Mississippi State Week...

The Record
3-1 (1-0 SEC East, 1-1 SEC), #16 AP Poll/#21 USAToday Coaches' Poll
Losing is never good. But when you lose and then only drop four spots, you must be doing something right.

The Previous Week
Lost to LSU 28-16 in Baton Rouge
We all learned a tough lesson from SOS after the Auburn game last year…don’t cheer for your team when they lose. So I wasn’t cheering in celebration last Saturday night, but walking back to our car from Death Valley, I couldn’t help but feel pretty good about the whole experience. Considering the 48-7 depantsing Virginia Tech got down there a few weeks ago, our Gamecocks came out looking practically victorious. I’m not sure whether that says more about how hilariously awful the ACC is or how much progress USC has made in becoming competitive against any SEC team anywhere. Losing by only 12 in the brutally oppressive home stadium of the nation’s best team appears downright courageous compared to what most people thought might happen.

But you could turn that score inside and out still not figure out quite what it means, though. I’ll be the first to admit that it FELT like we lost by more than that. But upon closer inspection, one LSU touchdown was on special teams, and another was surrendered on a short field after a turnover. I expected big things out of our defense, but they surpassed even those expectations by really only giving up two honest-to-goodness scoring drives against the Bayou Bengals.

The offense is another story. Unable to find a running game against the LSU defense (I can’t wait to see what they do to Tebow), we turned to the air…and eventually to Chris Smelley. It’s not that Blake was horrible, it’s just that he wasn’t getting things done. When you quarterback for Steve Spurrier, you are expected to get your team into the end zone…period. When you don’t, it’s time to find someone who can. Smelley turned out to be that guy. He wasn’t stellar either, but he got us going in the 4th quarter, making things a lot more respectable.

The Upcoming Week
Saturday versus Mississippi State in Columbia
The Chris Smelley Experience gets underway for real this Saturday. The team is now his. Screw it up, and we’re back to Mitchell. Yep, we’ve got ourselves a Steve Spurrier Quarterback Controversy™! SOS has jerked around QBs to great success, so it should be fun to see what the competition evolves into this Saturday.

But how about that opponent…Mississippi State? 3-1 and playing with a lot more spunk than last year’s team, the Bulldogs are not a team to be overlooked. By beating Auburn, they announced to the rest of the SEC that they are genuinely up for a fight. Honestly they’re the perfect competition for us this weekend. If Smelley were to go nuts against Southwest Dingleberry State, what could we seriously take from it? Mississippi State is a good team that is certainly capable of beating us, so a win on Saturday would be a win well deserved…regardless of whoever is leading the charge.

The Team
A 12-point loss at LSU should not hurt our team’s morale in the slightest. This was, by far, the most daunting game on our schedule. And to perform that admirably, they should believe they can beat anyone.

But for the Gamecocks to make it to Atlanta, we’re going to have to overcome a lot more than our own insecurities. This afternoon, news came from the team that Jasper Brinkley is now done for the season. The linchpin for our highly-ranked defense, Jasper was without a doubt the straight-up nastiest Gamecock to take the field in years. And in a defense whose only one true weakness is run defense, losing a future NFL first round linebacker is even more of a kick to the gut. Who will step up? Ingram? Shackleford? This is a crippling blow that must be overcome before Kentucky’s pinball machine offense comes into town for next week’s monster matchup.

The Gamecock Nation
When you’re in the hunt for conference championships, moral victories just aren’t going to cut it. But even with the defeat in Death Valley and the loss of Brinkley, we still have every reason to be confident that this team can be special. Is that a moral victory? Maybe, but if my belief in this team is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

Looking ahead, it’s hard not to salivate over a 7-1 record and Top 10 ranking heading into Knoxville. It’s right there on the schedule just waiting to be taken. A Top 15 showdown with Kentucky next Thursday looms as a huge roadblock to that dream, but beat MSU this week and we could be in for something epic.

Reauxd Trip!

Every five years, Gamecock fans are handed a gift of a road trip. Other SEC West trips may roll on and off the schedule—ranging from the dreadful (Starkghanistan) to the nearly impossible to get to (Fayetteville). But every five years, shining like a bourbon-infused beacon, is Baton Rouge.

Just a hop-skip-and-a-jump over the bayou from New Orleans (we’ll get back to that in a minute), Baton Rouge takes the cauldron of excitement that is college football, and adds a whole bucket of Cajun crazy. As a visiting fan, you will endure endless “Tiger Bait!” taunting…and you will like it! Respond to these taunts with a laugh and you will probably be rewarded in return with free beer and free food. Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce what they give you…and certainly don’t ask what’s in it. Just eat it; it’s good.

After our last trip to LSU, many Carolina fans returned with tales of verbal and physical abuse. We saw no such thing. I’m not denying that it happened, I’m just saying that if you go into that inferno with thin skin…you’re probably asking to be hurt in some way. Suck it up and enjoy the abuse. Coonass love is tough love.

While you’re there, you need to walk around the campus, hit the bookstore, and then walk over the Parade Grounds towards downtown. There you will find The Chimes…a great bar/restaurant where you can down a few before or after the game. When we were there last time, people were lubing up for the night game while taking in the feeble JP 12:30 game on TV. This year, the day game kind of cuts down on the pre-game festivities, so maybe you should swing by after the game. Just don’t taunt them too abusively after our win.

Before you head into the stadium, you have to check out the $3 million Tiger habitat. The beloved Mike V kicked the bucket earlier this year, so be on the lookout for the brand new Mike VI. He may look cute, but he would not hesitate for a second to go all Siegfried & Roy on your ass. This Saturday’s game also just so happens to be Mike VI’s debut in Death Valley. He’s never been into the stadium before on gameday, so God knows what’s going to happen. When you bring a flesh-eating beast into your stadium, you are asking for bloodshed. Sir Big Spur might peck at your finger, Uga might shit on your carpet, and Ralphie might trample you if you get in his way, but Mike VI is clearly the only live mascot in America that would jump at the chance to disembowel you and happily much on your innards while your heart is still beating.

Awwwwww...

Once you’re inside the stadium, expect it to be loud. If you’ve been to The Swamp, you’ll know what you’re in for…very similar. Pray that your team keeps things under control, because if the LSU fans sense blood, they’ll ratchet up the sound, the Tigers will respond, and things could get ugly in a hurry. Any Gamecocks who survived the trip in 2002 will remember the disastrous third quarter when everything fell apart. To this day, I still swear that something happened to our team in the lockerroom. I don’t know if that infamous Cajun Magic is to blame, but we walked out at halftime a different team. After that, our season—and Lou Holtz’s tenure at USC—was as good as dead.

Regardless of the outcome this time, I guarantee you will have a good time in Baton Rouge. And while you’re down there, you may want to swing by a little town called New Orleans. I hear they may have a few good bars there, so my crew will be checking it out Thursday night, Friday night, and maybe even Saturday night. See you there...laissez les bons temps rouler!

And Go Cocks.

Pat O'Briens and the Goblet of Fire

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.