Outback still high on USC. Are you?
Just spoke with Outback Bowl president Jim McVay, who called me back after taking a call from the SEC office.
Despite their two-game slide, McVay has not cooled on the Gamecocks.
“It was a tough game on Saturday. … That’s football,” McVay said. “Does that impact our thoughts about South Carolina? Not at all.”
McVay would not confirm that the Gamecocks are Tampa-bound, saying LSU is also in the mix. But given the Outback’s history of taking SEC East teams, I’m betting the Gamecocks will be gearing up to stop Iowa tailback Shonn Greene on New Year’s Day morning in Tampa.
But McVay was curious whether USC fans had cooled on the Gamecocks following the 50-point dismantling by Florida and 17-loss to Clemson.
So I’ll put the question on the floor: How willing would you be to load up the minivan [nonparents can insert cooler mode of transportation here] and head to Tampa to watch the Gamecocks try to win their Outback Bowl trophy?
And if you would go, how long would you stay?
126 Comments to “Outback still high on USC. Are you?”
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USC football beat writer Joe Person has covered the Gamecocks since the start of the 2002 season. He's been on the college football beat since 1993. 
We averaged 80,000 fans at our stadium during an 0-11 season.
What other info does the Outback Bowl need?
I will watch on tv. I wish Spurrier would hire Steve Taneyhill and Duce Staley. Two Gamecocks who cared about winning and beating Clemson.
We need somebody on the coaching staff with a pulse. Another reason Clemson beats us on a regular basis: They keep their players all four years. They want to come back for their senior year (c.j. spiller, James Davis, Aaron Kelley, Gaines Adams, etc…. They are a tight knit family.
At USC, our players can’t wait to leave early for the money.( Ko Simpson, Sidney Rice, Emmanuel Cook, Jared Cook, Captain Munnerlyn, Jonathan Joseph, Troy Williamson, etc….. We are always a young team and Clemson is always a veteran team. That is why Clemson dominates us.
I’ve been a gamecock fan for 30 years but no more. I’m so sick of loseing due to their” lack of effort”that I will never watch or support them again. I’m going to support a team that wants to be a winner!!
GO GATORS, BULLDOGS, CRIMSON TIDE or any other team that refuses to lose without a fight!!!
y is everyone donw on da cocks yea wen da defense wuz doin good everbody is 4 them now that they got exposed no one wants 2 b fan. people n south carolina dont really kno football unless u watch it alot. they o well da team aint playin they r everybody has a weakness & tha gamecocks defense wuz exposed against florida & clemson used it 2 their advantage… the defense cant defend very fast backs espcially wen u running misdirection plays ie..florida vandy & clemson those team put more speed on da field it like if u cant beat em at one thing try another cuz south carloina is 2 physical & big 2 jus run over brutal attack them u have 2 beat them wit speed & finess but sumone like iowa then handle lil bit better.. go cocks…
After Saturday and like Steve H I was ready to swear off USC football….and strongly considered it….but for goodness sakes, what am I going to do, pull for Clemson?
I could be like the Holtz/Spurrier bandwagon fans and jump on a school as the team du jour, maybe since I am in NC (NC State maybe…..?) and climb back on when it looks like the Cocks are coming around….but then….
I attended USC and that is what I am-a Gamecock; no matter how inept, stupid and greedy the current AD (and we’ve sen plenty of them) and his minions seem; and no matter how bad I think our play was Saturday-for whatever reason; no matter how much I may envy other teams success…d*** it, I’m a Gamecock.
I may cut back in other ways-after 20 years I may not rejoin the GCC and honor my YES, and just buy tickets outside WB. Goodness knows, there are plenty.
That being said, I will not be able to go to Tampa. In years past I have said I would if we got to a bowl, and this would be a great one. Irony is, I have had to spend much of this year traveling to….Iowa….because of family matters and the floods on the Mississippi, so the travel and leisure budget is tapped out. Iowa is our possible opponent in Outback.
In fact, I stopped in Iowa City, home of the Hawkeyes in August, less than a week before traveling from Raleigh to the NC State game. I visited the UI Hall of Fame. I love the state of Iowa. It would be very neat to play them. But I won’t be able to go-for reasons unrelated to the play of the Gamecocks.
So send that invitation!
You gotta be tough to be a Gamecock fan!
Been there,done that, twice.
Had fun with family and friends. Good short vacation in Tampa, and we won the gamesas well. But, enough is enough, and given the lack of desire and fire shown by the gamecocks at Clemson. I would rather undergo a colonoscopy than risk another Gamecock debacle at the hands of some other mediocre team. Maybe next year!!(how many times have we said that?)
If we do anything over the holidays like that, we would rather go to New Orleans to watch the Panthers.
Spoiled much? How many bowl victories does USC have in 100 years or so of football? They have a chance to do something that Carolina has only done a handful of times and the fans are wavering on attending? Cry all you want but before Spurrier the program was garbage. Everyone sets their expectations so high that anything less is this huge loss. Maybe if we spent less time worrying about what the kitty paws are doing and more time looking at how far this team has come we could change the bad karma surrounding the Cocks. Get off the bandwagon now and don’t get back on when things go well.
Bob in Columbia Says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 3:05 am
I’ve been a gamecock fan for 30 years but no more. I’m so sick of loseing due to their” lack of effort”that I will never watch or support them again. I’m going to support a team that wants to be a winner!!
GO GATORS, BULLDOGS, CRIMSON TIDE or any other team that refuses to lose without a fight!!!
SEE YA LOSER!!!!!!!
WHat a wimp!!!
Jane Says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
We have cancelled our hotel reservations. We are not going to drive that far to watch a team that does not want to win.
I have been to the two previous Outback bowls and enjoyed them tremendously.
It was very disheartening to watch Spurrier be out coached by a 4-game head coach.
Oh boo hoo….we will miss u….NOT!!!!
Already have a room and plane ticket for Tampa…..meeting a couple of buddies down there for 3 days. Don’t let me down Mr. McVay!
I’ve supported the Gamecocks in bowls in Tampa, Shreveport and Memphis…and had a great time everytime. Sure it is more fun when they win….but everyone of those games was a great game to watch.
Yes..I am very disappointed with the last two games…but Florida is great and will win the National Championship…and Clemson…well we just stunk and that hurts….but we beat the team going to the Cotton Bowl and if you asked me at the beginning of the season if I would take 7-5 and the Outback Bowl…I would have said “Absolutely!”
Read my lips: NO WAY would I spend one more hard-earned dollar following this club! They so disappointed so many Gamecock supporters by their putrid performance at Clemson, that I will not bother watching this made-for-TV-money-grabbing-event. This team does not belong in a bowl game. They have not earned it. It’s not what happened in Florida; it’s what DIDN’T happen in Clemson. I have had it! An 8-4 club is far different than a 7-5 team! And a loss to Clemson at this stage is just un-acceptable. And for those that label me a fair weather fan, KMA! To AD Hyman: want to do something that will make you a legend in athletic annals? GET US BACK INTO THE ACC WHERE WE RIGHTLY BELONG!!!! Geraldo
I’ve been a gamecock fan for 30 years but no more. I’m so sick of loseing due to their” lack of effort”that I will never watch or support them again. I’m going to support a team that wants to be a winner!!
GO GATORS, BULLDOGS, CRIMSON TIDE or any other team that refuses to lose without a fight!!!
I completely agree. When are you people going to wake up and realize that our program is painfully mediocre. I am so tired of false hope and people being “optimistic fans”. Be real and wake up. We are bad and the head ball coach obviously is not our answer.
Joe,
I am still on the fence. If I do go I will not spend much time in Tampa. Over the last 30 years I have spend a lot of time and money following the Gamecocks all over the place. For the first time I am consdering not going. The effort the past two weeks has been very dissappointing.
SS4L
I decided not to go to Outback bowl b/c the team has played so poorly the last two weeks. Is it a combination of players already thinking about the combines? Spurrier sticking with Smelley(Smelley what happened to you after Ole Miss)? An outdated offense? Players that no longer have the will after Florida?
I just need some encouragement from Spurrier that he is actually going to stick with Garcia, light a fire in our gamecocks, and act like he really, really, wants to win this bowl….i haven’t seen enough of that.
And i am very dedicated and loyal to USC like most of us but it is a lot of money to spend for a team that looks like they don’t have the heart to play anymore.
Does anyone on campus have any inside news on hour players and coaches feel now?
I’ve seen many a year I wish the Cocks had been 7-5 and going to a bowl and especially a warm city like Tampa. If this is bad, try sitting at home after going 0-11 and see how ya feel.
theres absolutley no way in hell that i am traveling anywhere to watch this lame team play anything.
im tired of willingly coughing up money for rising tickets and parking, to watch a mediocre team at best that doesnt really wanna play. im tired of the 7-5 seasons. something has to give and from now on its not coming out of my wallet. ill watch at home with all the other disappointed fans. who wants to watch that terrible offense anyway. garcia hasnt done anything for this team and i dont anticipate him to do much anyways. i dont think carolina will pull it off in a bowl situation this year either. THEY QUIT BEFORE FLORIDA!!!!
thanks, but outback can keep their bid….gamecocks dont deserve to go anywhere this year AGAIN
No way does a team that finished with only 7 wins and went like 0 fer November have any business playing an 8-9 win Big 10 team in a Bowl….. or does it?
Perhaps history might provide the answer:
(Dateline Jan 1, 2001)
The Gamecocks dropped their final three regular-season games to Tennessee, Florida and Clemson to finish with 7 wins and tumble out of the Top 25, but arrived in Tampa brimming with confidence that they could play with #18 Ohio State.
Final Score USC 24 #18 tOSU 7
I’ll be there having purchased airline tickets and making hotel reservations after the Arky win when the bowl bid was cinched.
Go Cocks.
If you sat down to watch the Florida-USC and expected anything other than a blowout then you’re so optimistic you’re borderline crazy. I was just praying they’d be able to keep within a score or two but was not surprised to find the deficit growing and growing.
Clemson, meh, we beat ourselves AS USUAL. Why the hell do you leave Smelley in QB after 3 interceptions in the first half? He’s obviously not on target so try someone else, say screw it and throw Beecher in there.. not like you could do much worse, as the second half showed.
We went 7-5, and have done much worse, so it’s a W season in my opinion, and that’s 7-5 in the SEC… the most cut-throat, rough and tumble conference in the nation. 7-5 here is like 9-3 in any other NERF ball conference. So to all you saying our boys didn’t earn it, suit up and face a Georgia line, or try and stop a Florida run, then come and talk to me about what has or has not been earned.
None of that is what would put me off for a trip to Tampa, I’m a die-hard Gamecock and SC has some of the most hardcore fans in the nation, We gotta be to stay with the Cocks (like Warren said, 80K fans in a 0-11 season.. come the heck on people). You’re not a Gamecock fan because you like winning, you’re a Gamecock cause of pride and a desire to see the underdog come out on top just one more time. Anyone can root for the Gators when they’re at an almost perfect season, anyone can yell GO TIDE during a no loss run… but pride in you state and the school wearing its name even when they don’t give you perfection is what you should be here for, and that’s why I’m a true Gamecock.
What would put me off would be inflated ticket prices, the gasoline fluctuations, parking, hotel and all with the after Christmas fundage lacking when I’m a poor 20 something already. Send them to Atlanta and I’ll do my best to be in the stands, even opening my wallet a bit more.
Let’s go you South Carolina Gamecocks! Fight! Win! Kick Ass!
We’d definitely go and stay for at least 3 nights. Love Tampa and can’t wait to go to another bowl game (not exactly used to having that opportunity every year, but like the recent trend).
Some thing high on our list to do in Tampa Bay:
1. Dinner at Roy’s
2. Catch a sunset at The Hurricane at St Pete Beach (with mudslides and grouper sandwichs)
3. Kojack’s Ribs
4. Pizza at Lenny & Vinny’s
5. Breakfast at the Hillstown Diner
6. Dinner at Charlie’s Steak House (Great seafood too)
7. Pressed Cuban’s at the Silver Ring
8. Bar Hop Ybor City
9. Busch Gardens
10. Cold beer and oysters at PJ’s (Indian Rocks Beach)
Hope we do in deed catch a break and land at the Outback Bowl. Would love to see a match up vs. a Big 10 team and see a well prepared team take it to them. A January morning in Tampa beats the heck out of a December night in Tennessee…
We are planning to go even though we have reservations on the way
the Gamecocks have played in the last two games. Three in our family
plan to attend if nothing else negative happens between now and the
ticket deadline. Go-Gamecocks!
Been to all SEC away games except for Miss State/Arkansas. They will be next. Ill be at our bowl game weather its Tampa/Atlanta..I wish we could play Hawaii..it would give me a good reason to go back. The ones here that say they wont be going to the bowl game because of whatever reason…I would hate to go to war with you because I know I’d be on my own…some people fold and then cry…for me..its going to be FUN and I cant wait…GO COCKS
The recent team meeting sounds like a good thing with maybe some leadership showing up. I was feeling pretty bad about the team performance, especially at that upstate school. No one plays a good game when they are tight and afraid of making mistakes.
Just go and play the game as well as you are able. If we can’t be happy with that, it’s our problem.
Enough with the whining….let’s go to Tampa and play football! We are Gamecock fans and should be used to late season slides, 7-5 and 6-6 seasons, and sometimes inept offenses/defenses/decision-making. It’s in our DNA! Our football program is barely over .500 ALL TIME. What needs to be fixed will be fixed. Coach will turn this around. So let’s get behind the team and go to the Outback. As for myself; me and 7 others are going to attend, and stay 5 days.
If Smelly travels with the team to Tampa, we will be better off watching it on TV…….
Hell yeah! Since I am a student it should be no surprise that plans are already made for New Years in Tampa with a group of friends for a nice vacation before school starts. I don’t care if they are 1st or last in the nation, I am always up for Gamecock football!
I will follow my team anywhere they may go. We still have to gel as a team. We need to believe in each other and fight hard for 60 minutes of football every game. Never underestimate any opponent!