Some quick, barely researched, not fully-formed thoughts from South Carolina’s 19-10 victory over Vanderbilt:

Purgatory. I guess yesterday felt about the way it should have felt. And by that I mean really strange. There’s this part of me that really wants this season over so we can move on to the next stage of the life of South Carolina Gamecock football. And there’s part of me that will never NOT be excited when a game is about to kick off. So I watched the 2/3 full stadium, my team with an interim head coach, with a backup QB, with a 2-4 record, against the perennial doormat of the SEC, in what felt like a super-important game even though in reality it wasn’t anything close to that.

It was easy to settle in to that normal 2015 Gamecock football feeling once the game started though. I bitched and moaned about the play calling. Same for the referees. And I pumped my fist when Pharoh Cooper and Skai Moore saved our bacon again. In the end I was happy for Shawn Elliott. I was happy of the kids. They really deserved to feel victory again.

But after it was over I realized we’re still at that space in between. The space between what was and what is to come. Football purgatory, where we still can’t score in the red zone.

Shawn of the Dead. No matter what happens with Elliott he will always have October 17, 2015. As a kid who grew up in South Carolina and dreamed of coaching in Williams Brice, it was the thrill of a lifetime for him I’m sure.

I have to give him credit, even though he is captaining a program with very little hope to do anything significant for the last six weeks of the season, he’s doing everything he can to push the right buttons and make something meaningful of it. From practice habits, to uniforms, down to the music that’s played at the stadium, if there’s an idea he thinks might infuse life into the program you better believe he’s going to try it.

But I also have some advice for him – if he’s wants a serious shot at getting the permanent head coaching job at South Carolina, he’s going to have to stop acting like a guy who just won the lottery. I’m sure that won’t go over well with a lot of you, but this is a classic case of “act like you’ve been there before”. And yes, I know he hasn’t been there before, but he’s been around coaching pretty much his entire life. He knows how this works. There’s a certain decorum that goes with being the head man at a major university. (Dabo is the exception, and I don’t want Dabo.)

I love the enthusiasm, don’t get me wrong. I think it’s something we need, especially on the recruiting trail. I just think he needs to dial it back a few clicks.

The Orth keeps spinning. “Perry Orth sucks” is a text I got yesterday during the game. OK, I guess if you put it in the context of the NFL, or maybe the quarterbacks that rate in the bottom half of Division I football, then maybe he does suck.

But if you put it in the context of a guy who had no college offers, who walked on at South Carolina after a stint at Florida State College at Jacksonville, and basically has no business being our starting quarterback, I think he’s doing a pretty decent job. He’s not going to get consideration for all-conference honors any time soon, but given his path to USC, going 17-28 for 272 with one TD and one interception in a conference game does not “suck”.

(And, if his top receiving target hadn’t dropped two passes, those numbers would look more like 19-28 for 300 yards with 2 TDs and one interception.)

King Tuttch-down. Despite those two drops, Pharoh Cooper still hauled in 7 catches for 160 yards. Even with a former walk-on throwing to him and no clear #2 wide receiver, the King still keeps putting up numbers.

Nealing it. Speaking of no clear #2 wide receiver, DJ Neal (4-49) seems to be getting more comfortable. He would be a good candidate for the #2 guy, and if Pharoh leaves next year, he might be our #1.

 Skai ball. Skai Moore is everywhere. Double-digit tackles, an interception and a strip and fumble recovery. I just sat my coffee down and can’t find it. Wonder if he took that too.

Uni watch. I do not like black tops and bottoms. Team garnet all the way.

HBC. Steve Spurrier looked good on TV yesterday morning. He seems to be sticking to the script in every interview, so we didn’t hear anything new. However, during the picks segment he was asked about USC at Notre Dame. He said, “Well there’s a mistake on this sheet because USC is playing Vanderbilt, I’m taking the Gamecocks.” Thumbs up coach, way to go.

Coachwatch. In my very humble opinion, Justin Fuente jumped to the head of the pack yesterday after Memphis’ dominating 37-24 win over Ole Miss. Of course, he’s probably at the top of the list for many other schools as well.

Two other top candidates – Tom Herman and Houston defeated Tulane 42-7, and Alabama and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart defeated Texas A&M 41-23.

Those are the top 3, and I think we could get very excited about any of them.

Go Cocks, enjoy that off week.

Yesterday I was excited to listen to Steve Spurrier appearances on Rick Neuheisel’s XM Radio show and on The Dan Patrick Show. After both I came away with the same impression – man, the dude sounds almost giddy. Maybe it’s my low testosterone levels as a result of my old age, but his willingness to be this happy the day after resigning as my favorite coach of all time kind of hurt my feelings a little. I pretty much dismissed it as “that’s just his style, Spurrier being Spurrier and so forth”, but this morning I woke up to the words below from FOB (friend of the blog) @BeatClem in our inbox. I’m not sure what Spurrier has said or not said so far really matters, we’ll all move along soon enough. But it would be nice to get a little tip of the cap, if not more, from him as he goes along his resignation tour.

The following does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of any members of The Rubber Chickens Blog, LLC. But then again it might.

Here’s @BeatClem:

On November 23, 2004, I snuck into The Zone to witness one of the most memorable press conferences in the history of the University of South Carolina athletics – the announcement of the hiring of new head coach, Steve Spurrier. As with most fans, I was excited beyond belief. I actually walked up to him after the press conference and shook his hand as Rick Henry was waiting to conduct his first interview of the new South Carolina coach. I was so excited that I could barely recall the 54-17 whooping the despised ‘Ole Ball Coach put on the Gamecocks just three Novembers prior, in his last season of college football.

(That was another historic day for the Gamecocks, being the first time ESPN College Gameday came to South Carolina, when we thought it would be a good idea to “Black Out” the Gators. The 2001 entrance was the best ever, and Kirk Herbstreit later said he had never heard a louder stadium than when Derek Watson scored to go up 7-0 in the first quarter. But those were the only two highlights. Notably, however, Jon Hoke was the Gators’ defensive coordinator at the time.)

A few games into the 2015 season, I came to the realization, like many other Gamecock fans and apparently Spurrier himself, that it was time for the HBC to retire. In his time here, Spurrier had taken the Gamecock program to unprecedented and historic levels, breaking many records and conquering many “firsts.” Additionally, as Harris Pastides said, “he gave us our swagger.” But the 2014 season, offseason of decommitments, and first few games of 2015 made clear that the program was on the decline. It was evident that recruiting had fallen behind. Coaching decisions were questionable. It was time for a change, and it would take time to rebuild.

As advocated by certain bloggers, I was in favor of a “thoughtful, tender uncoupling” between the Gamecocks and the HBC. As the losses piled up, I envisioned a retirement announcement followed by a farewell tour, where the HBC would lead the Gamecocks for the remaining games “CEO style.” The announcement this week of an immediate separation between the school and Spurrier surprised me at first, but upon reflection seems to make sense. It is not surprising that Spurrier is leaving on his own terms. Everything about his time at South Carolina has been on his terms. However, I don’t see any significant, adverse effect to the school or program created by the immediate separation. Recruiting is the obvious concern, but the uncertainty of next year’s coaching staff is the same regardless if the remaining games are coached by Spurrier or an interim head coach that may or may not remain on staff next year. However, Spurrier may indeed have already been a liability in recruiting since no one knew how long he may actually stick around, despite what he was telling recruits. Frankly, I don’t have any concern with the stated reasons for Spurrier’s insistence that the “uncoupling” be immediate, and in fact agree with many.

However, the more I reflect on Tuesday’s press conference and the events that followed, the more uneasy I feel. It originally struck me as odd that Spurrier immediately wanted to clarify that he was “resigning” and not “retiring.” At first, it sounded like nothing more than Spurrier being Spurrier, but it also gave the impression that he simply wants to do something else, presumably in coaching or television. That he is quitting on the team for his own convenience because the outlook is grim. Now I’m not one of those people calling him a “quitter” because I understand his desire to reduce stress and spend time doing something enjoyable, when it was painfully obvious that coaching the Gamecocks was no longer enjoyable for him. I appreciate that he was “over it” and therefore wanted a clean break. No problem with him quitting now to keep a few losses off his overall coaching record or to preserve his overall win percentage. During the noon press conference, I joked to a friend that he probably had a 2 pm tee time, and it seemed he may have when he abruptly said he was done taking questions. (Indeed, according to some reports, he did hit some golf balls later that afternoon.)

All of that was okay to me. But something continued to bother me. Maybe it was Spurrier’s immediate and unequivocal denial that he would serve as an advisor to USC or be involved in the next coaching search, and that “it would be decided later” what future role he may have with the university. But even more so, I think it was something I didn’t hear Spurrier say in the press conference. I didn’t hear our beloved Head Ball Coach say that he enjoyed his time at South Carolina, cherished the memories made here, appreciated the accomplishments, and would be proud to always consider himself a Gamecock (among the other teams he’s coached).

When asked a pointed question about what message he would like to give to the loyal Gamecock students and fan base, I was expecting him to excitedly say, “continue to be the best fans in the country and support the team just like I will” or something to that effect. Nothing rah-rah Dabo, but something sincere that showed he enjoyed his time here and was now one of us – a proud member of the University of South Carolina fraternity. Instead, with absolutely no emotion and classic shrug of the shoulders, he said, “I’m no longer the head coach, so I’d just thank them for all they’ve done. I don’t really have a message.” He thanked the fans for “receiving” him and his family. And with that, he abruptly concluded the press conference, “Okay let’s get moving, I’ve had enough here.”

That bugged me. I wanted him to talk about South Carolina like he does Duke and Florida, and convince me that he has the same type of feelings toward the Gamecocks. That he would always hold a special place in his heart for his time spent here. That he was a fan. Forever to thee.

He didn’t.

The empty feeling I had turned slightly to disgust when I later learned that Spurrier would not be attending this weekend’s Vanderbilt game, but instead would be a guest on ESPN College Gameday in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Talk about a clean break. He was done with us. No looking back. We got dumped like a high school girlfriend, and he’s already dating someone else. Although I envisioned seeing Spurrier on College Gameday eventually, I didn’t think it would be this week since the Saturday morning SportsCenter is broadcasting live from Columbia, which I assumed would include a Spurrier segment or live interview. (Why else come to Columbia?) But like Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects, poof, he was gone.

Immediately ditching us for College Gameday is a slap in the face. I still don’t consider Spurrier a quitter, but now feel like he is turning his back on us. Initially, I jokingly wondered if he would go on to pick Vandy to beat the Gamecocks this weekend, but then realized that is PRECISELY the sort of thing the Head Ball Coach would do just to get a laugh from the nation. At our expense, no less.

Like many others, I love the Gamecocks and have spent more time and money supporting them than I should have over the years. So it was disappointing to realize that Steve Spurrier doesn’t adore South Carolina like he adores Florida and Duke. But more disappointing was the realization that the Head Ball Coach doesn’t care for the Gamecocks as much as Gamecock nation cares for him. I wonder if he cared at all.

History will show that Steve Spurrier was a Gamecock. I just hope he is proud of it.

We’re on an every other week schedule of posting the TPR because it takes us that long to build our courage back up. Here is the first ever post-Steve Spurrier Transitive Property Report.

Week 6 Results:

North Carolina (4-1) – Open date.

TPR for UNC: Since we didn’t publish a TPR last week we missed the Tar Heels’ victory over Georgia Tech. Back in August that would’ve been a big deal, but the Jackets are really terrible, so at this point it’s just a big, fat whoop-tee-doo.

Kentucky (4-1) – Open date.

TPR for Kentucky: The ‘Cats face their first real SEC test this weekend against Aub…ah, never mind. Even though they’re still average as grits, they’ll be in the mix for the SEC East title for at least one more week.

Georgia (4-2) – Lost to Tennessee 38-31. Two straight losses and a horrific looking knee injury to All-American Nick Chubb. Zoinks.

TPR for Georgia: The Bulldogs season has gone to hell in a hand basket over the last two weeks. So much so that there’s now a large part of their fan base that wants Mark Richt gone. If that happens, I wonder if there are any schools that might be interested in him.

Central Florida (0-6) – Lost to UConn 40-13. Holy cow how bad can this get for the Knights.

TPR for UCF: They are a shockingly terrible football team considering they won 12 games and a BCS bowl just two years ago. (Yes I cut and pasted this from two weeks ago.)

Missouri (4-2) – Lost to Florida 21-3. Maty Mauk takes to Twitter to retweet bad things about his teammate. Join us in the flames Mizzou, misery loves company.

TPR for Missouri: I hate that they beat us so handily, because they are not good. Thing is, when we start our climb back up the ladder, they might be the first rung we step on.

LSU (5-0) – Beat South Carolina 45-24. A simple matter of men vs. boys.

TPR for LSU: The Bayou Bengals will not win anything significant this year, but they are a rough and tumble team.

Vanderbilt (2-3) – Beat Middle Tennessee 17-13. A rare road win for the Commodores.

TPR for Vanderbilt: Possibly our last chance for a win over a BCS team this year. When you look at USC, it’s really difficult to find anything positive on the offensive or defensive side of the ball. Vandy at least has a tough defense. This will probably be a nail-biter.

Texas A&M (5-0) – Open date.

TPR for Texas A&M: The Ags have Alabama at home this weekend, we’ll find out if they’re for real this time. As far as our game against them, I don’t want to talk about it.

Tennessee (3-3) – Beat Georgia 38-31. Picked up a much, much needed win last weekend, and did it in dramatic fashion. There’s no denying they have talent, the question is still about the coaching.

TPR for Tennessee: I have had this one chalked up as a loss since before the season started, and I have not been given a reason to think otherwise to this point.

Florida (6-0) – Beat Missouri 21-3. The Gators are one of the hottest teams in the country and have moved into the top 10, but had some wind taken out of their sails with the suspension of Will Grier.

TPR for Florida: I just can’t shake the feeling that we have a chance in this game. I don’t know if it’s realistic or not. We’ll know more after they play LSU this weekend.

The Citadel (3-2) – Beat Wofford 39-12. The Bulldogs have either won or lost by double digits in every game this season.

TPR for The Citadel: Can we please just get this over with. Please.

Clemson (5-0) – Beat Georgia Tech 43-24. Going into the season the Tigers looked like they would have at least three challenging games by now. Unfortunately Louisville and Georgia Tech have wildly underachieved. The Notre Dame game still looks like a pretty good win.

TPR for Clemson: Nobody wants to hear this, but the Tigers have a very good shot at going undefeated and getting a spot in the college football playoff. They have Florida State left, at home, and that’s about the only team left that can realistically give them a run for their money. And FSU is not nearly the team they have been. This edition of Gamecock football fits nicely into their anemic schedule.

Projected final record: 4-8

Join Buck, Tbone and the Gman for a very special retrospective on the career of Steve Spurrier, and what’s next for the South Carolina football program. Let’s do this!

Listen via iTunes here.

Or click here or the click the graphic to stream audio, and enjoy!

 

 

The last year and a half have been hard. We’ve advocated for the retirement of Steve Spurrier for a few weeks. And now it’s here in abrupt, stunning fashion.

I’m sure we’ll have a lot more to say on the subject, but for now we’ll just say thank you to the Head Ball Coach. He gave us so many great memories, and he entertained us every step of the way. I wish it was under different circumstances, but as a guy I know once said, “it is what it is”.

History will be very kind to Steve Spurrier, as it should be. He is one of the greatest coaches and characters in college football history. And he was ours for a while. And it was so worth it.

Thanks Coach.

Some quick, barely researched, not fully-formed thoughts from South Carolina’s 45-24 loss to LSU:

Our Fall of Discontent. After one of the most disastrous weeks in the history of our beautiful state, the South Carolina’s relocated game against LSU was an opportunity for an ever-so-brief healing moment in the midst of tragedy. If only our beloved football team could give the 7th-ranked Tigers a fight, and maybe even pull off an upset, we could take a moment to smile and give a high five or two. Unfortunately, the 2015 Gamecock football season continued to play out in the worst possible fashion in Baton Rouge.

For the first half the Gamecocks played well, but not particularly inspired. They went into halftime down 17-10 in a  game that had a weird vibe from the very beginning. Then the Tigers woke up. Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette ripped off an 87-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half, and the game for all intents and purposes was over. In a game where we were hoping for an inspired performance, and perhaps even a (gasp) moral victory to give us some glimmer of hope for the remainder of the season, LSU gashed USC with long run after long run to hand the Gamecocks another embarrassing loss in a year that is sure to be full of them.

Our severely depleted offense did all they could, but in addition to Fournette’s big day, the defense gave up career highs to backup running back Derrius Guice (16-161) and career highs in completions (18), attempts (28), and yardage (228) for quarterback Brandon Harris. LSU rolled up a humbling 624 yards of total offense against our million dollar coordinators.

As was noted on Twitter, this game felt a lot like a Gamecock football game from the ’90s – completely outmanned, able to hang for a while, but ultimately obliterated by the other team’s obviously superior talent.

How in the world did we get here.

The HBC. Well, we can start with this guy I guess. I’m not sure there’s anything else we can say on this blog about Steve Spurrier’s future that won’t sound like dead horse flogging. But, as if we needed more evidence that the HBC is going to be done after this year, we got this gem:

With all due respect to Carlton Heard, him not wanting to play even though he was cleared it not a big deal. But Brandon Wilds is a different story – a senior and a guy we praised earlier this year for calling out the coaching staff for not giving him the ball enough against Kentucky. Wilds quit on Steve Spurrier, and quit on us, yesterday. I don’t type that lightly. I don’t know how badly Wilds was/is hurt, and I don’t know what was said to other coaches are trainers. All I know is Spurrier was frustrated that one of his main guys was cleared to play and decided he didn’t want to.

Oh, but it doesn’t stop there, a guy who has taken about five snaps this year decided to chime in as well (since deleted):

 

This devolved into a short back and forth between Shameik Blackshear and Cory Helms, but that’s beside the point. The point is Steve Spurrier has lost the locker room. He had some lame comment that “ah this type of stuff happens when you lose”, and no, it does not. Respected leaders can lead a losing locker room just as well as a winning locker room and prevent nonsense like this.

Steve Spurrier no longer has that respect.

One step HokeWard, ten steps back. After 2014 there was a great cry for Spurrier to make a change at defensive coordinator. Instead, he waffled, deflected, and finally sort of demoted Lorenzo Ward and brought on old buddy Jon Hoke to take over. The results? See for yourself with where South Carolina stands in these up-to-date SEC rankings:

• Total defense – 14th
• Scoring defense – 14th
• Rushing defense – 13th
• Pass defense – 12th

Pair these with the offensive statistics (we’re currently 13th in total offense) and congratulations we have the worst team in the SEC. Some people blame talent, some blame coaching. I think you have to blame it all.

Have I mentioned we finished #4 in the country a mere season and a half ago?

Fenton-ease. Our biggest bright spot yesterday was Rashad Fenton, who broke a dubious 13-year streak by returning a kickoff for touchdown. Ghosts of Matthew Thomas, be exorcised!

Leonard Fournette and LSU. What a touching move by Fournette yesterday to offer to auction off his jersey and give the proceeds to flood relief in South Carolina. After all, if anyone knows what the people of our state are going through right now it is him. As a 10-year-old, during Hurricane Katrina, Fournette lived on an overpass for five days and four nights in a harrowing experience. Thank you Leonard, go win the Heisman, you have the entire state of South Carolina pulling for you.

Also, thank you to the great people of Louisiana State University. Your hospitality will not be soon forgotten.

Go Cocks.

When did you realize the Steve Spurrier era was over at South Carolina? I’m not talking about the general speculation that has followed the HBC since he stepped on campus almost 11 years ago. I mean that moment when you said, “OK, this is definitely it for Steve Spurrier at South Carolina, he’s hanging it up.”

Maybe it was after last season’s 7-6 finish. Maybe it was after his “enemies” rant late this summer. If you were like us, you came to the realization after the Kentucky game. Or maybe you hung on to see if we could spring that oh-so-common upset of Georgia.

Then again, maybe you still aren’t quite there yet. Maybe you’re hanging on to those glorious back-to-back-to-back 11-win seasons and you feel like all we need is a tweak or two to get back on track.

If you’re in that last group, then I submit to you a quote from Steve Spurrier’s call-in show from last night, courtesy of The State’s Matt Connolly.

I cannot find the words to properly express how baffling, frustrating, and embarrassing these revelations are. First of all, wrap your heads around the thought that a major college football team, led by one of the greatest offensive minds in the history of the game, against the two-time defending SEC East Champions, ran all of TWO running plays for an entire game. And it’s not as it they were working, these two brilliant running plays didn’t work at all. We finished with 112 yards rushing (3.3 ypc) and 60 of those yards came on Lorenzo Nunez runs that were mostly not designed running plays.

Second, I’m not big on the thought that teams are spending a lot of resources on trying to steal signals or plays. If they are, then they are taking resources away from the things that actually win a game. However, when your playbook can fit on half of one side of a cocktail napkin, you make it really easy for the other side to figure out what you’re doing. If Missouri was picking up our signals, then good for them. I honestly don’t think it was part of their game plan, they just happened to see a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk and they picked it up.

Finally, I was listening to a radio show, “Chuck and Chernoff”, driving home in Atlanta yesterday. Chuck Oliver is an excellent college football guy, and has followed the path of Steve Spurrier for many years. Here’s what he had to say:

Chuck and Chernoff on Spurrier

Oliver nails it here. There seemed to be so much fire and passion behind the “enemies” rant, and now Spurrier just sounds sad. I don’t think he’s necessarily lost his passion, I just don’t think he knows what to do. Practically everyone on our schedule has more talent and better coaching than us, and he knows it.

As the evidence continues to mount week after week, there is no question it’s almost over for Steve Spurrier at South Carolina. He hasn’t quit on us yet, but based on what we’ve heard the last week, he’s in the process.

Some quick, barely researched, not fully-formed thoughts from South Carolina’s 24-10 loss to Missouri:

The HBC. If you’ve read this blog or listened to our podcast, you know our position on head coach Steve Spurrier, and each week the case against his return in 2016 continues to mount. It’s way past time to fire off some “it’s time for Steve Spurrier to go” blog post. There’s pretty much nobody left to convince. Besides, we did that after the Kentucky game.

We talked on one podcast a few weeks ago about the five stages of grief as it relates to Spurrier’s time as the head Gamecock. I’m now squarely in the final stage, acceptance, and I suggest you find a way to get there yourself, because it is time to put a new plan in place and move on.

This final season is going to be the exact opposite of the way we would’ve drawn up Spurrier’s departure. We would’ve wanted that ever-elusive SEC Championship, followed by a major bowl game, with the HBC holding up a trophy and telling everyone it was a great run but it’s time to step down while on top. Hell, in hindsight, even making that retirement speech while holding the crappy Duck Commander Independence Bowl Championship trophy would’ve been light years better than what we’re staring in the face right now.

Instead, what we’re facing is our greatest leader in our most important sport, and one of the most legendary coaches in the game’s history, making his retirement announcement after a probable four-win season, two years removed from a top 10 finish. He’s going to be exactly the guy he didn’t want to be – the coach who hangs around just a season or two too long and leaves behind a declining program in need of a major rebuild.

I have a feeling the next eight weeks are going to be the hardest we’ve seen around here is a long time.

Nun-YIKES. Lorenzo Nuñez was borderline spectacular in his first start against Central Florida last week. He was basically the entire offense, and he gave Gamecock fans hope that he could salvage our anemic 2015 offense. But in his first SEC start on the road in the other Columbia, he looked like the moment was much too big for him. He made poor decisions, poor throws, and was contained for the most part by a fast, strong and talented Missouri defense. Spurrier said if he’s healthy next week that he’s still the starter, but now I’m beginning to believe the job might not be as hard to win back for Connor Mitch when he returns from injury.

That not to say Nuñez doesn’t have a bright future ahead of him, because he certainly does. But if he continues to play like he did yesterday, he just doesn’t have much of a present.

22-Follow. We had a running (pun intended) joke at my high school that we only had one running play, and if was called 22-follow. Those of you who know a little bit about offense know that was a simple dive play where the tailback follows the fullback through the “2” hole. The offense was never that sophisticated, and when nothing else was working we always had the ol’ 22-follow.

South Carolina is a major program with one of the great offensive minds in college football history. Though it’s not the 22-follow, somehow it feels like we only have one running play, and it’s not very effective. Yet, we continue to run it despite very little success. I realize we sometimes run a zone read out of it, and we have a stretch play that we run occasionally, but imagine our run game playbook being a half page long and we only use 1/3 of it.

Bad Omen. We should’ve known it wasn’t our day yesterday after the first three possessions. The game started with USC forcing a three-and-out, followed by a shanked 24-yard punt by Missouri. We took over at the Tigers’ 49-yard line, proceeded to lose 17 yards, and then Sean Kelly returned the special teams favor with a 17-yard punt. The net? Missouri took over at the same place our drive started without the benefit of a turnover. That’s hard to do.

Oh, yeah, they went on to score a touchdown too.

Miracle in CoMo. ESPN showed highlights of the last time we traveled to Columbia, Missouri. It’s a great memory, probably one of the top 5 Gamecock games of all time, and will get greater with time. Unfortunately it was only two years ago, and it feels like ten.

Washout. Tbone, Gman and I headed to the coast on Thursday for out semi-annual fishing trip. We knew the weather forecast wasn’t conducive to fishing, but the older we get the less the trips are about actual fishing and the more they are about just getting away for a few days.

On Saturday morning, with the waters rising around the house where we stay, we decided to trek up to Gman’s house where it would be “safe”. We had a nice day of watching football on Saturday, but woke up Sunday morning to “considerably more” rain than they had originally called for in Columbia. It took a while for us to find literally the one road out of town (me to Atlanta, Tbone to Greenville), but fortunately we made it out just in time.

The Gman’s yard got quite wet, but his house is fine, which is more than can be said for many of his neighbors. All of you have probably seen the devastation, with many people temporarily displaced and others who have basically lost their homes.

If you’re in the Columbia area and have the ability and/or resources, we encourage you to lend a helping hand to those in need. If you’re not in the area, look for other ways you can help, most likely through financial donations. If you know of any opportunities to donate food, clothes, money, or even give someone temporary shelter, please tweet them to us and we’ll gladly RT.

We may not all be Gamecocks, but we all take great pride in our state and our people. Please help out where you can.

Go Cocks.

Whoa, we totally forgot about the TPR last week. Not “didn’t have time to do it” or “was having computer problems so couldn’t do it”, but just flat out forgot to do it. Fear not fair reader, for we are back.

Week 4 Results:

North Carolina (3-1) – Beat Delaware 41-14. After losing to the Gamecocks in their season opener they’ve rebounded by beating three straight tomato cans.

TPR for UNC: The more I see them the less I think of them. Thank God we won that game.

Kentucky (3-1) – Beat Missouri 21-13. They finally won an SEC game against a team not named South Carolina or Vanderbilt. Thank you for removing us from that dubious company Mizzou.

TPR for Kentucky: Copy and paste from two weeks ago: I don’t Kentucky is any better than they were last year, I just think we’re worse. They’ll still struggle to get to bowl eligibility. Have fun in Birmingham, Wildcats.

Georgia (4-0) – Beat Southern 48-6. A nice tune-up game for the Bulldogs before their showdown with the Crimson Tide.

TPR for Georgia: If Greyson Lambert can continue to play well enough to keep the pressure off Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, Georgia should be able to cruise to the SEC East title uncontested.

Central Florida (0-4) – Lost to USC 31-14. The Knights had some momentum in the first half, then they remembered how bad they are.

TPR for UCF: They are a shockingly terrible football team considering they won 12 games and a BCS bowl just two years ago.

Missouri (3-1) – Lost to Kentucky 21-13. You lose to Kentucky, Maty Mauk, and the powers that be find a way to make your disappear.

TPR for Missouri: Nobody has believed in the Tigers since they joined the SEC and they’ve continued to prove people wrong. That time has come to a close. This team is not good, which gives us about a 50/50 shot this weekend I’d say.

LSU (3-0) – Beat Syracuse 34-24. I didn’t watch so I have no idea why this game was only decided by 10 points.

TPR for LSU: After our game with them people will be calling him Leonard Four”hundred yards”nette.

Vanderbilt (1-3) – Lost to Ole Miss 27-16. Vandy put a scare into the third-ranked Rebels. Which puts a scare into me.

TPR for Vanderbilt: Vandy has gone from (in my head) sure win, to probable win, to GROOOOOAAAAAN.

Texas A&M (4-0) – Beat Arkansas 28-21. This game was more about the Hogs’ failures to finish the Aggies off. Regardless, the Aggies remain undefeated.

TPR for Texas A&M: Have you SEEN the wide receiver talent on that team? Reynolds, Kirk, Seals-Jones, Noil, etc., etc., etc. What a nightmare.

Tennessee (2-2) – Lost to Florida 28-27. Butch Jones has proven he can recruit, but has still not proven he can coach.

TPR for Tennessee: If they keep losing, they’re gonna be awfully mad by the time we roll into town.

Florida (4-0) – Beat Florida 28-27. A borderline miracle final minute minutes keeps the Gators undefeated.

TPR for Florida: They seem to be improved under McIlwain, but I’m still not convinced. Should be a good one in Columbia.

The Citadel (3-2) – Lost to Charleston Southern 33-20. The Bulldogs have fallen on hard times since their fast start.

TPR for The Citadel: Will still be painful, but should be a win.

Clemson (3-0) – Bye week.

TPR for Clemson: The Tigers play the biggest game in college football history Saturday night against Notre Dame. God is so not happy about this that he sent a hurricane to try to ruin it.

Projected final record: 5-7

Don’t let the title fool you, we don’t talk about 1984 at all, unless you mean Van Halen’s seminal album from that very year. With the Gman absent, Tbone and Buck forge ahead with a  review of the UCF game and grade first-time starter Lorenzo Nuñez’s game, and preview the Maty Mauk-less Missouri Tigers.

Click here to listen via iTunes.

Click here or click the graphic to stream this mother lover, and enjoy!