USC football coach Steve Spurrier is in the market for an assistant coach for the fifth  straight December. 

Spurrier hired Ellis Johnson as his new defensive coordinator following the 2007 season.  His staff went thru a major makeover after the 2008 season when he hired GA Mangus as quarterbacks coach, Jay Graham as running backs coach, Lorenzo Ward as secondary coach  and Jeep Hunter as tight ends coach. 

In 2009, Spurrier lost offensive line coach Eric Wolford to a head coaching job at Youngstown State.  He replaced him with Shawn Elliott. 

In 2010 defensive assistant, special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator Shane Beamer left for a job on his father’s staff at Virginia Tech.   John Butler was hired to take over as special teams coordinator. 

Now, Spurrier has to find a replacement for  Graham who left Tuesday for the running backs job at his alma mater of Tennessee after three seasons with the  Gamecocks.

One move Spurrier is considering, according to a source, is moving safeties coach Jeep Hunter back to offense where he would coach the running backs and tight ends.  Hunter coached tight ends at USC in his first two seasons before moving to defense this season.  Hunter coached running backs at Memphis.  Under his watch, DeAngelo Williams led the nation in rushing in 2005. 

Former Gamecock and NFL running back Duce Staley, now an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles, is not a candidate for the position because he lacks his college diploma.

Two offensively challenged teams faced up Sunday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum.  And while it wasn’t on the level of  Kentucky-UNC, it was still an exciting finish as USC defeated Clemson 58-55 for its second straight win in the series after six straight losses.

The Gamecocks trailed most of the game after falling behind 17-16 with 10:24 left in the first half.   The Tigers led 35-28 at halftime.  USC did not take the lead in the second half until a basket  by freshman Anthony Gill with 3:28 left made it 49-47.  Clemson tied the game on a Devin Booker layup, but Gill nailed a three with 1:19 left to make it 52-49 USC.

Booker hit a pair of free throws to cut it to one, but then came arguably the biggest basket of the game,  jumper from the wing by Eric Smith that made it 54-51. 

It was 56-53 when Clemson’s Tanner Smith was mugged going up for a three with 7.5 to play.  He made the first one, missed the second and made the third. 

Trailing by one, the Tigers fouled Malik Cooke with 6.7 to play.  Cooke, the Gamecocks leading scoring and a 76% free throw shooter, canned both for a 58-55 lead. 

The Tigers got the ball to Andre Young near mid court but his desperation heave just across the line missed everything.   Clemson made just two baskets over the final nine minutes.  Darrin Horn post Clemson

Clemson earned its spot in the Orange Bowl Saturday night with its victory over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game.  Sunday night the Tigers learned they would face West Virginia January 4th in Fort Lauderdale. 

The Mountaineers were the co-champions of the Big East with a 9-3 record and finished 23rd in the BCS rankings released Sunday night.  Clemson is 15th in the BCS rankings with a 10-3 record. 

 Clemson-West Virginia conference call for Orange Bowl