Passing The Buck
Steve Spurrier’s offenses at South Carolina have slipped over the past three seasons to the point that the Gamecocks now rank among the most anemic teams at moving the football in all of Division I-A.
Two years ago, South Carolina ranked 20th in the country in total offense.
Last year, they plummeted to 77th, while this year the Gamecocks ranked an abysmal 97th out of 119 Division I-A teams in total offense.
Completely unable to run and increasingly unable to pass the football, Spurrier can still pass the buck with the best of them, though.
In fact, he punctuated another disappointing offensive season by jettisoning more two coaches, offensive line coach John Hunt (who was straight up fired) and quarterbacks coach David Reaves, who announced that he was taking a job on Lane Kiffin’s staff at Tennessee.
Last time we checked, though, neither of those guys called plays.
The perception, of course, is that all of these offensive woes stem from South Carolina’s fundamental inability to run the football.
If only it were that simple.
While the Gamecocks atrocious running game (which ranked last in the SEC for the second year in a row) has indeed been grabbing most of the negative attention, what few have noticed is that Spurrier’s aerial assault has also been producing diminishing returns over the past three seasons.
In 2006, the Gamecocks ranked 19th nationally in passing offense, a number that fell to 37th in 2007, and all the way down to 55th this year.
Not surprisingly, with no running game and a diminished passing game, South Carolina hasn’t been scoring as many points – dropping from 44th in the nation in scoring offense two years ago to 70th last year and 91st this season.
In short, Spurrier’s teams have gotten worse in every facet of the offensive game over the last three seasons.
To take a look at how the Gamecocks have stacked up for yourself, check out their official NCAA stats pages for the past three seasons.
After looking at the numbers for yourself, we think you’ll agree that maybe we’re not so crazy in our belief that Spurrier should step aside at this point.
Seriously, if these were financial balance sheets, the CEO of this program would be getting a pink slip right about now.
Comments
By USC is no Duke.... on December 2nd, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I see where Spurrier’s comments after the Clemson game were along the lines of “Clemson has two big time runners, and a big-time quarter back…we need to get us some big time players, too.”
I don’t know which is worse: selling your own players down the river, or refusing to accept responsibility for one’s own recruiting.
Seriously coach…we want to support you, but passing the buck endears you to no one.
By Clay Pit Crew on December 2nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
The Crew wonders about the connection between litany of failed coaches at USC and Clempson, the chicken curse, cow pastures, and barbecue. One thing remains constant in this list…the litany of failed coaches at USC and Clempson.
The perplexing bit of the USC-Clempson equation is that the boys in orange keep getting better and the shamecocks stay pitifully the same. Maybe it’s the coach. Maybe it’s recruiting. Maybe it’s the competition. Maybe it’s a lot of things and fingers will be pointed in many directions over the next few months. What won’t come up is that the failures at USC are due more to USC Board meddling in the football program than it is to any other single cause.
Face it, we don’t have the brightest football minds serving on the USC Board. Hiring their golf buddies hasn’t worked and won’t work. It’s time for a new approach. Something like letting the EXPERTS hire a young (read, Dabo-like) football coach with promise and give the coach the reins to BUILD a successful program.
As life-long Gamecock fans, we at the Crew are hoping to see SEC championships and national contenders in Columbia.
Dreams are made of…what? That’s what we’re having. Dreams. Dry dreams.
By Quiet on December 3rd, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Spurrier has man boobs…
By Toyota Kawaski on December 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I love when a poltical smut tries to talk football.It all starts with o-line and Coach Hunts bunch couldn’t block air.Fits stick to suckn eggs with Gov.Moonbeam
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