TRC Unleashed Episode 53 is angry my friends. Part of it has to do with recording during the great Atlanta sports meltdown of 2013, but mostly it has to do with how a 4-1 start to the Gamecocks’ football season can be so frustrating. Buck and Gman lecture each other (and some listeners) and Tbone for some reason keeps calling Jadeveon Clowney “Clifton Geathers”,
Mixed in you will hear us discuss:
We’re kinda yelly on this episode, so buckle in. Click here or click the graphic to listen, and enjoy!
Some quick, barely researched, not fully formed thoughts from Carolina’s 35-28 victory over Kentucky last night:
Perspexpectations. We’ve been preaching about two things for a while now, both in this space and on our podcast: managing our perspective and managing our expectations. Personally, I’m now done with perspective. I sat through the worst of times, including a player revolt and 1-21 over two seasons, but those were a long time ago. Even the pizza bowl seems like an eternity ago given what has been accomplished the last three years. We’re a different program, and it’s a different time. Games in the past have no bearing on what happened last night, and what happened last night was we allowed a pitiful Kentucky team to play us, a self-proclaimed top 10 program, to within one score. At night. At home.
I never thought we would have an undefeated season. I even had serious doubts we could win the East. But I did expect us to beat UNC, Vandy, UCF and Kentucky going away. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend. Four times and you know who you are. And at 4-1, I’m a Gamecock fan that is not particularly happy with who we are.
I’m not giving up on these guys or this season, but with three road games and home games against Florida and Clemson coming up, at the moment I really don’t feel good about how this thing is going to end up.
Defenseless. After last night we are fifth in rush defense, ninth in pass defense and sixth in total defense in the SEC. We only gave up 301 yards of total offense last night to Kentucky. Not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. But the problem has mostly been when and how we give up those yards. Late in games our defense is having trouble getting off the field, and against UCF we gave up huge pass plays that kept them in the game. Last night, 191 yards of Kentucky’s offense came on their last three drives. Also, in the last three games the Gamecocks have given up 2/3 of opponents’ points in the fourth quarter.
I wish I was smart enough to tell you if the problem is the Jimmys and Joes or the Xs and Os, but I’m not. I can tell you if it’s the former, we’re in big trouble the next seven games.
Clowney Sittin. We, along with pretty much every Gamecock fan, have been staunch supporters of Jadeveon Clowney this season. He has been under a microscope since early in this calendar year, and since the beginning of this season has been unfairly written about, talked about and criticized. But last night was the tipping point for me. It was obvious the coaching staff was upset that Clowney told them he couldn’t play prior to the game, and that’s a red flag.
I don’t know how hurt JD is, or if he had other motivations for sitting last night. It sounds like the coaches are going to allow him to speak on the subject at some point this week, and I’m sure he’ll give us what he believes to be a satisfactory answer – “I was hurting bad, I would never turn my back on my teammates, etc. etc.” But the real answer will be evident the next time he suits up for USC, and the next six or seven times after that, and how he plays. Is he the old JD Clowney, or is he just going through the motions until April?
I know that Connor Shaw has played through injury after injury, and mentioned last night that he fought to get back on that field because he knows he only has a few games left in a Gamecock uniform. I would love to hear that come out of JD’s mouth as well. But only if he means it.
DE-ssapointing. A lot of people expected Chaz Sutton to have a big season as a beneficiary of all the Clowney attention. Not only has he not had a big season, I don’t ever remember seeing him on the field last night. I remember seeing Darius English, because I remember thinking he needs to eat a few more cheeseburgers, but no other defensive end stood out to me. Besides the brush fire that is our return game, the DEs have to be the most disappointing unit on the team.
Surrat-ticous. OK, enough negativity. Got to give big JT Surratt and Kelcy Quarles props for their play last night. Especially Surratt, who showed he can be a playmaker in the middle.
Team Shaw. In the off chance that there is still anyone who thinks Dylan Thompson should be starting over Connor Shaw, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you to stop talking. Shaw is currently at the helm of the most prolific offense in South Carolina history, and percentage-wise is the winningest quarterback in South Carolina history. With all due respect to Mike Davis, he is also the MVP of this team.
(To reiterate, we love Dylan Thompson and look forward to cheering him on when his time comes. But that time is not now.)
The Rocket. Mike Davis went over 100 again last night, but his most impressive run was probably a three-yarder on third down late in the game. He was trapped in the backfield, but would not be denied and put the game away. He is easily the most pleasant surprise of the season.
Hampton Inn Out? Anyone else feel like the HBC was talking about Victor Hampton last night when he said “we still got some guys out there doing their own crap” and “we’re going to make some changes”? For the second week in a row Hampton took an extreme gamble and left his guy wide open for a touchdown. Don’t be surprised if he’s not starting next week.
Equipos Especiales. We should really stop talking about how awful our special teams are in such general terms. I suggest we separate the guys who put their foot on the ball from the rest of the special teams units. Elliott Fry, Tyler Hull and Landon Ard have all been quite good. But once again last night we showed we have zero ability to change a game with a return. Unless it’s a fumble.
Go Cocks.
TRC Unleashed Episode 52 reviews the painful but ultimately satisfying Central Florida game, and covers topics including but not limited to:
All that and much, much more. Click here or click the graphic to listen, and enjoy!
TRC Unleashed Episode 51 is what happens when a really tired guy, a guy who is still at work at 10 p.m. and a guy who has yet to watch the “Ozymandias” episode of Breaking Bad get together and try to discuss the Vanderbilt game. We still think we put together some entertaining #hotsportstakes even though we lose the Gman (aka CMOS) about 2/3 of the way through the podcast.
You get to hear:
All this and more on this week’s edition. Click here or click the graphic to listen, and enjoy!
Some quick, barely researched, not fully formed thoughts from Carolina’s 35-25 victory over Vanderbilt last night:
The best of times, the worst of times. As South Carolina roared out to a 28-0 lead over Vandy on Saturday night, I took a moment to relax at the unexpected fortune of blowing out a conference opponent. Alas, a couple of hours later we were one yard from a one-score game with plenty of time left on the clock, and I was back to my familiar pacing, hand-wringing self. We looked like champions for the first quarter and a half, and nearly bumbled ourselves right out of the game the rest of the way. I’m afraid we will see this throughout the season, the very best of what this team can be at one moment and the very worst the next.
I will take this moment to remind you, we lost to a VERY good Georgia team on the road, and if not for some horrible turnovers, would’ve crushed a pretty good Vandy team. We’re good y’all. It’s just not always gonna be pretty.
Statistically speaking. The box score tells a much different story than the final score. The Gamecocks led in
I threw that last one in there to show how important ball protection is. Without the Gamecock turnovers this is 4-5 score game. (I know, without the Vandy turnovers it’s a different game as well, so you can’t really play that game.) Otherwise it was a thoroughly dominating performance for the Gamecocks, and the second-most total yards in the Spurrier era.
Team Shaw. Connor Shaw was 21-29 for 284 yards and three TD’s passing, and had 19 rushes for 84 yards. That’s 368 yards of total offense, and this win moved his career record to 19-4 as a starter. Any questions?
Team Thompson. Dylan Thompson came in and did Dylan Thompson things on the third series of the game. He passed and ran the team to an easy touchdown to give the Gamecocks a 21-0 lead. With USC up 28-0 and headed towards halftime, Thompson came in for his second series, and the way we were moving it appeared we would go into the half with a 30+ point lead. But Thompson threw his first interception of the season, and it was returned to the USC one yard line. Vandy would punch it in, then add a field goal on the last play of the half to cut the lead to 28-10.
Now, I can speak for the other members of TRC and say that while we are firmly in the corner of Connor Shaw, we are in NO WAY anti-Dylan Thompson. I’ll even tell you that interception was more the result of a good play by the Vandy DB as it was a bad decision or throw. The play was a classic Spurrier combo route, with Bruce Ellington running an out pattern from his slot position while Damiere Byrd ran a deep pattern to clear out his defender. Problem is, Byrd’s defender gave a peek back into the backfield and saw the ball was coming to Ellington, so he peeled off and made the pick.
People have said of Thompson he’s a Spurrier quarterback because he trusts the system, and that’s what he did there. More often than not a receiver will be open in that pocket. Sure, Thompson floated the ball a little which definitely contributed to the interception. But hey, quarterbacks throw interceptions, it happens. We still love Dylan.
#clowneycomin. Jadeveon Clowney had his second sack of the season in the third quarter, which also resulted in a turnover. Once again, Clowney played very hard against an offense designed to allow anyone but him beat them, and once again pedestrian statistics were the result. It’s obvious some people are not going to judge Clowney on his impact on the game, and are only going to judge him on his stats:
(h/t Michael D. Fuller)
First of all, how would that jackass know how many tackles I had from my couch last night? (For the record it was eight, five of those unassisted.) Second, is he serious about comparing a linebackers’ stats to those of a defensive end?
I’m getting wary of defending Jadeveon Clowney, so I’m going to stop and just pray he knocks somebody’s helmet off soon so everybody will shut up.
Speaking of shut up… Look back at the statistics above and please tell me how you can complain about our offensive or defensive performances last night. If you want to nitpick about how Vandy had success out of the single wing in the second half I’ll listen, but otherwise I am not open to criticism of a team that gave up 268 yards of offense and touchdown drives of 1, 49 and 19 yards. I think @chickenhoops summed it up best:
Not so special. I’m amazed at how bad our special teams are so far this season after being above average recently. There is no danger whatsoever of USC returning a kickoff or punt for any significant yardage. Tyler Hull averaged 29.3 yards on three punts last night. We had another flukey turnover when a short kick hit T.J. Gurley. Thank goodness Elliott Fry (our walk-on we had never heard of until about four weeks ago) has been solid so far. Spurrier said he was going to “get Coach Robinson some players back there” to return kicks, but if they weren’t already back there, then how much better can they be?
Depress-Shon. I feel bad for Shon Carson, I really do. As a freshman he was in the tailback rotation, and even got a carry against UGA. Unfortunately he tore his ACL on that carry and missed the rest of the year. Last year he suffered another season-ending injury during a promising fall camp. After a failed attempt to make an impact with the Gamecock baseball team, he worked hard and made his way back to third on the depth chart at tailback this fall. But with Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds ahead of him, his carries would be limited at best, so the coaches gave him a shot returning kickoffs. After running straight into piles on his opportunities so far this season, last night he did the unthinkable, he ran straight into a pile and fumbled. Vandy capitalized and that was the last we saw of Shon Carson last night.
I hope it’s not the last we see of Shon Carson for good. He deserves a break, but he’s going to have to earn his way back onto the field and then make something happen when there. Something he has been unable to do so far in his career.
Picked. Game ball to Jimmy Legree for the play of the night.
Student discount. It was quite embarrassing to see our student section so empty last night. It didn’t go unnoticed by our players, but for some reason the HBC downplayed it in his comments today. To have some students leave during a 3-4 score game is expected, but the mass exodus last night simply made us look like pretenders. We can control very little of what happens on the field, but 80,000 voices are a heckuva lot louder than 65,000 voices. Those extra 15,000 would’ve been appreciated when Vandy was making a charge last night.
The Hymanator. Thanks again Eric Hyman for scheduling an away game with these guys.
Enjoy the off week folks, and Go Cocks!
Friend of the blog Layla will be periodically joining us this season with her unique perspective on the Gamecocks. Here is her first installment of 2013. (Although her journalistic credibility takes a hit when she calls us “gentlemen”.)
Before recording their Week 1 podcast, the gentlemen of TRC (put that on a t-shirt) took to social media to probe the minds of their “fans,” looking to discuss those hot-button issues on everyone’s mind.
If you tuned in, you’ll remember a question posed by a dynamic go-getter regarding dealing with those “a-hole” fans of that school in the upstate. If you didn’t tune in, go check it out. I’ll wait.
It’s been a concern for those of us that have the misfortune of forced interactions with Clemson fans, whether it’s at work, church, or ordering at your favorite lunch place. I don’t want to hear about your three-point “domination” over Georgia, I just want to know if I can substitute for a side salad. Get your life together.
Prior to the opening weekend, a few of those Clemson fans I work with asked which team I’d be pulling for; turns out they didn’t appreciate “Bane” as an answer. (C’mon, we’re all thinking it.) In all seriousness, it was hard to root for either team. But it was just too hard to support Clemson, knowing the next work week would be miserable. And it was.
Their fan base is already plagued with delusions of grandeur, and now, having two SEC victories in a row has only served to inflate that ego to dangerous levels. Not dangerous for them, mind you, but for me; though I suppose that also pose some danger to them. I don’t know that I can survive the rest of the season constantly hearing these people go on and on about how they should be in the SEC and that this is going to be their year and wahwah wah wahwahwah wah wah…
After our 41-30 loss to Georgia this weekend, I knew this week would be even more frustrating.
However, I couldn’t fathom just how difficult it would be until a coworker greeted me Monday morning with “Hey, loser.” From there it was a steady, downward spiral of nonsensical taunting, as it dawned on me that these people have no idea what they’re talking about. Do you know how aggravating it is to listen to people blather on when they can’t grasp the importance of play-calling?
We all deal with such trials in different ways. When faced with scenarios like this, I find laughter really is the best medicine. It’s either that or copious amounts of beer, but since this is primarily a work issue that’s not really an option until 5:30. So, here are some fun ways you can not only avoid their mindless prattle, but even have some fun with them!
Now, this doesn’t guarantee silence. Actually, silence is unlikely. Blind rage is probably what you’re going to get, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hilarious. So sit back, have a laugh, and grab a drink. The season is far from over.
A crushing loss to one of your hated rivals got you down? We understand. More than you know. That’s why TRC Unleashed uses its historic 50th episode to try to lend some perspective, and maybe even a little hope, to what appears to be a season gone wrong.
Don’t worry, every little thing is gonna be all right.
Click here, or click the graphic to listen, and enjoy!
Some quick, barely researched, not fully formed thoughts from Carolina’s 41-30 loss to Georgia last night:
Desperate. I don’t normally put a lot of stock in teams being “desperate” and that having any kind of significant impact once pads start popping. But yesterday we saw a Georgia team that played desperate football, and in turn put together one of their best games of the last few years. Their offensive playbook seemed to be several pages deeper and quite a bit more creative than it was last week against Clemson. They also played with more emotion than last week, and we saw what a home field advantage can mean to a team’s psyche. Georgia could afford to lose that game to Clemson. They could not afford to lose to South Carolina, and it showed.
Offensive. We’re very down on our defense today, which is natural the day after you give up 536 yards and 41 points. But please don’t forget how good this offense is for Georgia. It’s essentially the same group that gashed Alabama in the SECCG last year, and has IMO the leading candidate for the Heisman after two weeks in Todd Gurley. Plus, while the facts about Aaron Murray’s track record against top competition are hard to refute, I had a feeling he was going to play really, really well yesterday.
Game Planning. I wrote in a blog post before the season started that I thought it was silly to say teams would scheme and game plan against Jadeveon Clowney any more than they did last year. I was dead wrong. Both UNC and UGA have run away from his side of the field like he has the plague, and used a quick-release passing game and screens to neutralize his effectiveness. The problem is nobody else has stepped up on defense, most notably on the defensive line. Our line was touted as the best in the SEC, and one of the best in the country, but so far we haven’t remotely shown that.
Clowney Concern. Geez, man, this is getting on my nerves:
Does that really deserve a “Wow”? Does it mean we should start promoting Darius English for Heisman? There is nothing wrong with Jadeveon Clowney, move along now.
Youth Movement. We knew we had a lot of experience to replace on defense, and the lack of big game snaps, or snaps at all, really showed yesterday. Our inside linebackers too often allowed themselves to get caught in the wash on run plays to the inside, and our outside backers/spurs/safeties were too aggressive early in some plays which allowed Todd Gurley to bounce the play outside. Then there was the colossal mistake by our own Gurley, T.J., on the 85-yard touchdown to Justin Scott-Wesley. In a two-deep safety alignment, Gurley didn’t play “deeper than the deepest”, instead following inside receiver Michael Bennett, which allowed Scott-Wesley to run free. Ahmad Christian, thinking he had deep help, let him go. These are not talent mistakes, but mental mistakes that can only be corrected through live game reps. Gurley and rest of the guys will get better. I hope. UPDATE: In his Sunday teleconference Spurrier apparently said the long touchdown was not Gurley’s fault. I didn’t hear exactly what he said but it didn’t sound like he identified whose fault it was (Christian, I guess?). Anyway, I guess I misidentified the type of defense we were in, or maybe Spurrier was just protecting his player.
Todd Gurley Man. I will reiterate, given the competition he has faced and how he performed, he is the leading candidate for the Heisman right now. He is the best back in America.
Dropping the Mike. A guy who will be a candidate for best back in America down the road is Mike Davis. He had a second-straight “wow” game, and a second game in a row with a 75-yard run in which he showed a burst of speed we had no idea he had. Davis’ final tallies: 16 carries for 149 yards and four catches for 49 yards. I think it is safe to say after two games his is the centerpiece of our offense, and I can’t wait to see more.
Shaw Me Your Road Victories. I feel bad for Connor Shaw this morning. He has now been saddled with the “can’t win a big game on the road” tag forever, given that we don’t really play a marquis team on the road for the rest of the year. Shaw gave a typical Shaw performance yesterday, with some very good play surrounded by a few questionable decisions. But from this game it will be the fumble that is remembered, as we had just stopped UGA three-and-out on their first possession of the half. Shaw’s run had given us a first down deep, and the way we were moving it looked to be a given we would take the lead and seize early second half momentum. Shaw still accounted for more than 300 yards of offense and two TDs, but it was what he didn’t do that people will remember most.
Little Nicky Jones. Of all the people we talked about “stepping up” at the wide receiver position, nobody ever really mentioned the name Nick Jones. Aside from Davis and Shaw he was the other offensive star yesterday with six catches for 97 yards and two TDs.
Mild Shaq Attack. I have no idea why we waited until the fourth quarter to start throwing balls to Shaq Roland, but he looked awfully good when we did. He finished with three catches for 48 yards, including a spectacular leaping grab near the sidelines. I hope we see him emerge as our big play guy over the next few weeks.
Fourth and Inches. I didn’t agree with the play call on our failed forth and goal late in the game, but I don’t think it was for the same reason as most of you. There was a lot of screaming for a quarterback sneak after we didn’t score, but here’s the deal – we didn’t run a play all day yesterday with Shaw under center, and I don’t know for sure but I bet we didn’t last week either. That most likely means we practice it very little, if at all. Throw in the fact we were breaking in a new center, and the staff just didn’t want to risk losing the game on QB-center exchange. We ran something we knew. Unfortunately, it was a play UGA had seen and they were ready for it.
The Other Stadnik. Kudos to Clayton Stadnik for his performance yesterday. That is a tough position and a tough environment to get your first playing time. Aside from more high snaps than we would like to see, he seemed to play a pretty good game.
FIGHT! I have no real opinion on the kerfuffle between Deke Adams and Kirk Botkin from yesterday as it appears to just be a heat of the moment thing. Spurrier’s classic response? “At least they care.”
Overrated. My full stance on the “OVER-RATED” chant is here. I respect your opinion, but lighten up Francis, it’s just a chant.
Tall Bridge Alert. I was not surprised at the disappointment of Carolina fans yesterday after losing to our hated rival, but I was very surprised by how some folks took this loss to mean our season is doomed to mediocrity. Look, a little perspective here. When we looked at our 2013 schedule, there was little question playing the defending SEC East champion Bulldogs at their place would be our toughest challenge. Our chances were 50/50 at best. We didn’t play our best football, and we lost. In case you haven’t noticed, that’s what happens in the SEC. Yes, it’s terribly disappointing, but should not have come as a shock to anyone.
So where does this leave us? Well, our shot at the BCS National Championship is gone, that is almost certain (and maybe that never should’ve been a consideration anyway). Our shot at the SEC East title is greatly damaged, given UGA will now have to lose two conference games, which is unlikely.
But looking down our schedule we should be favored in every game the rest of the season, with the possible exception of Clemson. If we can run the table, we will likely finish top five and still have an excellent shot at an at-large BCS bid. I don’t think that’s a terribly crazy thing to think.
In past years our problem has been a lack of talent, or a lack of talented depth. That is no longer true. This is a talented team that was foiled yesterday by execution issues. Those can be corrected.
I choose to believe they will be. And if not, I’ll join you on that bridge.
Go Cocks.
TRC returns with a late-night edition of Unleashed, where we make factual errors and talk about:
Join us for these topics and oh so many more…hey, look at that we got through the whole thing and didn’t type the word “Clowney” once…
AH DANGIT.
Click here or click the graphic to listen, and enjoy!
The Rubber Chickens Blog 