Chickens Choke Against LSU

Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks had defending national champion LSU on the ropes last night, but in typical fashion they couldn’t finish the job.

After taking a seven-point lead into the locker room at halftime, the wheels fell off in the second half as Spurrier’s “Cock-n-Misfire” offense turned the ball over twice and failed to gain a single yard in two fourth quarter possessions.

USC freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia – the hero of last week’s USC win over Kentucky – was clearly in over his head against the Tigers, getting sacked six times and failing to recognize the blizzard of blitz packages heading his way.

Of course, Garcia wasn’t helped when USC’s top offensive lineman – left tackle Jamon Meredith – left the game in the first half with an injured right ankle.

Yet for a brief moment at the start of the third quarter, it looked as if the Gamecocks (5-3, 2-3 SEC) might still take control of the game.

Leading 17-10, South Carolina took the second half kickoff and drove into LSU territory, with Garcia looking sharp running and throwing the ball.

Then disaster struck in the form of South Carolina’s second fumble of the night – by Garcia – ending the promising drive and starting a field possession game that played into the Tigers’ hands.

After Garcia’s fumble, the offense was effectively done for the night.

Spurrier, who was praised last week for yanking starting quarterback Chris Smelley during the third quarter of the Kentucky game, probably should’ve done the same thing this week with Garcia, particularly when it was obvious that his young quarterback wasn’t picking up LSU’s blitzes.

But Spurrier stuck with Garcia the whole game, and in the process wasted another superhuman effort by the Gamecock defense, which forced LSU to go three-and-out on its first two possessions of the second half.

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