The day after
Just got back from Nashville. Talked to a few fans also flying back, who clearly didn’t enjoy the trip as much as they expected.
That loss just sucked the air out of the season for South Carolina. Yes, already, after two games. Oh, the season isn’t over. But at the moment there’s no sense that it’s going anywhere.
The offense is flailing around, lacking any skill position stars. The best player, Kenny McKinley, has a hamstring injury that’s never good for a receiver. The defense showed last night it’s beatable. The special teams had a couple critical lapses. And it sure seems the Gamecocks were out-coached last night, especially after halftime.
How do you feel? After some time of reflection, do you feel any better about the Gamecocks, just as bad, or even worse?
194 Comments to “The day after”
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State newspaper sports writer Seth Emerson blogs on University of South Carolina basketball and baseball.
We need to be more creative on offense. How do we not do slip screens, draws, or sweeps with all the middle blitzes????
On the shotgun, we need to have multiple outlet recievers and get them the ball when there is a blitz.
On defense, we did no type of gap control. There is no swamming to the ball due to fact half the team runs itself out of the play on the snap.
We guess on defense so we will have holes.
The only way we improve is to have been accountablity for each person.
Carolina has had two high-profile coaches, back-to-back, that have built winning programs everywhere they have been (at least in college), and both produced a national championship. The Carolina facilities are certainly adequate enough to attract good athletes. The fan support is fantastic. Carolina gets their share of national TV exposure. The boosters give until it hurts. With all these things in place, I fail to understand why we can’t win. I’m not asking for a national championship team……or even an SEC championship for that matter. I am realistic. Just a team that its fans can see some consistant success with…….7-5, 8-4, beat Clemson every year or so, and a bowl game. Personally, I didn’t expect a season with many loses, and I hope it doesn’t turn out that way. But I’m tired of “the typical Carolina season.” It is time to shake things up. If I ran a business, or invested money the way Carolina plays football, I’d have gone bankrupt long ago. Get Garcia onto the field. He has been highly touted, fussed and discussed! Get some youth, speed, and enthusiasm into the system and see what happens….the offense can’t get much worse…..we hope. Build a team around a kid that, given a chance, might just live up to the hype. Einstein said: “The definition of insanity is constantly doing the same thing the same way, and expecting different results.” Granted, he never coaced in the SEC, but he did have a valid point!
I want to believe that the loss to vandy was just a hiccup and we will work out the kinks in time for georgia but let’s get real!! Our offense is terrible, there is no fire-power at all. I didn’t beleive we truly were a top 25 team after the nc state game and it showed thursday night. We need players that are tough and mean on offense and elusive running backs & receivers. I’m not sold on any of the QBs, they look confused and scared not like a leader. Two weeks ago I was a dreamer, ready to watch my team take over the SEC east but after the first two games I’m now a realist knowing we have some serious problems. I can only hope the team comes together and make a statement but I’ve been saying that since I can remember.
For someone who is deemed as an “offensive genious” our offense absolutely SUCKS !! We seem to run the same 8 or 10 plays over and over . Where are the trick plays, the wrinkles, anything to keep the defense guessing ? Why is J. Hunt still here ? Our OL has been pathetic for 4 years !! The loss to Vandy is totally unacceptable !!!! We had the #1 rated reciever class a couple years ago. Where are these guys at ? Did they all leave school ? I have given and given and given to this program only to be let down once again . I have fallen real hard this time and I still have’nt gotten up . You want to talk about changing the culture here, well lets start with the OL coach . Coach Hunt needs to go NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!! We had the #5 rated Lineman class a couple years ago so I dont want to hear we dont have the talent here. We have size, strength, and depth, we just dont have an OL coach to teach them the correct techniques . I am tired of being “mediocre” . I am tired of losing to chimpson. O Spurrier of old, Where Art Thou ?
I am so disappointed in the Gamecocks. This is the 4th year under Steve Spurrier, the Evil Guiness, the Old Ball Coach, and many more adjectives. So why is offensive line and the QB situation at South Carolina the biggest problems with the team. Spurrier could blame the last 3 years or at least try on bad recruiting by Lou Holtz but no more. The Cock n’ Fire offense is more like a Vienna Sausage n’ Smoke offense. Small and not much to it.
Spurrier was ahead of his time at Florida but the coaches today have learned. Spurrier like Lou Holtz were good in thier day. However they are being passed by.
There is no excuse for back to back beatings by Vandy. Vandy is suppose to be the bottom of the barrel in the SEC. Vandy is suppose to be the bottom dewelers of the SEC. Guess what? Vandy and South Carolina have changed positions. Vandy will end up in the middle of the SEC this year and South Carolina will end up at the bottom. So much for improvement. Going from middle of the pack to bottom of the SEC with the Old Ball Coach as the leader does not make it any better. So what if the Spurrier has brought more TV coverage to the team. If the team performs like crap on national TV it is even harder to take. I agree Hyman needs to start looking at some of the other young coaches out there for next year or be willing to fork over major bucks for someone like Nick Saban or Les Miles. No matter how you slice it, Spurrier’s record at South Carolina is far from great. I can bet Spurrier wishes he never took the job at South Carolina now.
Ughh, another tough loss to what we thought was an average team( Vandy?) Maybe Vandy has it this year! UGA game next week could be a spoiler,but stats say we will lose…. I think its time for another Joe Morrison! A no-name coach to lead us without all the past stigma attached! USC keeps paying the big bucks to has-been coaches that made other teams respected and our team just lingers in mediocrity & we, the fans, keep suffering year end & out! We shouldnt be in the SEC if we cant even make it to the Championship game! It sucks to be a Carolina fan today! Lets see if we turn it around like UGA or Tenn always does….every year after one or two losses…………..doubtful!
To say that I am absolutely let down would be true, to say that I didn’t see this possibly happening would not be.
This is typical of us. When we play teams we seem to match their abilities not use our own. For example in 2006 we barely beat Wofford at home and then went into the Swamp and lost to the National Champs of that year by one point.
I couldn’t read the newspaper or even turn on the television on Friday because I was so upset, but you have to move on.
I hope the team, Coach Spurrier use this as a wake up call to play every game like the championship is one the line.
The season is not over, look at Georgia last year, they lost in their second week (to us, which they probably consider us their Vanderbilt, a lesser opponent in their eyes) and went on to win 9 out of their next 10 games, then on to a BCS bowl.
We’ll get their its just never easy. GO COCKS!
We’ll get there (not their, sorry bad grammar)…
As much as I would like to say FIRE our coach, that would be the WORST thing we could do. All the talk about FIRING the coach only HURTS our recruiting.Their is no excuse for losing to VANDY, no direspect they have a great coach and we will not be thier only SEC win this year. We must get a new OL coach, he has the talent and size to play in the SEC. We need Garcia to come in and start getting game time experience..and start with the younger running backs…Rank has had his chance. We must pull off a UPSET this Saturday against GA to get HOPE for the PLAYERS and FANS. About the NC State game …the FANS were WORST everyone sat on their ASS and hands, we didnot do our part to help the team…worst energy I”ve seen in years…if you can’t yell and support don’t go
We made chicken stew…and it was delicious!
Let the Jim Grobe watch begin!
When is someone finally going to aknowledge that Vanderbilt is in the middle of changing their program around just like every other team in the country is trying to do ? Give them a little credit, it is working! In case nobody has noticed this is not Vandy’s only upset the last couple of years. Come on fans, back your team and pull for another Georgia upset ! Go cocks!!!!!
It surprises me that so many people are willing to give credit to Vanderbilt for this loss. Not to say that Vandy did not play well (they did, and I for one am glad to see their fans get a little relief), but the Gamecocks would have lost to a high school team Thursday night. The penalties and stupid mistakes just killed us. Exactly how low does one’s IQ have to be to get TWO false start penalties? How about TWO interference calls? This is what happens when we lower our admissions standards to the point of allowing imbeciles in just so they can play. How many times has Spurrier made the comment to the press that he is going to have to simplify the offense? It isn’t like these guys just started playing football this summer — they’ve been doing it their whole lives. They SHOULD know better, but they still can’t get it. The reason Vandy adjusted at halftime and we didn’t is because their players have a reasonable level of intelligence which is required for admission to the school. I’m not sure many of our starters could make adjustments in the 15 minutes of halftime. I guess I should be grateful that at least we haven’t had a “not enough men on the line of scrimmage” penalty yet this year. I think the reason that Spurrier has been so big on Beecher as the starting QB is that the kid has a 4.0 GPA.
We need to stop using reform schools like GMI as our recruiting grounds. It is ridiculous to say there aren’t good recruits within the state. The upstate is full of them. Byrnes H.S. was the national pre-season #1 again this year (I believe they were pre-season #2 last year). Vandy’s top player as well as their coach are both from the SC Upstate. Why do you think Clemson can manage to field a decent team year after year? They recruit from THE UPSTATE.
I’m not going to jump on the fire Spurrier bandwagon. IMO, if he can’t win here then who the heck are we going to get that can? I will say that his biggest coaching mistake this week wasn’t the punt on our last possession. His biggest mistake was his failure to follow through on his threat to bench the OL for false starts. He did it for the first one, but then he let the second one go and that player got a second false start. Even the ESPN commentators noted it. That just sent the message not only to our team, but to potential recruits — we don’t mean what we say at SC. And we wonder why we’ve got guys getting arrested all the time? We wonder why they act like no-class brats on the field?
Another coaching mistake — failing to reign in Munnerlyn. While it hasn’t bitten us yet, he is taking ridiculous chances on not calling for a fair catch. Sooner or later he’s going to put one in the end zone for the other team. Not to mention that he is likley to get seriously injured.
On the seat prices, seat licenses, etc. I have one more little tidbit to offer. I ordered to additional sets of tickets this year because of our expanding family. I was only given the option of buying a 4 game book, which included only ONE conference game — the Arkansas game. I guess I never really thought about who would be sitting in those seats for the other games. I just assumed it would be someone who had more seniority. Wrong. I figured it out when I sat in those seats at the NC State game and realized that I was sitting in the visitor’s section of the upper deck. The games that I was denied a ticket to — the big SEC games including Georgia — will have those seats filled by a fan from the OPPOSING SCHOOL. Now I’m sorry, but that just isn’t right. Hyman welcomes my money for the patsy games, but he’d rather have someone dressed in orange or red sitting there for the big games??????
Thanks for listening to my rant. Needed to get all of that off my chest.
You are exactly right Paul! Give Vanderbilt credit. A team that hasn’t had a winning season in how long? A team that hasn’t been to a bowl game in how long? A team that Thursday night beat a ranked team at home for the first time in how many years? A team that is NO threat to win the SEC east! THAT team soundly whipped the Gamecocks in every area….two years in a row. Maybe we can compete for that SEC east title…..next year…..or whenever we can finally get past Vanderbilt. All hail Vanderbilt!
Dear Fellow Cock fans,
This season is over, I mean we lost to Vandy for the second year in a row. Lets fire Spurrier and count our losses. I just hope we dont look like total fools against Clemson like we did last year, but I might just be hoping for too much by saying that.
P.S. GO WOMENS’S EQUESTRIAN
Go Gamecocks!!! Its been a rough 2 days but our family still loves you. Not a great performance but still proud of the garnet and black. Spurrier’s got class. We were essentially beaten by bad breaks and cleverly devised offensive play by Vandy. If the punt bounced another way or interference call goes our way it’s a different outcome. Not the end of the world. If any of the players or coaches of our team happen to read this: HEADS UP, CHEST OUT, PLAY YOUR HEARTS OUT AND LETS SEE WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THE REST OF THE SEASON. Go Cocks!
I thought that Skip Holtz looked quite good today versus West Virginia. It’s funny how winning changes everything. Since we have not been on the winning side in many years its hard to take as a loyal Gamecock fan. I have sat through some tough years (1-10 in 1998, 0-11 in 1999, 5-7 for several years under Lou Holtz) and last years fall as well as our loss to Vandy this year hurts. I thought that Spurrier would light a fire under the Gamecocks but we seem to be going down and not up. We look horrible and I could easily see us falling to 2-9 this year, winless in the SEC, and losing to Clemson again.
I just cant do it anymore…… such an abusive relationship.. shamecocks!
listen here my fellow columbians, seat prices are goin up, ticket prices keep rising, and after coughin up all this money, showin as much support as carolina fans do, the program has shown little improvement… im not sayin i dont believe in spurrier and the other staff, because i do believe, nor am i saying that they cant turn this season around, because they just might, but what i am saying is that our team needs change, whether its a coach here or there, or whether its the gameplan of the coaches, we need change, and fast because if we dont start winning and our players dont hunker down and do what the coaches tell them, push as hard as they can, play each week like a new one, if all that dont happen, coaches are gonna look at usc n go “if lou holtz couldnt win, or steve spurrier couldnt win, den that school is hopeless”, and then soon enough, were gonna be the laughing stock of the sec…. i dont believe that, because im as big a believer that the day of the cocks is comin, but coaches asked for the job are gonna look at history and go i dont wanna coach at a losing school…. we need change, and the team cant do it without the best fans in the nation right here in columbia, so lets get behind the coaches and players all the way, get loud, proud, rough, ready, and kick some sec butt…. GO COCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first clod of dirt just landed on the Spurrier era with that Vandy loss. The King is dead, long live the King!
We have all sat through some tough years……MANY tough years…..the Gamecocks are the Chicago Cubs of major college football. And the reason is because the fans have accepted mediocre results….year after year after year. We continue to make lame excuses for the players and coaches, year after year. We say, a play here or a play there, year after year. We blame things on bad breaks, injuries, clever coaching schemes, and anything we can come up with to cover our lack of success……basically the same things other teams have to deal with. Look at Florida. They win a title in ’96. They have some decent years, but not another title. So the fans raise heck, and Florida fires a coach (Zook) with a winning percentage that Carolina fans would die for….8-5….8-5…..7-4 in three years at Florida. Unfair? Not enough time to recruit and rebuild? Be patient? Wait until next year? Florida has another title (2006), and the Gamecocks can’t get past Vanderbilt. Maybe its time for Carolina fans to have higher expectations, and demand results. Houston Nutt coached at Arkansas for 10 years, and had a winning record nine of those 10 years…..and contended for the SEC title. Ole Miss lost to Wake on a last second field goal today. Ole Miss will be an SEC title contender in a couple of years. They did not win a single conference game last year. Carolina will still be trying to beat Vanderbilt, and coming up with clever excuses. And yes, Skip Holtz coached ECU to their third straight win over a ranked team….a 24-3 butt-whipping over #8 WVU. They pushed WVU all over the field. WVU never had a chance. ECU will be the Carolina to beat pretty soon; USC will STILL be trying to beat Vanderbilt……and making excuses for it. I’m mad, and i’m too old to be patient much longer.
There are no Vanderbilts in the NFL, but there is a Vanderbilt in the SEC.
Bobby Johnson is building something special. USC is the first casualty.
For a university’s Board of Trustees to completely turn its back on academic integrity by running off a great president who wasn’t “rah-rah Gamecocks” enough for them, let’s hope they are happy now! A real academic school beats us for the second year in a row!
First, we went out and hired a washed up, tired old coach (Lou) with a record of leaving football programs in shambles…then the Board hired the most slimey coach in America…since Spurrier arrived the Board turned its backs on blatant criminal behavior in low class football players, pumped millions into “win at any cost” salaries for coaches, and the Board now calls police who arrest star players “Clemson fans.” Come on!
The hypocracy of the Board and their actions are embarassing for us alums. If we are so desperate to aspire to be like the SEC’s bastions of academia…Arkansas or Miss. State…that you allow the Board to prostitute the academic reputation of one of America’s oldest universities, AT LEAST WIN! The nation laughs at our deperate and shameful aspirations for “fame.”
I’d take UNC’s or UVa’s mix of academic/athletic excellence anyday than have gone down the road of ruin chasing SEC fame.
The State of South Carolina doesn’t know nor care what academic excellence is…but, man we they can’t wait until Saturday afternoons in the Fall to act like rednecks. Go Game-Crooks!!!
Archie: Pretty much nailed it on the head. When Carolina can routinely recruit 4 and 5 star athletes on a consistent basis, the whining every year will slow way down. Why? Ask yourself why teams like Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Lsu consistently win 9-10 ball games a year. Because they have 4 and 5 star recruits all over their signing classes EVERY year. They don’t ask “wow, wonder if we will make it to a bowl and have a winning season?” It’s always a question of which bowl will we be in. It’s wasn’t Lou’s or Spurrier’s coaching, it starts with recruiting. It’s like Carolina in baseball. They recruit well and guess what. It’s Regional and Super regionals every year. If you think it doesn’t start with recruiting, you don’t know squat about football.
“Outcoached” That really says it all. Sure, neither Beecher nor Smelly have the physical skills to change the course of offensive play. But from watching Spurrier in 2005/06 through Thursday versus Vandy, it’s obvious that he is discouraged. Is his heart still in the game, with the Gamecocks? We’ll see over the next few games.
When I graduated from USC back in the fall of 95 my dad asked me what I wanted for a graduation present. I said “a Gamecock club membership”. For 10 years my father paid for the club dues, and season tickets. Three years ago I thought (actually I think my dad thought) it was a good idea for me to take over i.e. grow up! Ha. So I took over the payments for dues and tickets. I’ve paid on time, ahead of time, twice in a year, accepted increases and so on. Moral of that story… Boy did I take that gift for granted!
It’s never been a financial burden per se to my dad or me, but it sure is (has always been) hard to justify based on our performance. I try to the best fan I can. I do what I can to support USC in general. I don’t however; make it a practice to invest time, money, and/or emotion in something that’s proven to yield such a low return.
I’ve got a big fat flat screen HD TV and espn gameplan. I’m sure that would pay for itself pretty quickly over the drive to Columbia, sitting in poorly managed traffic, paying for parking (yes I’m a lower level club member – thankfully), buying a cool t-shirt or hat at the store, a couple drinks, and hotdogs, and then driving back with that sick feeling that I just wasted a money, my voice, and most importantly my time!
Come on Gamecock Athletics/football make my investment a worthy one!
This about sums it up.
Question: What are the last words of a gamecock fan before they die?
Answer: Wait until next year.
As a Florida fan, I was worried several years ago when the news reports had UF potentially re-hiring Spurrier before ultimately hiring Urban Meyer. Although I’m not a football expert, I thought simply that Spurrier’s best days as a college coach were behind him and that the college game had evolved beyond him while he was floundering around in the NFL. So, I was not all that worried when Spurrier was hired by USC although his team has beaten the Gators once and has played well against UF. I was much more concerned about Mark Richt at UGA re-building that program into a power, which he promptly did after years of Florida dominating Georgia. While I’ll always respect what Spurrier did for UF in elevating the program into a national contender in the 90s, I just don’t think he has that trick up his sleeve anymore for USC. So, to respond to all those t-shirts I see at the USC-UF game each year: Got Spurrier? Nope. You do. Keep him.
We need to look at hiring Bobby Johnson as our next coach. I think this year will turn around (to a certain extent) but Steve Spurrier is no longer an offensive genius. He has lost his creativity and his snide remarks with no results are starting to get to me. Bobby Johnson is from South Carolina, hell he grew working at a concession stand at Williams-Brice Stadium. He also has coached in SC. He knows the high schools in the state quite well. If he can create a team at Vandy he can do it much better at USC. HIRE BOBBOY JOHNSON!!!
I have been a faithful Gamecock fan for 50 years, and I still am, but I finally realize we may never get over the hump of mediocrity! How a major college football program can accumulate such a group of untalented offensive linemen [or is it the coaching] is beyond me. During the first two games I kept backing up my DVR and watched as our offense line was constantly shredded. And these are guys who have played 3 or 4 years. FIRE THE OFFENSIVE LINE COACH!!!! Also, I keep reading about these outstanding receivers we have recruited, but only two of then can catch a football. How in the hell did they catch any while in high school?? I thought I had died and gone to heaven when we hired Steve Spurrier, but I don’t see any fire in his eye and his coaching leaves a lot to be desired. Good teams in our position would come back mad as hell after a loss like Vandy and whip the next opponent regardless of who they were. I don’t see that quality in our team or coaching staff. I predict we will be very, very lucky to win six games, most likely five is the best we can do. What else is there to say!
Four years ago I thought, at the end of the 2008 season, Clemson and South Carolina would be battling over who’s going to the national championship bowl game – the ACC Champ or the SEC Champ.
Instead, at the end of the 2008 season, Clemson and South Carolina will be battling over…
who’s going to get Skip Holtz?!
Yikes!!!
Throughout the years of being a Gamecock I have never seen nor heard as much negativity from our fans as I have lately. We had an ugly win at NC State and a loss to Vandy. The only problem I have seen in either game is excessive mental mistakes which can be corrected. I want this team to win as much as anyone, but how are we supporting them by this destructive attitude. Quiters breed quiters.
This team will succeed. They will go to a bowl game. They will make a run at the SEC East. But only with the fans can they achieve this. Why cant we fill the stadium at the spring game? Why do we leave early when it seems we are sure to lose? Why blame coaches and players when we dont show the support that we should? When the stands are full of screaming fans at every game and they remain that way till all zeros in the 4th quarter, then we can start complaining if we lose. Until then, we all can keep the same illusional expectations we have come to know for years. Dont give the other teams the satisfaction of our discontent. Let the country know that we have the most powerful fan base in college athletics.
I decided to quit being a fan of this team not long ago. It was hard after 35+ years but I can’t stand it anymore. I am going to start “Gamecocks Anonamous” for all recovering fans.
I relapsed last Thursday and watched some of the game and was reminded why. My favorite part of the game was at the end when our players congradulated the Vandy players with their heads held high and laughing and smiling like they could care less. Those guys have no pride or heart. It’s the players and the culture not the coach. Spurrier knows how to coach but he is so focused on the QB position he has forgotten to teach the players what it feels like to win. How to play with pride. That losing is bad.
Hiring a new coach will do nothing. Spurrier found a way to win with crap teams before but nothing can help USC. My suggestion is to yank the scholarships out from under the gutless players and shut down the program entirely for 3 or 4 years and start over to create a new culture of pride and winning.
I have read the posts and can’t believe some of the comments about the SC football program. It certainly appears to be on the right track and is attracting a large number of good recruits. Keep in mind that SC is competing with all of the SEC schools and the tops in the ACC so it will always be a struggle. I am GA fan and supporter and each and every year KNOW that the date with the Gamecocks can make or break our season. SC always plays GA tough and I am sure they will again next Saturday. SC will right the ship and have a winning season, I just hope the winning does not start till AFTER the Georgia game!
Wow, I am just as disappointed as the next Cock fan, but really people. Yeah Spurrier has been here for 4 years and so on but come on, this is South Carolina. He has just now surrounded himself with a decent coaching staff since he has been here. All we are lacking is a leader on the offense and he cannot create that!! Our defense is awesome and yes they tired out against Vandy, but look at the points other teams are scoring against Georgia, Tennessee, and Auburn…… we have to find that leader on offense and as soon as we do, we wont look back!!! Cut Spurrier some slack, he will only call the plays that he thinks our team can execute! Obviously we dont have a STARTING QB that can throw the ball more than 10 yards and be acurate. Put Garcia in and dont look back. Our quarterbacks are making our WHOLE OFFENSE look bad.
The Gamecocks don’t deserve fan support anymore…I say no one show up at any more games until these guys start playing like they give a rip…
I have been a gamecock fan for over 55 years and have seen this happen over and over again. Remember in the late 80′s when we were ranked in the top ten and Georgia Tech had not won a division 1 gave in two years. We lost badly and were whipped on both sides of the ball.
We were out coached and out played in the Vanderbilt game. When I woke up Friday morning, I thought that it had been a bad dream.
Please remember it is not the end of the season. We, knowing Carolina football, can still beat Georgia and go on to have a sucessful season.
Please wait and try to give Steve and the team a chance and your support. I can agree with a lot that has been said but do not underestimate Steve Supprier, he is a winner.
To the wining Gamecock fans: watch years 98-99… 1 win in 2 years. We weren’t just losing, we were getting pounded week by week. We have played in 4 bowls since 2000 (3-1 record). Go before 2000…..1 bowl game in the 90s (Carquest, win vs WVU 24-21) and 2 years with just 1 win. The 80′s… 4 bowls…4 losses.
Things are better people. Stop complaining and for those Gamecock fans giving up…get the hell out! It doesn’t help when the Gamecocks websites post your downer, life draining attitude…players read this kind of stuff. We are asking players to play a full game and a full season and some of you quit after the 2nd game. We have 10 GAMES LEFT!!
Our players need to bounce back. The coaches and the team don’t need to hear the fans crying like babies. The talent level and coaches are noticeably better this year than ever. The thing this team is lacking is INTENSITY on both sides of the ball for a complete game! New rule for offense…run to the ball and celebrate with your teammates after every play. This team walks around too much and the O-line has no life whatsoever. Jamon is coming back and that should help.
Those of you who are just down BUT NOT QUITTING on the team, just remember that all Spurrier needs is 1 big year. We went 8-5 (decent), beat Clemson and Houston in the bowl game and we had the #4 recruiting class. Imagine when Spurrier has a 9-10 win season…
Every year the gamecocks have the same issues. As I said before, as long as that confederate flag is on the State House Grounds, you will never get any quality recruits in.
I was born and raised in SC, and graduated from college there. I have not lived in SC since finishing school and leaving for a career in the Army, but have remained a loyal Gamecocks fan. I have lived in Texas the past 16 years. Texas has a lot of schools…one recently won the BCS championship…..and they don’t seem to have any issues recruiting. And Texas flies the “Confederate” flag all over the state! If you come into Texas from any interstate, you will see the confederate flag flying at the welcome station. You will see it at the statehouse, state museums, and dozens of other state and government offices. Texas just refuses to let an issue of historical ignorance about a flag, and the politics that come with it, bleed over into everything in life. There are more important concerns.
Everybody seems to think that all this fuss is about ONE loss to Vanderbilt. The loss Thursday night was just another example of Carolina’s attitude. I was at the Independence Bowl in 2005 and personally witnessed the team Quit in the second half……just flat quit playing. And I flew to SC last year to watch them fail to show up against Vanderbilt. All these comments from the fans are not “whining”…they are concerns about a football team at a major university that has everything in place for success, but year after year is mediocre, at best. It is about years of frustration, not one game. If Carolina can’t recruit the athletes, and play at the level necessary to compete in the SEC, maybe they should get into a conference where they can have success. Or maybe everybody should just stop expecting improvement, keep making lame excuses, be satisfied with a mediocre team year in and year out, and go on about their business.
Thank goodness we won’t get our hopes up about winning the SEC East, just to be dissapointed again. 2007 was gut-wrenching and emotionally draining, watching another “what could have been” slip away. Look at it like this: everything positive that can / will happen in 2008, is now gravy. (Note: way to go, Skip Holtz!)
Take the red shirt off of everybody and find out who can play.
Offensively, let us please see a littel razzle dazzle or die trying. Can anybody throw the ball 60 yards? I am 44 and still can. For gosh sakes a smidge of creativity.
Long-time Kentucky (and SEC) football fan here–sorry about your loss fans, but it could be worse. Talk about suffering through hard times, some years I wondered why UK even bothered having a football team and felt so bad for the players. I won’t forget Steve Spurrier running, running, running up the score on us. Didn’t bother him a bit and it was like he had contempt for us because we were so bad. So I thoroughly enjoyed watching him lose. I just wonder what it will take to humble that man. Give Vanderbilt credit and Kentucky, too, because this is your year to lose to both of us, and neither Vandy or Kentucky are going away any time soon. Our in state and out of state recruiting has made great strides since Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips have been here. Thank you, South Carolina players who come to Kentucky and are helping make our program better. We love ya!
Bobby Bentley…..