LSU Week...

The Record
3-0 (1-0 SEC East, 1-0 SEC), #12 AP Poll/#14 USAToday Coaches' Poll
#12? Really? #12? The 12th best team in the nation? The same University of South Carolina Gamecocks who played in Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night? There are only 11 teams better than us? #12? This is gonna be a looooong week…

The Previous Week
Beat SC State 38-3 in Columbia
"I wasn't throwing the ball as well I can," Mitchell said. "I just played like crap really." You don’t say? When you set out to be a “Steve Spurrier Quarterback,” please try to be a little more Wuerffel, a little less Grossman. Blake was chucking the pigskin all over the field like Quincy Carter, but mercifully directing most of the giveaways deep downfield. However, when a team turns the ball over 5 times and still wins by 35, something had to be going right. The running game was unstoppable, chewing up chunks of yardage and moving us steadily down the field. The defense was incredible again, smothering the hapless SC State offense and getting the ball back to our manic-depressive offense early and often.

The Upcoming Week
Saturday versus LSU in Baton Rouge
They’ve been called the best team in the SEC, and possibly the country. They’ve also been called a gorilla with a chainsaw for a dick. But this week we’re calling them gracious hosts. After a long Friday night in New Orleans (see you at Patty O’s, Blake!), it’s off to Baton Rouge for a relatively early 3:30 game. As a fan, it sucks to miss out on a night game in Death Valley, but it’s gotta help our chances of winning. Since 1960, LSU is 202-59-3 at home in night games and only 19-22-3 in day games. We’ll take any advantage we can get.

The Team
Go ahead and laugh at our ranking and crack on our quarterbacks, but I really don’t care…we’re 3-0. No matter how rough we may have looked so far, we’re still putting together what might become one of our best seasons ever. This team is starting to take on the identity of one of those teams that runs the ball, plays great defense, and just manages to win. It may look ugly, but we’re dragging you down with us. It worked for Ohio State in 2002.

The Gamecock Nation
Is this the biggest game in USC history? It could be. If we win, we would vault into the top 10 and have realistic shot at being 8-0 heading in to Knoxville. But if we lose…what do we lose? Get blown out and it could be a very short stay in the rankings, but keep it respectable and we could hang around in the top 20. Hell, look at what LSU did to VT and the Hokies are already back up at #17. What’s the shame in losing at the #2 team in the country?

But why talk about losing when we can win this sucker? It’s not that far-fetched. As fans, we need to look at this game with confidence. Even if you’re not confident we’re going to win, you need to be confident that we can win. Don’t take too much away from the laughable SC State game. We were there, we were in the stadium, we saw our team stumble into a 35-point win. But let’s keep it on the downlow, nobody has to know.

As a program, I think we’re passed the days of getting romped on the road. This is a different USC team and we should expect a different outcome. It’s going to take a monumental effort from the Gamecocks, but this team can do it. The rest of the nation clearly didn’t watch the SC State game, because they vaulted us way into the top 15. And if that’s where they want to put us, then we should act like we belong. Starting today, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks are a top 15 program. So act like you’ve been there before…even if you haven’t.