Redemption
posted by David Cloninger, 10/05/2008 10:29:00 AM
--------------- THE HIVES
Chris Smelley walked into the interview room, clad in his T-shirt and warmup suit and sporting the same slightly smiling, steady-eyed expression he usually wears.
Right then, he passed another test.
How it would have broken down if I was Smelley:
Walk in wearing a crown and a robe, shouting, "What's up now! What's up now!"
Be very abrasive and rude to the media, who would then dutifully report on it and take it back to the fans.
If asked if this was a statement game, offer a familiar expletive and then boast about how great I was.
Simply, Smelley had a lot to prove on Saturday against Ole Miss.
He did it.
He threw, he ran, he led. The Gamecocks won 31-24 in a game they had to win to reclaim their season, and at the center of the attack was Smelley, throwing for a career-high 327 yards and taking care of his offense. Of course he had some help -- defensive recoveries by Nathan Pepper and Emanuel Cook really turned the game around -- but considering Smelley's head was on a platter previously, guiding USC to three touchdowns cannot be ignored.
And when it was over, he was polite, gracious, humble. It was more what he didn't do in the postgame than what he did do.
If it was me, I would have found the nearest tape recorder and said, "To all the fans who booed me, yeah, I screwed up a couple of times, but this one is for you. My name's not Stephen Garcia and it never will be, and I hope you realize I heard every bit of what you were saying and if I ever meet you, there's going to be some furniture stacked."
Instead, he politely responded that he heard the boos against Wofford and UAB, that he didn't mind that much, that he just wanted to play well.
Smelley still made some mistakes. He moved himself out of trouble a good bit, but he is still too willing to take a sack. Those have more often than not moved USC well out of the red zone after Smelley put them there.
But when USC had to hit a play, had to have a TD and not a field goal against the Rebels, Smelley delivered. He's not as strong as the other guy, he doesn't have the high recruiting rankings either.
But he's got the starting job, which he deserves, and from seeing all the fans shower him with praise as he exited the stadium yesterday, a lot of forgotten criticisms.
Steve Spurrier already named Smelley the starter for next week's game at Kentucky, which was no surprise. To throw the QB situation back into the revolving door it's been lately would be a foolish, stupid move, after Smelley showed what he could do.
Smelley simply answered his questions with the "correct" response, grabbed his box lunch and went to the bus. He didn't have to prove himself any more to anybody.
Here's hoping that when he makes another mistake, some of the same yahoos who booed him remember Ole Miss and credit him for who he is, not who he isn't.
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"Hate to say I told you so."
--------------- THE HIVES
Chris Smelley walked into the interview room, clad in his T-shirt and warmup suit and sporting the same slightly smiling, steady-eyed expression he usually wears.
Right then, he passed another test.
How it would have broken down if I was Smelley:
Walk in wearing a crown and a robe, shouting, "What's up now! What's up now!"
Be very abrasive and rude to the media, who would then dutifully report on it and take it back to the fans.
If asked if this was a statement game, offer a familiar expletive and then boast about how great I was.
Simply, Smelley had a lot to prove on Saturday against Ole Miss.
He did it.
He threw, he ran, he led. The Gamecocks won 31-24 in a game they had to win to reclaim their season, and at the center of the attack was Smelley, throwing for a career-high 327 yards and taking care of his offense. Of course he had some help -- defensive recoveries by Nathan Pepper and Emanuel Cook really turned the game around -- but considering Smelley's head was on a platter previously, guiding USC to three touchdowns cannot be ignored.
And when it was over, he was polite, gracious, humble. It was more what he didn't do in the postgame than what he did do.
If it was me, I would have found the nearest tape recorder and said, "To all the fans who booed me, yeah, I screwed up a couple of times, but this one is for you. My name's not Stephen Garcia and it never will be, and I hope you realize I heard every bit of what you were saying and if I ever meet you, there's going to be some furniture stacked."
Instead, he politely responded that he heard the boos against Wofford and UAB, that he didn't mind that much, that he just wanted to play well.
Smelley still made some mistakes. He moved himself out of trouble a good bit, but he is still too willing to take a sack. Those have more often than not moved USC well out of the red zone after Smelley put them there.
But when USC had to hit a play, had to have a TD and not a field goal against the Rebels, Smelley delivered. He's not as strong as the other guy, he doesn't have the high recruiting rankings either.
But he's got the starting job, which he deserves, and from seeing all the fans shower him with praise as he exited the stadium yesterday, a lot of forgotten criticisms.
Steve Spurrier already named Smelley the starter for next week's game at Kentucky, which was no surprise. To throw the QB situation back into the revolving door it's been lately would be a foolish, stupid move, after Smelley showed what he could do.
Smelley simply answered his questions with the "correct" response, grabbed his box lunch and went to the bus. He didn't have to prove himself any more to anybody.
Here's hoping that when he makes another mistake, some of the same yahoos who booed him remember Ole Miss and credit him for who he is, not who he isn't.
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David Cloninger. David is a full-time staff writer for GamecockCentral, and covers Gamecock football, men's basketball, baseball and recruiting. He may be reached by email at david(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.