Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Week #4 - My thoughts and observations ...

Tardy - I apologize for the tardiness of this blog, but the weekend was a whirlwind affair of Gamecock Athletics for me and it’s Monday night and I’m just getting around to posting “My thoughts and observations” … As you know, I stay away from the Message Boards and such until I can put my comments down on screen so I’m sorry if some of this is “rehash” … Thanks for bearing with me.

Pregame - We made the short drive from Cayce at 11:40 a.m., on Saturday via the 12th Street Extension and I-77 to Bluff Road and were parked and ready for tailgating in the Farmer’s Market Water Melon Shed at 12:15 p.m. … While watching the Clemson/N.C. State game on TV, we snacked on Zesto’s broasted chicken, cole slaw (best around), French fries, rolls, Publix pimento cheese sandwiches, Snyder’s buffalo wing pretzels (nice addition), and of course the “pride of the Carolinas” -- cold Natural Light beer! … The Farmers Market was almost barren until 1 ½ hours before game time and we commented that we could not remember a less festive atmosphere before such a big game at Williams-Brice Stadium … We received a surprise drop-in by my good buddy John Bush of Graniteville, who works with the PGA Tour in Ponte Vedra, Fla., and he was in town for the game with his wife Amy, a big Bulldog fan … John and I worked together at the USC Sports Information Department in the early 1990s … Thanks to everyone that stopped by -- that was a fun tailgate and the three hours zipped right by!

‘2001’ - I was a little apprehensive about how the Gamecocks were going to play the #2 team in the country and had pretty much resigned myself to a score line in the neighborhood of 27-13 bad guys after witnessing first-hand the “Nashville Nightmare” nine days earlier … Throw in the lackadaisical approach during the entrance of ‘2001’ and my nerves were heightened … My buddy, “Schro”, who sat with me commented during ‘2001’ that if we take that approach in the first quarter that he would head back out for tailgating very quickly -- well, he lasted a quarter in our seats, but headed out anyway at the end of the first quarter (girlfriends!).

Fandom - Folks, those that have read my entries over the years can attest that I am not a fair-weather fan and I don’t consider myself greedy either when it comes to Carolina Football … With a 12-game schedule I see no reason in the world that USC can not field a consistent 7-8 game winner with the occasional rise above that mark and an every-now-and-then dip to 5-6 victories … I judge success on the gridiron at Carolina by being respectable in the SEC (.500), beating Clemson every other year over the course of a decade, and going bowling seven out of 10 years … In my 30 years of following the Gamecocks none of those measures have been reached on a consistent basis … With the escalating costs of tickets, seat licenses, etc., it’s going to become apparent to Gamecock Nation that the product on the field reflect what the Gamecock Fan (i.e., consumer) pours into the program -- when that is not reciprocated (i.e., consecutive losses to Vanderbilt), then things will turn in ugly in Columbia, S.C. … When USC competes and represents the Garnet & Black with pride for 60 minutes like they did Saturday vs. Georgia, then you are not going to hear too many people whining … I’m not into moral victories, but when you battle physically, mentally, and emotionally the best teams in the nation -- that just so happen to reside in the Southeastern Conference, especially in the East Division -- then you just have to sit back and enjoy what we witnessed at The W-B and that was a top-notch slobber-knocker SEC football game! … I’ll take that kind of entertainment value 12 Saturdays each fall … Go Cocks!

25% - Pay attention to the calendar, because South Carolina has already completed ¼ of the 2008 season … The Gamecocks are currently 1-2, as if I need to remind anyone, and the last time USC started on the negative side of the ledger after three games was in 2005 when Carolina opened the season with three-straight NCAA Division 1 foes -- eerily similar to this fall … In fact, USC opened ’05 just like ’08 with a season opening victory followed by two defeats -- the first on the road and the second at home … The Gamecocks rebounded that year to post a 7-4 regular season mark that included a five-game SEC winning streak after a 2-3 start … USC began ’05 with an 0-3 SEC mark, but finished with a 5-3 record -- a mark I will take gladly every season … Ironically, Carolina started 1-2 in 2005 and finished 7-5 … In 2006, USC began with a 2-1 mark and finished 8-5 … Last season, the Gamecocks got off to a 3-0 start, but finished 6-6 … So, those are records of 6-3, 6-4, and 3-6 under Coach Steve Spurrier (15-13) after the first 25% of the season has been completed … Wonder what 2008 holds in store for the Gamecocks? … Last week I was looking at the glass half empty and this week has me looking at the glass half full -- oh, the joy of athletics! … I know this -- I believe there is more talent on hand at USC than at any time in the past and figure that this “transition year” is just an ordinary step in building the foundation of the program … For that fact alone, I am glad that Coach Spurrier is here in Columbia … I figure that when everything is in place at South Carolina as he wants it for the football program then we will have a better understanding as what kind of goals we can achieve on the gridiron at USC.

What’s Right? - Well, instead of addressing the UGA game solely, let’s take a look at what has gone right for Carolina through three games … (1) Conditioning -- I have been very impressed by the Gamecocks in this category as a whole as I felt USC was the better conditioned team in all three games … (2) Emergence of a pair of new targets -- TE Jared Cook (13 REC, 198 YDS) and WR Moe Brown (12 REC, 204 YDS) ? this can only help when stud WR Kenny McKinley (9 REC, 60 YDS) returns from injury (hopefully not prior to the trip to Ole Miss) … (3) Spencer Lanning has been a welcomed sight to the punting chores with a 43.7 AVG on 12 punts ? no wonder Ryan Doerr transferred … (4) Ryan Succop continues to boom the kickoffs into the end zone with a 69.8 yard average (the kickoff is 70 yards) and he has tallied six touchbacks in a dozen kickoffs … (5) USC’s defensive unit has gone above and beyond the call thus far with an allowance of just 205 yards per game and 57 plays per outing.

What’s Wrong? - Where do you start on the offensive side of the ball? … (1) When you average 3.2 yards per rush and have just two rushing scores, then it is a collection of problems with the offensive line (just not a good run-blocking unit), the lack of a top-tier running back, and unless the play is a sprint-draw it is negative yardage more times than not … (2) The enigmatic quarterback play must have Steve Spurrier wondering what he has to do to get his type of signal caller in the system. The Tommy Beecher summer experiment pretty much imploded in less than four quarters vs. N.C. State and a mysterious stomach illness has sidelined him with a ton of weight loss. In stepped Chris Smelley who was 4-2 in six starts prior to the year, but has inexplicably lost to Vanderbilt twice and saw his record evened up at 4-4 with the loss to Georgia that ended with an over-compensated throw over the middle that resulted in an interception that ended the game. This followed a poor sack he took earlier that knocked USC out of field goal range. Stephen Garcia graced the Gamecock Nation with his presence away from the newsprint on Saturday vs. UGA and looked good to me -- Freddie Brown should have caught that one pass -- but is Garcia really the “Spurrier Type”? Seems to me that Spurrier wants to pull the strings for his gunslingers like he did with Ben Bennett, Shane Matthews, Danny Wuerffel, Doug Johnson, Jesse Palmer, etc. Though he deviated from that style with Syvelle Newton, which Garcia seems to be more of the mold, is that really what he returned to collegiate coaching for after the NFL stint? This is going to be a work in progress the rest of the year (and next spring and next fall)! … (3) Lack of turnovers is killing the momentum shifts! Carolina’s defense has been outstanding limiting opponents to yardage and scoring, but the one area that it hasn’t been able to generate game-changing momentum is in the turnover department. How many fumbles is USC going to bounce over or have slide through? This ratio (9:5) needs to turn around in South Carolina’s favor in a hurry to have a winning season (or break even mark) … (4) Ryan Succop has enjoyed a super career at USC, but he is 3-of-5 (60%) so far this year, which includes a 2-of-4 success mark from 40-49 yards -- that needs to improve mightily for an offense that continues to struggle in their opponents’ half of the field (imagine what a couple of three-pointers could have done for the Gamecocks this past Saturday) … (5) 0-2 in the SEC is a tough hurdle to overcome. USC was 1-1 each of the past two years after two outings. Carolina went 0-3 in 2005 and rebounded for a 5-0 closing mark in SEC action ? it can be done, but my hope is for two road wins at Mississippi and Kentucky and let’s see how the final half of the season plays out.

M-Soccer - South Carolina captured the 22nd annual adidas-Gamecock Classic this past weekend with shutout victories vs. Lehigh (3-0) and Jacksonville (2-0) … USC’s championship was its 15th tourney title as the hosts of this annual event that began in 1987 … USC entered the weekend ranked #4 in the South Region behind Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Duke, so the 2-0 showing was huge in that regard, especially since Lehigh was ranked #3 in the Middle Atlantic Region … Thus far, Carolina is 3-2-1 overall with the two losses to WFU (0-1) and UNC (1-3) -- USC played its worst 45 minutes of soccer vs. the Tar Heels in Winston-Salem, N.C., and blew a 1-0 halftime advantage … However, the Gamecocks have recorded three shutouts and limited the Demon Deacons and Presbyterian to just one goal, so five of six matches have been “one or none” -- that bodes well as the offensive unit seems to be getting into gear … USC has three huge South Region matches remaining before entering Conference USA action next month … Carolina will travel to Charleston (4-2) and Furman (1-4) and will host Davidson (1-4) for three games vs. Southern Conference foes that will prove pivotal come November for NCAA Tournament berths … Don’t let the records of Furman and Davidson fool you -- they have both played top competition and will be factors over the next 2/3 of the year! … I encourage any Lowcountry Gamecock fans to get out to Patriots Point this Friday for the match vs. College of Charleston ? it will be a raucous affair! … By the way, you can listen to all home matches at GamecocksOnline.com -- you might hear someone you know (sort of anyway)!

W-Soccer - Wow! … Kudos to the Lady Gamecocks! … What huge results this past weekend at a neutral tournament hosted by Auburn University … USC edged Marquette 1-0 and tied defending National Runner-Up Florida State 3-3 in overtime to improve to 5-0-2 on the season … Coaches Shelley Smith, Jamie Smith, and Mat Cosgriff have done an excellent job of assimilating a terrific defensive side and the offense is starting to click -- USC will host East Tennessee State on Friday before traveling to Western Carolina on Sunday before entering SEC play for the remainder of the year.

Volleyball - I will be the first to say that I am not a ‘volleyball fan’ … Now, then, I’m all for the sport being offered at the varsity level at South Carolina and enjoyed the one season I worked with the sport in 1990 when Bonnie Kenny was the coach at Carolina … However, I don’t attend the games and just peruse the box scores, but maybe this year’s unit has a lot going for it -- if nothing else, the Lady Gamecocks defeated Clemson 3-2 Friday night before dispatching Winthrop 3-0 to win their ‘Carolinas Challenge’ this past weekend … USC is 8-1 on the year and will open SEC action this Friday and Sunday vs. LSU and Georgia, respectively.

“Inside the Roost” - I just wanted to congratulate the USC Athletics Department on the great show that is "Inside the Roost" … It airs every Monday night from 7-8 p.m., on 107.5-FM, “The Game” … Derek Scott is the host and the couple of shows I have heard have featured Eric Hyman live on-site at Gervais & Vine in the Vista … Tonight, baseball coach Ray Tanner was a guest for ½ an hour … It is very refreshing to hear the Athletic Department take a proactive approach in its information sharing with Gamecock Nation … This is a concept that has been missing far too long in Columbia … I encourage you to participate -- it’s a lot more informative than the football call-in show … Their e-mail is roost@ispsports.com … Thanks!

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