The South Carolina Gamecocks Aren’t Dead Yet
October 17, 2011 - 10:10 am by McD
The South Carolina Gamecocks got their first bit of real bad news for the 2011 season on Sunday: stud running back, and focal point of the offense, Marcus Lattimore is done for the year with torn knee ligaments and cartilage damage. Getting rid of drunken master/quarterback Stephen Garcia seemed to have done wonders for head coach Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina squad until Lattimore was injured in the second half of Saturday’s game against Mississippi State, which is why it’s not the second bad news after Garcia’s umpteenth positive test.
The sophomore running back was having a great season rushing for 818 yards, a 5.0 ypc average, and 10 rushing touchdowns. He was the productive heart and soul of the Gamecock offense, partially because he’s good, and partially because who the hell else was going to do it? And now he’s done for the year.
But fear not, South Carolina fans. They aren’t dead yet, even though most experts will probably bury them very soon.
They’ll probably lose to Clemson at season’s end, but Sakerlina still has a very good shot at winning the SEC Eastern Division again and getting the coveted spot in the SEC title game as cannon fodder for LSU or Alabama. Hmmm, maybe it’s better if South Carolina doesn’t keep winning.
But look at the schedules! South Carolina and Georgia are currently tied for first place in the SEC East, with SoCar holding the advantage because they beat Georgia in week two, 45-42.
Both teams only have two SEC East games left on their schedules: at Tennessee and vs. Florida for South Carolina. Georgia has home games against Florida and Kentucky remaining. While it might seem like the Bulldogs have the easier road, remember that Tennessee sucks and both these teams could easily lose to Florida, especially if John Brantley is back from injury this week. All South Carolina needs to do its maintain the tie for first place, and they get to get their asses kicked on national television by LSU or Alabama.
South Carolina also has a bye week this coming weekend, so they don’t play again until October 29 at Tennessee. Plenty of time to get backup running back Brandon Wilds ready. I wonder how many fans knew his name before today?
The replacement for Garcia, sophomore Connor Shaw, has played reasonably well since taking over. His two interceptions against Mississippi State will probably draw Spurrier’s ire, but he’ll get two weeks’ worth of reps before Tennessee too. And seriously, who the hell else is going to play quarterback at this point for South Carolina?
I’m not saying South Carolina is definitely going to win the SEC East and salvage any kind of dignity from their remaining games. They’ve also got a road trip to Arkansas and the season finale against Clemson to deal with, so the only remaining game South Carolina can definitely win is November 19 against The Citadel (really, guys?). There’s obviously a very real chance the Gamecocks could finish the season 1-4 and end up in some backwater bowl game.
I’m just saying that they need to put all their energy into beating Tennessee, then hoping Georgia bites the pillow against Florida that same day. Either that or they have to beat the Gators when they show up in Columbia on November 12.
They’re not dead yet, just mostly dead.
8 Responses to “The South Carolina Gamecocks Aren’t Dead Yet”
did you forget Georgia also has Auburn left on their schedule in addition to Florida and Kentucky.
By jerry dawg on Oct 17, 2011
The author does not understand the Gamecocks. There is nothing rational about this team. They will probably beat Clemson and they actually have (slim)chance against Bama or (even slimmer) against LSU. Remember they beat Bama last year and LSU was close. I am more worried about them showing up against Tenn. This team has not sown up to play yet. hy might actually pick it up with the loss of their best player.
By Van White on Oct 17, 2011
Don’t they have to beat Arkansas also as it is best conference record in the East. So both teams have three conference games left and who does better out of the three games wins the division.
By Travis on Oct 18, 2011
My goodness, what a terrible write-up. Who is the hack job writing this and why don’t they simply look at a schedule. Google it for heaven’s sake! Getting rid of Garcia didn’t “do wonders” for Carolina, they were struggling against Miss. St.
HACK!
By Rod on Oct 18, 2011
I have no idea what you mean by “look at the schedule,” but if you’re responding to the first comment, the Auburn game doesn’t count in SEC East standings since they’re in the SEC West (though not for long maybe if Mizzou comes). And it might be exaggeration to say it “did wonders” for the program, but they dominated the game before Miss State and got rid of the cancer of a quarterback who didn’t really care about the team all that much. I’d say that’s a good thing. Especially since they weren’t lighting the world on fire WITH Garcia running the show either.
By McD on Oct 18, 2011
All conference games count no matter the division, how do you think SC got tied with GA after beating them? Aurbarn come to mind? It’s bad ML is out for the season, hated to see him get hurt, but his 800 yards and 10 TDs are gone. The reality is that if you can’t trot out a decent RB, you are one dimensional and Shaw the prime redundant target for any defense (including the Citadel’s).
By duh on Oct 18, 2011
Le’t Not dwell on the negatives,Lets just go out and kick some butt the rest of the year. Most of you should have been around in the 60′s 70′s 80′s when we had real so so teams.
By Worleybird on Oct 19, 2011
“so the only remaining game South Carolina can definitely win is November 19 against The Citadel (really, guys?)”
Hubris, the most vile of the Greek sins. I will not fall into the same trap, but The Citadel may very well defeat the Gamecocks on Nov. 19th.
By B. Dawg on Oct 25, 2011