The first game week of the 2010 season is here, and over the next three days leading up to the season opener TRC is going to be giving you the best and worst case scenarios for the Gamecocks offensive, defensive and special teams units.  These are not predictions, mind you, just some scenarios that could lead to a special season, or a disastrous season, for the ‘Cocks.  Besides, predictions are pointless and stupid.  So we’re saving them for game day.

Now, on to the offense.  (I personally am not going to assume any new injuries, although we know that will happen at some point.)

The Quarterbacks

Best case – Stephen Garcia starts every game, goes over 3000 yards and 30 TD’s while increasing completion percentage and improving TD to INT ratio; Spurrier actually begins to compliment Garcia, albeit gingerly, as having “matured” and making better decisions; Connor Shaw plays in mop-up duty, and plays well, but not nearly well enough to supplant Garcia; Andrew Clifford takes a few victory formation snaps against Furman and Clemson (heh heh); Ryan Mallett channels Jevan Snead, and Garcia becomes our first ever All-SEC QB.

Worst Case – Garcia bumbles through the first two or three series against USM, and Shaw comes in to the crowd’s delight.  Shaw realizes the lights are very bright, 80,000 sets of eyes are 160,000 actual eyes, and that Flowery Branch was never this loud; Shaw thinks he sees Rece Davis give him the evil, two-fingered “I’m watching you” motion from the press box and pees his pants a la Tommy Beecher; Garcia re-enters, but the emotional tipping point has been reached for him and he’s toast; the rest of the season becomes a Garcia/Shaw/Clifford death spiral that leads to an inordinate number of “backwards plays” and visor and/or headset and/or clipboard slams.

The Running Backs

Best Case – Marcus Lattimore is who we think he is, a freaking stud of a back whose power and speed conjure images of Adrian Peterson; Lattimore wins SEC Freshman of the Year and breezes past 1000 yards to give the Gamecocks their first 3000-yard passer and 1000-yard rusher since…since…anyone?;  Kenny Miles is a more than capable second stringer that gives Lattimore rest, but that’s not enough for Miles as he busts over 100 yards a couple of times himself; Brian Maddox is a bruising short-yardage back who piles up touchdowns, while Jarvis Giles is a third-down back and slot receiver that gives defenses fits.

Worst Case – It becomes evident early that Lattimore was either over-hyped, or our offensive line is so bad that not even the top running back in the nation can help us; Miles’ hamstring issue lingers the entire season and renders him ineffective; Maddox continues to be Maddox, a decent situational back, but not much else; Giles gets viciously tackled by his hair early in the season, then validates Spurrier’s “he always has issues” statement and rides the pine for the rest of the way; Bryce Sherman continues to win accolades for his practice performances.

The Wide Receivers

Best Case – Alshon Jeffery leads the way as the Gamecocks have three receivers go over 50 catches and have one first team and one second team all-SEC receiver; Jeffery gets A-A mentions, and the rest of the squad – Gurley, Moore, Barnes, Scruggs, Bennett, and Smith – become known as one of the top two or three units in the country; despite all the buzz around Ace Sanders, he is redshirted because of the logjam of talent in front of him.

Worst Case – Jeffery’s hands become inconsistent and he has the proverbial sophomore slump; Gurley has a dozen TD’s called back in the first six games (11 illegal shifts, one offensive PI) and goes into the tank similar to last year; Barnes continues his pattern of actually getting a little bit worse every year; nobody else out of the group is able to step up in game situations either due to lack of talent or poor quarterback play.

The Tight Ends

Best Case – Wes Saunders is cleared of any wrongdoing in Saunders-gate (which is all specific allegations rolled into one); in addition, he keeps his trap shut for five months and puts up the type of numbers he is capable of and becomes a first team all-SEC tight end; Pat DiMarco makes a few plays at TE, but is primarily used more at FB where he is needed more; Justice Cunningham and Mike Triglia contribute via their blocking skills, and catch a few passes along the way.

Worst Case – Saunders is a goner for the season; the DiMarco experiment fails miserably because of his lack of size and injured forearm; Cunningham never develops in pass blocking, run blocking, or pass catching; Triglia emerges as our best option at TE.

The Offensive Line (yes, saved the best for last)

Best Case – Shawn Elliott finally cracks the code and finds five guys he can count on week after week; the zone blocking scheme helps shoot the running game to the top third of the conference, pass blocking helps reduce the number of sacks to a more manageable 20 or so; Jarriel King finishes his enigmatic career with a first team all-SEC selection, and T.J. Johnson makes the second team; only one freshman OL is pressed into action all year; midway through the season Spurrier appears to get a little teary-eyed when talking about how well the OL is playing.

Worst Case – Elliott realizes early on what John Hunt and Eric Wolford already know – despite our best recruiting efforts and coaching, there is simply a dearth of OL talent in the program.

Overall

Best Case – The offense we thought we were getting six years ago finally arrives; we have a balanced, attacking group that finishes in the top 20 in the country in scoring and total offense; The Evil Genius is back.

Worst Case – 30+ sacks, bottom quarter of the conference in rushing and scoring; more than seven illegal shift penalties; low percentage of TD’s in the red zone; in other words, something pretty similar to what we saw last year…and the year before…

Cory Boyd had quite a roller coaster career at South Carolina, but despite some pitfalls left the school as a fan favorite.

Boyd came to USC as a RB/DB out of Orange, NJ, and entered the same year as the heralded Demetris Summers.  Boyd had a difficult upbringing, and to hear Lou Holtz tell it, he practically had to dodge gunfire to get to Boyd’s house on a recruiting trip. That no doubt helped drive Boyd to USC.

The lasting memory of Boyd’s freshman year (when he actually wore #4) was this scary concussion-inducing play against Virginia, which ended the career of UVA defensive back Willie Davis.  Boyd was chosen the team’s Freshman of the Year despite being out-rushed by Summers, who was second on the team in total yards.

In 2004 Boyd was second in rushing to Summers, but in 2005 Boyd was suspended for the entire season for a violation of team rules after Summers had been permanently dismissed.

The 2006 season started with a bang with Boyd catching a TD pass from Syvelle Newton on a trick play against Mississippi State.  But with a camera on him on the sideline, Boyd informed the viewing audience that he was “back like cooked crack”.  This obviously didn’t go over well, and after a mini uproar Boyd apologized and everyone moved on.

Boyd recovered to be an undisputed team leader throughout ’06 and ’07.  While he never put up all-SEC type numbers, he was highly respected around the league for his tough running style.  Some memorable moments include his short ankle-breaking TD run against UGA, his great night against Tennessee in an overtime loss, and this catch and run against MTSU, probably the one play that best captures Boyd’s running style.

Boyd has yet to stick with an NFL team since departing USC, but has emerged as the feature back for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2010.

The best receiver at South Carolina since Robert Brooks is a prime case study for the “star rankings don’t matter” crowd.  There was a fierce battle for Sidney Rice (a 3-star FWIW), but it was between USC and Syracuse, and part of the battle seemed to hinge on him playing basketball in college.

Fortunately he chose the Gamecocks even though they had an anemic passing game and seemingly no quarterback on the horizon.  He injured his knee in warm-ups his before the UGA game in 2004 and sat out the year recovering.

Throughout the spring and fall practices of 2005 with Spurrier at the helm, there was a buzz about this lanky receiver named Rice.  But once again, he was injured in fall practice and had to sit out the ’05 season opener against Central Florida.  The following week against Georgia, the fans found out what the buzz was all about.  He had a handful of catches and one TD that day, but additionally he had a presence and confidence that caused fans to take notice.

Rice only played two years with the Gamecocks, but his list of accomplishments are long.  And while the accomplishments are great, the memorable games and plays are even better – the leaping TD in the big win in Knoxville, the twisting catch and long catch and run against Florida, the tiptoe catch and complete abuse of Chris Houston of Arkansas, plus a whole lot more.

Looking back at Rice’s highlight videos, you sure hope Alshon and Co. can instill that kind of confidence back in the wide receiver corps.

Be sure to follow The Official ‘ The Rubber Chickens Blog’ Live Running Commentary and Nervous Energy Outlet for all 2010 football games. We will be live tweeting thoughts and analysis before/during/after each Gamecock contest.

All you have to do is follow @rubrchickens on your twitter feed, or search for #gamecocks from the twitter home page.

If last year is any predictor, you should benefit from such thought-provoking comments as:

“Ouch, BIG HIT!”

“Only three scores down, EXCELSIOR!”

“What time does Dancing with the Stars come on again?”

“I’m really dissappointed with the intensity of swim move our three technique guy used in the B gap on that pass rush.”

Dondrial Pinkins, the Thrilla from Camilla, came to South Carolina in 2000.  Many thought he would be the perfect Lou Holtz-style quarterback for the Gamecocks – a strong runner with the ability to make throws when the situation called for it.

Pinkins waited his turn behind Phil Petty and Cory Jenkins before getting his shot as the full-time starter in 2003.  He played well in spurts, but never developed the consistency he needed to be really successful.  He was fun to watch at times, like when he hooked up with Troy Williamson for the longest play in Gamecock history.  Later in that game he powered a Virginia defender into the end zone to put the game away, and he paired with Matthew Thomas on the second longest play in Gamecock history (98 yards) in a loss at Ole Miss.

Pinkins’ career ended with a whimper as he battled a shoulder injury for the second half of 2004, and he didn’t suit up for the final two games that year against Florida and Clemson.

I heard some disturbing stuff on the way home this afternoon, and need to know exactly how out of touch I am.  I live in the Atlanta area, and we have two AM sports talk stations that I listen to fairly regularly.  Naturally, the hot topic of the day was the arrest of Georgia’s Washaun Ealey for a hit-and-run and driving with a suspended license.  The following quotes are paraphrased, from the best of my memory.

First, I heard this from Beau Bock on 790 The Zone:

“Whatever happened to the days when people took care of players.  Ealey is a nice young man, and that rent-a-cop should’ve let Ealey go, then found a way to get in touch with Coach (Mark) Richt personally and let him know what happened…in private.  Handle all of this behind the scenes.  This wasn’t even a hit-and-run, it was more like a ‘scrape and run’.  It’s outrageous he could miss time because of this.”

Then, I turned to 680 The Fan, and heard this from Buck Belue, speaking of Richt:

“Richt has to consider the long-term impact on the program when he hands out the punishment.  I mean, this is big buiness, 90,000 fans filling the stands every week.  Suspending Ealey for multiple games could really hurt the program in what could potentially be a big year.  He has to think of the program when he’s making this decision.”

Now, just to be clear for those of you who don’t live in the area – Bock has been covering Atlanta sports since the early 70’s.  He’s an old man, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but he’s also a first-class boob that routinely spouts off contrarian views just for the heck of it.  But I truly think he meant what he was saying this time, and it’s idiocy.  To claim this should’ve been swept under the rug and “handled internally” is a throwback to the early 80’s when institutional control was just a gleam in the NCAA’s eye.

Over on 680, Buck Belue is the worst radio personality EVER.  I kid you not, he is beyond painful to listen to, and most UGA grads I know will tell you the same.  Never has one guy gotten so far on the strength of one play.  I wish Lindsay would’ve tripped.  But I digress…

That said, for Belue to imply that the long-term health of Georgia’s program should be considered when doling out Ealey’s punishment is outrageous.  Ealey should be judged and punished based on the crime and the crime only, and his status as Georgia’s starting tailback or the future of the program should have zero bearing.

Beau Bock and Buck Belue have a right to their opinions, don’t get me wrong.  But I also have a right to come on TRC and say they’re wrong and they’re blathering idiots that should retire and go work at a golf course, respectively.  Their on-air partners and the callers I heard who gave no push back whatsoever can take a leap too.  I felt like I was in a time warp.

I was fired up, obviously, but had no intention of blogging on the topic, until I reflected on the past week, and this thought crossed my mind:

What if this had happened in Columbia to a Gamecock player?  What would the radio and television shows in and around Columbia have sounded like then?

NOTE:  Mark Richt’s announced late in the day that Ealey is suspended for at least UGA’s opener against ULaLa.  That sounds about right to me.  I fully expect him to be back for our game.

In light of The State newspaper’s decision to “move to a membership model” (aka charge you for what you are currently getting for free) at gogamecocks.com, The Rubber Chickens thought it would be a good time to reassure our readers we have no immediate plans to charge membership fees for our web content.  As always, when you visit TRC you will get , absolutely free of charge:

– NO inside information

– NO breaking news

– NO recruiting gurus

- A bevvy of smarta** comments

– Television, movie, and music reviews during the off season.

- A contributor with a superfluous nipple (actually TWO superfluous nipples)

- Free candy (we’re still working on this)

Plus many, many other non-member benefits.  All we ask for is your continued patronage.  Or not, we’re really only doing this for our own nacissistic pleasure. 

Thank you!

The Rubber Chickens Staff

With due respect to two guys that were more from “my era”, Norman Greene and Mike Dingle, our starting quarterback entering the 2008 season came to mind first.

Tommy Beecher came out of high school with basically no star rating and exactly two scholarship offers, South Carolina and Richmond.  We were told Steve Spurrier liked his skills, and to Beecher’s credit he did have quite a  remarkable high school career.  But Richmond?  Something seemed amiss.

Beecher redshirted in ’05, then threw it around a little in some mop-up duty in ’06 and ’07.  Then, against seemingly long odds, in ’08 he was named the starter heading into the NC State game after a close battle with Chris Smelley.

The NC State game was a nightmare for Beecher.  He was pounded by the State defense from the get-go, and his confidence melted away before our eyes.  Even watching on television, you could see in his body language he wanted to be somewhere else.  Somewhere safe, away from the screaming fans and national television audience.

Before coming out in the third quarter, he had thrown for a little over 100 yards, but had thrown four interceptions.  You don’t throw four interceptions in a little over two quarters and remain Steve Spurrier’s quarterback.  You just don’t.

Chris Smelley strolled in and promptly took the starter’s job that night.  By the end of the season, Beecher, the former starting quarterback at the University of South Carolina, was running the scout team.  After the team’s bowl game he was “encouraged” to continue his career elsewhere.

Beecher transferred to Liberty for his senior season and won the starting job there.  He started the first game in a big time environment against West Virginia in Morgantown and played well.  In looking at Liberty stats from last year, it appears Beecher had a very nice final season with the Flames.

News came this week that The State’s Gamecock beat writer Joe Person has been fired promoted reassigned to The Charlotte Observer to cover the Carolina Panthers.  After a couple of hours of celebratory toasting, we here at TRC decided to offer Panther fans an introduction to the experience that is Joe Person.  Accordingly:

Panther fans, be advised of the impending hair gel shortage that will soon strike the Greater Charlotte/Rock Hill metro area.  While it will be hard to attribute this market fluctuation entirely to Joe’s arrival, we do note that AXE Pro Style Flex Gel became impossible to find in Columbia after Person joined the local paper.  In a related matter, you will soon find yourself discussing the adult male fauxhawk, and whether it can be worn by any grown man, even if intended as an ironic symbol of futility.

Secondly, stock up on anti-depressants.  The visual equivalent of hearing Person talk is seeing week old puppies sent to the gas chamber.  Person sounds like Eeyor from Winnie the Pooh, except 75% more depressed.  He makes Steven Wright look like Richard Simmons. 

Also, you will soon know more about player injuries than you ever thought possible.  You will learn next to nothing about strengths, weaknesses, backgrounds, or motivations of Panther players, but if one of them misses a rep at practice, Dr. Person will comment on it.  He will also ask about the player’s condition as soon as the coach takes a post-practice question, and will follow up with another question about when the player will return, how the absence will impact the game plan, and if the coaches are reevaluating the practice regime in light of the injury.

Along those lines, you will soon learn that Person is the master of the leading question.  Instead of asking a player about an upcoming game or practice, etc., Joe will ask a question with a yes or no answer, and then cut off the player if he tries to explain.  This tactic allows Joe to continue whatever storyline he is already pushing while remaining unmolested by cumbersome facts.  It also insures that the fans learn next to nothing about their favorite team.  Oh, and by the way, the leading question is usually negative, as in “Did you get hurt today in practice, or are you just unmotivated because of your personal issues with your position coach?”

Your coaching staff is about to get grumpier, less responsive to the public, and more motivated to quickly leave the employ of your organization.  Why?  See above.

Since you are fans of a professional sports team, you will be unencumbered by Joe’s apparent NCAA investigation fetish.  However, Panther players should be warned now – if they have an alcohol problem, painkiller addiction, domestic abuse record, or grandmother who hasn’t paid their note at the assisted living facility, it will be uncovered by Det. Person.  How the Panthers game plan for Roddy White or if they plan to rotate quarterbacks is, however, beneath his notice (understanding?). 

Cheers, Charlotte!  Your best bet is that Joe is quickly fired promoted reassigned to Greensboro’s News &  Observer.