Before we get to the game preview, let’s just have a little background, shall we?

Up until last year, I had no beef with Auburn. They weren’t really even on my radar, and they pretty much never crossed my mind. Sure, we’ve only beaten them once, and that was almost 80 years ago, but still. They weren’t really a concern.

Let's all be glad we won't be seeing him on the sidelines at Williams-Brice tomorrow.

Then a fellow by the name of Cam Newton came along. In case you lived under a rock and missed all of what happened with Cammy Cam (his self-created “nickname”), here you go: Cam went to Florida, made some bad choices (read: theft and academic cheating), and left Florida before he could get in big trouble. He attended a junior college, then transferred to Auburn. Newton became the Tigers’ starting QB, and the rest, as they say, is history. He led the team to an undefeated season, including an SEC and national title.

This story isn’t as cut and dry as it looks, though. Newton spent the second half of the 2010 season surrounded by controversy, as it was revealed that his dad engineered a pay-for-play scheme, and that was why Cam wound up at Auburn. The younger Newton claimed innocence, and played in every game last season. He was briefly ruled ineligible, but the NCAA extra fast-tracked his reinstatement, allowing him to play in the SEC Championship game against South Carolina.

The loss to Auburn during the regular season was painful, because we were so very close to winning that game. The loss in the championship game was painful too, because the Cocks got crushed and I will maintain forever that Cam Newton should have been ineligible for that game. I will also maintain forever that he lied and had to have known at least some of what his father was doing. What’s done is done, though, and now it’s time to get some revenge.

» Continue reading “Rematch For Revenge: USC – Auburn Preview”

Funny, this is the face I've made often while watching Garcia play this season.

I’m talking about the “we haven’t played our best yet, but we know we can play better, and we’ve just got to keep working hard and practicing” line.

In and of itself, that’s not a bad statement. Instead of pointing fingers and placing blame on an individual, it makes the whole group accountable and shows that the problem has been recognized. The issue I have, though, is that it’s the same song and dance every week, then come gametime, it looks like half the team took the week off from practice and forgot how to play football.

Before you say, “But we’re 4-0! We’re undefeated! Winning is winning!”, hear me out.

I agree that winning is winning, to a degree. As long as games keep going in the ‘W’ column, that’s good news. I’m thrilled that we have a perfect season so far. The problem is that you can only win ugly (or thanks to luck) so many times before the tide turns.

It can’t be the Marcus & Defense show every week. Of course Lattimore is going to be counted on for the bulk of the carries, but there needs to be some semblance of a passing game, too. I don’t know what Stephen Garcia’s deal is, but it is a bit disconcerting. He was a rockstar in the ECU game, was fairly okay against Georgia, but deteriorated significantly against Navy and Vandy.

Steve Spurrier said after the Vandy game that he wasn’t, “going to say anything bad about Stephen Garcia because he’s doing the best he can.” I know we’ve seen him be better than this, so perhaps there’s some reason that he’s having difficulty now. Jokes have been made about this being the result of the “new and improved” (read: sober) Garcia, but I kind of doubt the two are related (and the jokes aren’t funny).

» Continue reading “For Garcia & Gamecocks Offense, It’s Time To Put Up Or Shut Up”

Coach Spurrier, Marcus Lattimore, Rodney Paulk, and Terrence Campbell met with the media this afternoon to speak about the Vandy game, the team’s strengths and weaknesses, and how they feel about helping out the Wounded Warrior Project. 

To watch all the pressers, click here.

Steve Spurrier

“Our players are gonna wear these jerseys this, uh, game, and like two years ago, they will be auctioned off, and hopefully we can raise a whole bunch of money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Stephen Diaz is gonna be our honorary captain again. He was our honorary captain two years ago, he was injured in Iraq in a Humvee blast. He’s doing pretty well now, he’s actually a student here at South Carolina.” after he introduced the Wounded Warrior jerseys and shoes the Gamecocks will wear Saturday against Auburn

“Okay, yeah, we got Auburn coming in. Auburn, uh, is a different team from last year, we’re a different team. Uh, but I think they lost like, 18 starters out of 22, or something like that. So, obviously a big year last year, they have a completely different team. A lot of young guys, of course. Uh, but they got, uh tremendous pride and tradition there at Auburn and history. Their guys are playing hard. They’re 3-1. They’re playing extremely hard, and we’ll get their best shot Saturday afternoon at 3:30.”

“Hopefully our team can play a little bit better, especially our offensive team. Our defensive team really came alive last week, as we all know. And, uh, for us to have a big year, our defense problably needs to play like that close to every week.”

» Continue reading “Spurrier, Players Talk Room For Improvement, Wounded Warriors, & Auburn”

The SEC Presidents and Chancellors announced today that the Aggies will become a member of the conference effective July 1, 2012, and that they will be on the schedule in all sports for the 2012-2013 season.

The last time the SEC expanded was 1991, when both the University of South Carolina and the University of Arkansas became members. University of Florida President, Dr. Bernie Machen, also chair of the SEC Presidents and Chancellors, released this statement:

“The Southeastern Conference Presidents and Chancellors are pleased to welcome Texas A&M University to the SEC family. The addition of Texas A&M University as the SEC’s 13th member gives our league a prestigious academic institution with a strong athletic tradition and a culture similar to our current institutions.”

Texas A&M’s president, R. Bowen Loftin, released a statement as well:

“The Southeastern Conference provides Texas A&M the national visibility that our great university and our student-athletes deserve. We are excited to begin competition in the nation’s premier athletic conference.  This is a 100-year decision that we have addressed carefully and methodically, and I believe the Southeastern Conference gives the Aggies the best situation of any conference in the country.”

Finally, SEC Commish Mike Slive had this to say:

“On behalf of our presidents, chancellors, athletics directors, students and fans, I welcome Texas A&M University to the SEC family,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.  “Texas A&M is a nationally-prominent institution on and off the field and a great fit for the SEC tradition of excellence—athletically, academically and culturally.”

I still maintain that nothing about Texas A&M is “southeastern”, but in terms of competition, I don’t doubt that the Aggies have quality academics and a strong athletics program. Can they compete with the other teams in the SEC? I admit I don’t know a lot about them, but they did win three NCAA titles last year, and they made it to a football bowl game, March Madness, and Omaha for the College World Series. They’re a huge school, with over 50,000 total students and tons of devoted fans and alumni, as well as long-standing traditions, all of which fits in well with the SEC.

Welcome to the best conference in college athletics, Aggies. Now we just need a 14th team.

Welcome to your one-stop shop for what went down in the SEC this weekend. We’re now a third of the way through the season, which is unbelievable to me. I’m actually a little surprised by how many teams are still perfect, although many of them have played against so-called “easy” opponents, and will begin being tested more in the upcoming weeks. Tennessee was the first SEC team to have a bye week, and they’ll play at home against Buffalo next weekend. Read on to catch up on all that happened around the conference in Week Four.

Georgia vs. Ole Miss

It wasn’t a blowout win like last week, but UGA still came away with a victory, 24-13 over the Rebels this weekend. Ole Miss is certainly not a powerhouse this year, but it has to feel good for the Dawgs to have an SEC win under their belts. Georgia had 17 points before Ole Miss even got on the board, and led 24-13 at the half. Mississippi was held scoreless in the second half, while UGA got one more field goal late in the fourth quarter. The Rebels couldn’t get a ground game going at all, and they weren’t a whole lot better through the air. They only had 183 total yards to Georgia’s 475, and only 34 of those yards came from the running game. The Rebels also struggled with first downs, and they had only eight to UGA’s 25. The Dawgs were strong defensively, stymieing the Rebels on almost every possession. The only thing Ole Miss had success at were trick plays, since both of their TDs came after reverses. They also managed to recover their onside kick. Rebels coach Houston Nutt is now on an even hotter seat, while Mark Richt’s may have cooled just a little.

Georgia is now 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play. They’ll be at home against Mississippi State next weekend in a battle of the Bulldogs. Ole Miss falls to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference. They’ll travel to California to take on Fresno State (also the Bulldogs) next weekend.

» Continue reading “SEC Summary: Week Four”

Fortunately for Gamecock Nation tonight, South Carolina’s offense was bad, but Vanderbilt’s was worse. In an ugly 21-3 win in Columbia, the Carolina defense and Marcus Lattimore overcame the numerous dropped balls, penalties, and Stephen Garcia’s four interceptions. Vanderbilt also failed to capitalize on the many gifts from Garcia, getting only three points, which came on a first quarter field goal.

Melvin Ingram and Antonio Allen en route to the Gamecocks' first TD of the game. (AP Photo/Rich Glickstein)

South Carolina had to burn a time out only four minutes into the game, and ten minutes later, Vandy was first to get on the board. Boos rained down (mainly directed at Garcia) for most of the night, until he was pulled in the fourth quarter for Connor Shaw, who looked decent, considering he mainly just handed the ball to Marcus. His passes weren’t great, but they weren’t picked off, either.

Garcia was intercepted twice in the first quarter, and he added one more in the second. At the half, he was an mediocre 8 of 17 for 112 yards and a TD. He ended the night 16 of 30 for 228 yards, a touchdown, and the four interceptions.

Marcus Lattimore had 150 total yards and two TDS, one of which came right before halftime, exciting the crowd in Columbia. Alshon Jeffery had much more of an impact this week than last, and tonight passed Sterling Sharpe for the No. 2 place in school history for receiving yards. Kicker Jay Wooten missed a field goal in the third quarter, but luckily that didn’t hurt USC’s shot at winning.

On the defensive side, Melvin Ingram was dominant yet again, and Jadeveon Clowney continued to prove he’s worth the hype. Antonio Allen also continued his so far stellar season. Stephon Gilmore added an interception as well. The defense also came up big when it mattered, and Vanderbilt was a disaster when it came to converting third downs, getting only one on the night, though they made 14 attempts.

» Continue reading “Gamecocks Continue Their Perfect Season, End Vandy’s”

Tomorrow night at 7 ET on ESPN2, No. 12 South Carolina and Vanderbilt will face off in the first SEC game at Williams-Brice this season. So far, both teams are undefeated in and out of the conference.

South Carolina is favored to win by 16 points, but I’m not quite sure why. The Gamecocks have looked pretty mediocre as a whole, and this is the time to prove that they deserve their No. 12 ranking.

USC has relied heavily on Marcus Lattimore, and likely will do so again. The guy is a beast, but he can’t be the whole team. QB Stephen Garcia needs to get it together and get his good mojo back, because he’s been approaching the road to disaster the past few weeks.

Alshon Jeffery will certainly look to have a more productive game that last week (when he was virtually a non-factor), and guys like Ace Sanders, Nick Jones, and Justice Cunningham will probably get some chances to shine, too.

Defensively, this could finally be Jadeveon Clowney’s big breakout game. He’s been good and useful when on the field, but look for him to maybe get some more playing time against the Commodores. Melvin Ingram, Stephon Gilmore, and Antonio Allen will also try to continue improving on their seasons, and especially Allen, who’s been a stud and appears headed for a spectacular season.

» Continue reading “Battle Of The Undefeateds: USC – Vandy Preview”

USC Athletics Director Eric Hyman, rumored to be a leading candidate for the same position at UNC (his alma mater), withdrew his name from the search late last night, indicating he will stay in Columbia.

Hyman was on local station 107.5 The Game in the capital city this afternoon to talk. Below are some of the highlights from his appearance.

“I was honored that there was interest from the University of North Carolina, but I was never going to leave USC. I enjoy the people I work with, I look forward to going to work with them. You have a soft spot for the place you went to school, but my loyalty is to the University of South Carolina, to the Gamecock Nation. We’re proud of what we’ve done, but we have a  lot of work in front of us, and I love being a Gamecock.””

“All you do is trade one set of problems for another set of problems.” on whether or not the problems at UNC discouraged him from wanting to be their AD

“My kids can’t stand UNC.” because he was AD at NC State when they were young, which is funny because he and his wife attended UNC.

“It’s an ongoing investigation and I hate to say this,m but I can’t really address things specifically. We have our opportunity to respond to them. Obviously, there are some things that are correct, and there are some things we will respond to. We think we have a little bit of a different perspective.” on the Notice of Allegations from the NCAA

“There needs to be a better understanding of what it’s really like on a college campus today.” Hyman is on a compliance reform committee, and hopes to help tweak compliance policies across the country

» Continue reading “AD Hyman Talks Staying at USC, NCAA Allegations, & Conference Expansion”

Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of former Gamecocks and Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley. A record-setting standout at USC, McKinley was known as much for his on-field skills as he was for his off-the-field demeanor. He was full of smiles, excitement, and exuberance, and from the outside, he seemed like the picture of happiness.

On the inside, though, it was not all sweetness and light. McKinley was dealing with an intense fear of failure and the unknown, something that was exacerbated when he landed on the Broncos IR list thanks to knee surgery. He was also facing massive gambling debts, which weighed heavily on him.

One night, while hanging out with teammates in Denver, McKinley reportedly mentioned that without football, he didn’t know what he’d do, and made a reference to killing himself. If only his friends had known it was much more serious than it seemed.

On Monday, September 20th, 2010, the depression and sadness got to be too much, and 23-year old Kenny McKinley, beloved teammate, friend, and family member, as well as father to little Keon, put a gun to his head in his Denver-area home. As the news broke across the country and reached Columbia, Gamecock Nation went into mourning.

» Continue reading “One Year Later: Remembering Kenny McKinley”

Ouch. This must hurt if you’re a Mountaineers fan.

After submitting paperwork to the SEC (and apparently trying to get into the ACC too – as a backup plan?), West Virginia has been denied admittance to both conferences. CBS’ Brett McMurphy, a leading source on conference realignment, broke the news on his twitter account earlier today.

Following the departures of Syracuse and Pitt from the Big East for the more prominent and talented ACC, WVU decided it would be prudent to get while the getting was good, and sent their paperwork, something many (including yours truly) figured meant they were pretty certain they’d get in. Athletic Director Oliver Luck talked up the positives of his school, but that evidently wasn’t enough for the conferences to consider adding the Mountaineers.

I don’t blame WVU for wanting to ditch the Big East, which may dissolve at some point anyway. Unfortunately for them, they’ll have to wait until another conference is willing to take them. They may not end up with their first choice, either, but beggars can’t be choosers.

As for the SEC, different articles say different things. Some claim that Missouri is the SEC’s choice for a 14th member, while others are certain it’s Louisville. The Mizzou idea has been backed by the Kansas City Star, who has sources claiming that not only is the SEC interested in MU, but that they have put an offer on the table and are waiting for the Big XII to dissolve before they finalize anything.

As always, stay tuned for more details.