnson last week. Thinks his talents come from his parents. His skill set is going to pay off in the future. He’s one of the top five athletes on the team in his opinion.

— When you’re in the regular season, you don’t get to watch everything. But he knows Luke Altmyer is a really good quarterback. His ability to move around in the pocket is big time. He’s a good player. He’s one of those quarterbacks that he definitely knows who he is now.

— Proud of how his guys attacked this year from January 1 to now. They were able to bring back the nucleus and some new faces and knew they had a chance to have a great year. Being here and being a Gamecock is the most important thing to him after getting the contract extension.

— Thinks those receivers for Illinois are really good. Have to be able to locate them on the field and play smart football to do what they need to do. Mentions they also have a great running game. 

— With Bam Martin-Scott, when the Pavia rule first came about, the NCAA makes it very hard to understand the language unless you can read between the lines or have a professional read it to you. They’re going to fight for another year of eligibility. 

Boogie Huntley

— They all knew what they could be. After that Alabama game, they knew they had to win out. That was the goal.

— Iron sharpens iron. It’s really cool to see Vershon Lee grow as a player and a man. Going to miss it.

— He’s trying his best to not really think about this being his last game. After the game, he’s sure he’ll be feeling it.

— It is personal to be able to represent the place you grew up. Just glad he’s been able to do it and make Columbia happy. It’s sad it’s coming to an end but it’s been an amazing time.

— Says he’s won more battles against Lee over the years — landslide. 

— Has respect for Illinois in general. Have to have the same respect for each team. Nameless, faceless opponent. They’re going to go out there and treat them the same and play hard.

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