MOAG Power 20

1. Texas
2. Penn St.
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. Oklahoma
6. USC
7. Oklahoma St.
8. Georgia
9. Texas Tech
10. Ohio St.
11. LSU
12. Utah
13. Georgia Tech
14. TCU
15. Boise St
16. South Florida
17. Tulsa
18. Pittsburgh
19. Boston College
20. Kansas

Jordin Lindsey Still a Paste Eater

When asked about last year's fake field goal in Baton Rouge, the highly aggresive, stupid, alcoholic Lindsey had this to say:

" It made me feel like they thought they could toy with us and it pissed me
off."

I Have An Announcement

Folks, this blog has become tedious. It is much harder, and more time consuming, than I had initially thought it would be. With that in mind, I have decided to approach it like I have most of the difficult things I've experienced in my life - I'm quitting. Maybe quitting isn't the right word. Perhaps I should say, I'm not going to blog anymore. But don't panic, I am still going to blog every now and then. Every Sunday I will put out my MOAG Power 20 and the 10 Things I Learned This Weekend pieces that everyone loves so much. I will also try to re-focus the effort back towards what made this blog great, the dumb things that South Carolina fans say. So I want to thank everyone who reads my blog. It's been a great ride, and I know y'all have learned a lot about the game. Thanks, and remember to check back every now and then for some funny stuff. I will leave you with one last prediction: Clemson 29, GT 28

A Reason To Cheer

Folks, the day Clemson fans have waited for has finally come. Saturday should be fun?

Tigers & Gamecocks Stand Together

Folks, it's been a tumultuous decade. We have seen a lot of empty promises go unfulfilled, a lot of rhetoric go unchecked, and a lot of potential go down the drain. Year after year we have hoped with bated breath that "this will finally be the year things turn around," and year after year we have been disappointed. We had the chance to do the right thing back in 2003, but we flinched. We allowed our leader to take us down a disastrous path that ruined many, many lives. But even after he screwed things up, we gave him another chance. And look where it's gotten us. However, a change is upon us. The day we have all waited for has arrived. So I implore you, Tigers & Gamecocks fans, be happy. There is an electricity and excitement in the air that we haven't felt in a long, long time. We have a reason to be hopeful. George W. Bush is on his way out, and Barack Obama is going to take this program to a whole new level.

Weekend Winners

Illinois -12 Minnesota
Arkansas +18.5 Auburn
Penn St. -6 Wisco
SCAR/Kent. under 38.5
Georgia -12.5 Tenn
LSU +6 Florida
Tulsa -24.5 SMU
Ark. St./ULM over 54
Indiana +5 Iowa
Oklahoma -6.5 texas
Temple +7.5 CMU
Washington St. +30 Oregon St.
Texas Tech -20.5 Nebraska
Colorado +14 Kansas

Clemson vs. Wake Forest

Folks, I can't remember a time when I was less sure of what to expect from a Clemson football game. On paper, Clemson should run away with this one like they did last year. But the games aren't played on paper, otherwise we would never have lost to South Carolina. Neither team is playing particularly well right now, and both desperately need a win to stay in control of their respective destinies. I really don't even feel like getting into potential match up issues, because there are so many it would take too long to break down. Plus Clemson coaches make it a point not to key on potential mismatches. They'd rather let their massive egos and shitty schemes makes the players look bad. Wake has the home field advantage and a vastly superior coaching staff. But Clemson has vastly superior talent. There are 5 key issues to focus on in tonight's game:

1. Clemson must run well for TWO full halves. Keeping Wake off the field, while at the same time not letting their opportunistic defense create turnovers, will give Clemson the best shot to win this game. Wake is weak against the run, but look for them to stack the box. Clemson's OL should be better than it has been since opening day with the return of Chris Hairston.

2. Get to Riley Skinner. Last year we showed what can happen when you get to Skinner early and often. We rattled him completely out of his game. Unfortunately, our pass rush this year has resembled a French retreat more than the German blitzkrieg we all long to see. If Skinner gets enough time to find an open man tonight, he will. Clemson must chase him around and knock him down.

3. The absence of Sam Swank. Rarely would it matter if a team's kicker was out of the lineup, but Swank is one of the best in America. Wake may end up having to leave some points on the field without their AA foot-man. And it could also have an impact on the field position battle.

4. If it rains real hard tonight, Clemson could have a decided advantage in this one.

5. Spence v. Grobe. The game against Wake Forest last year is the best game Clemson has played since the start of the 2007 season. It was an outstanding performance by everyone involved, most notably, Rob Spence. He had WF confused and off-balance from the opening kick. DO NOT expect to see that again tonight. Spence is scared of his shadow right now, as well he should be. I think his job, and not necessarily Bowden's, is on the line tonight.

The good news for Clemson is that Wake's offense, at least up to this point, is very one-dimensional. That won't give Coach Vic too much to think about, and he can focus on not finding someone, anyone, else to blame.

Clemson 37, Wake Forest 13

Don't Nobody Give a Damn Shit

Folks, the pinnacle of football season has finally arrived. Fresh off a lucky victory over Ole Miss last weekend, all abandoned hope has been restored in Stinktown, USA. Chris Smelley has finally figured it out.....again. Spurrier is a genius.......again. We're gonna win the SEC East......again. Why not us.....again? Fuck all that. To those who love watching the gamecocks crash and burn, early to mid-October is always full of giggles. This year promises to be no different.

The Gamecocks have never won back to back SEC road games. That is a fact. So sure am I of this fact that I didn't even have to look it up. Hell, it might not even be a fact. But it is. You see what I'm getting at here? Look for that trend to continue this weekend as the gamecocks head up to Lexington for a match up that pits the former #1 defense in the country(joke) against the current #1 defense in the country(no joke). Okay I looked it up, and the gamecocks have won back to back road games on more than one occasion, but that still doesn't matter. My claim is just as true now as it was before, or at the very least it should be. That's how bad of a program South Carolina is. This year's collapse won't be as epic as last year's, but it will leave us giggle-happy gigglers happy.

It isn't so much the collective team bed-shitting that we enjoy, it's the mania that permeates the fan base as it is happening. Right now, their fans are on Cloud 9. Who wouldn't be with a 4-2 record and 1 vote in the Coaches Poll? But the wheels are loose, folks. Lose to Kentucky this weekend, and they will fall off the wagon faster than Blake Mitchell at Pavlov's.

Even Gamecock fans, with their stunted analytical skills and transitory memories, have lingering nightmares of a year ago. But don't think for a second that they don't expect a totally different result this year. If they didn't, they wouldn't be gamecock fans. Mind of a Gamecock, as we told you when we first started this blog, is debilitating and permanent. So strap in and get ready for another fun ride, filled with giggles and various other sorts of laughter. Souls without hope take comfort, because there is about to be a surplus of it in Columbia, just ripe for the taking.

Now, let's take some MOAG.

On Kentucky and Kentucky fans:

- Defensive game, with no mistakes on offense we should win going away in the 4th Qtr.Carolina 24 Kan-tucky 14

- Smelley has a career day and SC pulls away late in the 3rd to seal the deal.USC - 35KY - 17

- I really dont think this will be close at all. Our offense has found its rhythm just in time for the Wildcats.

- USC 34--UK 17

- Carolina 33, Kensucky 10

- Cocks pound the kitties 35-14

- GCs are definitely capable of scoring 33 pts and should win by at least two tds.

- I like our chances. We are better than last year, and there's NO WAY KY can make a decent argument to assert it has improved. I see a 34-13 type of score, Cocks winning, of course.

- UK's pass defense is not excellent and ours is. UK has been trying to pass a lot with Hartline and that plays right into our hands as our secondary is top notch. They haven't seemed that effective running the ball either. The strengths of both teams are the defenses, but if we catch the fire we had against Ole Miss, this one really could be a "catch up" game for UK and I don't think they are built for that.

- We now have several big play receivers and the line is progressing. Look for USC to lay the wood to Ky to the tune of 38 to 14.

*editor's note: after several of these prediction posts, a Kentucky fan chimed in to remind the gamecocks that Kentucky had a pretty good defense(39 points surrendered in 5 games this year), and that it would likely be a low scoring affair. He predicted a 14-10 victory for UK, which prompted this response:

- Yeah dream on brother...Hold us to 10 points???!!:lol

- There fans football IQ looks to be very low and I hope we beat them so bad

- they have absolutely no clue about football or how average their team really is. they are good, however, at thumping their chests about back to back music city bowls

- I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY FANS SO OVERCONFIDENT

*editor's note: I needed a towel to dry up all the irony that came dripping off of that one. For this next one, I needed about 50.

- Look, Kentucky may beat USC on Saturday, but I have never seen so much smack by a group of fans who have lost 8 straight times to someone. USC HAS OWNED KENTUCKY IN FOOTBALL FOR 8 YEARS NOW. Until you win you really should just STFU.

On LSU:

- Bunch of thug players... a disgrace to the SEC...

- the coaches , the players ,the fans , TRASH.

On South Carolina:

- Do we or do we not have the hardest hitting defense in the SEC? Huh? Love it how our defense pops 'em 'til they drop.

- It's great to watch the opposing backs and WRs get by the line of scrimmage and the next thing you know they are getting crushed or took out by the GC Hit squad. Priceless.

- It's like watching a storm gathering. Let me give you some stats: 1. One of the top defenses in the country 2. #1 in the SEC in third down conversions 3. A few damn good recruiting classes 4. Spurrier...he just keeps passing it down field...and we have gotten tired of watching it...we have wondered why. We wondered when we would see results. Well...Can you see it? Did you see it Saturday?It's coming. They are coming. The University of South Carolina Gamecocks!

- I'm with you, my friend.While watching us chuck the ball on Ole Miss Saturday, with our RS sophomore QB and the fine stable of young WRs that Coach has brought in, all of a sudden i inexplicably had a flashback to those offensive days of Lou.

- The Gamecock offense is on-track and it's definitely opened up.

- It sucks for Kentucky that they are the first game after Spurrier gets it rolling.Too bad for uk but its gotta be somebody.Dont get too downhearted on the cats after the blowout loss because its just the beginning of the Spurrier run.Nothing personal just BAD TIMING ............Cocks RULE!

- We have a great defense...better than Alabama's and better than yours[kentucky] arguably. Our starting QB is Chris Smelley! He was the SEC offensive player of the week with over 320 yds. passing and 3 TD's!!

- Is Chris Smelley the best quarterbak in the SEC? His completion rate of 63.1 percent leads all SEC quarterbacks who've attempted at least 100 passes this season.

- We finally have a Steve Spurrier offense lead by a Steve Spurrier quarterback! The rest of the SEC is on notice.

- Here's why we will beat the gators this year.Kudos (sp?)to Coach Ellis Johnson for the halftime adjustments he made in using a 3 man front against the rebels. The positive swing in time of possession in favor of our gamecocks was dramatic, indeed. The most important tool to be utilized against the gators, in my humble opinion, is keeping Tebow off the field, period. Call me crazy, but I actually think we can win out from here. Our season has just gotten decidedly more interesting. Anyway, I really do think we can beat those gators and win out the rest of the way.

- Absolutely,I think our time has arrived..............GO COCKS

- Even though we have lost some heart breakers over several seasons, the excitement to our program is building. The fans should begin to realize that we can now play with anybody and can beat anyone on our schedule.

- I think Smelley's stats will improve if we continue to wear white jerseys...seems like he saw the receivers a lot better...can we also wear white at home?

On the SEC:

- The fact of the matter is that any SEC team can beat any SEC team any given week this year. The talent levels between the schools are all close, and getting closer.

Upstate Sportman of the Month

Folks, we all know that football is king around these parts. What we sometimes overlook, in our quest for the perfect season, are the unheralded local sports heroes, heroes that hail from lesser-known sporting arenas. With that in mind, I've decided to start awarding one local sports hero per month the recognition he or she deserves. My winners will come straight from the sports pages of the Greenville News. Without further ado, Mind of a Gamecock readers, I'd like to present you with the winner of the first Upstate Sportsman of the Month Award...........Mr. Reid Sherard.

Late last month Reid killed himself a 400 lb. gator at Lake Moultrie, a mighty feat, of which most of us can only dream. I would like to personally congratulate Mr. Sherard, and, God willing, one day meet him and shake his hand. Everyone give Reid a round of internet applause. Now let's just hope Reid isn't a South Carolina fan. Otherwise, it might be the last win he experiences over a Gator for a long, long time. Congrats, Reid, you earned this.

10 Things I Learned This Weekend

1. There are things more embarrassing than losing to Maryland at home. Among those things, watching that same Maryland team go on the road the following week and lose 31-0 to a Virginia team that has no business playing college football, yet will probably somehow beat Clemson when our game-winning touchdown gets called back for 2 men on the line of scrimmage. My guess is that we will avoid finishing dead last in the Atlantic Division, but only by virtue of a tie-breaker over NC State. It's a good thing God forgives, because Bowden owes her big time.

2. There is honor in being wrong. Earlier this week, a stupid person, presumably a South Carolina fan, asked me if I still thought the gamecocks would go 3-9. I was given a chance to retract my prediction. I stuck to my guns; however, I did admit there was a chance they could pick up a 4th win after seeing how average the SEC was this year. I thought that possible 4th win might come against Arkansas. I was wrong. It came against Ole Miss. So my prediction won't come true. Hey, you can't always be right. Looks like 4-8 for the gamecocks this year.

3. Texas is better than I thought they were going to be this year. I had them pegged for 7-5 and a trip to the Alamo Bowl. It would have been unusual to see Texas finish the season with 5 losses, but not surprising. Even so, Texas has unequivocally fought their way back into Holiday Bowl contention, and I have to eat some crow on that one. Looks like it's up to Oklahoma, again, to be the first team to put Texas in their place.

4. The SEC is not a great conference this year. It is merely good on its best day. I want everyone to pay really close attention to the way SEC fan trumpets Vanderbilt going forward. Wait for, and bask in, the inane hypocrisy that will spew forth from his cake hole. When Wake Forest did it, it was a product of a bad ACC, but now that Vandy is doing it, it just shows to cromulent & amazing the SEC is.

5. The Heisman Trophy winner will come from the Big 12, and barring injury, it will be either Chase Daniel or Sam Bradford. I would give the nod to Daniel at this point, but that is no slight on Bradford. Both are superb quarterbacks. Their numbers are very comparable at this point, but my hunch is that Daniel's will stay on this level, while Bradford's might falter a little bit now that OU is getting into the meat of its schedule. I could be wrong, but Daniel is a senior and he's just done this more times than Bradford, who will probably win it next year. One thing is for certain though, the quarterback play in the Big 12 is beyond ridiculous. When Colt McCoy is the 6th best QB in the league, you're into something good.

6. Friday the 13th Part 8 might be the best of the entire series. It's tough to beat Part 5, but at the very least, 8 is the most underrated. Sure, it takes us away from the traditional Camp Crystal Lake setting, but sometimes change is good. Up until this installment, Jason was just a mindless, soulless, jerk. But on the streets of Manhattan, our antagonist becomes self-aware. We see an aggressiveness heretofore unknown. We see a man adapting quickly to his surroundings. We see exactly what can happen when you apply yourself. And we even see the slight makings of a sense of humor. John might tell you I'm crazy for thinking this, but I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

7. The national championship race is gearing up to be one of the most exciting in recent memory. Right now I think there 6 teams with a legitimate chance to make it to the title game. Those Tier 1 teams are: Oklahoma, Alabama, Penn St., Missouri, LSU, and USC. Of those 6 teams, I think Penn St and USC have the easiest path. OU and Mizzou will likely play for the Big 12 title, and the loser will be out. The loser of the Bama/LSU game is likely out as well. Penn St. has one tough game left against Ohio State, and USC is the only team capable of beating USC the rest of this season. The one team I feel most confident about is Oklahoma, despite the tougher schedule. Later on I will do a more in-depth breakdown of Tier 1, as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3.

8. The Big East, are you listening Stuart?, is the worst conference in America. For the second straight year, I bought into South Florida and Connecticut, and for the second straight year, I've been had. Don't get me wrong, I think they are decent teams with pretty good players, but they aren't ready for prime time. I still think the PAC-10 is wretched, but not more so than the Big East, or as I like to call them, the Big Least(MOAG original).

9. South Carolina will battle Tennessee for dead last in the SEC East this year, which, ironically, will prompt Coach Spurrier to stick around for at least one more year. His thinking will be, "Okay, it can't get any worse, let's give this thing one more shot." Of course, after all of his best defensive players leave at the end of this season, Spurrier will find out in that it can indeed get worse. 1-11 for South Carolina in 2009, mark it down.

10. Georgia Tech will finally break the ACC's humbling BCS Bowl losing streak.

MOAG Power 20

Folks, a lot has changed since the last Power 20. In MOAGland, we only do a poll every 2 weeks. Trying to do one weekly is like pissin in the wind, bettin' on a losing friend, makin' the same mistakes, we swear we'll never make again.


1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Missouri
5. LSU
6. USC
7. Texas Tech
8. Texas
9. BYU
10. Georgia
11. Florida
12. Utah
13. Ohio State
14. Kansas
15. Virginia Tech
16. Georgia Tech
17. Vanderbilt
18. Illinois
19. North Carolina
20. Oklahoma State

As you can see, as I've stated for quite some time against even the most strenuous SECer objections, the Big 12 is clearly the dominant conference on the college football landscape this year. The SEC comes in a distant second, but that is somewhat by default, since all the other conferences suck nuts.

State of the Blog

Sorry once again folks, my internet has been crappin out on me all week. I've been in a remote location, abroad, since Tuesday, and they just don't get service here like we do stateside. I'll be back from my family's resort early Saturday morning, and blog content will resume better than ever. Thanks for your patience.