Sunday, September 28, 2008

10 Things I Learned This Weekend

Evenin, folks! Sorry for the delay. I just got back down from a lovely weekend in the mountains, which I surprisingly enjoyed. Even being away from the hustle and bustle of big city life, I was able to catch a full slate of games on Saturday, and some things became very apparent to me as I watched

1. Clemson has the worst coaching staff in America. There's just no way to sugar coat it. I'm not going to sit here and list every mistake they made yesterday, b/c those of you who care probably watched the game and saw what I saw. But suffice it to say, it is time for a change in Clemson. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing and expecting different results. Folks, the Clemson administration is completely fucking bonkers, which brings me to this. Allow me to introduce my brand new blog: http://firectb.blogspot.com/

2. We have apparently hit some sort of rawesome football timewarp, because the top teams in America are Oklahoma, Alabama, and Penn State. Yes, I know OU has been up there this whole decade, but it appears that Penn St. and Bama are ready to join them and launch us, via football, back to that glorious period, 1975-1985, when mohawks ruled the scene and cocaine was king. Don't be surprised if any or all of these 3 teams win the national title this year.

3. The quarterback situation in Columbia is so bad, that Tommy Beecher actually got a chance to play again. Thank goodness we can always count on our little retarded brother to be worse than we are.

4. The Big 12 continues to put distance between itself and all comers for the honor of best conference in America. Call me crazy, but it seems like the SEC is actually trying to look bad. Maybe they just finally got so sick of all the fluff. SEC! SEC! SEC! SEC! SEC!

5. Cullen Harper has played himself out of the Heisman Race.

6. The ACC might not be as bad as everyone keeps saying. VT and FSU both put convincing wins on decent Big 12 teams. I can't really explain Wake's debacle against Navy though. Maybe they were looking ahead to next week's matchup with ((((((((((((((mighty)))))))))))))) Clemson.

7. Clemson will only win 3 more games this year. South Carolina won't win 1 more.

8. The Big 10 is worse than I gave it credit for.

9. Mark Richt, you have always kept your mouth closed for a reason. Perhaps this weekend reminded you of why that was a good idea. On ESPN's College Gameday, Chris Fowler asked Richt if he was prepared to deal with an Alabama team that "punched Clemson in the mouth." Richt answered simply and smugly, "We are not Clemson." It's a good thing Saban took his foot off the gas, Mark, or you might have had to amend that statement to, "We are not as good as Clemson."

10. Alabama is just so god damn awesome.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday 5

*South Florida -8.5 NC State
Duke -6.5 Virginia
Ole Miss +23 Florida
Houston +10.5 East Carolina
Minnesota +17.5 Ohio St.

We're Having a Baby

Good news, folks. My wife is expecting. It is our first child, and we are very excited! She's about 10 weeks along now. I felt like y'all deserved to know, and I knew you'll would want to share this time in our lives with us.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

What Happened After The Alabama Game

Folks, as you know, I took what may have been perceived by some as an inexcusable hiatus after the loss to Alabama. I took a lot of heat for it at the time, much of which I felt was undeserved. I promised you an explanation, and I feel like you deserve one. Well, what had happened was, I was really, really, really, very upset by the outcome of the game, like super pissed, and I didn't feel like posting or dealing with any of you. So, there you have it. I'm sure some of you probably wish you could take back some of the stuff you said, but I'm a forgiving person. So thank you for continuing to support Mind of a Gamecock.

Mind of a Gamecock

The following is a post from a diehard South Carolina fan that I thought you would enjoy:

Word of Warning........I was looking for 6 USC/Ga tickets on the board a
month ago and got an email from a guy named Joseph Shirey from North Augusta,
who said he had 2 tickets in lower level for $300. I paid through Paypal
promptly and he came back and said he found 4 more from a friend that were in
section 2 for $550. Again I paid promptly. I waited and waited and no tickets. 2
weeks before the game came and he told me he mailed them out. The week of the
game comes and no tickets. He tells me he will look into it. He said he did not
send them with any tracking info. He calls me back and said his neighbor took
them out of his mailbox and sold them at school for $25 ea. He did refund the
money. Hard story to believe but it gets better. He tells me he has gotten the 4
LSU and 4 Tenn tickets in Sect 2 if I wanted them. I paid over face for these as
well. I paid for them on 09/07/08. I spoke to him on a every other day basis and
he still had not mailed them out as of 09/22/08. He said he had not had time but
promised me he would. I would text him everyday asking for a tracking number and
got the same response, will have it tomorrow. Well finally he tells me he is
going to the Post Office on the 23rd and actually did send me a tracking number.
Well the tracking number never worked on USPS.com. A package did arrive today
though. I open it up and there sits a Blackberry Phone. I call him and he said
that was suppose to go to a guy in Texas who won it off Ebay. I asked for his
Ebay ID and got nothing but excuses. He would not give me his ID. So the jist of
the whole story is I sent this JOSEPH SHIREY a total of $1330 and still yet to
have seen any tickets. I also missed the Ga game because I could not find 6 more
in time. Keep this guys name in mind if you are ever looking for tickets. Do not
buy from Joseph Shirey from North Augusta.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Best of the Best

Folks, I'm going to give you a break from my insight tonight (<--rhyme), and just inundate you with the best MOAG since the Wofford debacle.

On the coaching situation:

- HIRE PHIL PETTY.......Okay here it is our last two hires have old washed up coaches that we have had to pay alot of money to .These two guys knew very little about the Gamecocks before we hired them.So, lets go the other way and hire a former player who loves the Gamecocks would walk here from East Carolina.And would have postive emotions,and love the Gamecocks.so,WHAT HE HAS NEVER BEEN A HEAD COACH the latter has not worked at all.

On the UAB game:

- UAB's defense is VERY bad. Our offense is pretty decent. We should be able to cover that spread[-25] pretty easily.

On solutions for the offense:

- we should run the triple optin with garcia...seriously... why not!?! the option destroyed the patriots yesterday.

On how they stack up:

- i never thought i would see the day when Wake Forest has a better football team than we do. (editor's note: Apparently this guy has been asleep since 2003)

- There is zero chance that Wake is better than South Carolina. South Carolina is in the SEC. Wake is only an ACC team.

- You don't know that Wake Forest are better than us. I am pretty sure we haven't played them.

On A.J. Green:

- Hope he likes GA. He won't be welcomed back in this state again. Traitor seems to fit like a glove.

- If we had AJ Green he'd be on the bench for the next 2 years

- If you are not a gamecock then you are not worthy of the bottom of my shoe.Kid chose Georgia, good for him...... hope he friggen sucks for 4 years.

On bright spots:

- We are actually #1 in first downs and Smelley is the #3 QB in the SEC.

- We should be 4-0 right now. ( <---yep)

- It's almost sickening the way you guys groan around here. Our offense is first in the sec in first downs, it's third in the sec in passing, fifth in red zone scoring. MORE FIRST DOWNS than ANYONE in the sec.

- losing to Vandy two years in a row is unacceptable? So even if Vandy does great this year, it's still unacceptable? Stop living in the past, Vandy's an alright team this year.

- I tried to make the point last night that after watching numerous games yesterday, there is a lot of bad football out there...not just us!

On the rest of the season:

- some of you guys are acting like amateurs. I mean, this is Gamecock football, and anyone who has been a fan for a while, say a decade, would know it is way too early to throw in the towel.

- I agree. Its far from over around here. Spurrier can get this offense turned around. When he does, look out, we will have a great season.

- My prediciton for the season: Team turns it around and gets 7 regular season wins with a bowl win making 8... we go into next year experienced and we don't look back.

- There's not a game left on our schedule that we will not be in come the 4th quarter

- anybody else see our only other losses being LSU and FL?

- Our defense will give us a chance to win every game we play. Our offense who leads the SEC in first downs has to stop turning the ball over and score in key situations. Im sticking with my 10 win prediction. Remember ohio st in 02? They had a great defense won every game close even against sorry teams a win is a win and a really good defense can get you wins.

- If we win the T/O battle we beat: Ole Miss, Ky, Tn and Arky. We should also beat UAB this Sat which would be seven W's. I also like our chances (provided we win the T/O battle) against LSU at W-B and at clemtech.




Sunday, September 21, 2008

10 Things I Learned This Weekend

1. Clemson is better than Arkansas. And it's time for Willy Korn to get some serious minutes. I'm not calling for a complete benching of Harper, but he clearly isn't the same quarterback he was last year. He threw 2 terrible picks yesterday, and probably should have thrown 2 more. He can't throw downfield. He telegraphs his passes. He has ZERO pocket presence. He looks injured. He makes excuses and points to his statistics against terrible opponents when asked about his performance. Frankly, he looked downright bad against the worst team on our schedule(outside of South Carolina). I don't believe he is capable of leading this team to a division, or conference, title. I couldn't glean anything from this game in the positive sense. It was a 1-AA team. Clemson gets its first chance to prove something, anything, next Saturday against Maryland.

2. South Carolina's offense may be the worst in all of 1-A football. It is somewhat understandable to struggle against the Wofford option attack, but it is utterly unfathomable to only put up 16 real points(most coming from field goals), and to have to go for it on 4th down in your own territory to win the game. Look for Garcia real soon next week against UAB. Look for Spurrier to quit real soon at the end of the year. I stand by my prediction of 3-9 on the season.

3. Les Miles has a pair of 8 ton testicles. I keep waiting for one of his coaching moves to bite him in the hat, but it just never happens. In a way it's frustrating, b/c you know he shouldn't be getting away with all this stuff, but he just continues to prove me wrong. Hats off(just kidding, Les) to his enourmous nuts.

4. When Wake Forest vaulted into the top 25 and challenged for the ACC two years ago, it was because the ACC was incredibly weak. Now that Vanderbilt is doing the same thing 2 years later, it's because the SEC is sooooooooooooooo awesome. SEC! SEC! SEC! SEC! SEC!

5. SEC! SEC! SEC! SEC! SEC!

6. The Pac-10 is the worst BCS conference in America.

7. The Big 12 is the best.

8. That impending sense of doom that all ACC defensive coordinators are feeling? That's just Paul Johnson and his virtually unstoppable offense..............in its first year. It's time to be afraid. GT might not take the division this year, but IMO, it's only a matter of time before they do it thoroughly and often. If they can continue to get good defensive talent, the Jackets will emerge as a national power over the next decade.

9. Something is terribly wrong in Knoxville. The Vols returned an All-SEC caliber running back behind a superb offensive line, and they just can't move the ball. Worse yet, they seem hellbent on shooting themselves in the foot every chance they get. I'm not a Tennessee fan or a Florida hater, but that game yesterday pissed me off. When will enough of Fulmer be enough?

10. Florida St. is not back, and the Noles went out of their way last night to prove it. Their defense will be stout for the remainder of the year, as they get 5 starters back from suspension starting next weekend. But the same offensive problems that have plagued them for the past 4 years are still there. If you are puzzled by the lack of quarterback talent in Columbia, SC, look further south to Tallahassee for a real head scratcher. We're still a couple of years away from seeing anything resembling the old FSU. Now Miami, that's another story altogether.

MOAG Power 20

1. Southern Cal (2-0)
2. Oklahoma (3-0)
4. Georgia (4-0)
4. Florida (3-0)
5. Missouri (4-0)
6. LSU (3-0)
7. Penn State (4-0)
8. Texas Tech (4-0)
9. Wisconsin (3-0)
10. Alabama (4-0)
11. South Florida (3-0)
12. Kansas (3-1)
13. Texas (3-0)
14. Wake Forest (3-0)
15. BYU (4-0)
16. Auburn (3-1)
17. Ohio State (3-1)
18. Utah (4-0)
19. Georgia Tech (3-1)
20. Vanderbilt (4-0)

On the cusp: Boise State, Clemson, Texas Christian

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Live Blog of the Gamecock Loss

1st Quarter

- Chris Smelley threw a pick on the first play of the game, and may have thrown another one. I'm not sure.

- South Carolina leading after 1Q, 3-0, and that's only because Wofford missed a field goal. This is pretty much exactly what I said would happen. Wofford is running all over them.

2nd Quarter

- Wofford just wasted no time in scoring a touchdown on a big play. 7-3 Terriers. 1-0 MOAG.

- South Carolina just scored a lucky touchdown to go up 10-7. Wofford will score again once they get the ball back.

- A thug gamecock player just punched a Wofford player, personal foul.

- Todd Ellis continues to refer to Wofford as Vanderbilt.....Now he's complaining that the refs aren't calling the game fair......

- Wofford just hit Smelley and forced a fumble. Terrier ball at midfield with about 4:00 to go in the half.

- Gamecocks found a way, somehow, to stop Wofford, and got the ball back with 2:00 to go in the half. 30 yard run called back for a block in the back. They can't get out of their own stupid way.

- Smelley sucks

- Smelley throws another pick to end the first half. Gamecocks 10-7. It's coming.

3rd Quarter

- Wofford takes it to start the 2nd half, promptly marches down the field. 1st down at the gamecock 15.....

- 25 yard field goal for the Terriers, 10-10. Should be 13-10 Wofford. Gamecocks seem to be really building off that great Georgia loss.......

- Todd Ellis calls 'em Vandy again........

- Gamecocks blowing a red zone possession.....AND HERE COME THE BOO BIRDS!!!!.......

- Succop hits a lucky 38 yard field goal, go up 13-10......

- Gamecocks somehow stop Wofford and force the punt.....Tommy Suggs laments on the fact that it's been "several years" since the gamecocks have blocked a punt......

- Smelley almost throws another interception because he sucks......

- Todd Ellis coins a legendary nickname for Eric Baker: E-Bake........

- Gamecocks 1st & Goal at the 2, Wofford stuffs them on 3 straight plays to end the 3rd quarter.....

4th Quarter

- Gamecocks kick a fieldgoal to start the quarter, lead 16-10. Tommy Suggs points out the fact that gamecocks have always played poorly against teams with small defensive lines.......

- Wofford fields the kick to being their game-winning drive......

- Terriers down to the gamecock 34 yard line.......

- Terriers down to the gamecock 16 yard line.......

- Terriers kick a field goal, down 16-13. Should be tied 16-16. Smelley sucks. About 8 minutes to play......

- Gamecocks going for it on 4th down inside their own territory....yeah, that's what I said......they get it......

- Terriers running out of time.....under 4 minutes now.....gamecocks driving.....Maddox runs into his own lineman on 2nd down......Spurrier slams down the play chart......

- Todd Ellis points out the fact that every gamecock possession has gone at least 6 plays, except for the 3 that resulted in turnovers......Now with 3 minutes to go he says it looks like the gamecocks will go to 2-2 on the year

- Touchdown for the gamecocks, looks like Ellis was right.....

- Ellis complains about the officiating again.....

- Tommy Suggs really impressed with the defensive adjustments that South Carolina made at halftime....against Wofford.....

- Well, it looks like the Gamecocks will win the game. This win, coupled with the Goergia loss, pretty much means the sky is the limit from here on out.


Now here's some thoughts from gamecock fans after tonight's big win:

- We'll be fine. Kentucky and Ark are both horrible this year. This is the same team that should have beat GA last week.

- for all your prognosticators who don't think we will beat UK or Ark and have no chance against anyone else on this schedule, I think by November this team will have proved the naysayers on this board wrong. I'm no sunshine pumper but I do believe this team will reach at least 7 wins.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Friday 5

Okay, deadbeats, here are your 5 winners this week.

Penn State - 29 Temple
Vandy +7 Ole Miss
LSU -2.5 Auburn
Florida -7.5 Tennessee
GT - 8 Miss. St.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Gamecocks Against Wofford

Folks, I don't know how else to say this, so I will just come out and say it. South Carolina is going to lose to Wofford this Saturday. This won't be like the Vanderbilt game though. It will be an upset. South Carolina fans will shake their fists in frustration. The world will laugh. Now before you brush this prediction off with impunity, allow me to explain how and why it will happen:

1. Wofford has the top rushing offense in all of college football. They run a highly disciplined, option attack that has netted them an avg. of 400 yards/game so far this year. Defending them is next to impossible, and South Carolina certainly doesn't have the horses to do it. Expect to see gamecock defenders over-pursuing all day, while the Terriers patiently wait for running lanes to open up as a result. The Terriers also return a big, veteran offensive line off of last year's squad that won the Southern Conference. In short, they know what they hell they are doing, and they know how to do it. This all brings me to my next point.

2. South Carolina sucks. They have one of the worst rush defenses in all of college football. This, coupled with the tendency of fast, athletic defenders to constantly find themselves out of position against teams that run the option, will make it a long day for the gamecocks and their faithful. Trying to figure out how to stop this kind of offense in one week is futile. Now throw in the fact that the gamecocks really have nothing to play for anyway, and you've got a recipe for a fun, funny disaster.

3. Mike Ayers is the best football coach in the state. No, that's not a misprint. He is #1. The game has passed Spurrier by. Bowden was never any good to begin with.

4. South Carolina doesn't want to play this game. Wofford does. These guys almost beat South Carolina a couple of years ago, and they are a better team this year than they were back in aught-6. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain, while the exact opposite can be said of the gamecocks.

5. South Carolina is coming off a devastating loss to Georgia. Spirits are down, despite what you may read in the newspaper or hear on the radio.

6. I said it will.

As an added bonus, I have a bonus question just for Gamecock fans. I've heard all year long that this is Spurrier's best team in his 4 years. Do you think this is actually the case? Has it occured to you that maybe this is not the case?

Now let's get back to what makes this site truly one of the greatest websites ever on the internet, mind of a gamecock.

On perception:

- 7-5 record against a top 20 schedule is a lot better than say a 10-2 record against another close conference to us.

On the Wofford game:

- at the end of the game we should have at least 400 yards rushing.

- I think people worried about the Wofford game should go ahead and turn in their fan card for this year.

- It wont even be close. We may have already lost 2 but the vandy game was lost by a fluke punt mishap and a blocked fg. Georgia needed a fumble at the 2 to beat us. This isnt last years team like many of you think. Cocks by 24 in this one and im being kind.

On the remainder of the season(post-UGA):

- I feel better about this team at 1-2 than when we were 6-1 last year.

- I truly believe that we will win 8 games this year.

- I will agree with you as far as feeling better about this 1-2 team vs. last year's 6-1 team. We were barely sneaking by last year. THis year I feel like we are much better suited to play the rest of our schedule.

- We are a good team and we proved it Saturday and we will continue to improve and get better.

- Smelley has found his confidence and I expect great play here on out.

- It starts next Saturday and won't stop until we finish 11-2!!! I love this team and feel we are ready to get this ugly start behind us and move forward. Can't wait until we are 5-2 and end LSU's season, dash Florida's national championship dreams and finally put the nail in Tommy's coffin. This season is just starting, don't give up!!! THIS WILL STILL BE A SPECIAL YEAR!!!!!!!

- I feel exactly the same way.Especially after this game.Its coming together in many ways.(run game excluded).Our D rocks!!!!GO COCKS

- Finishing 11-2 wouldn't surprise me in the least.

- After UGA, I fear no other team we face as long as we play like that.

- We have 9, count 'em, 9 games left. We are just getting started. We have 2 patsies then 2 very winnable conf road games (how many SEC road games did BS win?) then we get a very 1 dimensional LSU team coming to our place. I'm not ready to put limits on this team. Our D keeps working hard and playing well, we will be fine. 8-4 with a Peach Bowl date against UNC or VT...make that 9-4 and top 15 preseason next year. You heard it here first!

On the new "Gamecock Walk:"

- It's ashame out of 80,000+ people we can't get a good showing of at least 2000.

- The reason we had a poor showing at the walk is. most of our fans would rather stay at the tailgate area and drink a beer, rather than show support to the players and coaches. in my opinion the party life style is low class and redneck.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Vic Koenning, We Hardly Knew Ye

Clemson defensive coordinator, Vic Koenning, has been fired. This move, one of the best Coach Tommy Bowden has made during his tenure at Clemson, comes on the heels of some of the crappiest defense Clemson has ever played.

Folks, this is the headline you should be reading some time around early December. If you follow the Clemson program at all, you may have read that Bowden stopped himself several times yesterday when he started to say something about the defense. When pressed about it today, Bowden said he "couldn't remember" what that was about. Allow me to read between the lines for you. Bowden knows that it's time to get rid of his vastly overrated defensive coordinator. Few teams in the conference, if not the country, possess as much defensive speed and talent as Clemson, but most, if not all, teams play better defense. But these are just facts. Let me get to the real reason Bowden should fire Koenning. He is a grade-A, world class, bag of dicks. Rarely does he open his mouth without making this fact even more painfully obvious than it was just seconds before. Within the last 3 weeks, Koenning has straight-faced accused 2 Alabama freshmen of being involved in recruiting violations. He even made it a point to say he was being serious. Then, today, he actually had the audacity to say he never thought he'd find himself wanting Tramaine Billie and Nick Watkins back. These are two former Clemson players, who busted their asses for 5 years for the Clemson football program. They played through personal tragedy and hardships most of us will never experience. If you polled 1000 Clemson fans tomorrow, I guarantee you 999 would trade Koenning away for Billie and Watkins. I am seriously pissed off right now. Vic Koenning isn't worth the $100 bills I wipe my ass with. I can't wait, CAN'T WAIT, until he is fired at the end of the year. It will be one of the most glorious firings in the history of the world. I will blog about it.

Sniffles For Mr. Stuart

















That's 5 T-Bowls in a row, Mr. Stuart. We're all looking forward to 6.


Thursday, September 11, 2008

Breaking News!

Earlier today, a brawl broke out between Gamecock football players and unknown "non-athletes." Campus police, those previously intimidated by BOT member Eddie Floyd, are investigating as we speak. It is not known who started the brawl, who was involved, or over what it specifically occured. But, I think it's pretty safe to assume that at least one football player impregnated the sister of another football player and then tried to trade the baby on the black market. For crack. More to come..............................................................................................................................More news coming across my desk. This hasn't been confirmed, but the fight was definitely gang-related. I'm not talking about some No Homers Club either. I'm talkin about real street gangs. Bloods and Crips shit. This leads me to the obvious conclusion that most, if not all, south carolina football players are heavily involved in gang activity. Stay tuned........

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

What's That Smell, Columbia?

Folks, I don't have to tell you that things are bad in Columbia. Even the "greatest fans in the world" are jumping ship after last week's loss to Vandybilt. And they're right to do so. If there was ever a team worthy of giving up on, it is the South Carolina Gamecocks. Sure, some of them will tell you "the season isn't over." "We're 1-1, motherfucker." "There's a lot of footbaw left to play." "We can beat Georgia on Saturday." These folks, bless their stupid hearts, are the ones who can't see the big picture. Last week's loss to Vandybilt wasn't just one loss. It was the official beginning of the end that I promised would come this year. But even I didn't realize it would come this soon(actually I did). In order to better understand the severity of the disaster unfolding in Columbia, let's examine the three key factors that have led to this shitbomb.

1. Steve Spurrier & Co. don't know how to evaluate talent: It's year 4 of Project Ruin Great Coach, Take 2, and the team is getting worse. Last year's loss to Vandy was an upset. This year's wasn't. Gamecock fans like to believe they are part of the "new Big 3" in the SEC East, but it is plainly evident that they are gravitating closer to the cellar than they are to the top. Vanderbilt has officially passed South Carolina. Think about that for a minute. The Gamecocks supposedly have all this talent, but every time Spurrier is asked why he won't play the younger guys, his answer is, "They're not ready." Folks, that is coachspeak for "They're not good." The HBC only has himself to blame for this; however, he isn't naive. He is pulling out all the stops on the recruiting trail this year. But it's too little, too late for the coach who used to be good. Good players don't want to play for teams that finish last in their division.

2. Steve Spurrier turned over play-calling duties: It really surprised me when Gamecock fans just casually accepted this revelation earlier this year. Few college coaches have ever demanded, and wanted, to have such total control over the offense. Now all of a sudden he's just giving it up? Up to this point, Jr. has proved to be as adept as a tired monkey when it comes to calling a game. This offense is unrecognizable. What happened to the Spurrier offense that could carve up a defense? What happened to the creative trick plays? What happened? I'll tell you what happened. Spurrier stopped caring. This offense is the most simple, predictable offense I have seen in a long time. And he isn't sand-bagging. It's just that bad.

3. Steve Spurrier is scared of Clemson: And who can blame him? Everyone knows that November 29th is the end of the line. Each passing day brings him a step closer to the shallow grave, reserved for coaching legends, under Williams-Brice Stadium. Don't think that fear isn't permeating through the rest of the team either. This was South Carolina's last chance to turn the corner, and it isn't going to happen. A loss to the Tigers will be the final death knell. But this won't just be any old loss to Clemson. This one will send the gamecock program into a tailspin similar to the one we created back in 1997, only this time the recovery(if you can even call it that) won't happen. This loss to Clemson will bury South Carolina at the bottom of the SEC for decades, maybe even centuries. And it will all be Steve Spurrier's fault. He knows this.

Folks, some of this may sound a bit hyperbolic. But that couldn't be further from the truth. I know what I'm talking about. Nobody knows the gamecock program like me. This is the season I've been waiting on my entire life. I can't believe it's actually, finally here. At the start of the season I predicted the Gamecocks to go 6-6 and finish 4th in the SEC East. I think now would be a good time to re-evaluate that lofty prediction. Game by game, here is how I see the season playing out for the Chickens:

Georgia - loss. It might be close, b/c for whatever reason, it always is. But south carolina simply doesn't have the players to beat Georgia this year.

Wofford - win. It'll be closer than expected, and reality will set in for the players

UAB - win. Again, it'll be closer than it should be. By now reality will have set in for even the most ardent fans

@ Ole Miss - loss. South Carolina hasn't beaten the Rebs since they joined the SEC, and they won't start this year. This one will get ugly.

@ Kentucky - loss. I picked this as a win earlier in the year, but the wheels will have come completely off at this point

LSU - loss. This will be a blowout. South Carolina might score negative points.

Tennessee - loss. I figure this one to be closer than it should be. Spurrier hates Tennessee and he'll pull out all the stops to make one final, last gasp effort, but it won't be enough. Better talent usually wins.

Arkansas - loss. This one should be a win, because Arkansas is comically bad. But they'll have given up by now. They won't even be wondering why they aren't playing well anymore. They just won't care.

@ Florida - loss. This will also be a blowout. Look for Florida to hang a minimum of 50 again.

@ Clemson - loss. This will also be a blowout, similar to the one that sent Holtz packing back in 2004.

That's right, folks. South Carolina will finish the season 3-9(maybe 4-8 with a little luck), and dead last in the SEC East, with zero conference wins. That's what happens when your head coach gets scared and gives up. If you have a different opinion, please share it with Mind of a Gamecock. Thanks for reading. Here's some predictions on the upcoming game:

- I am predicting a gamecock win 24-20

- I'll go w/ my heart.....USC 20 UGA 17

- 21-13 Cocks!

- I predict we block our first punt of the season, capture the momentum, play like the best defense in the SEC and redeem the Vanderbilt loss with a victory in a low scoring game..

- USC 34 UGA 17.

- USC 13 UGA 12

- Mr. Moreno is going to meet MR. BRINKLEY and not be very glad about it afterwards. USC 21 UGA 17

- We are going to win 21-13.

On the Smelley situation:

- Chris Smelley's Stats - Facts Don't Lie QB Rating - 146.628-44 63.6%325 yards, 7.4 yards per attempt4 TD, 2 Ints4 Sacks -23 yards. Good enough for 5th among SEC starters. Right behind Tebow (2 pts.) way ahead of John Parker @ Bama.

- He'll be fine if he settles down a little bit. It did not help that he had a few receivers drop some balls early.

- He'll only get better IMO.

On the Vandy loss:

- the Vandy loss could keep Carolina from claiming the SEC East

- Vandy might be better than we think..They killed a Miami (o) team that hung with Michigan at the Big House. And they were a 4th and 15 away from beating Georgia 2 Straight years.

- They suck. They lost a lot off of a mediocre team last year. I see them getting blown out by UGA and FLA.

Friday, September 5, 2008

MOAG's Weekly 5

West Virginia -7.5 East Carolina
Florida -22.5 Miami
Georgia -24 Central Michigan
Georgia Tech +7 Boston College
Oregon St. +15 Penn State


Take it or leave it, folks.

Regarding The Alabama Game

Folks, I know you were anxious to give me some guff on Monday. Again, I can't stress enough how sorry I am that mitigating circumstances prevented that from happening. For the record, I was an absolute fool last week when I predicted a victory over Alabama. Everything that has been said on this blog is right, and I am wrong. I deserve this. But starting this week, there won't be any more mistakes. I can't foresee an instance in which I will be wrong for the rest of the season. Thanks again for your patience. Stay tuned for MOAG's Weekly Hot Picks coming up. This is free money, folks. Every Friday I'll post the 5 surefire locks of the week.

Return of the Big Cat

Loyal readers, I want to thank you for continuing to read Mind of a Gamecock in my respite. I know it seems strange me taking a leave of absence right after a devastating loss, only to return to action after a humiliating south carolina loss to Vanderbilt. Well, let me just say, the reason for my disappearing act this week was two-fold:

1) I can't give you this reason. It's of a personal nature and it's none of your business.
2) This reason will be made clear to you in the coming future. It may be 3 months. It may be 1 year. It may be exactly 4 weeks and 2 days. But the truth will be revealed when the time is right. It'll all come out.

Content will resume in full starting next week. I appreciate your patience.

For what it's worth, I predicted South Carolina to lose 24-10 last night.