“Half-Assed”

For a guy who’s right arm is heralded as a thunderbolt, redshirt freshman Stephen Garcia’s first deep ball as a University of South Carolina quarterback sure looked like a dying quail to us.

“Oh God, oh no …” one fan remarked as the wobbly pigskin struggled against the humid night air and very nearly became Garcia’s first collegiate interception (he’d have to wait until the third quarter for that distinction).

The most prized recruit of Steve Spurrier’s otherwise unimpressive talent procurement efforts at South Carolina ended his first extensive college action with decidedly mixed results.

Garcia hit on 13 of 20 attempts for 131 yards and a touchdown and interception apiece, but his highly-touted arm strength only seemed visible on short balls, not the deep bombs for which Spurrier’s offense are legendary … well, his pre-South Carolina offenses, anyway.

On a brighter note, Garcia also ran for a touchdown as part of an 18-carry, 86-yard effort on the ground, and he is clearly the most mobile, elusive quarterback South Carolina has in its, um, “arsenal.”

Spurrier wasn’t exactly happy with the outing, but Garcia got a better review than his teammates, whom Spurrier later said gave a “half-assed” effort.

Hmmm … and this is the same guy who told fans not to boo after last year’s loss to Vanderbilt?

In other news, our founding editor missed most of the game after allowing his four-year-old to consume an entire bag of cotton candy during the first quarter. That resulted in a sugar high which turned the little guy’s first-ever USC football game into a reprise of the film Speed Racer. All over the stadium, people.

Spurrier would be wise to schedule an in-home recruiting visit, however, because the kid’s definitely got Garcia-style scrambling ability.

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