Dear Mr. Spurrier

[Dr. Pepper]

Dear Mr. Spurrier:

It makes no difference to me who the quarterback is. I am not really too concerned about recruiting right now. I don't care if we are pass oriented or run oriented. I do not mind losing if the team who wins actually beats us.

However, I would like for the team to show up for the game.

I travel each home game from South Georgia and I always make at least 1 road game each year and usually two. If figure that this weekend cost me and my family about $500 to drive to Columbia, spend the night, eat some food, and purchase my tickets. That might not be much to you, but it is a lot to me and it comes to about $3000 each year that I spend on the games (not including new shirts and other stuff). Additionally, I live in the middle of Bulldog Country and I will have to put up with their obnoxiousness tomorrow.

I expect a lot more for my money than what I got last night. Your young men were not ready. They did not play with any urgency, they did not protect the ball, and they did not play sound fundamental ball. Georgia was beatable last night, and we missed our chance to take advantage of them on an off year. They will not be off next year.

I plan to be at the games this year. But if we keep getting this kind of effort, look for me to find something else to do on Saturdays in the fall. I hope that I don't have to do that, but I am tired of spending my weekends like this.

[LawDawg72]

I'm sorry, but if you are not alumni, shut up... and furthermore, if you are alumni, you're spoiled because you have Steve Spurrier as a coach. Jeez, all you Gamecock fans expect Spurrier to make a cake when he doesn't have the ingredients right now. It will come in time. In 5 years, the UGA/USC matchup will be a HUGE battle each year. In today's SEC, it's nearly impossible what you are asking Spurrier to do. I'm not trying to put down SC, but this team has always been a perennial loser and then all of a sudden Spurrier comes and in SC is suppose to be Natl Champs in 2 years. You say UGA is down, but they said that in 2002, 2003, 2005 and all UGA has done is average 11 wins a year since 2001 win 2 SEC titles. I mean, you're dealing with best team in the SEC this decade in UGA. SC is has been on the bottom of the mountain for a long time and just because you have Steve Spurrier as a coach, you expect to come in and take over the throne in 2 years, you're crazy. You have to crawl before you can walk. UGA was quite mediocre at one time as well and now we are reaping the rewards of patience, you should work on that virtue. Support your team and quit complaining. It sucks to lose, but imagine how the team feels. You think they wanted to lose. You think the coaches didn't bust it to prepare the team. The bottom line is, USC got beat, dominated and UGA should have scored more. However, look at the good, USC beat FL and Tenn in the same season in Spurrier's first year, do you realize UGA hasn't beat Tenn and Fl in the same year since the 80's. Your program is making progress, but it's going to take time before you can contest for the top of the mountain.

Good luck to USC in the rest of their games.....

[shanksta13]

I'm sorry, but if you are not alumni, shut up... and furthermore, if you are alumni, you're spoiled because you have Steve Spurrier as a coach. Jeez, all you Gamecock fans expect Spurrier to make a cake when he doesn't have the ingredients right now. It will come in time. In 5 years, the UGA/USC matchup will be a HUGE battle each year. In today's SEC, it's nearly impossible what you are asking Spurrier to do. I'm not trying to put down SC, but this team has always been a perennial loser and then all of a sudden Spurrier comes and in SC is suppose to be Natl Champs in 2 years. You say UGA is down, but they said that in 2002, 2003, 2005 and all UGA has done is average 11 wins a year since 2001 win 2 SEC titles. I mean, you're dealing with best team in the SEC this decade in UGA. SC is has been on the bottom of the mountain for a long time and just because you have Steve Spurrier as a coach, you expect to come in and take over the throne in 2 years, you're crazy. You have to crawl before you can walk. UGA was quite mediocre at one time as well and now we are reaping the rewards of patience, you should work on that virtue. Support your team and quit complaining. It sucks to lose, but imagine how the team feels. You think they wanted to lose. You think the coaches didn't bust it to prepare the team. The bottom line is, USC got beat, dominated and UGA should have scored more. However, look at the good, USC beat FL and Tenn in the same season in Spurrier's first year, do you realize UGA hasn't beat Tenn and Fl in the same year since the 80's. Your program is making progress, but it's going to take time before you can contest for the top of the mountain.

Good luck to USC in the rest of their games.....

His post was ironic more than anything... you have to know Dr. Pepper a little bit better before you go criticizing him. Dr. P knows a lot and he certainly knows that Spurrier needs time. He's trying to make the best of the situation after that loss to Georgia, and I actually rather enjoy reading his posts. That's just his style, no need to go off on him for it.

[Bburton86]

Dear Mr. Spurrier:

It makes no difference to me who the quarterback is. I am not really too concerned about recruiting right now. I don't care if we are pass oriented or run oriented. I do not mind losing if the team who wins actually beats us.

However, I would like for the team to show up for the game.

I travel each home game from South Georgia and I always make at least 1 road game each year and usually two. If figure that this weekend cost me and my family about $500 to drive to Columbia, spend the night, eat some food, and purchase my tickets. That might not be much to you, but it is a lot to me and it comes to about $3000 each year that I spend on the games (not including new shirts and other stuff). Additionally, I live in the middle of Bulldog Country and I will have to put up with their obnoxiousness tomorrow.

I expect a lot more for my money than what I got last night. Your young men were not ready. They did not play with any urgency, they did not protect the ball, and they did not play sound fundamental ball. Georgia was beatable last night, and we missed our chance to take advantage of them on an off year. They will not be off next year.

I plan to be at the games this year. But if we keep getting this kind of effort, look for me to find something else to do on Saturdays in the fall. I hope that I don't have to do that, but I am tired of spending my weekends like this.

USC's offense didn't really impress me that much.

[GatorHunter]

Dear Mr. Spurrier:

It makes no difference to me who the quarterback is. I am not really too concerned about recruiting right now. I don't care if we are pass oriented or run oriented. I do not mind losing if the team who wins actually beats us.

However, I would like for the team to show up for the game.

I travel each home game from South Georgia and I always make at least 1 road game each year and usually two. If figure that this weekend cost me and my family about $500 to drive to Columbia, spend the night, eat some food, and purchase my tickets. That might not be much to you, but it is a lot to me and it comes to about $3000 each year that I spend on the games (not including new shirts and other stuff). Additionally, I live in the middle of Bulldog Country and I will have to put up with their obnoxiousness tomorrow.

I expect a lot more for my money than what I got last night. Your young men were not ready. They did not play with any urgency, they did not protect the ball, and they did not play sound fundamental ball. Georgia was beatable last night, and we missed our chance to take advantage of them on an off year. They will not be off next year.

I plan to be at the games this year. But if we keep getting this kind of effort, look for me to find something else to do on Saturdays in the fall. I hope that I don't have to do that, but I am tired of spending my weekends like this.

I love your writing, Dr. Pepper...and as Shanksta stated, I really enjoy reading your posts. Believe me, when the Zooker took over at UF...I watched him turn a Heisman runner-up into a flop...I also watched as teams came into the Swamp and left with victories. True, we only had to endure 3 years of it...but, let's just say I understand your point.

But there is some truth to what the Dog is saying...it's gonna be a while before USCE will be a perineal power...if ever. There's so much parity in college football now...Spurs seems to be recruiting talent...but you guys finished in the 20's this past year....do you think you'll sign a top 5 class this season? That's what it takes...SEVERAL top classes...look at LSU, UGA, USCW, Texas...all of these teams have one thing in common...they have top 5 classes every year. I'm not gonna say that USCE isn't gonna win a game or two vs the SEC big boys...but it'll take a couple of years before you guys will be an annual threat...I've watched USCE play two games, and I can tell you, there's not enough talent or depth on that team to be a serious contender...yep, you guys got us last season...and I came on the board and stated the same most cocks are saying now...UF didn't play well...and you know what kinda greeting I got...same you guys are getting from the Dogs now. Keep you head up Pepper, Spurs has indicated he'll be in Columbia for the long haul....and that's what it's gonna take.

[GeauxTo]

Dr. Pepper... is the honeymoon over?

[Williams-Brice]

I'm sorry, but if you are not alumni, shut up... and furthermore, if you are alumni, you're spoiled because you have Steve Spurrier as a coach. Jeez, all you Gamecock fans expect Spurrier to make a cake when he doesn't have the ingredients right now. It will come in time. In 5 years, the UGA/USC matchup will be a HUGE battle each year. In today's SEC, it's nearly impossible what you are asking Spurrier to do. I'm not trying to put down SC, but this team has always been a perennial loser and then all of a sudden Spurrier comes and in SC is suppose to be Natl Champs in 2 years. You say UGA is down, but they said that in 2002, 2003, 2005 and all UGA has done is average 11 wins a year since 2001 win 2 SEC titles. I mean, you're dealing with best team in the SEC this decade in UGA. SC is has been on the bottom of the mountain for a long time and just because you have Steve Spurrier as a coach, you expect to come in and take over the throne in 2 years, you're crazy. You have to crawl before you can walk. UGA was quite mediocre at one time as well and now we are reaping the rewards of patience, you should work on that virtue. Support your team and quit complaining. It sucks to lose, but imagine how the team feels. You think they wanted to lose. You think the coaches didn't bust it to prepare the team. The bottom line is, USC got beat, dominated and UGA should have scored more. However, look at the good, USC beat FL and Tenn in the same season in Spurrier's first year, do you realize UGA hasn't beat Tenn and Fl in the same year since the 80's. Your program is making progress, but it's going to take time before you can contest for the top of the mountain.

Good luck to USC in the rest of their games.....

We weren't expecting to play for a national championship this year. We don't expect our players to play like champions each week. However, we do expect them to care. They did not care last night. There was no fire. There was no intensity. There was nothing. I can accept losing to a good football team, especially if they are better than us, like UGA is right now. However, I cannot accept the lack of desire I saw last night.

Before you jump on Dr. Pepper, you need to realize something he didn't point out. Yes, he pays about $3,000 a year to go to games. However, what he didn't point out is that he pays about $20,000 a year to send me to USC and another $20,000 to send my younger brother to USC. He, my mother, and the rest of my family deserve players who are going to play like they give a damn. We only had a handful last night, and it showed.

I guess that means the cat is out of the bag; Dr. Pepper is my dad.

[GamecockDieHard]

Dr. Pepper... is the honeymoon over?

Good one. Yes, but we're still deeply in love. :laugh: :laugh:

I agree with every post in this thread so far, if not how it was phrased.

Probably our biggest problem is that we have no depth. We didn't benefit from all-out practices in the pre-season or we'd have risked an injury to the starters we really need. It's been most noticeable on our OL, but it carries over to all positions. That alone has helped make us look anemic on offense, IMO.

We need a quality leader at QB. No matter the reason, Mitchell has gotten less efficient, less confident, less accurate, etc.... since the middle of last season. He misses open receivers, he makes bad decisions, and he plays like the kid he is, rather than the leader of an SEC team. Stafford and Smelley played like they were in control. Blake whines and complains more than he needs to. Blake could get Spurrier off his back by standing up to him and to the opponents. IMO, he should take charge and win or lose it based on his own approach to the game. Right now he's just dying a slow death.

IMO, we've got a chicken and egg problem (NPI). We need to show new recruits that we can win before some of them will come, but we need more top recruits to come before we can win, so...well you know the rest.

Spurrier is fixing all of these problems (line, QB, Defense), he knows what he needs and is recruiting for those needs.

Dr. P is one of the great Gamecock fans that can actually be a huge supporter and live among some of the most "in-your-face" fans anywhere. I'm ok with his being pissed at how we played. It was pitiful and we need to at least show improvement. He's earned the right to vent on this site, IMO.

[Dr. Pepper]

I will dismiss the post from Slawdog since he has only posted 33 other times. Hang around sir, and you will catch on to this.

Thanks for the other comments from the Gator fans. I appreciate you guys too.

I did not expect to win the NC, the SEC Championship, or the SECE this year. Like everybody else, I always hope that the breaks will go our way and somehow we slip past the minefields along the way. Whoever is on top gets there by being good first, and then by being a little lucky. Based on what I have seen so far, the SECE will be determined at the UT/UF game. But, who knows?

However, I do expect the Gamecocks to be ready every week. When I say ready, I mean doing the little things well like holding onto the football, getting up to the line of scrimmage, snapping the ball when the QB is ready (whose fault was that? That may have been the play that popped the balloon and let all the air out.), etc.

Why were our guys cramping up early in the second half? Rice played with heart through pain, had to go get IV's, but his first cramp was early in the third quarter. That means that he was running on adrenaline and not proper hydration and nutrition.

I am sure our guys have the "want to's", but you can't expect to win on "want to's" and "hope to's." You win by taking care of the little things. Our guys wanted to be giant killers, but they forgot to stop by the brook to pick up a few small stones.

It showed from the minute that the ball hit Mitchell in the head.

[blues_cap]

why were your guys cramping in the second half??? b/c it is early september, still warm, and it is the 2nd game of the year. it has nothing to do with how your players prepared for the game. players cramp early in the year, period. if you are blaming your coach for your players cramping, that is a little much.

btw, while watching several nfl games yesterday, players were being taken into the locker room all day for cramps. it happens everywhere this early in the season.

[bullittmcqueen]

In my honest opinion, SC just didnt look prepared at all. They definitely didnt look like a Spurrier coached team that I am used to seeing. Not even as prepared as the team that came to athens last year.

I am just curious to some of you SC guys, what were your feelings going into the game? I am new to this board and didnt see many of the pregame comments, all I know is what i saw vs MSU and us.

[OmahaBound]

why were your guys cramping in the second half??? b/c it is early september, still warm, and it is the 2nd game of the year. it has nothing to do with how your players prepared for the game. players cramp early in the year, period. if you are blaming your coach for your players cramping, that is a little much.

btw, while watching several nfl games yesterday, players were being taken into the locker room all day for cramps. it happens everywhere this early in the season.

it was in the upper 70s after sunset. with proper hydration during halftime the odds of Sidney cramping up early in the 2nd half would have been minimal. you're correct that it's not really the coaches fault though. they had more important things to worry about. however, it IS the training staff's fault as well as the players themselves.

[blues_cap]

it was in the upper 70s after sunset. with proper hydration during halftime the odds of Sidney cramping up early in the 2nd half would have been minimal. you're correct that it's not really the coaches fault though. they had more important things to worry about. however, it IS the training staff's fault as well as the players themselves.

i understand it wasnt scorching, but it is early in sep and the players arent conditioned yet. nfl players were cramping all day yesterday, there isnt a whole lot you can do about it. there is a point where you cant take in any more fluids, etc.

to me, cramps are like injuries. there isnt much you can do about them and nobody can really be blamed for them.

[OmahaBound]

In my honest opinion, SC just didnt look prepared at all. They definitely didnt look like a Spurrier coached team that I am used to seeing. Not even as prepared as the team that came to athens last year.

I am just curious to some of you SC guys, what were your feelings going into the game? I am new to this board and didnt see many of the pregame comments, all I know is what i saw vs MSU and us.

I went into the game expecting the same performance we've witnessed 5 of the last 6 years....a hard-fought, close, down to the wire football game. With the lack of a proven QB, a young secondary even if it was a good one, and an O-line that is pretty thin on depth for UGA, I really thought this was going to be our year to pull out the close victory. I knew overall UGA was better than us, but the gap has been bigger in previous years and we barely lost.

I was very surprised with how easily the team lost focus after a few bad breaks and mental mistakes. It happens to everyone (including Georgia in this game), but our guys seemed to give up after awhile. It was quite disappointing to watch. I just hope this is our Bama game of '06 and you won't see such a poor performance again (Auburn was of course terrible last year as well but with injuries we went into that game with very little chance anyway).

[OmahaBound]

i understand it wasnt scorching, but it is early in sep and the players arent conditioned yet. nfl players were cramping all day yesterday, there isnt a whole lot you can do about it. there is a point where you cant take in any more fluids, etc.

to me, cramps are like injuries. there isnt much you can do about them and nobody can really be blamed for them.

considering the number of mindless mistakes on saturday it would not surprise me at all if sidney was too frustrated and didn't think to rehydrate and the training staff was too distracted with injured players. mind you, when i'm saying that the staff is to blame i'm not saying anyone should be fired or punished. i'm simply saying i think they messed up and need to learn from their mistakes for the future.

you may be right even though a night game is very different from all those NFL day games yesterday. either way it's a dead issue since we'll never really know if it just happened or if it was carelessness.

[roosterbooster]

I don't care if the coach is Elmer Fudd, I expect us to know the snap count, I expect us to realize that receivers are useful for things other than screen passes, I expect us to realize that you do not pitch the ball 5 yards deep into your end zone and then dance, I expect a QB sneak from the 1 to start forward not backwards (I honestly thought that maneuver by Mitchell looked more like Tommy Chong imitating a dog taking a crap than an SEC QB trying to score a touchdown), and I expect us to have a lineman ready who can give more resistance than a tackling dummy if someone goes down on a critical drive late in the game. I expect fire not fizzle. To leave everything on the field and lose is valiant. Georgia you have the better team. If you had put forth your best effort and we had put forth our best effort you probably win the game, but Saturday you were beatable and we did not take advantage of it. I am not trying to say we gave away the game or any of that sort of junk. You earned your W fair and square on our field and I congratulate you for that. I also apologize that we didn't put forth very much resistance. Congratulations and good luck the rest of the year.

[larryt4111]

Hum??????
Some of you make good points!

[Lawdog]

You certainly don't think he actually reads this stuff, do you?

[uscrules]

You certainly don't think he actually reads this stuff, do you?
NO! NO! I think he has more improtant things to read.