The Transitive Property Report comes to you a little late this week, but I typically react to the first loss of the season by pouting like a spoiled little brat and refusing to have anything to do with football for a little while. Aw, heck, I actually respond that way with any loss, so be prepared, things could get downhill quicklike if we don’t bring our A game to Gainesville.

Here’s how past and future opponents fared last week:

(Reminder: I do not include this past week’s opponent in the TPR.)

• Vanderbilt – lost to Florida 31-17. This game was actually close most of the way. At one point Vandy scored on a long TD to apparently take the lead over UF, but a penalty nullified the score. You know the refrain, “Vandy being Vandy”. TPR for Vanderbilt: Starting to play decent football. A strong finish could get them in contention for bowl slot.
• East Carolina – beat Memphis 41-7. Memphis is a 17-car pileup, but nevertheless the Pirates get their fourth win of the year. TPR for ECU: About like a bag of microwave popcorn, satisfying at the time, but easily forgotten.
• UAB – lost to Houston 39-17. The same Houston team that just gave up 72 points to Pony Express-less SMU. TPR for UAB: Blech.
• Missouri – lost to Alabama 42-10. Mizzou’s application to the SEC is currently being reviewed to make sure all papers were properly signed. TPR for Missouri: 0 SEC wins, so I’m not sure how you can take anything positive out of our pantsing them.
• Kentucky – lost to Arkansas 49-7. We can complain about our schedule now that we’re about to play our third straight top 5 team, but in retrospect the first five games of the year were about as easy as it gets, culminating with this victory. TPR for Kentucky: We were losing to them 17-7 at the half. I can’t shake that, because they are TERRIBLE.
• Georgia – bye week. Somehow they are still in decent position to win the East if we stumble. Have to stop there before I get really pissed. On a side note, apparently UGA changed their mind about playing us later in the year and complained to the SEC office, so now we’re their first SEC game again in 2013. TPR for Georgia: Remains to be seen. Like us, the UF game will be their barometer.
• Florida – beat Vandy 31-17. The Gators are riding a wave of confidence and are somehow ranked second in the BCS. They have some quality wins, but we’ll be the best team they’ve played. TPR for Florida: Like I felt before the UGA game, I have no idea how this game will play out. Which bodes well for us. Maybe.
• Tennessee – lost to Mississippi State 41-31. The Dooley watch is on. TPR for Tennessee: They have enough talent to beat us if we’re not at our best. Still a scary game to me, especially early in the day and coming off an emotional game at Florida.
• Arkansas – beat Kentucky 49-7 (!!!). Of course Arky starts to get well late in the season. Of course, everybody gets well against Kentucky. TPR for Arkansas: Wary, definitely not as confident as last week.
• Wofford – lost to Georgia Southern 17-9. Wofford’s first loss of the season. TPR for Wofford: STOP SCHEDULING OPTION TEAMS.
• Clemson – bye week. The big news out of CTU this week was Dabo had them all sign a “commitment poster”. Dabo picked up the idea from a self-help book he’s currently reading called “Shystering for Dummies”. TPR for Clemson: 4peat coming.

The boys from TRC review the LSU game and tell you why we’re all so bummed. They also tell us why we shouldn’t be. (But still should be.)

It’s not as confusing as it sounds. Give a listen.

Oh, and This Week in Dabo.

Here are some quick, barely researched, not fully formed thoughts from last night’s 23-21 heartbreak in Baton Rouge:

Losing?  What’s Losing?  I can’t speak for the rest of Gamecock Nation, but I didn’t exactly handle last night’s defeat with grace.  Or class.  Heck, I didn’t even handle it with baseline adult maturity.  I think I’ll keep the details to myself; for fear that I lose all legitimacy with you, our gentle readers.

However, I suspect I’m not alone, eh?

But with the rising of the sun today came new perspective:  I think we Gamecocks have all become unfamiliar with losing, and that’s undoubtedly a good thing.  Makes the rare defeats sting a little harder, but I’d rather suffer through the occasionally sharp pain than endure that old slow week-to-week torture (the way Kentucky does, for example).

Streaking. Of the myriad storylines that preceded last night’s action, several involved active streaks.  LSU was riding a 21 or-something-God-awful streak of home wins, and hadn’t lost back-to-back games since 2008.  Carolina was riding the nation’s longest active win streak of ten games and had achieved its highest ranking since 1984.  There were other streaks on the line for both squads, but all you need to know is that basically all the LSU streaks are still active, and all the Carolina ones ended with a loud and calamitous thud.

Death Valley. The HBC made a few headlines last Tuesday when he by-accidently-on-purpose forgot about Clemson’s Memorial Stadium “Death Valley” nickname during his weekly presser.  I’m not sure he put a ton of thought into the comments, but any intention on his part to establish the Death Valley in Baton Rouge as the REAL Death Valley was right on point.  That place is evidently a nightmare.

Everything we did last night looked – I’ll use the HBC’s word – discombobulated. From getting our plays in on time, to calling audibles, to make on the fly defensive adjustments, we looked out of sync.  I think it’s safe to say the hostile environment played its part in those difficulties.

Interestingly, last night was only our fourth visit to the real Death Valley since joining the SEC.  With the current divisional format, we only make that trip once every five years, so it’s safe to say that few, if any, members of our roster had experience with the place.  Maybe the western teams get used to it, I don’t know, but we get reintroduced to the insanity only twice a decade, and I suspect that isn’t frequently enough to get comfortable.

X’s and O’s. Brent and Kirk seemed absolutely befuddled that we took the ball after winning the toss.  Don’t know what team they’ve been watching, as we have a pretty firm pattern established there.  Regardless, it worked out about how you’d expect it to in that environment, with a quick three and out.

Conversely, I think LSU had their first series scripted out perfectly.  It went against all our preconceptions about their tendencies as it was pass-pass-run instead of the opposite.  It made our defensive troops think, and as we all know, thinking can only hurt the ball club.  We were reeling from the beginning, and played on our heels all night.

Jimmy’s and Joe’s.  Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought LSU had numerous linemen that either quit or were injured in the last couple of weeks.  I expected an inexperienced and undersized group of bewildered trench men, but that’s not what the Tigers looked like to me.  Instead they looked like a big group of beef jerky sasquatches out there in yellow.  Not that we messed with ‘em too much, mind you.

Lattimore.  21 had no room.  It was clear that the LSU defenders were focused on him like a laser from the outset.  That being said, we all certainly thought the Oline could get a crease opened every now and then.  Alas, it was not to be.  Marcus made one big first down run and another TD dive and they were both 100% Marcus giving 1000% effort all on his own.

Right Handed.  Anyone else notice how often Shaw rolls to his right as opposed to rolling to his left?  Even on run plays it holds true:  On the speed option right he kept the ball for a good gain, but on the following play left he pitched quickly to Latti for minimal yardage.  Don’t know what it means, whether it’s a commentary on our left tackle or just Shaw’s preference, but it seems to me that a right handed QB could see more of the field if he rolled left.

Tale of two Damieres.  And two DL’s.  Both guys made big-time tough catches last week against Georgia, and then missed on very similar throws this week.   It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, I guess.

Hanging on.   The physicality of the Tigers was obvious, and our inability (or unwillingness) to respond in kind was painfully evident.  But still we somehow managed to hang in the game.  We led at the end of the 1^st quarter; we led again at the half.  Heck, we even led going into the final period, and but for an unusual Shaw overthrow/pick, we might have led when the clock hit 0:00.   No idea how we hung around with a team that was obviously better and in such a batcrap crazy environment.  But still we did, and that must speak to our team’s tenacity at least.

Moving on.  So let’s flush it. Forget it.  Move on.  And that should be easy as we have the third straight BIGGEST GAME IN OUR HISTORY coming up on Saturday down in Gainesville.  A win down there and we are right back on the inside track.

Go Cocks, beat the Gators!

As regular readers of this space will remember, I am the unfortunate member of the TRC triumvirate that lives and works in the heart of CTU country:  Pickens County.  And while my location near Tigertown does afford many benefits (friends, lakes, mountains, and the wondrous Mrs. Tbone) it occasionally induces face-palming frustration.

Today was frustrating.

My ride into work is usually a quiet time, interrupted only by the occasionally interesting story on SCETV Radio’s Morning Edition.   But since SCETV began its fall pledge drive this week, I’ve turned my radio dial to other programming (yes, I’m a freeloader on public radio, but that’s a rant for another blog).  After hovering over a few stations, I settled on WCCP, the flagship radio for Clemson athletics.

To my surprise, the normally banal and commercial heavy Mickey Plyler Show was actually engaged in an interesting debate.  The host and several of the callers were arguing over the recent revelation that local Greenville hero, George Hincappie, participated with his pal Lance Armstrong in illegal doping during their professional cycling careers.

The points of view of the callers ranged from outrage to excuse-making, but the host of the program was resolute:  a failure to abide by the rules of a sport cannot be tolerated.  Any deviation from the accepted standards of conduct, Mr. Plyler loudly asserted, disqualifies the participant from any claims of glory.  We can forgive, the host argued, but we should NEVER forget.

He drew the contrast even sharper when one caller attempted to argue that we, as consumers, are entitled to the best performance possible from our athletes, and since they control their own bodies, we should legitimize widespread doping and just enjoy the resulting show.

Plyler was livid: How can we accept these improper practices?  He offered the caller a choice:  How would the caller (an SC fan apparently) feel if Clemson paid the top athletes in the country to come to the Upstate and play ball?  How would an SC fan react if Clemson clobbered them on the gridiron with players that were bought and paid for by the Tiger faithful?

The caller retreated, and admitted that he would not like such an ill-gotten result.  Plyler crowed victorious, and proceeded to moralize on our collective solemn duty to police ethical integrity in sport.

I screamed at the radio.

Literally screamed.

I didn’t scream because of similarities between this debate and the steriod scandals at Clemson and South Carolina in the mid 1980s, although that would be an interesting discussion.  Instead, my incredulity was based on the fact that we already know the answer to Plyler’s rhetorical question because IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, from roughly 1978 until at least 1984.

 As we all know, Clemson paid for its players and then won it all.

Now, just how does one of the chief orange apologists dare to assert such moral superiority on the doping issue when the chief accomplishment of his cherished institution, the 1981 National Championship in football, was the direct result of illegally recruited athletes?  Were the Clemson athletes not paid?  Were they not induced to sign with cash, cars, and gifts to mom?  Were the violations not so widespread that the NCAA handed down its harshest penalties up to that date?

Either Mickey Plyler has a very selective memory, or he is applying different ethical rules to each situation depending on whether or not he is a fan of the offender.

Or maybe he is going to advocate that the National Championship banner come down from Clemson’s Memorial Stadium.

Maybe, but I’m not going to hold my breath.  I’ll just have to keep screaming at the radio.

 

The TRC Unleashed gets absolutely giddy over the destruction of UGA. In addition:

• Jadeveon Clowney gets a Heisman push, but can’t win a Rubber Chickens award
• The wide receivers walk away with all the hardware
• Dameire Byrd gets some special teams love
• Georgia LSU Florida is the biggest game in our history
• We love on the overrated chant and throwing garbage from the stands
• Robert Nkemdiche is 100% committed to Clemson except that he’s not

If you listen, you’ll get the meaning of all that. Click the graphic and enjoy!