If you would’ve asked me a month ago if Ellis Johnson would be a candidate for the Southern Mississippi head coaching job I would’ve said no way. If you would’ve asked me if he would want it even if offered I would’ve told you no way. But coaches in general are a nomadic bunch, and the more I look at the situation, the more it makes sense.

It’s easy to be tempted by the young offensive coordinator with the flashy “new” system, but Southern Miss didn’t want to be the proverbial stepping stone that many mid-major schools are. USM has had only two coaches in 21 years, Jeff Bower and Larry Fedora – Bower for 18 and Fedora for three. Now, the 59-year-old Johnson surely will not be at USM for anywhere near 18 years, but he will also not be looking to move on to the next big thing if he has success. It’s very easy to see EJ finishing his career at USM, and I hope he has enough success to make that a reality.

From Johnson’s side of things, a lot of people cited his satisfaction with his position at USC and his wife’s business as reasons for him to stay. But ultimately Johnson wanted to be a head coach again, and with Steve Spurrier’s recent contract extension it didn’t look like he would even have the opportunity to become head coach at South Carolina for at least 4-5 years.

I’m frankly impressed that Southern Miss was open to hiring Johnson, and that Johnson was able to convince the USM brass that he was the man for the job.

As South Carolina fans, all we can do is tip our hat to EJ for the job he has done here, turning the USC defense into one of the elite units in the nation. Not bad for guy who wasn’t Spurrier’s first choice.

Good luck Coach Johnson.

Who’s Next? Already people are speculating on who the next South Carolina defensive coordinator will be. Here are four names that have been mentioned, with only one I believe to be a true possibility:

• Mike Stoops – late of Arizona, currently unemployed. Rumors are he’d like to reunite with brother Bob at Oklahoma, but there are no openings on his staff at the moment and he’s not willing to re-shuffle without a departure. Spurrier obviously has connections to the Stoops family, and this might be a viable option.
• Randy Shannon – the former Miami coach would be an excellent choice for many reasons, but is a bad choice for one reason – the NCAA investigation at Miami. At this point, whether he’s guilty or not, we don’t need to thumb our noses at the NCAA by hiring a guy with a cloud hanging over his head.
• Ron Zook – many South Carolina fans might cringe at the thought given the Zooker’s head coaching stint at Florida (an unmitigated disaster) and then at Illinois (less of a disaster, but then again, it is Illinois). He’s a great, great recruiter, but as an X and O man, I tend to cringe a little as well.
• Lorenzo Ward – possibly a promotion for continuity? The HBC has a lot of respect for Ward and loves him as a coach, but it ain’t gonna happen. Spurrier is going to go get someone with a pedigree, and I believe we’ll be willing to pay handsomely for it.

Two other names have been mentioned, but it appears Everett Withers will wind up at Ohio State, and Vic “Goat Boy” Koenning at North Carolina.

I’m sure contacts for our open positions will be continue to be made up until the bowl game, but don’t be surprised if neither a new DC nor a new running backs coach come on board until early January.

The Rationalization Continues. CTU writers and fans continue to downplay their three-game losing streak to the Gamecocks. The latest is a blog post from Scott Rhymer of “The Tiger Pregame Show”, entitled  “Championships are Our New Rival”.  First he pulls out the tired old “all time record” just in case we haven’t all heard that one before, then goes on to speak of CTU football as if championships are somehow a God-given right of which they have been deprived for 20 years.

You know the old saying “if one team wins all the time it’s not much of a rivalry”? Well, then championships can’t be their new rival, because championships have been kicking their ass for the last 20 years.

These pathetic rationalizations about their ACC “championship” can only provide temporary relief because…well, because 34-17, 29-7, 34-13.

Booyah.

The NCAA Cometh. Ohio State has been given a one year bowl ban, some additional scholarship reductions and an extra year of probation in addition to its previously announced self-imposed penalties. If this doesn’t make you swallow hard as a South Carolina fan then you must not be paying attention. If you look at them line by line, the indiscretions by folks “on behalf of the Gamecock program” pale in comparison to what we’ve heard about coming out of Ohio State, Miami and North Carolina. But when the NCAA is involved, you really never know what you’re going to get.

I’ll need to take a shower after admitting this, but I actually agree with Fits News when they ask Why Wasn’t Jennifer Stiles Fired? You have to take a hard line and at least APPEAR to be contrite even if you don’t believe you did much wrong. Part of that contrition should have been the termination of Jennifer Stiles.

DB U. I watched a little of the Pittsburgh-San Francisco game last night and saw Chris Culliver getting a lot of action for the 49ers. Gman brought up the fact that we should be known as “DB U” because of all the DB’s we put in the League. The list includes Culliver, Dunta Robinson (Falcons), Andre Goodman (Broncos), Sheldon Brown (Browns), Captain Munnerlyn (Panthers), Jonathan Joseph (Texans) and Darian Stewart (Rams). Fred Bennett and Ko Simpson are currently out of the league, but also spent quality time on NFL rosters recently. Not too shabby.

Merry Merry. This will probably be my last post before Christmas, so I’d like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

[note, #C1B is the twitter hashtag we are INSISTING everyone coalesce around ASAP – its madness out there in the twitteratti.]

South Carolina / Nebraska is not the most – ah hem – shall we say, heated and fresh rivalry out there, so I was pleased to see some video highlights from the last two meetings between the schools (h/t to trucheck on GCC for the links).  I remember listening to both games on the radio and thinking we were gonna win both times.  What?  I was young and foolish.  Geeze, people!

First, the 1987 contest in Lincoln.  Interception city, wasn’t it?  Ellis kept throwing to the Black Shirts, but we were still leading going into the fourth quarter.

Then he threw it to yet another Blackshirt.  Witness:

Then we have the 1986 game, memorable for a great defensive effort and the legendary swaying of the East Upper at Williams Brice.  I think this was the last “swaying” game, as the administration sadly (and wisely) decided to have some remedial engineering work done at the conclusion of this season.  Both fun and apocalyptically dangerous while it lasted, I guess:

Tusings (Tuesday Musings) is now The Buck Sweep.  Reason #1 is I always hated the name Tusings.  Reason #2 is that name put too much pressure on me to publish on Tuesdays and I always felt a little guilty if I didn’t.  So isn’t it serendipitous that I’m posting this on a Tuesday…

If the TRC team seems unmotivated the last week or so, you’re very perceptive.  The post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas, non-football period is upon us and we’re a little depressed.  Don’t worry, we’ll snap out of it, but in the meantime here are a few things that have been spinning around in the Buckster’s head, beginning with Sammy’s big holiday party!

“Lady with the nicest dress will recieve 100$ to Victoria’s Secret! 100$ Bottles of Anything!”

What could possibly go wrong?!?  Uh, putting Sammy’s name on the flyer, that’s what:

The Carolina Coaching Carousel.  Jay Graham must really love Tennessee.  I mean REALLY love Tennessee.  Yes, it is his alma mater, and there’s something to be said for that.  There’s also something to be said for returning to a division contender (USC) and coaching a potential Heisman trophy candidate (21), neither of which the Vols can claim for 2012.  What the Vols can claim is a coach that’s very much on the hot seat and more instability than they’ve had in decades.  Good luck Jay, no hard feelings.

Also, I hope Junior gets the CCU job, I think it will be good training for him and if he’s successful a good stepping stone for bigger and better things. 

Finally, I sure hope Ellis Johnson stays.  You have to wonder if EJ was hoping to succeed the HBC at USC at some point, but with Spurrier’s latest contract extension maybe sees that window closing.  I feel like he’d do a fine job at USM, but I have a hunch they’ll go with a young hotshot as opposed to an older established guy like EJ.  Bad for him (I guess) and bad for SEC offenses, but certainly good for us.

Shrine On. Three USC wide receiver commitments are having a big week at Shrine Bowl practice. Lexington’s Shaq Roland sounds like the star of the bunch, and will contribute as soon as he steps on campus.  Jody Fuller and Kwinton Smith are having solid camps as well.  But can someone tell me what the heck is the deal with Quinshad Davis? Are we cool on this guy or what? He sounds like a potential star, but USC appears to be in take him or leave him mode.  Kind of like we were with this other kid out of Gaffney a few years ago…what was his name again…oh yeah, Sidney Rice.  

What is Right With Sports, Part 1. Robert Griffin III.  How impressive is this guy?  He’s obviously a great, great college football player.  But after watching the ESPN Heisman megahypefest, you couldn’t help but come away impressed with this kid’s humility, polish and poise.  He talked about what a great day it was for the “Baylor Nation”, and I’m not sure he knows the meaning of “I” or “me” when it comes to his football accomplishments.  Great job parents of RGIII.

What is Right With Sports, Part 2.  Tim Tebow.  That’s right, Tim Tebow.  For all the haters, please tell me what HE has done to make you despise him so much.  I’ll accept being a Florida Gator as an answer, but not much else.  Don’t blame Tebow for what the media has done and is doing to hype him at every turn.  Tebow is working hard, playing football and his team is winning games.  He doesn’t believe the Broncos winning has anything to do with God’s favor, despite what others may say.  Tebow is a great story in what has been a pretty mediocre NFL season.

(On a side note, what’s with people saying “God doesn’t care about a stupid football game, he has bigger things to worry about”?  So, if you believe in God, believe he created the earth, the universe, etc., do you not believe he can multitask? “Ugh, with this Greek financial crisis going on there’s just no way I’ll have time to watch the Bears-Broncos game.”  I’m not saying he favors one team or one player over the other, I’m just saying he’s not bound by human limitations, know what I mean?)

What is Wrong With Sports. Cincinnati-Xavier, that’s what.  Mick Cronin nearly pulled this situation out of the dumpster with an inspired post-game press conference, but then both schools followed it up with light suspensions for borderline criminal behavior.  The fight itself was bad enough, with Cincy’s Yancy Gates throwing cheap haymakers and prancing around like a prize fighter, but the post game comments of Xavier’s Tu Holloway (“we got a whole bunch of gangstas in the locker room”) and Mark Lyons added to the disgrace of the situation.  I know two teams I will NOT be pulling for come March.

See you guys at Sammy’s Christmas party OK?!?

Given this lack of knowledge, I embarked on an intense period of in-depth study and analysis (OK, I used Google for about twenty minutes) and learned that this Nebraska football team is strikingly similar to our beloved Gamecocks.  Witness the following similarities:

– Both teams play tough defense, with a strength being defending the pass.

– The linebacking corps are both sturdy, but lacking in superstar bona fides.

– Both teams feature running quarterbacks, who might not break ankles with their shiftiness, but can burn you with straight-away bursts.

– Both schools are forced to tolerate another in-state school full of  inbred yokels:  Clemson for SC, Mid-Plains Community College in McCook for NU.

–  Both teams have one head-scratching home loss they wish they could replay:  Auburn for SC, Northwestern for NU.

– Neither team has a sterling bowl record, with Nebraska’s being a little better in that it hovers just under .500,  where our’s doesn’t hover so much as it absolutely and utterly fails to get off the ground.

– Both teams are known by unique nicknames, and both of these nicknames have disgustingly suggestive double entendres attached to them. (Don’t ask me to expound on this one).

– Moving on quickly, both schools were once known by other, even more inane nicknames:  Nebraska’s teams have been known, at various times as  “Bugeaters”, “Tree Planters”, “Nebraskans”, “The Rattlesnake Boys”, “Antelopes”, and the “Old Gold Knights.”   We were once known as the “Worst Team in the Southeastern Conference” and “The Team Even Kentucky Laughs At” during the Brad Scott era.

– Both fanbases are riddled with superstitious nonsense – we have the supposed Chicken Curse, they have a Uniform Fetish that borders on the absurd.  You may not realize it, but the Cornhuskers tend to go on wild losing dives every time they alter their traditional (boring) uniforms.  Change to red facemasks?  Inexplicable loss to Clemson in the 1982 Orange Bowl.  All-red unis? Loss to Oklahoma in 1986.  Side panels on jerseys?  7 losses in 2002.  (Here’s hoping the 2012 Capitol One Bowl patch send them into a collective tailspin).

– Both defenses have similar nicknames:  NU has The Blackshirts, SC has The Black Death (except when they are called The Fire Ants, or when they were coached by Chris Cosh, when our defense was called other, less family friendly, names).

– Both schools enter the field to somewhat clichéd, but nevertheless beloved, techno-balads:  We have the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey”, they have the song “Sirius” by, I kid you not, The Alan Parson’s Project.

– Both teams have an excellent football tradition, ranking among the winningest programs in NCAA history, and have multiple National Championship.  /looks nervously from side to side. /clears throat.  /quietly leaves room.

For the first time in the 14-year history of the Bowl Championship Series the Atlantic Coast Conference has placed two (2) teams in BCS bowl games. As you all know, CTU was able to win the ACC Championship Game, and somewhat surprisingly Virginia Tech was given one of the BCS at-large bids and will play Michigan in the Sugar Bowl.

You know, I say “somewhat surprisingly” because the media never really brought up a second ACC team as a possibility heading to selection Sunday. But we here at TRC knew “the little conference that could” would someday break through and have two teams worthy of BCS Bowlness. So in honor of this grand accomplishment we offer our first ever ACC Power Rankings, consisting of teams within the ACC, and some teams, things and people that these squads had to overcome in the 2011 football season:

1. South Carolina – an obvious first choice. We know they’re not in the ACC, but when you beat the ACC “champs” by three touchdowns, well…just go ahead and FedEx the trophy to Columbia. We’ll melt it down and make some nice state championship bracelet charms for our supermodel girlfriends.
2. Wet Paper Bag – the switch to double wall construction really benefitted WPB this season. Word is Al Groh may be in line to take over head coaching duties in 2012.
3. Virginia Tech – it just flat out cracks us up that the “champs” beat them handily not once but TWICE this season, and are still ranked lower in the major polls. We’re not good at logic, so we’ll follow suit. LOLZ
4. Down Comforter – soft, warm and comfortable, but don’t sleep on (beneath) Down Comforter or it can smother your ass in a heartbeat.
5. NC State – beat the “champs” by 24 points, how can you possibly rank the Pack lower? It’s just stupid to rank a team lower than a team they beat, right? /brings logic back in from window
6. #OccupyWallStreet – Tenacious. Odiferous.
7. Georgia Tech – also beat the “champs”. We called Paul Johnson to congratulate him on a great season and he told us to “go #### yourself!!!” We also overheard him tell his administrative assistant the same thing when she asked him if he wanted a house salad or Caesar.
8. Clemson – should be ranked higher…aw, who am I kidding, no they shouldn’t.

9. 

   All I needed was a reason.

   Victoria’s Secret Catalog Models – mesmerizing and highly disciplined, wings cause fits for teams who like to play man-to-man.

10. Florida State – ranked preseason top 10 this year, screwed the pooch, will be ranked top 10 preseason next year, all based on their 1999 National Championship. Will also have a top 5 ranked recruiting class for the 27th consecutive year and will be given some type of trophy for no reason.
11. Wake Forest – most of the 200 students enrolled at WFU are actually on the football roster, which explains the extremely small home crowds. Jim Grobe cries himself to sleep every night thinking about all the jobs he could’ve had three years ago.
12. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man – SEC size and attitude, but ACC speed. Good thing ACC games are played in tiny stadiums and not on the streets of New York. (And if you’re a child of the 80’s, a reference that will never not be funny.)
13. North Carolina – has a team ever cheated so much to accomplish so little? Put your hand down Clemson.
14. Miami – when Ray Lewis stops using you to pimp himself on TV during bye weeks, then you know you’ve hit rock bottom. Check that, when Al Golden calls Temple and begs them to take him back, THEN you know you’ve hit rock bottom. Oh, and Nevin Shapiro.
15. Betty Crocker Yellow Cream Frosting – don’t let the color fool you, coming down off a sugar high can cause disastrous fourth quarters.
16. Boston College – yes, still has a football team, one that grows more bafflingly irrelevant every year. If not for Matt Ryan, B.J. Raji and Mark Herzlich, the B.C. football program would literally be invisible.
17. Maryland – James Franklin has a picture of you on his wall Maryland. He blocks out 30 minutes per day to point at it and laugh.
18. Inanimate Carbon Rod – see Simpsons, The.
19. Duke – was 1-7 in conference and 3-9 overall, which adds up to their best season in 52 years. Congrats Blue Devils!
20. Cumberland – still haven’t completely recovered from the 222-0 loss to Georgia Tech.

Next week we take a look at the Big East’s new powerhouse, Wonderbread.

Following up on the football team’s beat down of CTU last week, the basketball team kept the ball rolling against the Tigers with a 59-56 road victory yesterday afternoon.  Before we reflect on the game, let’s take a minute to review the performance of our major men’s sports teams against our “rivals” from the upstate during 2011:

• Baseball – check (won season series, again) 
• Football – check (see aforementioned beat down reference)
• Basketball – check and mate 

That’s right, I said basketball.  After losing to the likes of Elon and Tennessee State in the early season, things didn’t look good for Darrin Horn’s young charges entering the game at Littlejohn.  In fact, I think most Gamecock fans (let’s be honest, all Gamecock fans) pretty much chalked this one up as a L.  Having just whipped the Tigers in football, most of us were fairly content with things, and were resigned to the fact that beating CTU on the road was basically an impossible task for what has appeared (again, let’s be honest) to be a bad, bad basketball team. 

Well, shame on us.  Someone forgot to tell Bruce Ellington and the rest of our guys that they weren’t supposed to win.  In what was an ugly basketball game from both sides, the Gamecocks made the plays down the stretch and managed to pull out the win.  Big shots in the final couple of minutes by Anthony Gill and Eric Smith, and a strong overall game from Demontre Harris, propelled the Gamecocks to victory.  This win gives guard/wide receiver Ellington two wins over CTU in eight days (h/t to willy_t_smith on Twitter for this tidbit), a feat likely unparalleled in the history of the “rivalry.”

We at TRC would like to give a shout out to Coach Horn’s wife Carla for her enthusiasm and support of the team.  Carla got lots of  TV face time late in the game and seemed to will the ball into the hoop when the Gamecocks were shooting critical free throws down the stretch. 

Here’s hoping that this victory can serve to energize this young team into some improved play.  There are definitely some positives to build on:  our lead guard (and unquestioned leader) is back; Gill is a player with obvious high D-1 skills who can play inside and outside; Harris is capable of being an effective SEC post presence-especially on D; and Malik Cooke has shown himself capable of shouldering the scoring load on occasion.

But let’s get back to the “rivalry”…..

This victory gives that Gamecocks a season sweep of baseball (season series), football, and basketball for the second consecutive year.  We at TRC find this very satisfying to say the least.  At this rate, we may want to rethink the “rivalry” term.  Looks more like a “domination” to us. 

Just sayin’.

Join us for TRC Unleashed tonight at 6 p.m. where we’ll talk about bowl games, championship games and whatever else comes to mind.