Wait until next year . . . again . . .

[nellanaesp]

Looks like us Gamecock fans have to wait another 9 months to watch the team play football, because that's not what they've been doing the past 5 games. Bleh....GO COCKS!

[zartan]

that loss yesterday was a crying shame, i tell you.

[STUCKNBIG10]

I think UK and USC should play in the misery bowl. We are the kings of close, the masters of moral victories. I am flat-out sick and disgusted by our game yesterday. UT is always tough and they find ways to win, but our team just invents new ways to lose ball games and our coaching staff played "not to lose." I'm sick of it, and this streak of 23 games is embarassing and ridiculous. I feel your pain, cocks, you guys were also oranged out yesterday.

[Bama or go home]

My Bama team might as well not play again untill next season! :brick:

[Kevhugh]

Here's the problem with my Gamecocks...we will be better next year but you have to put it in context. We'll be better and more experienced, but so will UGA and Florida. We could have our best team of all time and still not beat Stafford or Tebow. Add in another loss or two to teams we should at least be competitive with, and suddenly you're staring 8-4 or 7-5 in the face again. Until we recruit HUGE for more than one year in a row, I don't see this changing.

[U-Dub Gamecock]

We have to have top 10 classes EVERY YEAR.. One top 10 class every 4-5 years wont get ya far in the SEC.. when teams in your own division are constantly in the top 10 every damn year..

[nellanaesp]

I think UK and USC should play in the misery bowl.

They did: Carolina won 38-23. It was October 4th, back when we thought we were a good team. :laugh:

[scfan5338]

Here's the problem with my Gamecocks...we will be better next year but you have to put it in context. We'll be better and more experienced, but so will UGA and Florida. We could have our best team of all time and still not beat Stafford or Tebow. Add in another loss or two to teams we should at least be competitive with, and suddenly you're staring 8-4 or 7-5 in the face again. Until we recruit HUGE for more than one year in a row, I don't see this changing.

Exactly. UGA and Florida will be a thousand times better next year and their QB's will be more matured and their defense which was already good will be a bit more mature. While at USC, we'll have (once again) an inexperienced QB, an inconsistent and inexperienced OL (once again), and horrible Special teams. We are getting the guys we want, but I just don't think we'll ever get to 10 or 11 wins at Carolina and I think thats being realistic. A lot of high school players don't want to go to Carolina because there is no history like there is at UGA,UF, UT,LSU, bama etc. Unless we start rolling in 5-star players and top 10 recruting classes every year, we'll be in the ball park of 5-8 wins every year. I hope I'm wrong.

[gatorunvrsty]

Exactly. UGA and Florida will be a thousand times better next year and their QB's will be more matured and their defense which was already good will be a bit more mature. While at USC, we'll have (once again) an inexperienced QB, an inconsistent and inexperienced OL (once again), and horrible Special teams. We are getting the guys we want, but I just don't think we'll ever get to 10 or 11 wins at Carolina and I think thats being realistic. A lot of high school players don't want to go to Carolina because there is no history like there is at UGA,UF, UT,LSU, bama etc. Unless we start rolling in 5-star players and top 10 recruting classes every year, we'll be in the ball park of 5-8 wins every year. I hope I'm wrong.

I think that's overstating it a bit. UF had NO history prior to 1990... well, that's not exactly true; we had a history of being the whipping boy of the other teams you mentioned. Prior to 1990, we averaged the same 7-8 wins you guys are talking about getting stuck with. It's just a longer process than most counted on. The one aspect that I'll admit leaves Carolina at a bit of a disadvantage, as far as history is concerned, is not being an original member of the SEC. That nostalgia counts for something, and kids like the stories of the great SEC teams of the past. They want to think they'll be a part of that great history, and one of the remembered SEC talents. However, with time, that will wear off, too. After awhile, only the most devoted students of the game, that are prospects, will even realize that USC wasn't here all along. I think all USC needs is some talent turnover... a few great classes, and a player or two who get nationally recognized, will get other kids interested in going there. Spurrier is already a draw, and he can develop the kind of player I'm talking about. I'm anxious to see how a QB that he recruited, and has worked with from day one, progresses and performs. I'd say give it another year or two before the apocalyptic prophecies.:thumpsup:

[GatorBait15]

my opinion http://www.sectalk.com/boards/south-carolina-sports/23770-griffs-pep-talk-usc-fans.html

[JerryBeeds]

You have to look where we are coming from. Except for a few years here and there, we've always been terrible. I think things for the first in our history are actually looking positive. All our true SEC caliber players are redshirting or are Frosh or Sophmores. It takes time to develop talent. Honestly, how many true freshmen have a huge impact? Especially in the SEC. At least our problems now include what crappy bowl will we play in instead of will we even win a game.

Signed, The Eternal Optimist:laugh:

[scfan5338]

I'm surprised that Spurrier hasn't been able to get that big 5-star QB that he got at UF. Wish we had a shot at Brantley and Newton last year. Hopefully Garcia will go on to do great things at USC.

[GatorBait15]

Garcia was bad in high school my high school played his team in the playoffs 4 years ago and he was bad arse tore or defense apart cant wait to wath him again...when I saw this guy I knew I would watch him in college...

[Tennessee Ted]

Here's the problem with my Gamecocks...we will be better next year but you have to put it in context. We'll be better and more experienced, but so will UGA and Florida. We could have our best team of all time and still not beat Stafford or Tebow. Add in another loss or two to teams we should at least be competitive with, and suddenly you're staring 8-4 or 7-5 in the face again. Until we recruit HUGE for more than one year in a row, I don't see this changing.

I think 8-4 would be a big step for South Carolina next year. It would be a sign to recruits that you are improving.

[WayzUp]

I still think a lot of our struggles and tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot and/or not make plays (how many fumbles did we cause & not recover? There's two games right there!) is a direct result of our being one of, if not the youngest team in the conference. Spurrier literally gutted this team when he took over so we've been building from scratch or below scratch. The talent turnover the other top SEC programs have (see: UGA, UT, UF, LSU, etc etc etc) is a direct result of their young guys seeing & watching the players ahead of them on the depth chart (almost always ahead of them seniority-wise) for a good couple years before it's their turn. By then, they've had tricks of their respective trade taught/shown to them so when it is their turn, they're more than ready. Our guys have had very little of that so 'starting from scratch' is a very literal term when looking at our team, I think.

Next year (shaddup!) will be very telling cuz while we'll still have quite a bit of youth, we'll have more Junior/Senior leadership than we've had in a long, long time. Inexperience at QB will hurt which is why I think we saw so much of Smelley this year. But McKinley should be a good mentor for the stud WR class (half of which redshirted, remember) we signed last year. Jasper should be a great mentor to our younger LB's. I hope Cory Boyd passed down some knowledge to Brian Maddox & I think Mike Davis's development was fast-tracked by playing alongside #3. The list goes on but you get my point.

Our schedule is much more favorable in 2008 than it was this year so hopefully our youth at QB will be covered up by an easier slate. We still have a pretty hard stretch at the end but a lot of those tough games are going to be at home. I think we're still a work in progress but cliches aside, next year will be more representative of what Spurrier will do with our program.

[CarolinaGrad07]

I'm surprised that Spurrier hasn't been able to get that big 5-star QB that he got at UF. Wish we had a shot at Brantley and Newton last year. Hopefully Garcia will go on to do great things at USC.

brantley was very interested in sc from whst i have been told and wanted to play for sos, but we already had garcia.

[U-Dub Gamecock]

Garcia was a high-rated 4 star.. he should be the starter next year..

[Williams-Brice]

brantley was very interested in sc from whst i have been told and wanted to play for sos, but we already had garcia.

We would have gotten Brantley if we had not already committed ourselves to Garcia. It seems like timing worked out great for every player we recruited last year, expect for Brantley. When he decommitted from Texas, Garcia was already our's.

[Williams-Brice]

I'm surprised that Spurrier hasn't been able to get that big 5-star QB that he got at UF. Wish we had a shot at Brantley and Newton last year. Hopefully Garcia will go on to do great things at USC.

If Newton had not chosen Florida, then he would have chosen USC. We came into it a little late in the game and told Cam that we wanted to use him the same way we were using Syvelle Newton. We had a shot; it just didn't work out.