A Half-Dozen Hyper-Specific Predictions About…South Carolina

South Carolina was actually having a pretty good off-season. Superpowered recruits like Marcus Lattimore and Connor Shaw signed and committed. 16 starters returned, and that includes four on the offensive line. The SEC East is wide open. There was hope, right?

Then Marvin Austin had a party.  And from the looks of it, a key mass of pass-catching and blockery in Weslye Saunders has been brought down because of it. And then? Reports have several starters receiving extra benefits from a South Carolina hotel and several starters will be forced to miss at least a game.

What will happen to the fighting Steve Spurrier’s? Find out…starting where I post 1 and a parenthesis.

Last Year: 7-6 (3-5 t4th SEC East)

1) In a karmic twist of fate, Stephen Garcia will be forced to miss three games while left tackle Jerriel King is suspended. Connor Shaw will not lose any games that Stephen Garcia would have won. He will also not win over the Gamecock fanbase…yet.

2) The old school reputation of Southern Miss as a giant-killer gets national attention as on the opening Thursday, the Golden Eagles go into Columbia and absolutely stun the depleted Gamecocks 31-21. In fact? Cordarro Law goes all Deacon Jones on Kyle Nunn and prediction number one comes true.

3) Rumors of Steve Spurrier quietly retiring start to echo after the suspensions, the failure of the Wild cock experiment,  and the challenging start to the schedule cause the Gamecocks to stumble to a 1-4 start.

4) The combined forces of Marcus Lattimore, Kenny Miles, and Jarvis Giles will each start at least two games and have a game where they rush for 75 yards.

5) All the while, Shaq Wilson will generate copious amounts of tackles. He will race Chris Marve and LSU’s Kelvin Patterson to the top of the tackle leaderboard. He will finish 2nd.

6) What starts off as a nightmarish September that creeps into October, heals quickly. An easier schedule and a healthier team gets them off the deck. There may not be any highlight win in conference, but they will submarine a seemingly more superior Clemson team to get a bowl berth.

This year: 6-6 (3-5) t3rd SEC East

Cheating makes Jonathan Crompton feel sad.

Is the probation pendulum swinging back the other way?

We all know about what happened to USC. We all found it hilarious. It’s the first major poll and bowl ban since Alabama early in the previous decade. And it as such, the anomalous nature of the punishment made it all the more awesome.

But in the past couple of weeks? A few more schools have been popping up on the radar. North Carolina’s professional level defensive anchor Marvin Austin was the most major player interviewed by NCAA investigators. And reports on that are that we could be looking at a major investigation for the Tar Heels.

And on Sunday? Reports came out that South Carolina Tight End, Marvin Austin friend, and key Stephen Garcia target Weslye Saunders is the subject of another investigation, and may have cost himself his senior season because of it. Spurrier says that this may be Saunders acting a fool, and I’m inclined to believe him.

But Dr. Saturday linked to a College Football Talk post that talked about the investigations of UNC and Saunders as a part of a larger investigation.

• According to a source, there’s the possibility that the names of at least two more prominent Div. 1-A schools could be made public over the next few days/weeks in relation to an NCAA investigation that has the potential to reach much, much further than its limited public scope right now.

It was a conspiracy theory as of yesterday, at least until the reports came out that former Florida Center Maurkice Pouncey received a 100k bonus from an Agent and was ineligible for the Sugar Bowl. And whereas the purported student-athletes of North Carolina and South Carolina may be the only victims of the net that the NCAA is casting, the Gators seemed to have turned a blind eye to it.

That’s what earned USC it’s punishment. And Florida’s one of those programs that has had the benefit of Tim Tebow being the face of the program the past four years. A good public face covers up a lot of private sins.

And there could very well be other SEC programs that will fall in this trap before this is over. Or not. But if Nick Saban takes a pro job, Bama fan?

I would worry about some other shoe dropping tootsweet.

UPDATE: And by 4 PM central daylight time? Suddenly Alabama Defensive End and 2009 National Championship clincher Marcel Dareus has been caught in this net.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama officials are investigating whether junior defensive lineman Marcel Dareus broke NCAA rules by attending an agent’s party in Miami’s South Beach earlier this summer, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

Dareus, ranked as the No. 7 prospect for the 2011 NFL draft by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, is the latest prominent college football player to be entangled in an evolving NCAA investigation into illegal contact and conduct by sports agents.

Now this is like Saunders and Austin’s case. The event happened in May at the Fountinbleu in Miami. So the National Championship is safe. But in terms of the defense? The defense may be without one of their few experienced players for a while.

Yes, this may just be a whole lot of hullabaloo. But I tell you what? If you’re a fan with a team that has a marketable prospect. I would be worried.

Looking at you @summerofmallett, looking at you.

Rating the Indoor Practice Facilities of the SEC.

I know what you’re thinking. LOL what? Is this even a post. And I say unto you, mister and missus hypothetical reader. I like to challenge myself. Sometimes, I want to see if I cannot make something interesting. And when Auburn tripled the size of their indoor practice facility? I have an excuse!

In one of the strangest one of these things is not like the other sort of scenarios? Two out of the twelve? Don’t have indoor practice facilities. One of them is Vanderbilt. Guess the other one. Come on.

I’ll even add to it that it’s nobody in the SEC West. When Auburn’s expansion is complete? There will be nobody who has to work a short field either. You might guess Kentucky. But you’d be wrong.

South Carolina and Tennessee are both working off of short fields. But they’ve got something to work with.

So at this point? The fact that Georgia and Florida don’t have an indoor facility is strange. These are the Eastern powers of the SEC, after all. They should be top of the line in everything they do. But one of them has plans for a new indoor facility.

And guess what? It’s not Florida.

Let me say that again. The team of the previous decade has found their way into the best high school recruits of this generation. And their facilities are lacking. There is an obvious lesson to it.

But I’ll leave that to you to figure out.

South Carolina: A Long Distance 2010 Preview

If you look at South Carolina? You look at a team that should be fun to watch. Stephen Garcia is the quarterback who could be the gunslinger just having fun out there. And he’s throwing it to two gigantic receivers. One of who has my sisters name. Hey, Tori Gurley, your name is delightful and hilarious and I would never say such things in your presence!

She’s not reading this.

Anyway. This is the sort of team that should hit every aspect of my wheelhouse. I love linebackers with badass names, and the Gamecocks have Shaq Wilson, whose best hits should be compiled into some sort of plaque or even a pack. I love hilarious names, and come on. D.J. Swearinger! Justice Cunningham! Hutch Erickson! These guys are awesome and totally exist!

And I could show love for a team with an upside of eight wins. I live in Big Ten country after all.

But you know what? I’m not fired up for the Gamecocks. Not even with the whimsy that touches me at my 12 year old maturity level. (Because Stephon Gilmore will be taking snaps in the single wing. And the nom de plumb of their version of the Wildcat? The Wild Cock. Yeah. I will tweet that to the point of losing followers.)

 So what happens to make me feel as if someone damaged the South Carolina Bandwagon? These things three.

1) Spurrier’s not a good villain anymore.

And I’m just saying that in the terms of being a tremendous fan of a good pro wrestling styled villains. When Spurrier was rocking the Gators in the 90′s switching quarterbacks at will? It was all a part of the mystique. But this year? He’s threatening Stephen Garcia with a freshman named Connor Shaw. With no strength of quality in terms of coaching? He’s a bit of a jerk.

2) Also? The offensive line is kind of bad.

Pretty self explanatory.

3) They’re not a Cal.

There’s something kind of timeless about the team that always falls off a cliff. Start out 5-1 and finish 7-6? People are going to remember that. The in-state ACC rival has that sort of jejune (and I am using that word correctly) to collapse properly and not just stop and start. South Carolina? They just stop and start. It’s not cool?

This year? It just feels like more of the same. 8-5 and another Pizza Bowl loss. In a word, ennui.

The “Little Ten” of the SEC

The narrative coming out of the SEC, besides Alabama’s general ailments of the bye week disadvantages, is that we are in the midst of a duopoly. There’s Florida, there’s Alabama, and then there’s the other ten teams. I come to you with one question. Can anybody charge in and steal a spot?

10. Vanderbilt (Nope. A running game and a decent defense means you have a punchers chance against the majority of the league, but that got Mississippi State five wins last year. That’s seven wins too little.)
9. Mississippi State (2%. Mullen may be building off of last season, but the team still needs more at WR than Chad Bumphis and an Anthony Dixon replacement. They won’t steal anything more than the Liberty Bowl this year.)
8. Tennessee (5 percent. They won’t m9iss Bryce Brown, and you may not be able to throw too well on them. But these are underdogs who made their bed and has to lie in it.)
7. Ole Miss (5 percent. They have a solid run defense. But their team is too young. Nathan Stanley doesn’t have a great offensive line to protect him either. And Raymond Cotton? He has the shoulder of the Tubervillian Chris Todd. They’ll be interesting again. But not this year.)
6. South Carolina (10 percent. In terms of talent? They may surprise. Ellis Johnson has a defense that reloads every season. And the offense is intriguing in terms of Jarvis Giles and Marcus Lattimore carrying the rock, and the catching the ball? Alshon Jeffrey isn’t gonna be pumping gas anytime soon. The problem? Stephen Garcia’s general incosistency plus program inertia equals Pizza bowl.)
5. Kentucky (They have a 1 in ten shot of beating Florida. And if they do that? Their number rises exponentially. But at this point? Hartline-Cobb-Matthews-Locke are a lot more interesting to me than they are to you. As such? This is the one that could rise in unlikelyhood.)
4. Arkansas (20 percent. Alex Tejada plus a road game at Auburn could pose a problem. The Defensive Front Seven could pose a problem. Ryan Mallett’s inconsistency? Also problematic. But you answer one of the questions? And they’re a dangerous middle of the road SEC West Team.)
3. Georgia (25 percent. Freshmen don’t win the SEC. In that respect? Aaron Murray’s weight is better than the other 10 returning starters. A defensive switch in scheme doesn’t help either. And even a Freshman Matt Stafford couldn’t beat Kentucky in Lexington in the pre-Raylan Givens era.) 
2. LSU (25 percent. I don’t trust Jordan Jefferson, and the line lost its players of value as well. But they have a lockdown pass defense and considering the state of the SEC West? That’s worth a lot to the party right there.)
1. Auburn (50 percent. Here is your last, best hope for an insurgency. And as such? It’s 50-50. Either they beat The Crimson Tide or they don’t.)

 I will make a more formal predsiction this Summer. And I will further the individual season previews in the weeks upcoming. So yeah. It’s coming kids.

FUHBAW!

South Carolina vs. UConn, Papa Johns Bowl, Prediction Pick 2009

I’m going to level with you sports fans. This whole concept of meaningless bowl games after New Years Day makes New Years Day meaningless and is another reason why this Bowl System needs to be exploded. But politics aside? The kid’s got things to analyze.

What UConn has? Two things. By know you know the tragic story of Jasper Howard and his murder in October this season. But what you might not know is they lost their next three games (including West Virginia and Cincinnati) in a painful fashion. They could have curled up and let this season end, but they didn’t. And at this point, feeling rewarded by a seasons extension may be worth a score.

But what the offense brings to the table? Like last year, it’s running. You could say that Donald Brown did the work of two men. Because it’s Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon doing their impression of the Miz and Morrison. And for what South Carolina brings to the table? It does help the Huskies cause.

But we’re living in a world where Stephen Garcia can start a run toward draftability. And how does he do that? On the backs of the UConn secondary. I’m not making any too soon jokes. But they’ve been thrown on all year. And Stephen Garcia was decent this year, according to my exacting standards. So, combine that with a good defense overall? And they’re not going to get launched.

The problem for South Carolina? The offensive line can do an impression of a sieve. And if you have a strong pass-rusher? It may not matter if you can get thrown on. Lindsey Witten will be drafted. He will be on an NFL roster next year. And if UConn wants to avoid getting into a shootout? He needs to get untracked.

The past couple of seasons? The SEC in Bowl games have done an impression of one of these things is not like the other. And what just wasn’t the same? The Gamecocks. They like to sleepwalk. They don’t take care of the ball, and they can get sacked. UConn will get the ball moving. And they will get the ball last. Don’t call it an upset. UConn 30, South Carolina 28.

Ole Miss vs South Carolina, Pick Prediction, 2009
by Bunkie Perkins (friendsoftheprogram.net)

Feel that knot in your stomach Rebel fans. That uneasiness and fear of the unknown that starts in the pit of your stomach and slowly makes its way to the middle of your throat. It burns and festers there with no hope of release. That’s the feeling of being an unproven, top ranked team, about to be on display, with the nation watching, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. Its a feeling you haven’t felt before, and if the Rebels don’t show up on Thursday night, its a feeling you wont soon forget. It seems like the national media is almost begging Ole Miss to lose. half of the AP voters already have 3/4 finished columns ready to hit the wire Friday morning if the Rebels don’t pull a win out in Columbia this weekend. Despite the hostile environment, this game sets up nicely for Ole Miss. South Carolina is coming in with an extremely banged up and extremely thin defense. Steven Garcia, while showing improvement is still somewhat mistake proned.

Ole Miss comes in with two glorified scrimmages under their belt, untested and over hyped. Jevan Snead will need to show the form that led the Rebels to 6 straight wins to end 2008, and the defense will need to prove that they are worthy of much preseason praise. After an early big play from USC and a back and forth game for a half, the Rebels pull away thanks to consistent play from Snead and a healthy dose of the run game from Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis.

Florida Atlantic vs South Carolina, Prediction Pick, 2009
By- Flounder LOHD

This coming weekend the Owls travel to Columbia to take on the Gamecocks. The Florida Atlantic Owls enjoyed a weekend without football last week and had time to regroup after traveling to Nebraska on September 5, losing 49-3 to the Cornhuskers.

This game is Columbia will feature two of the 12 active coaches who own national championship rings (Spurrier & Howard Schnellenberger). The last time these two teams played was on September 23, 2006 when the Gamecocks defeated the Owls 45-6 in Williams-Brice Stadium.

These Owls aren’t quite Howard Schnellenberger’s 1983 Miami team, but the FAU coach will be looking for another upset victory versus the Spurrier lead gamecocks. And this is not a team to overlook with an Ole Miss game starring you in the face next week. The Nebraska score may seem like this way be a cake walk but if mistakes are made then it could result in a heartbreaking loss. And Gamecocks do not need that after “what should have been” versus Georgia last week.

I feel Spurrier will try out some new guys at positions, try a few new plays and keep it simple versus the Owls because the Ole Miss game is huge coming up. So look for USC to try to jump out to a quick lead then start changing personnel. If things go as plan this should allow USC not to stress too much and cruise to a win. But again – no overlooking this game.

FAU on Defense – Very strong in the secondary with 3 veterans but weak in most other areas. Linebacking corp was hit hard by graduations but have speed. Josh Savidge is a good tackle up front that will make running up the middle tough for USC but I feel the big nasty’s for Carolina will figure out how to open some holes. Defense as a whole has lots of questions and USC will be looking to take full advantage of come Saturday night.

FAU on Offense – Rusty Smith will try to do better versus the gamecocks than he did versus the cornhuskers. In that game he was 15-31, 164 yds, 2 INT. There run game was bleak but did have Alfred Morris rack up 85 yds rushing. Go to guy is Cortez Gent and USC will try to stuff the run and shut down Gent.

USC on Offense – Look for Spurrier to do much of the same that he did versus Georgia with a variety of play-calling. Look for a nice balance between passing and rushing early but then to be more rushing as the game wears on. Spurrier wants to get a strong lead early so he can be a bit more conservative down the stretch so Ole Miss doesn’t have much to review in tape. Expecting a healthy dose of rushing blended in with some timely throws to keep the clock moving. Garcia will put up over 200 yds passing and Carolina rushing attack will have over 175 yds.

USC on Defense – The Ellis Johnson coached boys are looking to prove why they are considered one of the best defenses in the SEC. Georgia did not go as planned so look for this group to be fired up and get after it. FAU is a little suspect up front so look for USC to attack thus to disrupt the FAU QB. Look for at least 2 TO’s forced and a possible score.

What to watch for….improved play from Carolina with less penalties and better tackling on special teams. FAU will try to throw the ball on Carolina but that will not prove too successful. USC’s D will be too much for FAU and FAU will not have enough in the tank to shut down USC’s offense.

In Closing…Carolina wants to get some playing time for some new guys this game and leave this home opener with good things to talk about so I expect a good showing from the Cocks and a 34-10 win.