UNC Week...

The Record
5-1 (2-0 SEC East, 3-1 SEC), #7 AP Poll/#12 USAToday Coaches' Poll
We haven’t been ranked this high since…who knows when. Florida lost. SoCal lost. Oh, and Clemson lost…again. It’s a good time to be a Gamecock.

The Previous Week
Beat Kentucky 38-23 in Columbia
As Weslye Saunders rumbled towards the end zone early in Thursday night’s nationally-televised showdown, visions of SEC Championships were dancing in our heads. This was the year it would all come together. The dark times were finally behind us! Then…whoops…fumble…touchback…Kentucky ball. Same old Carolina. Another vicious Cock tease.

But before the 76,200 rain-soaked fans could even say “Blackout,” Jonathan Williams and Eric Norwood made a century of bad Carolina Karma their bitch—forcing a turnover from the thought-to-be Heisman-worthy Andre’ Woodson and stumbling into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

From there, things stayed relatively even through halftime. Smelley lead a great scoring drive, but couldn’t put together too much more, thanks to a surprisingly-stingy Kentucky defense. But the Carolina defense showed up as well, holding the normally-potent Wildcat offense to only 10 points by halftime.

Offensively, the third quarter was a disaster, but again the USC defense took charge. As Casper Brinkley came down on Woodson, the Kentucky QB made another costly blunder—throwing a pass behind his receiver, who bobbled the backwards pass onto the ground and into the arms of the opportunistic Eric Norwood. The score was now 24-10. And while a lot of drama remained, this turned out to be the winning score. The game was already over.

The Upcoming Week
Saturday versus UNC in Chapel Hill
Thursday night, this was looking like a cakewalk. But by Saturday afternoon, lots of Gamecocks had to be scratching their heads as the UNC/Miami score scrolled across their ticker. What did it mean? Is UNC actually OK? Should we be worried?

Yes.

And no.

If we learned one thing Saturday, it’s that UNC should not be overlooked. They came to play against Miami and will certainly come to play against the Gamecocks. Their team—and their fans—will be jacked up for the challenge. They see the #7 team in the country rolling into town and their mouths are watering. For Butch Davis, this could be a program-defining victory. And I will be the first to tell you, yes, we could lose this game.

But we won’t. The shocking win over Miami might have been just as important for USC as it was for UNC. Now, Steve Spurrier will have no difficulty convincing his team not to overlook the Heels. We have a ton of players from North Carolina who want bragging rights bad. And this is a team that knows it’s not so good that they can just sleepwalk up to Chapel Hill and win. This team has work ethic. This team will be out for blood.

The Team
For the offense, it’s either feast or famine. Smelley has shown that he is capable of leading gorgeous drives when we need them…just look at that last drive before halftime against Kentucky. But he has also shown that the wheels can come off the wagon just as fast…what the hell happened in the 3rd quarter? This will be a great opportunity to spread the ball around, get our young receivers into the game, and try to re-establish our occasionally-shaky running game.

Defensively, what more could you ask for? We lose Pepper. We lose Brinkley. Yet the defense doesn’t miss a beat—holding in check one of the most heralded of offenses we’ll face this year. With this defense on the field, I am completely confident that we can stay on the field with any team in the country.

The Gamecock Nation
I am a relatively new Gamecock fan. I wasn’t here for the ACC era. I don’t really get the hatred that a lot of Gamecocks still have for the Tobacco Road establishment. But I’ve heard enough stories to realize that this game is big. This game is about “Carolina.”

What is “Carolina”? Is it George Rogers hoisting the Heisman or is it Michael Jordan downing the Hoyas? Is it Tanneyhill’s glorious mullet or is it Montross’ gruesome blood-geyser? It depends on who you ask. The answers you get in Columbia and Chapel Hill are pretty obvious. But what about the swing states? If you walk into a bar in Bozeman, what answer would you get? Fellow Gamecocks, I hate to tell you, but you probably wouldn’t like the answer.

So that’s what this game is about. There hasn’t been much recent history in this series. The rivalry has remained dormant with the Carolina of the pansy-ass blue variety being the most recognizable one. But win this game, and maybe, just maybe, the folks in Bozeman will start to turn. If we can win this game, we can prove to these people who the real Carolina is. Prove it on the field and everything else is just talk. Let’s kick some baby blue ass on Saturday and turn some of those Blue States into Red States.

Kentucky Pre-Game...

Another USC/Kentucky game…yet another battle for the division lead…blah, blah, blah…

The Game
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Williams-Brice Stadium
Columbia, SC
7:30pm

The Set-Up
There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t been said about the importance of this game. It’s #11 vs. #8. It’s for the lead in the SEC East. It’s for a spot in the Top 10. It’s probably the most important game in Williams-Brice stadium in 25+ years.

Yes, there have been a lot of “big” games in town before. The Blackout…Auburn ’06…they were big, but in all honesty, they were mis-matches. They were longshots—an up and coming team versus and established power. David and Goliath. They were big opportunity games for a USC team that was looking to gain a foothold on the national scene.

Thursday’s night game is entirely different. These are two evenly-matched teams. Both have a lot to prove to the country. The whole college football world will be watching, waiting for one of these “pretenders” to fall so they can say, “I told you so.”

But as huge as this game is—win or lose—it’s really just another step for either team. The SEC is a brutal cycle where, each week, you must step up and prove that you belong. Kentucky has LSU and Florida lined-up next. South Carolina has a week or two to breathe before finishing out with Tennessee, Arkansas, and Florida. Win, and you survive until the next big game. Lose, and you still stay in the Top 25, waiting until your next big shot to knock off the big boys.

The Deciding Factor
Prepare yourself now…Kentucky will score a lot of points Thursday night. Andre' Woodson is the real deal. Anyone hoping for a Quincy Carter redux is going to be sorely disappointed. But as good as the Wildcat offense is, they have yet to face a defense like ours. Now, don’t expect us to shut them down; that's not going to happen. Let me say again, Kentucky will score a lot of points.

But Tyrone Nix, the master of bend-but-don’t-break, will have his boys fired up and ready to challenge Kentucky on every down. They will line up and force Woodson to earn every single yard. Look for a back-and-forth struggle all the way into the 4th quarter. There will be some huge plays given up. There will be some rough patches. But don’t get frustrated, because someone on our defense will step up and make a play when we need it most—turning the game around in its final minutes.

The Final
South Carolina, 34
Kentucky, 28

Hey No

Let's kick off the week with a rousing Kentucky version of everyone's favorite four-year-old anthem to proper film developing techniques. With mad production skillz such as these, this guy...sicknode, I believe...is poised to join the Pantheon of Bluegrass State music legends—which already includes Billy Ray Cyrus, Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson. Yes, it's true...the state of Kentucky is responsible for two-fifths of the Backstreet Boys.

Somewhere out there, André 3000 is crying.

Kentucky Week...

The Record
4-1 (1-0 SEC East, 2-1 SEC), #11 AP Poll/#18 USAToday Coaches' Poll
Winning the type of game that Tommy Bowden always loses, Steve Spurrier guides the Gamecocks to what he calls “one of the best overall games, maybe the best, we've had in the three years I've been here.”

The Previous Week
Beat Mississippi State 38-21 in Columbia
Smelley looked sharp on an early drive as USC took a 7-0 lead, much to the delight of the disturbingly-sparse home crowd. It didn’t take the Gamecocks long to assert themselves in this one—announcing to the world that this year’s team is for real. Unfortunately, it didn’t take Mississippi State long to come right back—announcing to the world that this year’s Bulldog squad isn’t going to roll over.

After those 1st quarter salvos, things swung back-and-forth, with USC strolling into halftime with a thin 17-14 lead. Things were looking OK, but not nearly consistent enough to finish off Sylvester Croom’s much-improved Bulldogs. Halfway through, this one was still a toss-up. Surely the Gamecocks would come out clicking and clacking to start the second half—proving they were worthy of their #16 ranking.

But early into the second half, things were looking shakier that before. After a couple of seriously rough USC series, MSU took a 21-17 lead. Smelley was all over the place, we were piling up the penalties, and even our pimp kicker, Ryan Succop, missed a field goal.

Then, with the block of a punt, everything changed. After a couple of near-misses last week, we had finally blocked a kick, and Shane Beamer had earned his paycheck. Under his guidance, the special teams have steadily improved every week. And now that we’ve tasted some of that Beamer Ball magic, our opponents will be on-notice. Don’t let your guard down, or you’ll be on the ass end of a Pontiac Game-Changing Performance.

From that point on…it was over. We got touchdowns. The crowd was into it. And the defense was stifling. Coach Spurrier finally had his complete game.

The Upcoming Week
Thursday versus Kentucky in Columbia
While the Gamecocks have been compiling an admirable 4-1 start, the Kentucky Wildcats have attracted even more national acclaim—running out to a 5-0 record and a #8 national ranking.

Who saw this coming? Seriously? ESPN is probably crapping their pants as a #8 vs. #11 showdown got dropped in their laps…on a Thursday night. While it was not a stretch a month ago to call this one an important game, did anyone really think the game would take on an importance of this magnitude?

Every Gamecock who walked out of Commonwealth Stadium last year knew that we had barely survived. A game that we all thought had been in hand had suddenly turned dangerous, as Kentucky roared back and took a Hail Mary shot at the end for a win. Spurrier was pissed—infamously calling out Ron Cooper for an explanation on what happened. But as the season went on, Kentucky continued to win (including a hilarious victory over Clemson in the Music City Bowl). And by the end of the season, no one could deny that Rich Brooks had done the unthinkable and had started to build a legitimate program at Kentucky.

Which brings us to Thursday. The winner will take control of the SEC East, with Florida heading into a chainsaw down in Baton Rouge, and Georgia and Tennessee locked in a veritable elimination game in Knoxville. It’s starting to be a bit of a cliché around here, but is it not too far-fetched to call this one of the biggest games in Carolina history? The winner will be guaranteed a spot in next week’s Top 10, be in control of their own destiny, and stake their claim as “the new kid in charge” of the SEC East. The loser will go home dreaming of what might have been.

The Team
It wasn’t always pretty, but the offense clicked more often than not, eventually racking up 38 points. Smelley now has a bona fide conference victory under his belt and the confidence of his teammates. Boyd and Davis are continuing to successfully mix it up on the ground, something we will need to do with authority this week against Kentucky’s suspect rushing defense.

The defense stepped-up with the loss of Jasper Brinkley and finally kept an opponent’s rushing attack in check. At the same time, our passing defense moved up one spot in the rankings…to #1 in the country. But all of that means nothing as they face their first real test of the season in the high-flying Wildcats.

And the special teams…all of a sudden, they are truly special. For the first time in…who knows how long…maybe forever…I feel confident that we can make a game-changing play on special teams.

The Gamecock Nation
For years, we’ve been spoon-fed laudations about how we are the greatest fans in the country. And while we’ve been enjoying the praise, we’ve gotten fat and lazy. I’ve been to every Carolina home game since 1996, and its hard not to notice a trend. During the meat of the Lou Holtz years, The W-B was packed out, even for most of the crap games. But now, even though we’re a much better team, our stadium is noticeably emptier for our non-marquee games.

Well finally, someone has lashed out…that someone being Steve Spurrier. This morning on his weekly coach’s show, he launched a salvo at our fans, challenging them to attend every game…even the pedestrian ones like Mississippi State. It’s shameful that our fans have become so pansy-assed that they need their head coach to beg for them to come to games.

What the hell has happened to our so-called “loyal” fans? Hell, you can’t even call them fair-weather fans, because it was fucking gorgeous in Columbia on Saturday, and they STILL weren’t there. When you’re more concerned about the traffic on Bluff Road than the tackling on the field, you need to re-evaluate your priorities and roll-over your dead-weight season tickets to any one of the thousands of fans who would love to have your seats.

So if you can’t, for whatever pathetic reason, make it up to Columbia this Thursday, please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, give your tickets to someone who will.