From his latest power rankings:

It’s like he’s looking into my VERY SOUL*.  Creepy.

*Except for the Chicken Curse part, because  that doesn’t exist.

A perfect game – well, there were a couple of blips, so maybe a one-hitter.  In my many years as a Gamecock fan, I don’t know if I’ve seen us play a better game from the opening kick to the final bell.  The offense was powerful and efficient.  The defense was stout and fast.  The kicking game went mostly unnoticed (unlike Alabama’s), which is a good thing.  The only glaring mistakes from the game were Holloman’s busted coverage in the fourth quarter and…

The Garcia safety - which I submit to you wasn’t nearly as boneheaded as it first appeared.  Think about what Ghost of Stephen Garcia Past would’ve done on that play – picked up the ball, momentum carrying him further into the end zone, turned left, and seeing multiple ‘Bama defenders, lowered his head and tried to bull his way out.  Fumble, TD Tide, different game.  Instead, Garcia, with his back to the play, not knowing who might be chasing him, decides to not make a bad play worse and pushes the ball out of the end zone.  But his quick thinking is not what earned him…

SEC Offensive Player of the Week – given Cam Newton’s gaudy numbers on Saturday night, this shows how much respect the voters had for Garcia’s performance.  If we can get performances like this out of him week in and week out, we’ll be extremely difficult to stop, especially with the emergence of…

Lattimore and The Freak – just wow.  First, about #21, why is a guy who has just one 100-yard game and is averaging 4.3 yards per carry getting so much hype?  Because the people doling out the hype know football and know just how much Marcus means to this offense.  I have a feeling there are some big games in store for him in the near future.  And about #1, I was told last week that they better find somebody else to throw to because Dre Kirkpatrick was going to lock Jeffery down.  I believe Kirkpatrick was the gnat hanging off of Jeffery as he grabbed that ball one-handed, flicked the gnat off, and galloped inside the 10-yard line to set up the deciding touchdown.   Jeffery was named Rivals National Player of the Week, but for some reason was left off the…

SEC “Other Outstanding Performances” list - but Stephon Gilmore was deservedly there for an all-around outstanding performance on D.  And while we’re on that side of the ball, all is forgiven from the Auburn game.  Our much maligned linebackers were fantastic, the D-line was quick off the ball and kept the line of scrimmage stacked up.  Chris Culliver was also all over the place, and committed ZERO personal foul penalties.  Swearinger, Holloman and Allen were all around the ball a lot.  If we can carry this momentum over week after week…

The SECCG is within reach – Maybe I’m a little drunk on our success at the moment.  But let’s look at it – there is a good chance we’ll be favored in every game from here out.  If we play like we did Saturday, there is no reason to think we can’t go 11-1 and have a rematch with Auburn or Alabama in Atlanta.  But it all starts with…

Kentucky – ugh, I get a pit in my stomach just mentioning it.  This is the perfect upset scenario.  We’re coming off the biggest win in school history, they’re coming off a heartbreaking loss to a top 10 team.  Our ridiculous win streak against them seems like it’s on borrowed time.  They are good enough to beat us, and it will be a nail biter I’m sure.  With Vandy and Tennessee to follow, this game will have a huge bearing on…

Our postseason fate - It’s probably ridiculous to talk about, but just consider the possibilities.   I didn’t say I was going to map it our for you, I just said consider them.  We’re definitely in better shape than…

Clemson Tiger University - Hoo boy, things are not going well in the upstate.  The sweet taste of moral victory over Auburn has turned into a bitter seed of loss against the UNC JV’s.  Since we’re thinking long-term in this week’s column, here’s a question that has been posed before, but now that it actually seems like it could be a realistic scenario…

What would you rather have - A loss to CTU and a trip to the SECCG, or a win over CTU and no trip to the SECCG?

NOTE:  This post can also be found on the excellent SEC blog: Saturday Down South

#1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.

ESPN GameDay.

The 3:30 CBS game.

The second Saturday in October. 

Isn’t this precisely what we brought Steve Spurrier to South Carolina for?  To make us relevant nationally?  To compete for SEC Championships? 

Now I’m not nearly naïve enough to think ESPN and CBS are setting up shop in Columbia because of us.  The love Alabama has been getting over the last few months is bordering on Tebow-esque.  But this is our opportunity to MAKE it about us.  This is our opportunity to announce the University of South Carolina has arrived, not just on the Southeastern Conference scene, but on the national scene. 

On offense, Alabama has the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.  (And some say his back-up is better.)  They have a quarterback who has never lost a meaningful football game.  They lead the SEC averaging 38 points per game.  You want balance?  They are third in the SEC in both passing and rushing yards per game.    

The good news is the defense has nine new starters.  The bad news is those new starters are part of defense that leads the league in points allowed per game at 9. 

There is no question Alabama has more talent than South Carolina, plus they have arguably the best head coach in the country.

There is no reason to think we can win.  Except maybe one – Steve Spurrier. 

I don’t think I’m out of line when I say Spurrier’s tenure at South Carolina has been mildly disappointing.  Don’t give me the “perspective” argument, because simply winning more games than you lose and going to third-tier bowls is not acceptable any more to South Carolina fans, and I think Spurrier would agree.  Spurrier’s legacy has taken a hit with his failure with the Redskins and inability to move the Gamecocks into the upper echelon of the SEC.  He’s no longer the “Evil Genius”, he’s just the “Head Ball Coach”. 

But on Saturday, all that can be turned around over the course of three hours.  If he can put together a superior game plan, if his players can execute, and if we can walk out of Williams Brice with a win over Alabama, people will be talking about the genius of Steve Spurrier anew.

“The NFL was a bad fit,” they’ll say.  “It just took a little more time than he thought it would at South Carolina,” they’ll say.  “If he can win THERE…” they’ll say.    

If we lose it won’t be the end of the world.  It won’t even be the end of our shot at the SEC East title.  But it will be the same old, same old.  Big game, big stage, blew it, move on. 

However, Saturday’s game will be monumental if we win.  Maybe even the biggest in our program’s history.

This is the moment we paid Steve Spurrier for.  Here’s hoping he can resurrect the Evil Genius.

This week’s Comeuppance Report is being hosted by our friends over at the Garnet and Black Attack.  Head on over and enjoy the CR and all the other tasty nuggets GABA has to offer.

Did you think you’d get through a Gamecock football season without a dagger to heart or five like that game Saturday night?  Sucker.  Or newbie. 

Here are some random musings on what I saw Saturday night:

Stephen Garcia should still be our starting QB – I wasn’t surprised Connor Shaw came in, but I didn’t agree with it.  Garcia “is what he is” to borrow a phrase – a guy who is a warrior and will make a few plays for you, but will also drive you mad by doing things like fumbling on consecutive fourth quarter drives against Auburn.  He also gives us our best chance to win, as long as…

He takes a knee when a play breaks down – OK, maybe taking a knee is a little drastic, but learning when and how to slide would be helpful.  He protects the ball fine on designed runs.  But when he scrambles, there’s usually about a 50/50 shot somebody’s going to rip the ball away from him.  On the bright side, when he’s throwing the ball, he’s lucky to have…

Alshon - 8 catches, 192 yards, 2 TD’s.  At this pace, he’s easily first team All-SEC, and if we can win some important games and stay in the national consciousness, he should get all-American consideration.  Another guy I know will not get all-SEC consideration because…

Ace Sanders needs more touches - The one time he got the ball Saturday night he did his best Noel Devine imitation and picked up a first down for us.  Screens, reverses, end arounds, whatever - get this guy the ball.  He could give our offense a dimension that helps open up the running and passing games.  And speaking of Ace Sanders…

Isn’t it about time we had a decent return game? - It’s almost impossible that we haven’t at least lucked up into a decent kick returner in the last twenty years.  I’m ok with Stephon Gilmore as a punt returner, I think he’ll break one eventually.  (Of course, if the other team rarely or never punts that reduces his chances drastically.)  Chris Culliver is somehow, someway near the top of the all-time SEC kickoff return list without ever breaking one.  Chalk it up to longevity I guess.  Bryce Sherman must be living off his performance during last fall practice to still be getting opportunities.  Give Sanders a chance.  On the other side of the ball…

The defense isn’t as bad as they showed Saturday - I’m still trying to talk myself into this one.  History tells us Saturday night was an aberration.  Ellis Johnson defenses are solid if not spectacular, and he’ll get things corrected.  Being ranked 11^th in total defense in the SEC is disturbing, but even with our deficiencies I think we’ll be competitive defensively going forward (fingers crossed).  It would certainly help if we could figure out…

Where has Cliff Matthews gone? - I’ve seen a guy wearing #83 running around on the field, but if it was Cliff Matthews he would actually be making tackles.  Maybe he’s getting triple-teamed because our opposition knows…

Our linebacking corps stinks - The return of Shaq Wilson was supposed to help, but I’m afraid we are still well into the bottom half of the SEC as far as talent at this position goes.  Which is why…

People need to back off the DB’s - Once EJ realized our linebackers couldn’t stop the run (specifically Newton), we had to go to a zone that resulted in some easy completions for Auburn.  Most people, including me, were down on Gilmore, Culliver, and Co. after Saturday night, but if our front seven had played better we wouldn’t have had to change our game plan.  (The fact that Culliver is a walking personal foul penalty waiting to happen is a topic for another time.)  And while we’re talking about game plans, I really don’t think it will help to have two weeks to prepare for…

Alabama - Ugh.  We have to stew on the Auburn loss for two weeks and then face the one team on our schedule that we can’t beat.  That’s right, I said it.  I firmly believed as recently as Saturday night we could.  But after watching them come from behind against a pretty good Arkansas team in one of the most hostile environments around, and then watching us cough up our game, I just don’t think it can happen.  At the moment they are just too big, too strong and too talented.  But fear not Gamecock fans, because I still believe…

We can win the SEC East - I’m not as confident as I was, but I certainly think we can beat Kentucky, Vandy and Tennessee.  Arkansas will be tough, but getting them at home this year is a huge bonus.  Assuming at least one Florida loss between now and then (probably this weekend), our game in the Swamp would be for a trip to Atlanta. 

Hang in there Gamecock fans, there’s a long way to go.  Problem is, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Over the next days and weeks a lot of people will be recounting their memories of Kenny McKinley, and deservedly so. They’ll talk about the slant routes against Tennessee.  His first career touchdown catch against Arkansas. His touchdown throw to Syvelle Newton against Kentucky. His catch-and-run against Clemson. His two-touchdown performance in the Liberty Bowl…and on and on.

But something else came to mind for me.  It was the 2006 Clemson game.

I know you all remember the play.  Carolina was driving for a touchdown late in the first half.  But impossibly Jock McKissic, a Clemson defensive lineman, picked off a Blake Mitchell pass and lumbered the other way for a touchdown.

Towards the end of the play, Kenny McKinley comes flying into the picture.  Just as McKissic crosses the goal line McKinley takes a swipe at the ball, but the effort is futile.  The camera follows McKissic as he turns to the left, but just before McKinley disappears from the picture, out of frustration you see him kick the pylon in the back of the end zone with his left foot.  Just boots the heck out of it.  I remember watching that several times later and getting a good laugh out of it (of course, it wouldn’t have been nearly as funny if we would’ve lost.)

Cant’ you just see a kid having that reaction?  Then one of the coaches coming over to calm the kid down? As I reflect on Kenny McKinley’s career, I think that play was indicative of the childlike joy and passion with which he played the game.  There was an innocence to it that still makes me smile.  I bet Kenny saw that replay later and smiled his trademark smile too.

Don’t get me wrong, Kenny McKinley was a man on the football field from the first day he suited up at the University of South Carolina.  He never played a down of wide receiver until college, but worked his tail off and became, numbers-wise, our greatest ever.

No one would’ve batted an eye if this lightly recruited kid had gotten buried on the depth chart and transferred to Furman or Newberry or Hampton.  But somehow, against some pretty steep odds, he became an NFL draft pick, and got his name prominently displayed on Williams-Brice Stadium.  More than that, he had the undying adoration of the Gamecock Nation.  Not just for his catches and yards and touchdowns, but for the way he played.  For his joy and innocence.

I don’t know when the joy and innocence faded from Kenny McKinley.  Maybe it was just the last few days. Maybe it was weeks or months, possibly even years.  I honestly don’t want to know any details.  I don’t want to think about the unbearable sadness that must’ve consumed him to make him do what he did.

As college football fans, we chew players up and spit them out every four years.  We recognize them at their last home game, thank them for their service, give them a bouquet of flowers and wish them well.  Then we forget about 99% of them.  Not because we don’t care or don’t appreciate them, we just don’t have the capacity to remember them.

Then there are the 1% that stay with you.  The 1% that create the lasting memories.

Thank God for that 1%.  Thank God for Kenny McKinley.

Be happy, folks, be very happy.  It’s probable you last felt this optimistic on that beautiful fall afternoon of November 12, 2005.  South Carolina had just beaten Florida for our fifth straight SEC victory.  The future of the program looked brighter than ever.  The possibilities were endless.

Oh, sure, there have been moments since then, some glimmers.  But the 7-5 glimmers that we hoped would turn into 10-2 eye-searing sunbursts have never materialized under Steve Spurrier.  Those end of the season swoons doomed us.  Those horrific bowl games.  The corner never got turned.        

But now…

This week I’ve read words I’ve never seen applied to us this early in an SEC season.  Or at any point in any SEC season for that matter.  Words like contender and frontrunner.  Atlanta and December have been used in the same sentence.  We have been called a “complete” team.  We have a true freshman on Heisman watch lists who has been compared to Walker, Jackson, Smith and Peterson.  We have talented veterans and talented youngsters and depth.  So far we are even good on (gasp!) special teams.

I love the attention, I really do.  And I love the fact that I think we have a really good team for the first time under Spurrier.  I knew we were going to beat Georgia.  And I know we’re going to beat Furman the way the 13^th ranked team in the country is supposed to beat Furman. 

I’m having fun.  But still, I worry.

I worry that Marcus Lattimore carried the ball 37 times in his second college game ever.  I worry that he’s averaging 4.6 yards per carry instead of 6.4 yards per carry.  I worry that people are comparing him to Walker, Jackson, Smith and Peterson.  I worry that the offensive line wasn’t as good on Saturday as everyone is giving them credit for.  I worry that UGA’s 3-4 defense is just plain bad against the run.  I worry that we’re not getting pressure on the quarterback, and that we haven’t forced a bushel full of turnovers yet.  Most of all I’m worried about the three A’s:

Auburn, Alabama and Arkansas. 

Two of those teams we think are pretty good.  One we know is very good.

We’re a better team than Auburn, but we play them at Jordan Hare at night.  We’re not a better team than Alabama, but we play them at home.  We’re a better team than Arkansas, but what year are we not, yet we still lose to them too often.

Throw in Kentucky on the road and a Florida team that will right the ship (trust me), and that’s one heck of a minefield we have to negotiate. 

The first two weeks of the season couldn’t have been scripted any better.  I’ve seen similar scripts the past five years, but this one is definitely different.  I don’t believe the swoon will come this year. 

But still, I worry.

As you are about to find out, the views and/or opinions of one contributor to this blog are not necessarily the views and/or opinions of the other contributors to this blog.

With that out of the way, and I think I speak for 2/3 of our contributing body, I couldn’t give two deuces about Furman University, and I hope our football team humiliates them on a grand scale Saturday night. 

With all due respect to T-bone, a fine blogger and a fine American, the fact that he first read Faulkner (really? You didn’t read Faulkner until college?), decided to camp his way to California (yawn) and finally kissed a girl at Furman U (Senior year) has no bearing on my desire to have them beaten into oblivion this weekend.  With a fair amount of embellishment, his experience sounds like it would make a great Jon Krakauer novel, but this is about football.

So in response to his “27-24 would make me happy” post, here’s the how the South Carolina-Furman game could play out to make me happy:

1^st Quarter – C. Culliver returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown.  Finally.  Furman goes 3-and-out.  Spurrier throws the ball exclusively on the first series just to prove he/we can, scoring in a scant minute and twelve seconds.  Rinse and repeat a couple of times and it’s 28-0. 

2^nd Quarter – Defense continues to dominate, while we pound the ball on offense with #21.  He goes over 100 yards with two more TD’s and takes the rest of the night off along with Garcia.  With the score 42-0 at the half, SOS seeks out Bobby Lamb to shake his hand and let him know he’s going to stay in the locker room to watch the second half of Auburn-Clemson.  Got to start game planning.

3^rd Quarter – Shaw takes over at QB and mixes in a few passes along with the running of Miles and Giles to steadily move the ball down the field.  Shaw tosses a short TD to Cunningham to make the score 49-0.  Andrew Clifford later hits a long one to Demario Bennett and the score at the end of the third quarter is 56-0.  F.U. still has double digits in total offense.

4^th Quarter – Third- and fourth-teamers are now in the game.  Spurrier calls from the locker room to tell the coaches to let Seth Strickland throw a TD pass because “we’ve never had four QB’s throw a TD pass at South Carolina in the same game.”  Strickland does, and the final is 63-0. 

Postgame – Spurrier, looking about 40 years old and with a slight grin on his face, takes questions about running up the score.  “Maybe next time Furman will think twice about taking that paycheck,” he says.  “Heck, them boys at Georgia didn’t even get a paycheck, think about how bad they must feel.” 

How sweet would that be? 

Oh shut up, I can dream can’t I…