As I sit and watch CTU dismantle VPI, making me even more bitter, here are some quick, barely researched, not fully formed thoughts from this afternoon’s abysmal 16-13 loss to Auburn:
It is finished. I am Buck, and my thoughts do not necessarily reflect those of the other members of TRC, but it is absolutely, positively time to bench Stephen Garcia. I was talked off the ledge last week, but after today I truly believe if we are going to meet ANY of our goals this season, it will not happen with #5 at the helm. I love the man, I love what he has done for our football program (the good stuff, that is), and I love the material he has given us for this blog.
But enough is enough. In this, the most important football season in our history, our offense has been, if I may quote the HBC, putrid. Even Alshon Jeffery in the post-game backed at least a tire of the bus over Garcia when he said (paraphrased), “we were open, I guess he didn’t have enough time or something.” I understand the OL hasn’t played very well. I also understand the play calling has been questionable at best. But the most high-profile, potentially high-impact change you can make is at the quarterback position, and at this point really shouldn’t be a difficult decision. Garcia has been awful, and there are no more acceptable excuses for sticking with him. Nobody is more sorry to say that than me.
HBC needs an OC. I know it will never happen, but I wish Steve Spurrier would completely relinquish the offense to someone. Every Saturday I watch offensive teams that are sharp, operate with a purpose and have some sort of an identity…and then I have to watch South Carolina. And I’ve watched it for seven years. Confusion. Penalties. Ill-timed timeouts. If we are going to fail offensively, I’d at least like to know what we are TRYING to be.
Speaking of ill-timed timeouts. Twelve seconds left, you just picked up a first down, and you call your final timeout – with the clock stopped. There’s no way to know what would’ve happened with ten seconds and one timeout versus the twelve second and no timeouts we wound up with, but it sure seemed like a stupid decision at the time. And actually, it seems like one now too. And don’t bitch about getting screwed by the refs. If we make a few plays earlier in the game we don’t have to worry about getting screwed in the first place.
“We’re not a very smart team.” I’m pretty damn tired of hearing that also.
Ingram for Heisman. Well, at least All-American. Losing to unranked teams at home on national television doesn’t do much for your Heisman campaign. Unfortunately, that pretty much dooms Marcus’ chances as well.
Byrd is the a word. Dameire Byrd touched it once that I recall on a reverse, and then was the intended target on a Garcia armpunt, but didn’t have quite the impact for which I was hoping. Bruce Ellington had one huge catch, but we’re still searching for another offensive option outside of #1 and #21.
All is not lost, but it sure feels like it at the moment. We still control our own destiny, but we’ve now lost our two-game edge over UGA, and absolutely need to take 2 out of 3 against MSU, UT and Arkansas. And not lose to Florida. And hope UGA loses another conference game.
Ah, hell, when does basketball baseball season start?
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