South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier just won't leave last week alone. Days before his team is to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs, he says that LSU tried to punish Gamecock players with helmet-to-helmet hits by LSU blockers on a punt return Saturday in the Tigers’ 28-16 victory against the Gamecocks.
“There was no helmet-to-helmet contact,” LSU coach Les Miles said Wednesday during a Southeastern Conference teleconference.
But Spurrier saw it differently.
“You guys need to go watch the tape,” Spurrier told reporters.
NCAA rules prohibit “spearing,” the use of a helmet to butt or ram an opponent in an attempt to punish him.
“No,” Spurrier said after his a reporteer asked him if he thought LSU played dirty. “LSU, I thought, played fair. There’s no problems except for that one punt return when they had a few clips there, but anyway … .”
The play in question was when an illegal block in the back against LSU negated Mitchell’s 78-yard punt return into the end zone midway through the second quarter.
“They had a couple of helmet-to-helmet hits on that punt return,” Spurrier said in his initial response. “They had about five (penalties) on that one.”
A handful of penalty flags littered the field during Mitchell’s return.
ANOTHER PLAY SPURRIER DIDN'T LIKE:
