South Carolina’s second straight November collapse continued against arch-rival Clemson Saturday, as the Gamecocks were manhandled 31-14 by the Tigers in Death Valley to drop to 7-5 on the season.
Amazingly, Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks could still be in line for a New Year’s Day Bowl berth, which would be incredibly undeserved given the way they’ve played over the last two weeks.
The SEC has multiple bowl agreements to honor, and LSU’s loss to Arkansas could very well put the Gamecocks in a familiar place – Tampa’s Outback Bowl.
The Tigers, on the other hand, not only became bowl-eligible but have probably found their next head coach in Dabo Swinney, who finished the season with a 4-2 mark after taking over for Tommy Bowden.
This one was never even close, as Clemson jumped out to a 24-0 lead thanks to three South Carolina interceptions and a blocked punt in the first half.
As has been the story all season for the “Shamecocks,” Spurrier’s so-called offense (you read that right) completely stunk up the joint and consistently put the Gamecock defense in “do-or-die” situations.
Through the first ten games of the season, Ellis Johnson’s unit had proven up to the challenge, but for the second straight week the Carolina “D” crumbled – unable to stop Clemson’s backfield duo of James Davis and CJ Spiller, who combined for 179 rushing yards behind a suddenly-cohensive offensive line.
Quarterback Chris Smelley once again more than lived up to his name, tossing four interceptions to give him a whopping 15 on the year – or more than one a game despite the fact he’s shared snaps throughout the season with Stephen Garcia, who did not play Saturday because of a cold.
We’ll have more on the game (and much more on Spurrier and Swinney) in future posts … in the meantime, be sure to read our open letter to Coach Spurrier published earlier this week.
By Sic of Spurrier..... November 29, 2008 at 4:56 pm
A highly predictable outcome, ask anyone who is a Washington Redskins fan….
By Scared of the System November 29, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. The domination continues. Fire Spurrier. Why not yank smelly????? Go Tigers.
By daisy November 29, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I’ll be becoming a Tiger fan. I’m done with my lifelong affair with the worthless and insipid ‘cock. There’s no coach alive that is big and smart enough to take on such a defeatist bunch. Columbia seems to be a magnet for the well-intended that mysteriously succumbs to utter failure. How else would we get our radio announcers? So, how ’bout let’s hire a guy from whom we have absolultely no expectations. Kind of like Dabo, God love him. After good ole Joe M. dropped dead in the 80s so did USC’s chances for national greatness. So let’s go to Beaufort, summon Dr. Buzzard and get this nasty spell off our backs. Otherwise, let us focus on basketball and, maybe, tennis. That would be a reprieve. Then we could enjoy our gloriful weather and do stuff away from the tube. That’ll bring down our obesity rate.
By Tiger Fan November 29, 2008 at 11:12 pm
BREAKING NEWS……BREAKING NEWS……..
Clemson University just announced at its post game interview that they will be seeking a new rival next year. Prospects include, Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech and possibly Georgia. Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips stated that “we need a real rival for our rivalry game. Owning the Gamecocks isn’t fun anymore.” Phillips went on to say, “we need to move the Carolina Game to homecoming. When you have an over all record of 65-37-4 against a team (also won 6 of last 7 and 10 of last 12), that is not a rivalry that is domination.” He finished the interview with, “Homecoming is where you play patsy’s, USuC is certainly in the patsy category. We will have an announcement after the bowl season as to who our new rival will be.”
By Not Impressed November 30, 2008 at 12:05 am
It is the curse.
Peace can be had only if one heeds the Chicken Curse.
By ^^ December 1, 2008 at 7:15 pm
The curse has been brought on by The Rooster, The Redneck Mafia, and other ‘evils-in-chief’ in this general vicint’y. One ‘pontificates’ from the local ‘paper.’ Guess who it it???????????????????????
It will only be broken when they repent or die.
By ^^ December 1, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Edit Patrol…
…it IS??????????????????????
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