Sports

“Wait ‘Til Next Year”

GAMECOCKS FALL TO KENTUCKY … AGAIN || By FITSNEWS || It looks like 2015 won’t be a rebound year for the University of South Carolina football program after all … Head coach Steve Spurrier‘s Gamecocks lost at home to unranked Kentucky on Saturday night – a heartbreaking 26-22 defeat that stung…

GAMECOCKS FALL TO KENTUCKY … AGAIN

|| By FITSNEWS || It looks like 2015 won’t be a rebound year for the University of South Carolina football program after all …

Head coach Steve Spurrier‘s Gamecocks lost at home to unranked Kentucky on Saturday night – a heartbreaking 26-22 defeat that stung even more than last year’s soul-crushing loss in the Bluegrass State.

Unlike last year – when South Carolina got run over late in the fourth quarter – the Gamecock “D” turned in a dominant second half defensive performance.

It just wasn’t enough …

Down 24-7 at halftime, South Carolina’s defense came out of the locker room looking like a completely different squad – holding Kentucky without a first down on offense until the middle of the fourth quarter.  After getting gashed for 307 yards during the first half, co-coordinator Jon Hoke and Lorenzo Ward‘s unit gave up just 92 yards during the second half.

Unfortunately, multiple defensive stops didn’t translate into points.  Spurrier’s offense had to settle for field goals on three consecutive scoring drives – and when the Gamecock offense finally did find pay dirt, a botched two-point conversion wound up making the difference in the game.

KENTUCKY CELEBRATES
KENTUCKY CELEBRATES

After backup quarterback Perry Orth hit tight end Jerrell Adams for a 33-yard touchdown strike, the Gamecocks (1-1, 0-1 SEC) were a two-point conversation away from tying the game with around eight minutes left.  Preseason All-SEC wide receiver Pharoh Cooper fumbled on the conversion attempt, though, and Kentucky’s freshman defensive end Denzil Ware scooped up the ball and returned it 95 yards for a 2-point Wildcat score.

That four-point swing sealed South Carolina’s fate when Orth threw an interception on the Gamecocks’ ensuing possession – enabling Kentucky to run out the clock for only its third SEC win under third-year head coach Mark Stoops.

And yes: Two of those wins have come against the Gamecocks.

Kentucky has played terrible on the road for years.  In fact the Wildcats (2-0, 1-0 SEC) hadn’t beaten anybody on the road in 22 games – and hand’t won an SEC road game in six seasons.

They shouldn’t have won this game, either – but Orth’s interception bailed them out.

A 6-foot-1, 203-pound junior from Ponte Vedra, Florida, Orth completed 13 of 20 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown in relief of starter Connor Mitch, who left the game in the first half with a separated shoulder after attempting to recover a fumble.

CONNOR MITCH
CONNOR MITCH

Mitch’s injury was originally reported as a shoulder sprain, but Spurrier revealed its severity after the game and acknowledged it was likely to knock him out for the season.

Orth, a former walk-on, played a brilliant game until he was flushed from the pocket on a first down play from Kentucky’s 37-yard-line with just under four minutes on the clock.  Attempting to throw across his body, Orth was picked off by Wildcat defensive back Chris Westry, who was ruled down by contact after coughing up the football himself (a call confirmed by video replay officials).

It was Orth’s only miscue of the gme – but it was a dagger in the heart of Gamecock fans, who appear to be trending back toward their long-established “long-suffering” status.

After enjoying four years of unprecedented gridiron success from 2010-13 (including three consecutive 11-win seasons, three straight Top Ten finishes and three straight New Year’s bowl victories), South Carolina has slipped back into the mediocrity which defined the program for much of its first century of competition.

The Gamecocks went 7-6 a year ago, and are well on their way to another middling season this year – if they’re lucky.  Worse still, Spurrier’s staff is getting out-recruited by in-state rival Clemson – even though head coach Dabo Swinney‘s Tigers lost five straight to the Gamecocks from 2009-13.

South Carolina travels to Athens, Georgia next week to take on the tenth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.  The next week the Gamecocks host Central Florida before traveling to No. 21 Missouri on October 3.

Pic: Travis Bell Photography

***

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47 comments

flip September 12, 2015 at 11:24 pm

Oh MY!
Toledo defeats Arkansas
Auburn in OT over Jacksonville State
The demise of the SEC reminds me of the demise of the Democrat Party-and the ACC is WORSE!!!
p.s. -Alabama still strong as shit….

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Steve Spurrier September 12, 2015 at 11:25 pm

I expected more commentary than a copy/paste of the game recap from ESPN.

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ESPN Editorial Staff September 12, 2015 at 11:29 pm

Complete with moronic typos. Although Steve, we could have been blessed with an interview from you, but nooooooo….

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Squishy123 September 13, 2015 at 9:44 am

3rd and inches, call a run play from the shot gun. One of these times it may actually work.

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Squishy123 September 12, 2015 at 11:32 pm

Isn’t USCe spending around $800,000 on co-defensive coordinators? Are these part-time positions because it seems they only have to work during the second half.

Chicken Curse

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Your track record STILL sucks September 12, 2015 at 11:42 pm

LMAO…FITSNews has been guaranteeing USC’s demise for the last five years.

What’s that adage you liberals like to use (even though you use it 24-hours a day) about a broken clock..

Well, it actually applies to FITSNews, here. So does the blind squirrel.

If you ALWAYS predict demise, the law of averages will make you look correct every once in awhile. Enjoy Dumbass. It won’t last.

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Squishy123 September 12, 2015 at 11:45 pm

GrandTango is back.

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Clemson is D-2 football September 12, 2015 at 11:49 pm

Did Clemson play Gilbert High or Aynor, today?

How the fuck do you imbeciles get motivated to go see that low-level bshit. You are very dull idiots, if you can sit there and watch that week after week.

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TontoBubbaGoldstein September 13, 2015 at 12:34 am

It pains TBG to admit that you have a point…

Watching mighty SEC teams play close games against Jacksonville State, East Carolina, Toledo, whoever almost beat Mizzou etc is much more entertaining…

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CU is the Sandusky of football September 13, 2015 at 8:40 am

I bet you feel like a big stud, when you bend over Maryland and Wake, and jam your inchworm in them…

Like the rapist pedophile you are.

Squishy123 September 13, 2015 at 9:45 am

Except for Alabama, the SEC is as much of a has been as Steve Slurrier.

mamatiger92 September 13, 2015 at 9:28 am

+10

Squishy123 September 13, 2015 at 9:40 am

So what you’re saying is that USCe can’t compete in the SEC. Are Dirtpecker fans so brainwashed that being the whipping boy of that declining powerhouse SEC conference is preferable to being a member of a conference where a chance of winning is an actual possibility? USCe will be looking to that powerhouse SEC opponent Vanderbilt later this year for it’s only conference win of the season. Alabama must be getting tired of holding the entire conference up.

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Squishy123 September 13, 2015 at 9:41 am

How is it going to feel to USCe fans to get their ass kicked by a D-2 team at the end of the season? Or do you believe USCe can beat Clemson this year?

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Anti-T September 13, 2015 at 1:03 am

I’m gonna key your blue truck (the one with the Joe Wilson sticker) next time you park it at the game or mall.

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Speak D Truth September 12, 2015 at 11:56 pm

Looks like Orth will finish the season. There is hope after all.

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Manray9 September 13, 2015 at 12:13 am

Rebound? Yeah, sure. Kentucky’s first road SEC win since 2009!

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erneba September 13, 2015 at 12:32 am

Yes, go ahead and put away the pom poms until next year. Every team in the SEC Eastern Division will show an improvement this year, except for USC. The talent has declined, the Eastern division and SEC league competition is stiffer, and the ‘Ole Ball Coach is one year older.

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GameCock1 September 13, 2015 at 6:50 am

The Chicken Curse lives.

The Curse is always the worst just after USC spends millions of dollars in an orgy of self-congratulatory building. Plazas, monuments, facilities, etc…virtually anything that can give the impression of a wold class sports program.

It seems hubris is a trigger for the disease of the Chicken Curse. Perhaps humility and perspective is the cure? Sadly, we will never know…

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UGAalumni September 13, 2015 at 7:07 am

-heavy breathing-

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Comrade1917 September 13, 2015 at 8:38 am

Evidently Chicken town
by John Cooper Clarke
The bloody cops are bloody keen
To bloody keep it bloody clean
The bloody chief’s a bloody swine
Who bloody draws a bloody line
At bloody fun and bloody games
The bloody kids he bloody blames
Are nowehere to be bloody found
Anywhere in chicken town

The bloody scene is bloody sad
The bloody news is bloody bad
The bloody weed is bloody turf
The bloody speed is bloody surf
The bloody folks are bloody daft
Don’t make me bloody laugh
It bloody hurts to look around
Everywhere in chicken town
The bloody train is bloody late
You bloody wait you bloody wait
You’re bloody lost and bloody found
Stuck in f**king chicken town

The bloody view is bloody vile
For bloody miles and bloody miles
The bloody babies bloody cry
The bloody flowers bloody die
The bloody food is bloody muck
The bloody drains are bloody f**ked
The colour scheme is bloody brown
Everywhere in chicken town

The bloody pubs are bloody dull
The bloody clubs are bloody full
Of bloody girls and bloody guys
With bloody murder in their eyes
A bloody bloke is bloody stabbed
Waiting for a bloody cab
You bloody stay at bloody home
The bloody neighbors bloody moan
Keep the bloody racket down
This is bloody chicken town

The bloody pies are bloody old
The bloody chips are bloody cold
The bloody beer is bloody flat
The bloody flats have bloody rats
The bloody clocks are bloody wrong
The bloody days are bloody long
It bloody gets you bloody down
Evidently chicken town
The bloody train is bloody late
You bloody wait you bloody wait
You’re bloody lost and bloody found
Stuck in f**king chicken town

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But what about.... September 13, 2015 at 8:46 am

Hillary???….Hahahahahahaha…

You may get us on college football, today…but your High Priestess of filth, corruption and liberalism is going down in flames…and your answer is plagiarist-idiot Joe Biden..

I still got that… Hahahaha…That’s the MOST important…Thank goodness…

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DNC September 13, 2015 at 1:05 pm

Keep up the good work.
Check is in the mail.

Reply
a face in the crowd September 13, 2015 at 1:21 pm

So I guess you won’t be signing the petition circulating on social media, seeking the indictment of Dick Cheney as a war criminal.

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U R Disgusting and Stupid September 13, 2015 at 4:06 pm

That will be about as successful as you nutjob Democrats’ prayer chain, to pray Cheney dies. Dumbass.

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Bible Thumper September 13, 2015 at 1:19 pm

But, the Gamecocks did force #6 Auburn into overtime before losing.

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Thomas September 13, 2015 at 9:47 pm

Better take down the jinxed 3 story tall poster of Spurrier hanging on our stadium’s front door before we lose our virginity to Central Florida. Then recruit Art Briles before Texas goes after for him when they fire Head Coach Charlie Strong. Trying to reconstitute Florida’s 1990’s success in Columbia by bring in old coaches and player-coaches is a dismal failure. A handful of players gave us 11 win seasons, not the coaches. Spurrier must average 875,000.00 dollars per loss since he’s been here. Time to get busy winning or to get busy losing. Retire, Steve.

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Slartibartfast September 13, 2015 at 2:10 pm

I actually think this accidental realignment may have hit on a workable combination. Will coaching egos undo this combination? I am old enough to remember why the Gamecocks are cursed, or has that, too become a legislative secret?

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Know your role September 13, 2015 at 2:11 pm

A period of unusually good recruiting, unusually poor SEC East teams, and favorable scheduling within the SEC have ended. Nice Plaza upgrade outside the stadium though. There’s that.

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simpson September 13, 2015 at 3:01 pm

It’s simple. The Old Ball Sack thinks that because he’s Spurrier that the kids would come flocking to him. Hell most of the kids don’t have a CLUE as to who he was. Every other coach goes out and hustles to get the players to commit. Not Spurrier, he’s letting his staff do the heavy lifting and this is the result. In looking at the remaining games. I see the following results. Georgia, Missouri, LSU, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Clemson as loses. The Florida game could go either way. There’s the real possibility they would end up 4 wins and 8 loses.

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ACC is minor league foortball September 13, 2015 at 4:08 pm

Clemson fans and Idiots ALWAYS base their outlook for the WHOLE season on one game.

Of course you have played Wofford and App State, the meat of your schedule. Next comes the patsies – or Gimme Games – known as the ACC.

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Simpson September 13, 2015 at 5:49 pm

ND, Ga Tech and Fla St. Those are what you call GIMME games……..Lets see how you do against LSU and Ga…..

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Squishy123 September 13, 2015 at 9:46 pm

I predict 5 visor tosses and one visor kick at UGA and 4 tosses and a visor kick at LSU.

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D-II September 14, 2015 at 5:26 am

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…

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Bible Thumper September 13, 2015 at 6:23 pm

http://www.winsipedia.com/south-carolina/vs/clemson

The above unbiased link compares Clemson and South Carolina’s football programs by sixteen different criteria. Three are head to head and thirteen are national ranks. Clemson leads in fifteen. South Carolina leads one and USC could lose that one this year. (Heisman Trophy winners)

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Squishy123 September 13, 2015 at 8:27 pm

USCe may lead the two teams in players who are on NFL practice teams.

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Squishy123 September 13, 2015 at 8:25 pm

The last conference championship USCe has is the 1969 ACC championship. 46 years in the SEC and only won their division once. Fans should insist that USCe return to the ACC where there’s a remote chance they will compete for a conference championship.

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Brandon Wilds September 13, 2015 at 9:38 pm

You done loss your dam mind. You drunk coachin this game!

~Brandon Wilds

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Brandon Wilds September 13, 2015 at 9:40 pm Reply
Bible Thumper September 14, 2015 at 4:04 am

Fake.

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E Norma Scok September 14, 2015 at 7:53 am

Nope..sorry, it was NOT fake. It was also removed a couple hours later.

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Daniel Boome September 14, 2015 at 9:55 am

Right, it was removed because it was fake. That was not his twitter account (the real one is private) that the tweet was made on.

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Bible Thumper September 14, 2015 at 4:17 am

Clemson #11 in AP, #9 in Coaches poll.

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We good, Bo!!! September 14, 2015 at 5:23 am

What a Rip-Off. the Tigers are No. 3 in the S.C. High School Coaches Poll. Right behind Spartanburg and Ft. Dorchester, but I think Clemson can beat Ft. Dorchester (at least at home.)

Still I’m glad that we got recognized for beating Wofford and App St. Those are some stout football teams. Coach Swinney said App St. was undefeated, and it would take all we had to get the “W”…Hats off to a BIG win.

Now the schedule gets a little easier as ACC play begins.

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mamatiger92 September 14, 2015 at 8:25 am

Give us a break. We can’t all play Toledo & Jacksonville State.

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Squishy123 September 14, 2015 at 12:04 pm

USCe didn’t make to the Top 20.

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True Dat September 14, 2015 at 10:38 am

Dabo is a jackass, but he dusts Spurrier in recruiting. Spurrier barely cares about recruiting, and it’s all Dabo’s been good at, until he also learned to recruit good coordinators.

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