South Carolina fans should not be happy with the win against Southern Mississippi. I know Gamecocks' fans have been waiting to see Stephen Garcia live up to his expectations since 2007. With Steve Spurrier calling him out and knowing that there is competition at his position, with the acquisition of freshman quarterback Collin Shaw, we saw a level of maturity not seen before by Garcia. He looked confident, well-prepared and tough with few runs where he looked like Tim Tebow, bowling over defenders.
Garcia has arrived but please temper your expectations for the Gamecocks. Spurrier hasn’t had a prolific offense since taking over at the helm; the glory days of his Florida teams are a distant memory now. It baffles me how an offensive-mastermind cannot get his offense clicking and cannot find a quarterback to lead him to the big dance.
One must look at their competition in this Thursday night beatdown. By all accounts it’s Southern Mississippi, a Conference USA team that because of its tradition and location cannot get the elite players that Auburn,Mississippi State,and Ole Miss gets instate; it's not there fault, its the luck of the draw. You don’t hear kids saying they rather go to Southern Miss. over any SEC team. Why would they pass up the opportunity to play in the SEC conference? The SEC is the heavyweight champion of college football: a gazillion dollar television deal, superior talent, guaranteed a first look for the NFL draft over other conferences, and excellent coaching.
Everyone knows that Conference USA is no ACC, Big East, Pac 10, etc. However who would of known that Southern Miss. are two-time Division II national champions (1958 and 1962), 7-time conference champions, and they sport 65 consecutive winning seasons. But on the flip side of that, Southern Miss. was 80th in total defense (giving up an average of 392.46 per game, last season) and their pass defense was 109th in the nation (giving up an average of 261.62 yards through the air) of out of 120 teams. So even though, South Carolina hung 41 points on them, I'm sure Alabama, Florida, Arkansas would have done the same and many other teams from BCS conferences as well.
I’m not buying the resurgence of the Gamecocks offense and you should not too. I want to see them against Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas and Tennessee. All that matters to me is how they do in their conference games and this will be the true test for Garcia and this offense. Let’s not worry about the defense because they are usually a stingy bunch. If you want to jump on the bandwagon then so be it, history says it all: Spurrier only has one eight-win season in his five years at South Carolina. If the Gamecocks get nine or ten wins, I will give them their due but now I’m not impressed, move on people.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
South Carolina gives Southern Mississippi a beatdown, 41-13
South Carolina fans should not be happy with the win against Southern Mississippi. I know Gamecocks' fans have been waiting to see Stephen Garcia live up to his expectations since 2007. With Steve Spurrier calling him out and knowing that there is competition at his position, with the acquisition of freshman quarterback Collin Shaw, we saw a level of maturity not seen before by Garcia. He looked confident, well-prepared and tough with few runs where he looked like Tim Tebow, bowling over defenders.
Garcia has arrived but please temper your expectations for the Gamecocks. Spurrier hasn’t had a prolific offense since taking over at the helm; the glory days of his Florida teams are a distant memory now. It baffles me how an offensive-mastermind cannot get his offense clicking and cannot find a quarterback to lead him to the big dance.
One must look at their competition in this Thursday night beatdown. By all accounts it’s Southern Mississippi, a Conference USA team that because of its tradition and location cannot get the elite players that Auburn,Mississippi State,and Ole Miss gets instate; it's not there fault, its the luck of the draw. You don’t hear kids saying they rather go to Southern Miss. over any SEC team. Why would they pass up the opportunity to play in the SEC conference? The SEC is the heavyweight champion of college football: a gazillion dollar television deal, superior talent, guaranteed a first look for the NFL draft over other conferences, and excellent coaching.
Everyone knows that Conference USA is no ACC, Big East, Pac 10, etc. However who would of known that Southern Miss. are two-time Division II national champions (1958 and 1962), 7-time conference champions, and they sport 65 consecutive winning seasons. But on the flip side of that, Southern Miss. was 80th in total defense (giving up an average of 392.46 per game, last season) and their pass defense was 109th in the nation (giving up an average of 261.62 yards through the air) of out of 120 teams. So even though, South Carolina hung 41 points on them, I'm sure Alabama, Florida, Arkansas would have done the same and many other teams from BCS conferences as well.
I’m not buying the resurgence of the Gamecocks offense and you should not too. I want to see them against Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas and Tennessee. All that matters to me is how they do in their conference games and this will be the true test for Garcia and this offense. Let’s not worry about the defense because they are usually a stingy bunch. If you want to jump on the bandwagon then so be it, history says it all: Spurrier only has one eight-win season in his five years at South Carolina. If the Gamecocks get nine or ten wins, I will give them their due but now I’m not impressed, move on people.
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