What can make TRC Unleashed come out of hibernation? Why an improbable run in the NCAA Tournament, that’s what. Connor Tapp of 247Sports joins Buck and the Gman (hey, where Tbone at?) to discuss:
Join us for all this and more on the return of TRC-U. Click to listen:
Or in iTunes.
Is bunting a good thing? When is the right time to sacrifice? Or bunt for a hit? How about a good old-fashioned squeeze? There has been much debate over the years over the old-school approach taken by Gamecock skippers Ray Tanner and Chad Holbrook in regards to bunting. (Read: they LOVE the bunt.) But how often does it really work, and when is it not a good strategy?
This season, TRC will be the vessel for some deep-diving analysis from @chickenhoops, @featherdwarrior, and the team over at @DidtheBuntWork. The mission will be to put together some hard analytics to determine how effective the Gamecock bunt game is in 2017. Please enjoy this first installment from @chickenhoops.
Hi, you might remember me from such features as yelling about punting and Frank Martin’s lineups. Today, we’re here to talk about the third thing that drives me crazy – Chad Holbrook’s bunting.
I’m not exactly new to this topic, but with the help of others at @DidtheBuntWork, I’ll spend this year for the first time taking a systemic approach to Chad Holbrook’s fetish.
Let’s talk about the three bunts this week!
Feb. 23 – Kansas State
Inning: Bottom 6th
Score: 6-5 KSU
Batter: Danny Blair
Lineup: 1st
Runners on: none
Outs: 0
Did it work? No
Expected runs added/lost: No change
Actual runs added/lost: -0.31
This is a bunt where I take no issue – Danny Blair attempted to bunt for a hit and it didn’t work. My general rule here is that this should be a player-called decision, but I’m not going to fault either Holbrook or Blair for trying.
Feb. 24 – Wright State
Inning: Bottom 5th
Score: 3-3 tied
Batter: Danny Blair
Lineup: 1st
Runners on: 2nd
Outs: 0
Did it work? Not even a little bit – Wright State threw the runner out at 3rd.
Expected runs added/lost: -0.25 (anticipated one out, runner on 3rd)
Expected chance of scoring once: +3% (70% to 73%)
Actual runs added/lost: -0.76
Actual chance of scoring once: 38%
Now this is the type of Holbrook bunt that we’ve come to know and love. In the fifth inning of a tie game, Chad decides to lower our total runs expected by a quarter of a run in exchange for a piddling three-percent chance of scoring. He ends up being right, one run would be enough to win the game, but that’s a pretty massive bet with 12 outs to go.
Of course, Blair can’t get it down and the runner is nailed. Here’s why it matters to little that there’s not much upside to these bunts – because look at the massive downside. Blair’s bunt doesn’t work, and now the Gamecocks go from slightly more likely to scoring once (but less likely to score more than once) to unlikely to score at all and unlikely to score much. No reward, all risk!
Feb. 25 – Wright State
Inning: Bottom 6th
Score: 4-0 USC
Batter: Danny Blair
Lineup: 9th
Runners on: 2nd and 3rd
Outs: 1
Did it work? Yes!
Expected runs added/lost: -0.24 (anticipated one run in, runner at 2nd, one out)
Actual runs added/lost: +0.73 (one run in, runners at 1st and 2nd, no outs) 2.06 to 2.79
Actual chance of scoring once: 38%
This is the flip side of the coin above – sometimes a team can’t make a play and a bunt turns good. Here, the bunt works as well as possible – the run gets in and both runners are safe. That increases the Gamecocks’ expected runs in this inning from 2.06 to 2.79 runs. Of course, Carolina would go on to score a 6-spot in this inning, effectively putting the game away.
We’ll try to catch up with the bunts we missed earlier in the season, but for this week’s games alone, here’s how Chad’s bunting turned out – let’s follow along this season as we finally take our NEVER BUNT thesis and test it over the course of an entire year.
Season-to-date (only including KSU and WSU series)
Expected runs gained/lost: 0.49 runs lost
Actual runs gained/lost: 0.34 runs lost
Long-time friend of TRC and former Garnet and Black Attack contributor @FeatherdWarrior reflects on the anniversary of the death of former Gamecock head coach Joe Morrison.
Today marks the 28th anniversary of the death of Joe Morrison, probably the Gamecocks’ most successful football coach until the advent of Steve Spurrier nearly two decades later. Morrison’s death came as a shock to everyone and led to the eventual hiring of Sparky Woods as head coach – another tragedy, depending on whom you ask.
Not too long ago I came into possession of a copy of The Sumter Item from the day after Morrison passed away. The paper contains the AP’s account of Morrison’s death as well as his career. Most of what Gamecocks fans remember about Joe Morrison begins and ends with the 1984 “Black Magic” season, but it’s interesting to get a sense of atmosphere surrounding USC’s football program at the time. It’s also interesting to see what kinds of stories were in the news back then. I’ve transcribed the article about Morrison’s death below the line, and I’ve also included some of the other headlines from that day immediately below. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
Dooley won’t run for governor – “Vince Dooley’s run for governor is over, less than two months after he announced retirement as the winningest coach in the history of the football-proud University of Georgia.”
Father advises Sanders to leave – “If Barry Sanders’ father has his way, the Heisman Trophy winner won’t return to Oklahoma State for his senior season.”
Kentucky board supports investigation results – “Members of the University of Kentucky board of trustees who attended a briefing on the school’s response to 18 NCAA allegations against the men’s basketball program said they supported the results of a 10-month independent investigation.”
Lakers are back, thanks to Jabbar – “The Los Angeles Lakers are back in sync, largely due to the improved play of Kareem Abdul Jabbar.”
Soviets out of Afghanistan; guerrillas close in on Kabul – “The last Red Army convoys abandoned their garrisons and headed north for home today, Soviet officials said, bringing to an end a nine-year adventure that cost more than 13,000 Soviet lives.
Bush heads for Canada this week – “Canadians looking for assurance that their country won’t be ignored by Washington now that a free trade agreement between the two countries is in place should be cheered by President Bush’s visit to Ottawa this week.”
Heart Attack Claims USC’s Morrison
COLUMBIA (AP) – South Carolina coach Joe Morrison, who brought the Gamecocks into the national spotlight with success on the football field and controversy off it, dies of a heart attack after playing racquetball with three friends. He was 51.
Morrison had been playing racquetball at Williams-Brice Stadium for about a half-hour with defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn, attorney Edward “Punky” Holler and businessman Ken Wheat before he suffered what Providence Hospital spokeswoman Dawn Catalano called a “massive heart attack.”
Morrison, who had a history of heart problems, was taken to Providence, arriving at 8:44 p.m. alive but unconscious. He was pronounced dead at 9:04 p.m.
Morrison was not feeling any pain but did have a “small, funny sensation near his elbow” after playing racquetball, Athletic Director King Dixon said. But when the players shook hands they noticed Morrison’s hands were “awfully cold,” Dixon said.
Dunn called trainer Terry Lewis, who in turn contacted the team doctor, who checked Morrison’s pulse and heartbeat, Dixon said.
“I think they were well within the range when the doctor got there. But they prevailed upon Joe to spend the night in the hospital to have a complete check, which Joe agreed to,” Dixon Said.
First, however, Morrison decided to take a shower. But during the shower, he collapsed. He was found there by one or more of his playing partners, who began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the coach, Catalano said.
Morrison, a smoker, underwent a surgical procedures for removal of a blockage in a coronary artery in March 1985.
Dixon said Morrison, who had been on the road recruiting almost constantly since the season ended, had been sick about a week ago with a flu or virus that had left him “feeling awfully weak.”
“Coach Joe Lee Dunn said he had never seen Joe feel so badly in his life physically,” Dixon said.
Morrison, who played in the NFL for the New York Giants from 1959-72 as a running back and receiver, came to South Carolina after coaching stints at both Tennessee-Chattanooga and New Mexico. Morrison’s career record was 101-72-7 over 16 seasons.
He was 39-28-2 in six seasons at South Carolina, including 8-4 in 198, when he took the Gamecocks to the Liberty Bowl, where they lost to Indiana 34-10. South Carolina has never won a bowl game in eight tries.
The season was a controversial one, however. The Gamecocks faltered near the end, losing four of their last six games. That came on the heels of allegations of steroid use among football players by former Gamecock defensive lineman Tommy Chaikin.
In a story in Sports Illustrated, Chaikin, who played at South Carolina from 1983-87, said he and other players used steroids and about half of the 1986 team used the muscle-building drugs. Chaikin also said some players used drugs such as cocaine and LSD.
Morrison he had heard rumors some players might have been using steroids but the allegations were never substantiated.
The allegations by Chaikin have prompted a grand jury investigation that is expected to continue when jurors reconvene later this month.
University President James Holderman said he didn’t think Morrison was under any added pressure this year.
“I don’t think he was under any more stress than any football coach was under,” Holderman said.
Dixon agreed.
“I did not detect any more stress on Joe this year,” Dixon said.
Morrison’s private life was the focus of intense scrutiny two years ago when it was learned he has had a child by a woman he began seeing while he was at New Mexico. The woman, Barbara J. Button, moved to South Carolina after Morrison became coach of the Gamecocks.
Morrison acknowledged he was the father of Button’s daughter, Lisa Nicole Morrison, who was born June 12, 1982 in Albuquerque, N.M.
Despite the controversies, Morrison was known as a winner as a coach and a player. Morrison’s best year at South Carolina was in 1984 when he was named the 1984 Walter Camp national Coach of the Year. South Carolina went 10-2 that season, losing to Oklahoma State 21-14 in the Gator Bowl.
Morrison began his coaching career at Tennessee-Chattanooga after former Giants teammate Sam Huff recommended him for the job. The Moccasins went 4-7 in each of his first two seasons, then went 5-5-1 in 1975.
Over his final four seasons there, Morrison coached the team to records of 6-4-1, 9-1-1, 7-3-1, and 9-2, winning the Southern Conference championship three times.
He moved to New Mexico in 1970 and the Lobos went 4-7 in his first two seasons at Albuquerque. New Mexico went 10-2 in 1982, its only loss 40-12 to Brigham Young.
South Carolina hired him away Dec. 5, 1982. The Gamecocks went 5-6 in his first season, then went 10-2 in 1984, rising as high as second in The Associated Press poll before a 38-21 loss to Navy on Nov. 17. The Gamecocks finished 1988 (sic) ranked 11th.
South Carolina was 5-6 in 1985, 3-6-2 in 1986 and 8-4 in 1987, finishing with a 20-16 loss to eventual national champion Miami of Florida and a 30-13 loss to Louisiana State in the Gator Bowl.
Morrison, who was born August 21, 1937, and grew up in Lima, Ohio, was as outstanding a player as he was a coach. At Cincinnati, he set school records in scoring, passing and rushing and twice was named to the All Missouri Valley Conference team.
He led the Bearcats in rushing and receiving in 1958. He played in the 1959 College All-Star Game, Senior Bowl and North-South All-Star Game.
After graduating in 1959, he was drafted on the third round by the Giants and went on to play 14 years for New York, earning the nickname “Old Dependable” for his clutch play.
He was named Most Valuable Player by the NFL Touchdown Club in 1972, his final season. The Giants that year retired his No. 40.
Morrison is the Giants’ all-time leader in receptions with 395, for 4, 993 yards and 47 touchdowns. He gained 2,472 yards rushing in his career on 677 carries, scoring 18 touchdowns.
His 65 career touchdowns rank him fourth in the history of the Giants with 390 points.
“He was such a versatile player,” Giants owner Wellington Mara said. “ He was the ultimate team player. He would do anything you asked him. Run the Ball, catch, play on special teams, anything.”
Dunbar Funeral Home was handling the arrangements, but they were incomplete this morning.
The Rubber Chickens return with some Thanksgiving musings ahead of the showdown with Clemson. Included:
Click the graphic below to stream this episode, or listen via iTunes right here, and enjoy!
TRC Unleashed 89 returns after an off week – we don’t podcast after losses, so enjoy these moments* – to discuss the ups and downs of the East Carolina win. Among other things the boys discuss:
*Just kidding we podcast after losses. Sometimes.
You can listen via iTunes right here, or you can stream by clicking here or clicking the graphic. Enjoy!
Some quick, barely researched, not fully-formed thoughts from South Carolina’s 27-14 loss to Mississippi State:
1-1. Admit it, you looked at the schedule before the season started and you saw us opening with road games against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State and you thought, “I’d like to get a split out of those two games.” Two road games, at night, in the conference. Coming out of those 2-0 seemed a little too much ask didn’t it? Of course it did.
Then we won at Vandy, and MSU shockingly lost their opener to South Alabama. We all got a little greedy, thinking we could come out of the first two undefeated.
But the fact is we played poorly at Vandy and barely escaped, and the MSU loss to South Alabama was but a fluke. The Bulldogs came out Saturday night and played with more focus, more intensity, and more desperation, knowing they couldn’t fall to 0-2. Combine that with the fact they were light years better than USC along the line of scrimmage and we got the outcome we deserved.
South Carolina is still a broken football program. Garbage recruiting and poor coaching caught up to us at the end of the Spurrier regime, and now Will Muschamp and his staff have been tasked with fixing it. This will not be easy, and it will not be fast, and we should have known a 3-point win over Vanderbilt didn’t signify some sort of turning point. Muschamp and Co. get a pass for last night, and I submit to you they should get many more over the coming months. That doesn’t mean we won’t get frustrated, yell at our TVs, question play calls and ask why on God’s green earth did we hire this guy. I’m just saying after a few deep breaths we should all take inventory of everything that has happened over the last 18 months and give our staff a little grace.
And right now we should take our 1-1 record, kiss it on the mouth and be thankful. It could be worse, we could be 0-2.
Slow starters. For the second week in a row the Gamecocks got off to a terrible start, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. But unlike last week, the defense joined in against MSU. The Bulldogs picked up almost 200 yards of total offense in their first three possessions as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Only a fourth down stop by USC inside their own 10-yard line prevented things from being worse.
Meanwhile, the offense once again went scoreless in the first half. That’s now zero points in the first half of both our games this year.
Hopefully being at home next week will help change things up and get our guys into a groove early. With a young, inexperienced team like we have, we can’t afford to have to dig out of double-digit holes week after week.
QB1. Now the debate begins in earnest. In last week’s Snap Judgments I stated that Perry Orth might not be the quarterback we wanted, but he was the quarterback we needed. A whole seven days later I believe the dynamics have changed. It appears this will become Brandon McIlwain’s team sooner rather than later.
Part of the reason is that Orth has simply reached the limits of his potential. We’ve seen the very best of Perry Orth, and it’s not going to be good enough going forward with the talent we have behind him. I don’t believe we will be “taking our lumps” by turning the job completely over the Bmac, I truly believe he will give us our best chance to win. One of the main reasons I believe that is…
O(MG) Line. Our offensive line was atrocious last night. To Mississippi State’s credit, we were playing against some grown ass men that flat out beat us. But that’s the type of defensive line we will see for most of the season, and we will need someone with some escapability taking snaps. Several people tweeted at us last night, “if our offensive line plays like that it won’t matter who’s playing quarterback.”
Wrong. That’s precisely why we need Brandon McIlwain in the game. He has the ability to elude the rush and pick up positive yardage. He can also keep the ball on those zone reads occasionally to keep the defense honest. Orth cannot do those things.
Yes, BMac will pull the ball down too early at times and he’ll air mail some throws like we saw last night. But he will also get better with time and repetitions, and will ultimately put us in position to win ball games.
Record setters. How many players have set school, conference or national records against South Carolina over the last 20 years? I’m not sure, but if feels like all of them. We seem to have a knack for giving up huge games to not only good players, but also average players. Last night it was Nick Fitzgerald’s turn. This dude looked like a sack waiting to happen, but instead we allowed him to become the white Cam Newton with a school record 195 yards rushing. For good measure he also threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
Spreading it around. Out of 20 completions last night between Orth and McIlwain, there were eight different receivers – 4 WR, 3 TE and 1 RB. Hayden Hurst led the way with eight catches.
Ghost of running games past. I’m no X and O guru, but our running plays look eerily similar to the ones from the Spurrier era. I’m sure somebody who has coached at a high level would tell me “yeah but the blocking scheme is different” or something along those lines, but I just expected to see a little more variety out of Roper.
Speaking of ghosts. No David Williams last night. At this rate I’ll be shocked if he hasn’t transferred out of Columbia by the end of the calendar year. So much potential, it’s really disappointing.
On the other hand, it was nice seeing Lorenzo Nunez at least dressed out last night. He’s a guy I feel like could really help this offense. I understand learning the wide receiver position might not be easy, but how about a small package of plays? Maybe a speed sweep, or reverse, or a straight run out of the QB position. He’s shown he can make things happen with the ball in his hands, I just don’t understand why we’re not using him.
Injury report I. I’m stealing this from a tweet I saw last night (h/t @scoatnee36), but Deebo needs to be in yoga five days a week to get those legs stretched out.
Injury report II. This one is a little more of a concern – Chaz Elder. Elder was ruled out of next week’s game against ECU with a “rib contusion”. He was injured on MSU’s first touchdown when he hit Fred Ross as his was crossing the goal line. Take a look at that replay and tell me how that hit resulted in a rib contusion. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but that’s just not what it looks like. As soon as the play was over Tbone texted me “concussed”. And that’s what it looks like – the hit to the head, the way he falls motionless – a concussion.
Elder has a history of concussions while at USC, including two where he was completely knocked out. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I just don’t like the way this looks. I hope for Chaz Elder’s sake he didn’t suffer a concussion, and for USC’s sake they’re not covering something up.
Go Cocks.
The 2016 football season is underway, and as a service to all loyal Gamecock fans the TRC crew made the trek to Nashville and have a (semi) full report on this week’s TRC Unleashed. Topics include:
Take a listen via iTunes or click on the graphic below to stream, and ENJOY!
This series of audio blog posts recapping every season since 1987 were originally posted prior to the 2013 season. The 2015 season was recorded and posted prior to the beginning of the 2016 campaign.
The 2015 Gamecock football season began with cautious optimism that Steve Spurrier could rebound the team from a disappointing 2014 season and get back in the hunt in the SEC East.
Unfortunately, everything went downhill fast after a season opening victory over North Carolina. Losses began to mount and shortly after a historic natural disaster in the the state, Spurrier came to the realization that he wasn’t the man to lead the Gamecocks back to prominence, so he left mid-season.
Shawn Elliott tried his darnedest, but after a 1-0 start to his head coaching career, his team suffered through tough losses to good teams, and then an embarrassing loss to FCS The Citadel. A close loss to Clemson brought to a close one of the most worst seasons in South Carolina football history.
Sound like fun? Hell no it wasn’t fun! But Buck is here to recap every game for you, and remind you to cherish those good times, because they don’t always last. Here’s how to listen:
Stream it here or click the graphic below
Enjoy!
Buck, Tbone and the Gman return after their longest hiatus yet. There’s plenty to ponder, including:
All this and so, so much more. We’re glad to be back, and hope you are glad we’re back. And if you are we’ll be glad that you’re glad that we’re back aw hell here’s the links:
Streaming: Click here or click the graphic, and ENJOY.
Staked to an early 4-0 lead against the regional number 4 seed, Gamecock fans appeared to be cruising and thinking about their Saturday opponent.
But plucky Rhode Island had different ideas, rallying for five runs over two innings and riding their ace and a strong bullpen performance to a 5-4 upset of top-seeded South Carolina and their fans (some of who, ahem, LEFT EARLY).
Two early home runs by the Gamecocks had Flounders Park rocking, but through the middle innings the fans appeared to grow complacent. Pitching coach Jerry Meyers said head coach Chad Holbrook’s 7th-inning ejection was an effort to get the fans going.
“Oh yeah, he was very disappointed in the fans’ performance tonight,” Meyers said. “You can’t get comfortable up there in the stands. The quiet makes it hard to make quality pitches, and it’s a statistical fact batting averages drop about 100 points when people aren’t standing and cheering for you.”
Meyers said the big blow was later in the 7th inning when attendance was announced.
“6823…” he said as his voice trailed off. After taking a minute to collect himself he continued.
“If 7,000 fans can’t get their butts up and make it to the ballpark for the most important games of the year then we might as well lock the gates and play in front of nobody.”
Second baseman D.C. Arendas agreed.
“Yeah, we tried to keep it together, but there were definitely some emotional guys in the dugout when attendance was announced. Then, in the eighth inning I look up and some fans are actually leaving…”
At that point Arendas shook his head, stood up and left the podium.
We caught up with Gamecock fan Scott Adamson after the game.
“I personally didn’t have it tonight, no doubt,” he said. “I think the entire fan base was looking past Rhode Island. There was no rhythm to our ‘Game’ ‘Cocks’ chant. I spilled some Coke on my Southern Tide shorts in 3rd inning and that really threw me off. All we can do is apologize to the team and work hard to be better tomorrow.”
When asked about his players’ performance, Coach Meyers fired back.
“The PLAYERS? You think this is about the players? It’s not about the players, the coaches, the grounds crew, Andy Demetra…well, maybe it’s little about Demetra…”
“This loss, and all our losses, are on the fans,” Meyers said. “They sit on their hands, and if they’re not sitting on their hands they’re playing Angry Birds or some crap on their phones. Or they’re online key banging some nonsense about how we shouldn’t be bunting…and by the way, we should ALWAYS BE BUNTING…”
At which point he ripped off his jersey to reveal a black shirt with “ABB” written across it in large block letters.
“It’s pathetic. The fans have to step up for us to win. That’s the bottom line.”
The Rubber Chickens Blog 