Ain't gonna like this one

posted by David Cloninger, 11/16/2008 11:57:00 AM

"Listen up,
What's the time said today,
I'm gonna speak my mind."
---------------- OASIS

I tried, I really tried. I never write any kind of opinion piece until after I've slept on it, because it's just too easy to write things in a pique of anger/sadness/joy that you can't take back once it's published.

But when I woke up this morning, a wave of violent gut-churning nausea rolled across my head (and it wasn't from the usual intake of fluids).

South Carolina's offensive performance against Florida on Saturday was absolutely disgusting.

Awful. Putrid. Pathetic. Terrible.

The list of adjectives goes on.

That 50-point loss doesn't erase any of the seven wins USC has this season and it's not like the Gamecocks stood to win a conference title. All a win would have done would be to potentially knock Florida out of the national championship picture, give USC something else to build on, put a sweet redeeming feeling in the locker room after the crushing nightmare of two years ago on that same field.

Instead, the Gamecocks lost their pride, their dignity and the game.

You know what the worst part was? Florida coach Urban Meyer opened his post-game press conference by saying how unbelievable it was that Jimmy Buffett was in the Gators' locker room. Knowing now that Pope Urban the Perfect likes that Hawaiian shirt-wearing, parrot-toting affront to good music makes me despise him even more, but that's beside the point.

The point -- Meyer indicated that beating USC is no big deal, that handing Steve Spurrier the worst loss of his coaching career in the same stadium he more or less built was a mere speedbump on the road to greatness. The game was such a formality that a fourth-rate guitar-picker drew the most attention.

In so many words, Meyer said the Gamecocks don't matter.

And it's hard to argue based on Saturday's performance.

So here it is. I refuse to try to find something positive in that game because there is nothing to find.

This two-headed quarterback system is not working. It is not.

It was part of a win last week over Arkansas, true. But of those 34 points, the defense or special teams set up 13. And without those, that's 21 points, which equals Arkansas' 21 points.

There were more problems than quarterbacks on Saturday, but that's what got the ball rolling. Chris Smelley tried to make a throw he couldn't make in a month of Sundays and it was picked off and returned for a touchdown. Stephen Garcia, throwing every other play, never got settled down and aired most of his tosses out of bounds.

I know how hypocritical it may sound, coming from someone who is rather bull-headed himself about what's right and what's wrong. But only a mental ward escapee would insist that this system is the right way to go after Saturday.

That system led to 14 points right out of the gate. Then an ill-advised trick play on a kick return spotted Florida seven more. USC's defense doggedly hung in there but once Tim Tebow bombed an arching touchdown to make it 28-0, the game was over.

USC was playing for pride at that point. All the Gamecocks had to do was score some points to keep it interesting, give them something to work on for the next game, find some answers before they travel to Clemson in two weeks.

Instead, incomplete, dropped pass, running play that went nowhere, sack, penalty, take your pick. Anything but positive yardage.

Through it all, Smelley and Garcia rotated in and out, each occasionally completing a pass but more often than not looking completely lost. And there wasn't one deviation from that game plan, even as the score approached the Vegas spread and a whole lot more.

It's a sad state of affairs when your kicker is the most valuable part of your offense.

And now there's two whole weeks to let that 50-point loss fester, for USC to watch the bowl scenarios change and not be able to do a thing about it. Then they have to wonder if this system can produce any points the next time it hits the field.

You cannot ask USC's defense to do any more. The Goon Squad has busted their tails all year, squashing opponents, stuffing the SEC's stars and giving the offense every chance to win. They still had to take it upon themselves to score a few touchdowns and set up many others, but the offense was working just enough.

That day is over. Saturday was the most painful USC loss in 13 years. The Gamecocks lost 21 straight games from 1998-99 and not one of them was as bad as Saturday.

Would sticking with one quarterback have won Saturday's game? No. Not a maybe, not a potentially, just no. Florida's too good, too fast and USC would have had to play more than perfect to win.

But two quarterbacks in and out led to a 50-point loss. FIFTY POINTS. Maybe it'll be good enough to win in two weeks, which anyone should be glad to take -- Ugly wins over pretty losses are acceptable any day.

But after a loss, especially one like Saturday's, there needs to be a re-examination of the system. The two-quarterback rotation is quickly approaching failure status, if it's not there already.

Let's all hope that's realized in the next two weeks.

Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home

---