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Associated Press

South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley looks for an open receiver against Vanderbilt on Sept. 4 in Nashville, Tenn. Smelley has secured his role as the Gamecocks’ starting quarterback with his three-touchdown performance in the team’s win over Mississippi last Saturday.

COLUMBIA — It’s a phrase that hasn’t been part of the South Carolina football lingo in quite some time, but it’s one everyone has been very glad to hear this week – “He’s our starter.”

That was USC coach Steve Spurrier’s assertion for quarterback Chris Smelley following his performance against Ole Miss last week.

“Chris had a good game. He had a good game. He did not have a super game. We had some bad plays here and there that hopefully he can correct and play better,” Spurrier said. “But he did make a lot of good throws here and there, and our receivers caught everything.”

That good game came with 327 yards and three touchdowns and helped Smelley earned the honor of SEC Offensive Player of the Week following the team’s 31-24 win. The 327 yards on 22-of-32 passing set a career best for Smelley and helped him earn his seventh career win as a starter.

Despite the performance, it’s an honor Smelley refuses to let go to his head.

“That was pretty cool. It’s kind of surprising, you know, I wasn’t expecting to be honored with any kind of award or anything like that,” Smelley said. “So yeah, take it and move on and hopefully get better this week.”

While the quarterback position has been a hot button topic in Columbia for weeks, the performance did not totally silence the most important critic of the position – Spurrier.

“He had some errant plays there that we need to correct. And we need to audible a little

bit more,” Spurrier said. “I think we only changed about two plays there, and it wasn't that loud at Ole Miss last week. So we're working hard, and we've still got a ways to go. So I think we all know that.”

Though his performance could get better, according to Spurrier, the coach was willing to admit it is a relief to have the situation stable for now.

“It's helpful if you have one quarterback, and everybody knows who's gonna be your quarterback,” Spurrier said. “Chris is our starting quarterback, he certainly could and

hopefully goes the distance.”

With his starting job safe, Smelley’s focus has remained on taking Spurrier’s advice and improving his game so he can remain atop the depth chart.

“We’ve had three good days of practice and getting our game plan together and getting ready to go. So, (we’re) looking forward to going out there and executing against Kentucky,” Smelley said. “Practicing like I’ve been practicing, hopefully it will translate on the field.”

With the Gamecocks going against one of the nation’s best defenses in Kentucky this weekend, Spurrier’s biggest hope is that Smelley will be able to put together another complete game. In his career as a starter, Smelley has only been able to put together one set of back-to-back 250-yard games, those came against Mississippi State and Kentucky last season.

The junior did have three straight 200-yard games earlier this season against Vanderbilt (233), Georgia (271) and Wofford (204).

That’s a streak Spurrier hopes his quarterback can start anew.

“Chris has not put together back-to-back really super games yet. And we'll see what happens this week. Hopefully, he will,” Spurrier said.