Did something similar last week and a few folks asked for another (I don't know why)...ask and ye shall receive:
I was stuck with a house full of jawja dawgs this Saturday who were in town for a wedding, so my wife carried the team for us both in Columbia. For the only time this year, I watched 2001 from the comfort of my living room and I did not like it. I have a game day ritual that I wasn't able to complete and the Football Gods require their penance. So up front, it's my fault the game was as close as it was.
Due to Gamecock-Induced Pre-Game Anxiety ("GIPGA") Golden, CO's finest banquet beer was flowing freely (along with sake; a horrible decision which should be discussed at another time), so I need to re-watch the game with clear eyes, but I said it Saturday and I'll double down now: this is a game we lose 10/10 times under the former coaching staff.
DISCLAIMER: Steve Spurrier is the best thing to ever happen to South Carolina football, absolutely, positively, no doubt. He gave us so much beyond 11 win seasons, and, most important;y the often discussed "culture change." By the time he hung up his visor, Carolina no longer celebrated moral victories and expected to compete/win every game the boys played. He went out on his own terms, and I for one have nothing but love for the man.
That said, the only real knock on his tenure from a purely coaching standpoint (not program management) was that he seemed to let off the gas and think Carolina had "arrived" when things started to look promising, and it cost us most years he was here. More often than not we had at least one inexplicable loss: Vandy in 07 and 08 (yes, consecutive years -- remember that?!), UConn in 09, UK in 2010, a woeful Auburn team in 2011, at UT in 2013, and both UK and UT in 2014.
So as the final whistle blew in Williams-Brice two Saturdays ago, I wasn't the only one wondering if (i.e., expecting) we'd fall flat on our face the next week. That did not happen, though the game had us on the edge of our seats until midway through the 4th Quarter.
Anyway, back to Saturday. Gamecocks take the field and quickly go 3 and out. My first thought is "here we go..." Then a series or two later, as the defense has done all year, they got the ball back. Then, as the offense has done since Jake/Rico/Deebo/KC/B.Edwards have all been on the field together (all of whom are SC and NC kids, btw), the offense capitalized on that turnover by putting 7 points on the board.
The game went back and forth until I realized my jawja bulldawg house guests had purposely brought a CLEMSON branded football into my house. That **** got punted from my front porch into the neighbors yard, and the bad juju was lifted from there.
As an aside, don't let any jawja fan tell you they don't consider South Carolina a rival. My house full of dawgs tried every single thing they could do to jinx Carolina this weekend (to the point of having their youngest wear garnet and black to the wedding because generally, whichever team he supports ends up on the wrong end of a "L"), and they loathe the fact that we've got Jake Bentley.
After exorcising the Clemson hex attempted to be placed on my Gamecocks, they marched down the field on a 98 yard scoring drive and never looked back.
Carolina finished. Carolina won. Carolina didn't "take the cheese." Carolina got their Columbia trophy back. Andre Ware gushed over Carolina's youth and California Dreaming (can he call all of our games please?). Most importantly, Carolina is believing in Will Muschamp's "process" and is slowly but surely taking on this staff's personality.
My only gripe, and this is on everyone involved in blocking the passing game, as well as Bentley to a degree for holding on a bit too long at times, is that our QB has *got* to stop taking those big hits so frequently.
Then the announcement came that we get Florida at 12 PM, and that they'll be without several key players, and I got a feeling that if Carolina doesn't steal one in Gainesville Saturday, they're going to give the gators everything they can handle.
The best part of all of this? Sooner rather than later, as fans we'll be able to stop referring to beating these teams as "stealing" one.
EDIT
Bonus Thought: Defense. Defense. Defense. Defense. This defense, which by and large is made up of the same personnel as last year, continues to impress. It's not always pretty, but they're ball hawking, aggressive, and progressing. Even without our leading tackler from last year (and arguably the heart and soul of last year's unit), these guys lead the SEC in interceptions and turnover ratio (if I'm not mistaken), and *STILL* have not allowed more than 28 points in a game. They've got a huge test this Saturday just because of the stakes placed on this game by UF and the fact that it's at UF, but who would have thought we'd be riding a 3 game winning streak heading into Gainesville with a legitimate shot at winning?
I was stuck with a house full of jawja dawgs this Saturday who were in town for a wedding, so my wife carried the team for us both in Columbia. For the only time this year, I watched 2001 from the comfort of my living room and I did not like it. I have a game day ritual that I wasn't able to complete and the Football Gods require their penance. So up front, it's my fault the game was as close as it was.
Due to Gamecock-Induced Pre-Game Anxiety ("GIPGA") Golden, CO's finest banquet beer was flowing freely (along with sake; a horrible decision which should be discussed at another time), so I need to re-watch the game with clear eyes, but I said it Saturday and I'll double down now: this is a game we lose 10/10 times under the former coaching staff.
DISCLAIMER: Steve Spurrier is the best thing to ever happen to South Carolina football, absolutely, positively, no doubt. He gave us so much beyond 11 win seasons, and, most important;y the often discussed "culture change." By the time he hung up his visor, Carolina no longer celebrated moral victories and expected to compete/win every game the boys played. He went out on his own terms, and I for one have nothing but love for the man.
That said, the only real knock on his tenure from a purely coaching standpoint (not program management) was that he seemed to let off the gas and think Carolina had "arrived" when things started to look promising, and it cost us most years he was here. More often than not we had at least one inexplicable loss: Vandy in 07 and 08 (yes, consecutive years -- remember that?!), UConn in 09, UK in 2010, a woeful Auburn team in 2011, at UT in 2013, and both UK and UT in 2014.
So as the final whistle blew in Williams-Brice two Saturdays ago, I wasn't the only one wondering if (i.e., expecting) we'd fall flat on our face the next week. That did not happen, though the game had us on the edge of our seats until midway through the 4th Quarter.
Anyway, back to Saturday. Gamecocks take the field and quickly go 3 and out. My first thought is "here we go..." Then a series or two later, as the defense has done all year, they got the ball back. Then, as the offense has done since Jake/Rico/Deebo/KC/B.Edwards have all been on the field together (all of whom are SC and NC kids, btw), the offense capitalized on that turnover by putting 7 points on the board.
The game went back and forth until I realized my jawja bulldawg house guests had purposely brought a CLEMSON branded football into my house. That **** got punted from my front porch into the neighbors yard, and the bad juju was lifted from there.
As an aside, don't let any jawja fan tell you they don't consider South Carolina a rival. My house full of dawgs tried every single thing they could do to jinx Carolina this weekend (to the point of having their youngest wear garnet and black to the wedding because generally, whichever team he supports ends up on the wrong end of a "L"), and they loathe the fact that we've got Jake Bentley.
After exorcising the Clemson hex attempted to be placed on my Gamecocks, they marched down the field on a 98 yard scoring drive and never looked back.
Carolina finished. Carolina won. Carolina didn't "take the cheese." Carolina got their Columbia trophy back. Andre Ware gushed over Carolina's youth and California Dreaming (can he call all of our games please?). Most importantly, Carolina is believing in Will Muschamp's "process" and is slowly but surely taking on this staff's personality.
My only gripe, and this is on everyone involved in blocking the passing game, as well as Bentley to a degree for holding on a bit too long at times, is that our QB has *got* to stop taking those big hits so frequently.
Then the announcement came that we get Florida at 12 PM, and that they'll be without several key players, and I got a feeling that if Carolina doesn't steal one in Gainesville Saturday, they're going to give the gators everything they can handle.
The best part of all of this? Sooner rather than later, as fans we'll be able to stop referring to beating these teams as "stealing" one.
EDIT
Bonus Thought: Defense. Defense. Defense. Defense. This defense, which by and large is made up of the same personnel as last year, continues to impress. It's not always pretty, but they're ball hawking, aggressive, and progressing. Even without our leading tackler from last year (and arguably the heart and soul of last year's unit), these guys lead the SEC in interceptions and turnover ratio (if I'm not mistaken), and *STILL* have not allowed more than 28 points in a game. They've got a huge test this Saturday just because of the stakes placed on this game by UF and the fact that it's at UF, but who would have thought we'd be riding a 3 game winning streak heading into Gainesville with a legitimate shot at winning?
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