much depended

upon

 

young baggett

kicking

 

joe tess saw only

the laces

A few quick, barely researched, and not so – what is it that Buck always says?

I forget.  Regardless, here are a few thoughts on our “victory” down in Orlando:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Quick, identify the quote. Quick, Quick, Quick. Most overused quote in history, and few can give it correct attribution. It’s the very first sentence of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and the full quote is:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

And that pretty much sums up the way that root canal in Orlando felt on Saturday.

The Rocket. Yep, I’m sticking my neck out and nicknaming Mike Davis. Has to be done. And not because of his 168 yard, three touchdown performance on Saturday. A performance where he basically took the team on his shoulders (well, thighs, I guess) and willed us to victory. No, that’s not the reason for his new moniker.  Instead, his new name arose thusly.

The king is dead, long live the king. I suspect we’ve seen the last of Connor Shaw as our starting quarterback. I know he’s a tough kid, and I wholeheartedly agree with the assessment Brian Griese made on air Saturday: Shaw is the better quarterback. But I also know that a bad sprain to your throwing shoulder might take more than two or three weeks to heal.  I also noticed that the two or three weeks time frame came to the coach from Shaw, and not from the training staff.

Hope I’m wrong, ‘cause I’m #teamglove all the way, but I think we are probably seeing the beginning of the Thompson Era.

Where’s the gas pedal? One of the hallmarks of Steve Spurrier’s teams at Florida was their ability to work an opponent silly. When the OBC got up on someone, he didn’t just win, he DOMINATED. Went right for the throat and did the funky chicken on it.

One of the hallmarks of Steve’s Spurrier’s teams at South Carolina is an inability to put another team away. From the HBC’s very first game at Carolina (a 24-3 third quarter lead at home became a 24-15 escape) to his most recent (a 28-10 fourth quarter lead on the road becomes a 28-25 squeaker) the trend has persisted.

What’s the reason? No idea. But I do keep thinking of something Sweet Old Lou said: The prevent defense only prevents one thing: winning. Those soft zones, coupled with an inability to tackle led directly to both of the Knights’ fourth quarter scores.

Speaking of the defense. I know they are young. And I know Whammy is a great recruiter. And I also like the guy. But we have the most dominant player in the nation on defense, and yet we can’t seem to get him freed up to make plays. I’m going to leave it at that, because I don’t want to be the first person to head down that particular road. But we all know where that road is going, and I’m afraid it’s gonna become a busy street soon.

On a related note: Just how good are we? Are we the #12 team in the country? Are we BCS Bowl caliber?

I’m not so sure. Our best win thus far is probably the 35-25 win over Vandy at home, and that isn’t saying much. Kentucky should make us feel better about ourselves this weekend, but this team is going to have to get better play from the defensive second and third level if we are going to survive the three game road trip that follows.

Ah geeze, I didn’t even mention our terrible special teams . . .

A rundown of random things that actually are, and other things that, actually, are not:

ARE correct models of subatomic matter:  The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, The Wave-Particle Duality

NOT:  Bohr Models

ARE valid uses of bacon:  Omelets, Salads, Sandwiches–well most everything, actually.

NOT:  well, clothing, I guess.

ARE the 2010 ACC Atlantic Division Champions:  Florida State

NOT: Clemson*

ARE sometimes golden:  potato chips, wedding rings, sunsets, showers, the spray paint on Notre Dame’s helmets,

NOT:  The UCF Knights.  They don’t like being called the “Golden Knights” apparently.  News to us, but since we don’t particularly like being called the “Garnet Gamecocks”  we will can comply.

ARE involved in game day playcalling:  Steve Spurrier, G.A. Mangus, Shawn Elliott, Brent Venables, Chad Morris, Whammy Ward

NOT:  Dabo Cornelius Swinney

ARE Duck Dynasty Endorsed:  Everything, Everywhere.  Evidently, this contrived reality series has taken over our culture to such an extent that it is nearly impossible to transact basic commerce without “Duck Commander” stamped on the product.  Dutch Tulip Mania, anyone?

ARE SEC:  South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M

Supposed to be SEC: Kentucky

NOT:  Central Florida, Clemson

ARE going to be 3-1 after Saturday:  South Carolina, Central Florida, Georgia (dang it)

The Gamecocks are taking a much-needed break this weekend–well the Carolina players and Coach Deke Adams are taking a much-needed break.  The rest of us are still hungry for CFB, so here’s your weekend viewing guide:

THURSDAY: (that’s today!):  7:00 pm –  ESPN –  Clemson* vs. North Carolina State.

Yes, yes, I know this isn’t an SEC game.  It should be, but not in the way your think.  Clemson* will never be in the SEC, despite their collective pillow gripping fantasies, but NC State coulda been.  Not because the Wolfpack are some football powerhouse, but because our state’s northern neighbor needs a real football school, and the SEC can wait 20 years for Raleigh to build one.  Heck they gave us that long, right?  But during the last go-round of expansion we got stuck with Missouri instead . . . .

Side note here:  Since before the season started, I’ve called this week’s game as  a Clemson* loss.  First road game, etc., etc.  But now I have my doubts.  See, for all their delusions of grandeur and claims of superiority, the specific fevered level of hubris necessary for a complete clemsoning collapse has not yet been reached.  Right now, I’m hoping it holds off until November in the Billy B.

FRIDAY: Cut your damn grass already.  Geeze, what an embarrassment!  Your neighbors hate what you are doing to their property values, you lazy buffoon.

SATURDAY:

12:00 – Some channel you probably don’t get – Vandy vs Umass.

Don’t watch this game.  Please don’t.  Instead spend some time with your miserable family and feign interest in whatever it is they talk about.  Then slip away at:

3:30 – CBS – Florida vs Tennesee.

HAHAHAHAHA you thought I was gonna say Arkansas vs Rutgers on ESPN, didn’t you?  You didn’t?  Oh, nevermind.

Florida is a pretty big hurdle on our schedule down the road, or at least we hope it’s still important when we get there, so watch for scouting purposes if nothing else.  One under-reported theme that is developing for our Gamecocks is Whammy’s inability to stop a power running attack.  Both of these teams purport to have big physical Olines and a stable of backs, so watch to see which one can gain the upper hand.

Its gonna be Florida, of course, but work with me here.

7:00 – ESPNU – Texas A&M vs SMU

Yawn.  Turn immediately to:

7:05 – ESPN2  – Alabama vs Colorado State

Double Yawn.  Grab a snack and then flip to:

7:45 – ESPN – LSU vs Auburn

Cause we need LSU to be really, really, good next week in Athens.  Pull for tons of Tiger offensive rhythm, and absolutely no injuries.  If the game gets lopsided, switch over to:

8:00 – Big Ten Network (no, I’m not making this up) – Missouri vs Indiana

The fact that these two Midwestern Midmajors are facing off on the BTN is perfect.  See my comments on NCSU v. Clemson*, above.

Happy viewing!

How we see things on the eve of the big game:

Buck:

The one thing of which we can be certain on Saturday? That there are no certainties. Oh sure, the pundits, bloggers, and tweeters have crafted the narratives based on deep statistical analysis and hours of film study. As a result safe, predictable scores are being tossed around.

But if you look at the last four years against UGA, how many of THOSE pre-game prognostications came to fruition? Very few, if any. Just look:

2009 – In our opener we beat N.C. State 7-3, and Georgia had lost to Oklahoma State 24-10. Most people thought the first team to double digits in the USC-UGA game would be the winner. The final? A wild 41-37 win for the Dogs. Nobody called that.

2010 – A freshman running back named Marcus Lattimore, who had one college game and 54 rushing yards to his credit, carried the ball 37 times (!) for 182 yards (!!). Gamecocks win 17-6. Nobody called that.

2011 – Two very talented defensive squads took the field in what looked like it would be a low-scoring affair. When the dust settled, the Gamecocks had scored three non-offensive touchdowns – two by Melvin Ingram – to win 45-42. Nobody called that.

2012 – For the first time ever both teams were ranked in the Top 10 and were the game of the week on the college slate. Close game, right? Wrong, Gamecocks destroy a Georgia team that would lose only one other game all year, 35-7. Nobody called that.

So what does all this tell us about Saturday’s game? Nothing more than to expect the unexpected.

Unexpected plays, unexpected calls, unexpected heroes and unexpected goats.

For the first time in memory I actually feel like we have the better team going into this game, which is frightening. I, like the pundits, feel like the success Clemson had rushing Aaron Murray bodes well for our D-line and Gasman Clowney. I love our running backs, and the way Connor Shaw controls a game.

At the same time I think if the Georgia coaches look back at the tape against Clemson and realize how well they ran the toss sweep that maybe they’ll run it more than twice against us. I’ve kept my mouth shut about Aaron Murray because he’s too good a quarterback to have such bad numbers against good competition. He’s due.

Oh, and the game is in Athens.

Everything points to a 31-28-ish final score. So for no reason at all I say:

Cocks win 16-13. I called that.

Tbone:

Let’s not kid ourselves.  We all know exactly what is going to happen Between the Hedges ™ tomorrow.  Have known, in fact, since the Georgia deep snapper inexplicably tried to roll the football back to his holder on the Bulldogs’ last field goal attempt.

Wait, you’re not following me here?  Well, let me explain:

Time, gentle reader, is only an illusion.  It does not exist.  The big game tomorrow has already happened, and is happening even now.  Its only our meager capacity for thought that organizes the unknowable chaos around us into rational packets of so-called time.

The frustrating nature of time has troubled philosophers for millennia.  Augustine understood that he didn’t understand time:

How can the past and future be when the past no longer is and the future is not yet?  As for the present, if it were always present and never moved on to become past, it would not be time but eternity.

The Roman poet Lucretius went further:

And likewise time cannot itself exist,  but from the flight of things we get a sense of time.  No man, we must confess, feels time itself, but only knows of time from flight or rest of things.

So let’s all dispense with these frivolous, illusory thoughts of “predictions” of the “future.”  The Clemson* win last Saturday is inexorable coupled with a Gamecock defeat in Athens, and deep down, we all know it.  Have known it.  Are knowing it even now.

The Bulldogs, similarly trapped in the illusion of time, will come into the game believing that their backs are against the wall.  And the myriad Georgia fans, decked out in their finest Walmart regalia, will agree:  Georgia must win this game or else.

That intensity, albeit misplaced, will be the difference.

And the Clemson faithful, buoyed by a false sense of superiority, will continue their epic delusional march toward a classic Clemsoning upset loss somewhere in the midseason.  To, I don’t know, Maryland or Wake or something.

In fact, it’s already happened.

Georgia 31 Carolina 20

Gman:

You young people with your facepages and twitttalking.  Get off my lawn.

Gamecocks survive late rally, win 27-24.

Bust yo azz and get on home early, cause we’ve got an early kick to start the 2013 season on:

Thursday

At 6:00 pm tune to ESPN for South Carolina and North Carolina. 5 minutes of excitement, followed by a three-hour root canal.

If the Gamecocks prevailed, then keep your seat for

9:15ish pm on ESPN, Vandy versus Ole Miss. Jacket required, Tie is optional. And pull for Ole Miss. The last thing we need is for Vandy to be stout again this year.

If the Gamecocks lost earlier, then skip the above and scream into your pillow until you collapse into fitful sleep. Oh, and you will be skipping work tomorrow, so have your excuse handy.

Friday:

Get the damn grass cut already

Saturday:

12:30 pm SEC Network, Florida takes on the mighty Zips or whatever from Toledo. Don’t watch this game under any circumstance, as it’s really going to redefine the word ‘lame.’ We suggest you make a grand show of taking the missus to brunch or something as in “see honey, I love you, not college football.” But be back home by:

1:00 pm ESPN Texas A&M vs. Rice. You will see everything you need to see when TAMU takes the field for its first offensive series. If Johnny Football jogs out, then the NCAA just caved like an abandoned mine. If he doesn’t, well you get to see how good the Aggies are without him, and you will feel a renewed optimism in the Rule of Law and the Principle of Fairness (yeah, you need to forget the whole Cam Newton thing sooner or later anyway).

1:15 turn the TV off and go eat something. And drink several somethings, cause you’re gonna need it to survive:

3:30 ESPN2 Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State, in Houston, TX for some reason. The BizarroDawgs are gonna get torched, so swallow your conference pride and be thankful we play these guys this year instead of Bama or LSU. Good news is you can switch over at:

5:30 pm on ESPN for Alabama’s complete soul ravaging of Virginia Tech. Seriously, when was the last time the Hokies were legit? I don’t remember either. When it gets too lopsided to bear, switch to

7:00 pm ESPNU Washington State at Auburn. Mike Leach and Gus Malzahn. Oh, and Ellis Johnson. Expect 100 points. Or, as an alternative:

7:00 pm ESPNews Kentucky versus Western Kentucky. They ‘sposta be SEC. But be ready at:

8:00 pm ABC Georgia at Clemson*. The challenge here is that you will be absolutely delighted to see one of these teams stumble, but mortified to see the other succeed, so be ready with the remote for:

9:00 pm LSU versus TCU in Arlington, TX because that venue is awesome, y’all. The colors compliment each other, and they both play a brand of hard-hitting football that’s fun to watch. Drinking game suggestion: Targeting Fouls.

Not listed: Arkansas & Lala (FSN), Mizzou & Murray State (PPV), and UT and some team called Austin Peay (PPV). Because really, what would be the point?

We’ve all heard it.

We’ve all scratched our heads over it.

CoachSpeak.

CoachSpeak is that particularly frustrating method of answering questions or making statements that most (if not all) college and pro coaches lapse into whenever they are faced with a microphone and an inquisitive audience.  It’s an effective rhetorical device for coaches as it allows them to avoid saying much of anything, while still giving the reporters a quote or two for the morning edition.

But it tells us, the insanely interested fan of college football, next to nothing about our favorite team.

Accordingly, we here at TRC have decided to bring both our incredible sports knowledge and our considerable experience of being yelled at by coaches (well in little league anyway) to bear in order to assist you, gentle reader, in understanding just what our coaches are really saying.

Take last night’s post practice interviews for example.  What follows is a series of CoachSpeak responses during the media availability.  We then follow the CoachSpeak with what the coach actually meant but didn’t want to come out and say:

Coach Whammy: “We have a lot of young players that we’re trying to get reps.  Of course, they’re not going to know everything we’re doing. It was a good start. I like the way the young linebackers ran around today.”

CoachSpeak Interpreted:  “We are so very screwed at the linebacker position.  These guys can’t even get lined up right!  I’m going to keep referring to these guys as ‘young’ so I don’t get canned at the end of the year.”

Coach Whammy: “We have three starters returning in the secondary and perimeter and we have a defensive front that has played a lot of football here. We’re young at linebacker. I think we have a lot of good experience on this team with
all the guys that have played a lot of football. I’m not worried about inexperience, I can promise you that.”

CoachSpeak Interpreted:  “I’m very concerned with our inexperience.  Did I mention that we don’t have any linebackers that know what they’re doing?”

Coach Whammy: “Brison will definitely be the free safety and we’ll figure out between Kadetrix Marcus and T.J. Gurley who will be the boundary  safety. “J.J. did some good things today and Gurley did some good things. Right now, Kadetrix is ahead.”

CoachSpeak interpreted: “We are moving people around like a mother right now trying to mask our inexperience.  Its so bad that I’ve forgotten who some of the players are at this point.  I’ve got this habit of calling people “J.J.” when I’ve forgotten their names, I should probably mention that.  Do we not have any walk-on linebackers I can stick in there?”

This technique has its limitations however.  Witness out CoachSpeak interpretation of a couple of Spurrier quotes from last night:

HBC:  “It wasn’t anything spectacular. Nothing special happened. We’ve got a ways to go and we need a lot of practice.”

CoachSpeak interpreted: “It wasn’t anything spectacular. Nothing special happened. We’ve got a ways to go and we need a lot of practice.”

HBC: “Usually after the first one, I always talk about how fast the team is. The team is in good shape.”

CoachSpeak interpreted: “Usually after the first one, I always talk about how fast the team is. The team is in good shape,”

Check back for more CoachSpeak Interpreted as preseason practice continues.