Live from Williams-Brice
posted by Brian Shoemaker, Saturday, September 15, 2007
10:10 P.M.: It's over. USC wins, 38-3. Good second half. The Gamecocks played much better.
10:05 P.M.: USC expands its lead to 38-3 with a TD pass to Mark Barnes. It's garbage time now at W-B. Mike Davis just got 100 yards. This is the first time since Watson and Pinnock in 2001 that USC had had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game. The game is winding down. The second half has been much more crisply played.
9:45 P.M.: Another TD run by Cory Boyd gives USC a 31-3 lead early in the 4Q. This one is all but over. USC has the ball again. Good effort by SCSU tonight but they hurt themselves with penalties and turnovers.
9:35 P.M.: After Jasper Brinkley intercepted a pass, SOS called a pass play and. . .it was intercepted. That's six turnovers for USC. Frankly, I'm puzzled by that play call. USC just ran the ball down SCSU's throat for a TD. I think USC should stick to running the ball. We're approaching the end of the 3Q and USC leads, 24-3.
9:25 P.M.: It's apparent SOS got sick of watching USC try to throw the football. USC just went 91 yards on 10 plays and passed the ball just once. Ironically, it was a short TD pass to Mike Davis. USC has turned to smash-mouth football to lift up the offense. It's 24-3 with 6:26 left in the 2H. USC has four runs of 13 yards or more. Call it the Fun-'n-Run.
9:00 P.M: FIRST HALF STATS:
Total Offense: SCSU 126, USC 190
Rushing: SCSU, Ford 7-52, McCoy 12-35; USC Boyd 6-65, Davis 5-17.
Passing: SCSU, McCoy 3-10 for 19 yards; USC, Mitchell, 11-17 for 98 yards, 2 Int, 1 TD, Beecher 2-5 for 32 yards.
Receiving: SCSU, 4 with 1; USC, McKinley, 4-36, 1 TD.
First Downs: SCSU 5, USC 13
Turnovers: SCSU 3, USC 5.
3rd Down Conversions: SCSU 1-8, USC 1-7.
8:55 P.M.: There is no explanation for this. That was one ugly 30 minutes of FB. USC committed 5 turnovers in the first half and somehow still leads, 17-3. Credit goes to the defense for continuously stopping the SCSU offense. SOS has to be in disbelief right now. Frankly, the offense is a mess right now. Little is going right. The defense forced 3 turnovers itself. So the two teams combined for 8 turnovers. In addition, there were 13 penalties, 10 by SCSU. Yikes. Still, USC leads, 17-3. Obviously, they'll have to play a lot better than this in the coming weeks.
8:30 P.M.: The penalty-filled half continues for SCSU. Another defensive stop for USC. SCSU has 76 yards of total offense. More penalties. USC, false start. Neither team appears to be focusing on the task at hand right now. This might be the ugliest halfof FB I've seen in a while. Neither team looks crisp at all.
8:25 P.M.: Another great play by Cliff Matthews. He batts a pass down and forces another SCSU punt. 8:41 left in the 2Q. USC leads 17-3.
8:15 P.M.: Great play by Munnerlyn. Third career INT. USC nearly returned the favor but the pass was ruled Incomp. Overall, the USC offense is struggling right now. SOS can't be happy. He must be frustrated. USC just picked up a 1D on a sneak but SCSU is challenging the spot.
The call isd reversed. Ball goes to SCSU.
8:10 P.M.: The offensive line continues to struggle, as they allowed pressure on Tommy Beecher and he fumbled. SCSU recovered. The O-Line will have to play a lot better than this when USC faces SEC schools or the QB's will get hurt.
8:00 P.M.: Cliff Matthews just made a great play for the USC defense. SCSU just committed another penalty. The Bulldogs are committing too many penalties if they want to spring the upset. USC just got the ball back at the 41 after a bad ount.
7:55 P.M.: UF beats UT, 59-20. Wow.
USC just scored another TD on a beautiful pass to KM. SCSU had M2M coverage on KM and he ran a corner route. It's 17-3. But SCSU just returned the kickoff beyond midfield. Poor kickoff coverage again. There's the end of the 1Q. USC leads, 17-3. But SCSU has the ball at the USC 42.
7:40 P.M.: USC drives 57 plays in 10 plays and ends up with a 40-yard FG by Succop. It's 10-3 USC with 4:46 left in the 1Q. onthekickoff, SCSU commits its sixth penalty of the night.
7:35 P.M.: USC has just called T/O with 8:09 left in the 1Q. BM just made a big play by scrambling to his right and hitting Cook for a 25-yard play. There's a flag on SCSU. USC is now in position to score agin.
7:25 P.M.: USC just got a huge play from the defense as Nathan Pepper picks off a pass and returns it for a TD. He obviously learned his lesson from the Clemson game. That may be the spark USC needs because the offense has done little with its first two possessions. USC leads, 7-3.
7:20 P.M.: Not a good start for USC. Blake Mitchell badly overthrew McKinley and the ball was intercepted by SCSU. The ball was returned to the USC 12. Fortunately for USC, the Bulldogs shot themselves in the foot with a couple of penalties and had to settle for a FG. Let's see if the second possession goes better.
7:10 P.M.: Dion Lecorn was on the kickoff return team. He was one of the "front line" guys. I believe that's his first action of the season.
7:05: USC's captains are Mike Davis, Jasper Brinkley, Darian Stewart and William Brown. SCSU won the toss and will defer. USC will get the ball first. We're almost underway.
6:58 P.M.: The national anthem and alma mater have been played. We're about 10 minutes from kickoff. There's still plenty of traffic out on George Rogers Boulevard and Bluff Road. This is a late-arriving crowd.
They just showed a new video with highlights of the USC victory over UGA. Ray Charles' Georgia On My Mind was the music played with the highlights. They also showed Lee Corso saying it was "heck of a win" for the Gamecocks. The video concluded by saying "Thank You Gamecock Nation and Thank you Mr. Corso." The crowd applauded throughout but did boo when Corso was first shown. Right now, though, we're about 6 minutes from kickoff. The USC band is on the field.
6:25 P.M.: The Gamecocks are going through their stretching warmups right now. The starting OL is LT Meredith, LG Thind, C Brown, RG Anderson, RT Sorensen. The starting DL is DE Robertson, DT Pepper, DT hall, and DE Norwood. It looks like Pepper will start the game inside. We'll see of he stays there. The LB's are the Brinkley twins and Paulk. The DB's are Isaac and Munnelryn at CB, and Stewart and Cook at Safety. The first-team WR's are McKinley, Brown and Freeman.
They're now breaking uointoi their positional drills. It's 40 minutes to kickoff. USC is supposed to be showing a new "The Game is ON" video with footage from the Georgia game.
6:15 P.M.: The USC QB's, RB's, TE's and WR's have taken the field. Mitchell, Beecher, Garcia and McQueeney are dressed for this game. Weslye Saunders is dressed for USC, despite reports he wants to redshirt this season. But since he's already played the only way he can redshirt now is with a medical redshirt.
6:00 P.M.: The USC special team players have taken the field. The Gamecocks are wearing GARNET jerseys and white pants. S.C. State is wearing all-white uniforms with white helmets and blue trim.
5:53 P.M.: Gurminder Thind will start at left guard and Garrett Anderson will start at right guard.
5:30 P.M.: USC has arrived and the players have taken their stroll around the field. SCSU just arrived and they're on the field right now. The USC players have gone back into the locker room.
Here comes the USC marching band through the fairgrounds. I'm sure they've been hearing all week that the SCSU band was going to kick their butts at halftime. Let's see if they're up to the challenge. The band does appear to be much improved this season. They seem to be louder and more energetic.
Here comes the SCSU band. They'e entered the stadium. We'll see how they do.
Look like the Big 10 is taking another beating today. Iowa lost, 15-13, to an Iowa State team that had fallen to a pair of I-AA teams at home earlier this season. Minnesota gave up 42 points to Florida Atlantic and lost, 42-39. Currently, Ohio State is trailing Washington, 7-3, in the 3Q.
UF leads Tennessee, 28-13 at HT. If that score stays that way, the heat will start on Phil Fulmer, UT would be 1-2 with games against UGA, Alabama, USC, Arkansas and UK still to come. Fulmer won't survive a 7-5 season. I'm sure Fulmer is disappointed because he was smiling from ear-to-ear at SEC Media Days. He thought the Vols were pretty good. It could be a tough road the rest of the way.
5:00 P.M.: Wow, it's 24-0 Michigan over ND. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy, Charlie Weiss. Watching that atrocious ND OL, Jimmy Clausen probably wishes he was back in So. Calif. about now. Do you think Gary Gray wishes he was back in Columbia?
Things are picking up here at the press box. The teams should be arriving within the next 15-20 minutes. The State Fairgrounds is about 75 percent full. I haven't felt the buzz I expected. I think USC fans are taking a casual approach towards this game. SCSU fans are far more emotional, based on what I've seen. But I'm not surprised by that.
Much has been made of the fact this is the first meeting in FB between USC and S.C. State. The Bulldogs are celebrating their 100th season of playing football. They started in 1907. USC began playing FB in 1892. S.C. State was picked by the league coaches to win the MEAC this year. They also had six players on the pre-season All-MEAC team. While this is the first meeting with SCSU, the two schools have faced off in other sports such as MBB, track, tennis, and golf. I remember a MBB game a couple of years ago when SCSU took USC to OT.
USC is definitely going to have to put a spy on SCSU QB Cleveland McCoy. He's a senior. As a matter of comparison, Air Force limited him to 10 of 22 for 84 yards two weeks ago. He was a little better last week at Bethune-Cookman. One of their best RB is Will Ford, last year's MEAC Rookie of the Year. Here's an interesting note from SCSU: the Bulldogs have five players from tiny Lamar High School on its roster. 4 of the 5 players are defensive backs.
4:30 P.M.: Below is a list of the players who are on the dress list.
CB Captain Munnerlyn
RB Cory Boyd
WR Jason Barnes
QB Stephen Garcia
CB Carlos Thomas
QB Tommy Beecher
LB Melvin Ingram
CB Addison Williams
WR Larry Freeman
WR Moe Brown
RB Brian Maddox
WR Kenny McKinley
QB Blake Mitchell
WR Mark Barnes
K Ryan Succop
QB Michael McQueeney
WR Dion Lecorn
TE Nick Prochak
RB Taylor Rank
S Emanuel Cook
CB Mike West
LB Cody Wells
RB Mike Davis
S Brandon Isaac
S Ty Erving
RB Calvin Parks
LB Gerrod Sinclair
S Darian Stewart
LB Marcus Davis
S Chris Hampton
S Douglas Peterson
LB Greg Wright
FB Jim Hutton
S Stoney Woodson
FB Lanard Stafford
CB Ranzino Valentine
DE Eric Norwood
DE Travian Robertson
CB Mike Newton
DE Ryan Brown
FB Clark Gaston
LB Rodney Paulk
FB Bryan Kingrey
FB Patrick DiMarco
LB Vandaral Shackleford
LB Damien Wright
LB Casper Brinkley
LB Jasper Brinkley
LB Marvin Sapp
OG Hardee Sanders
OG Lemuel Jeanpierre
LB John Guerry
LS Charles Turner
OG Pierre Andrews
OG Seaver Brown
C Ryan Broadhead
OT Hutch Eckerson
OG Garrett Anderson
C William Brown
OT Heath Batchelor
OT Gurminder Thind
C Jeremy Burgess
OT Jamon Meredith
OT Justin Sorensen
DT Marque Hall
TE Andy Boyd
OG Terrence Campbell
WR Paul Haile
WR Freddie Brown
DE Cliff Matthews
WR Scott Spurrier
TE Jared Cook
WR Joseph Hills
P Spencer Lanning
TE Alex McGrath
TE Weslye Saunders
WR Leon Gamble
TE Foxy Foxworth
DT Ladi Ajiboye
TE Robert Pavlovic
K Thomas Hooper
DT Nathan Pepper
DE Clifton Geathers
DT Kenrick Ellis
P Nate Spurrier
DT Joel Reaves
DL Jonathan Williams
DID NOT DRESS
LB Alonzo Winfield
QB Chris Smelley
CB Jamire Williams
WR Matt Clements
WR Chris Culliver
QB Zac Brindise
RB Bobby Wallace
CB Chris Hail
LB Yvan Banag
LB Dustin Lindsey
CB Cedric Snead
LS Chris Vaughn
DT Donte'e Nicholls
OG Kevin Young
OG James Thompson
OT Kyle Nunn
OT Quintin Richardson
DE Byron McKnight
3:55 P.M.: We could be seeing the upset of the year in the SEC. Auburn faces a fourth down inside the Miss. State 10-yard line. This is why I love the SEC. There's the pass. Incomplete! Great win for Miss. State. I like Sylvester Croom. Outside of Spurrier, if there's any coach who's comfortable in his shoes, it's Croom. He's a straight shooter like Spurrier. He's gotten a lot of unfair heat from the MSU fans. He took over a mess from Jackie Sherrill and it's nearly impossible to turn around a program overnight in the SEC. The league is too competitive. The heat will definitely be turned up on Tommy Tuberville. Frankly, Auburn should be 0-3. They were fortunate to beat Kansas State in the opener. Something is amiss with the Auburn offense. Brandon Cox looks awful right now. Auburn better get it turned around quickly if they want to stay in the SEC West race. The Tigers host New Mexico State next week but then they have to face Florida, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and LSU over a four-week span. It could be a painful year down on the Plains. Based on the schedule, it's possible Auburn could go 4-7 or 5-6 but they'll probably win a game or two. They still have a lot of talent.
Kudos to The Citadel for a well-played game against Wisconsin today. It was 21-21 at the half before the Badgers scored 24 unanswered points. But the Bulldogs played well.
There's some good 3:30 p.m. games. Tennessee-Florida is underway from the Swamp and the Futility Bowl between Michigan-Notre Dame has started as well.
3:15 P.M: This is the day many S.C. State fans, and possibly a few USC fans, have been waiting for. I saw a post where someone asked why SCSU has been getting so much media attention this week. This game is a classic "David v. Goliath" matchup. David will always get more media attention. As Wilt Chamberlain once said, no one roots for Goliath. Further, as most of you know, this is the first-time USC and SCSU have played in 100 years. In the minds of many, this game represents SCSU's first opportunity at beating of the "big boys." In fact, there's some in the media who are picking SCSU to win. I'm not sure why. USC is far more talented. And they're prepared to play. Steve Spurrier pushed the team in practice this week to avoid a letdown. I can assure you he understands the historical significance of this game and wants win very badly. I understand App. State pulled it off the major upset two weeks ago but there's a reason why, prior to then, no I-AA had ever beaten a D-I ranked team. It's difficult to do. This game could play out similar to The Citadel-Wisconsin game. The Citadel was tied 21-21 at the half but Wisconsin has pulled away in the second half. SCSU could hang around for a half before USC's depth and talent takes over in the second half. I'll stick with my 44-3 prediction.
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GamecockCentral.com's Scott Hood and Brian Shoemaker will provide updates prior to and during the game from Williams-Brice Stadium.
10:10 P.M.: It's over. USC wins, 38-3. Good second half. The Gamecocks played much better.
10:05 P.M.: USC expands its lead to 38-3 with a TD pass to Mark Barnes. It's garbage time now at W-B. Mike Davis just got 100 yards. This is the first time since Watson and Pinnock in 2001 that USC had had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game. The game is winding down. The second half has been much more crisply played.
9:45 P.M.: Another TD run by Cory Boyd gives USC a 31-3 lead early in the 4Q. This one is all but over. USC has the ball again. Good effort by SCSU tonight but they hurt themselves with penalties and turnovers.
9:35 P.M.: After Jasper Brinkley intercepted a pass, SOS called a pass play and. . .it was intercepted. That's six turnovers for USC. Frankly, I'm puzzled by that play call. USC just ran the ball down SCSU's throat for a TD. I think USC should stick to running the ball. We're approaching the end of the 3Q and USC leads, 24-3.
9:25 P.M.: It's apparent SOS got sick of watching USC try to throw the football. USC just went 91 yards on 10 plays and passed the ball just once. Ironically, it was a short TD pass to Mike Davis. USC has turned to smash-mouth football to lift up the offense. It's 24-3 with 6:26 left in the 2H. USC has four runs of 13 yards or more. Call it the Fun-'n-Run.
9:00 P.M: FIRST HALF STATS:
Total Offense: SCSU 126, USC 190
Rushing: SCSU, Ford 7-52, McCoy 12-35; USC Boyd 6-65, Davis 5-17.
Passing: SCSU, McCoy 3-10 for 19 yards; USC, Mitchell, 11-17 for 98 yards, 2 Int, 1 TD, Beecher 2-5 for 32 yards.
Receiving: SCSU, 4 with 1; USC, McKinley, 4-36, 1 TD.
First Downs: SCSU 5, USC 13
Turnovers: SCSU 3, USC 5.
3rd Down Conversions: SCSU 1-8, USC 1-7.
8:55 P.M.: There is no explanation for this. That was one ugly 30 minutes of FB. USC committed 5 turnovers in the first half and somehow still leads, 17-3. Credit goes to the defense for continuously stopping the SCSU offense. SOS has to be in disbelief right now. Frankly, the offense is a mess right now. Little is going right. The defense forced 3 turnovers itself. So the two teams combined for 8 turnovers. In addition, there were 13 penalties, 10 by SCSU. Yikes. Still, USC leads, 17-3. Obviously, they'll have to play a lot better than this in the coming weeks.
8:30 P.M.: The penalty-filled half continues for SCSU. Another defensive stop for USC. SCSU has 76 yards of total offense. More penalties. USC, false start. Neither team appears to be focusing on the task at hand right now. This might be the ugliest halfof FB I've seen in a while. Neither team looks crisp at all.
8:25 P.M.: Another great play by Cliff Matthews. He batts a pass down and forces another SCSU punt. 8:41 left in the 2Q. USC leads 17-3.
8:15 P.M.: Great play by Munnerlyn. Third career INT. USC nearly returned the favor but the pass was ruled Incomp. Overall, the USC offense is struggling right now. SOS can't be happy. He must be frustrated. USC just picked up a 1D on a sneak but SCSU is challenging the spot.
The call isd reversed. Ball goes to SCSU.
8:10 P.M.: The offensive line continues to struggle, as they allowed pressure on Tommy Beecher and he fumbled. SCSU recovered. The O-Line will have to play a lot better than this when USC faces SEC schools or the QB's will get hurt.
8:00 P.M.: Cliff Matthews just made a great play for the USC defense. SCSU just committed another penalty. The Bulldogs are committing too many penalties if they want to spring the upset. USC just got the ball back at the 41 after a bad ount.
7:55 P.M.: UF beats UT, 59-20. Wow.
USC just scored another TD on a beautiful pass to KM. SCSU had M2M coverage on KM and he ran a corner route. It's 17-3. But SCSU just returned the kickoff beyond midfield. Poor kickoff coverage again. There's the end of the 1Q. USC leads, 17-3. But SCSU has the ball at the USC 42.
7:40 P.M.: USC drives 57 plays in 10 plays and ends up with a 40-yard FG by Succop. It's 10-3 USC with 4:46 left in the 1Q. onthekickoff, SCSU commits its sixth penalty of the night.
7:35 P.M.: USC has just called T/O with 8:09 left in the 1Q. BM just made a big play by scrambling to his right and hitting Cook for a 25-yard play. There's a flag on SCSU. USC is now in position to score agin.
7:25 P.M.: USC just got a huge play from the defense as Nathan Pepper picks off a pass and returns it for a TD. He obviously learned his lesson from the Clemson game. That may be the spark USC needs because the offense has done little with its first two possessions. USC leads, 7-3.
7:20 P.M.: Not a good start for USC. Blake Mitchell badly overthrew McKinley and the ball was intercepted by SCSU. The ball was returned to the USC 12. Fortunately for USC, the Bulldogs shot themselves in the foot with a couple of penalties and had to settle for a FG. Let's see if the second possession goes better.
7:10 P.M.: Dion Lecorn was on the kickoff return team. He was one of the "front line" guys. I believe that's his first action of the season.
7:05: USC's captains are Mike Davis, Jasper Brinkley, Darian Stewart and William Brown. SCSU won the toss and will defer. USC will get the ball first. We're almost underway.
6:58 P.M.: The national anthem and alma mater have been played. We're about 10 minutes from kickoff. There's still plenty of traffic out on George Rogers Boulevard and Bluff Road. This is a late-arriving crowd.
They just showed a new video with highlights of the USC victory over UGA. Ray Charles' Georgia On My Mind was the music played with the highlights. They also showed Lee Corso saying it was "heck of a win" for the Gamecocks. The video concluded by saying "Thank You Gamecock Nation and Thank you Mr. Corso." The crowd applauded throughout but did boo when Corso was first shown. Right now, though, we're about 6 minutes from kickoff. The USC band is on the field.
6:25 P.M.: The Gamecocks are going through their stretching warmups right now. The starting OL is LT Meredith, LG Thind, C Brown, RG Anderson, RT Sorensen. The starting DL is DE Robertson, DT Pepper, DT hall, and DE Norwood. It looks like Pepper will start the game inside. We'll see of he stays there. The LB's are the Brinkley twins and Paulk. The DB's are Isaac and Munnelryn at CB, and Stewart and Cook at Safety. The first-team WR's are McKinley, Brown and Freeman.
They're now breaking uointoi their positional drills. It's 40 minutes to kickoff. USC is supposed to be showing a new "The Game is ON" video with footage from the Georgia game.
6:15 P.M.: The USC QB's, RB's, TE's and WR's have taken the field. Mitchell, Beecher, Garcia and McQueeney are dressed for this game. Weslye Saunders is dressed for USC, despite reports he wants to redshirt this season. But since he's already played the only way he can redshirt now is with a medical redshirt.
6:00 P.M.: The USC special team players have taken the field. The Gamecocks are wearing GARNET jerseys and white pants. S.C. State is wearing all-white uniforms with white helmets and blue trim.
5:53 P.M.: Gurminder Thind will start at left guard and Garrett Anderson will start at right guard.
5:30 P.M.: USC has arrived and the players have taken their stroll around the field. SCSU just arrived and they're on the field right now. The USC players have gone back into the locker room.
Here comes the USC marching band through the fairgrounds. I'm sure they've been hearing all week that the SCSU band was going to kick their butts at halftime. Let's see if they're up to the challenge. The band does appear to be much improved this season. They seem to be louder and more energetic.
Here comes the SCSU band. They'e entered the stadium. We'll see how they do.
Look like the Big 10 is taking another beating today. Iowa lost, 15-13, to an Iowa State team that had fallen to a pair of I-AA teams at home earlier this season. Minnesota gave up 42 points to Florida Atlantic and lost, 42-39. Currently, Ohio State is trailing Washington, 7-3, in the 3Q.
UF leads Tennessee, 28-13 at HT. If that score stays that way, the heat will start on Phil Fulmer, UT would be 1-2 with games against UGA, Alabama, USC, Arkansas and UK still to come. Fulmer won't survive a 7-5 season. I'm sure Fulmer is disappointed because he was smiling from ear-to-ear at SEC Media Days. He thought the Vols were pretty good. It could be a tough road the rest of the way.
5:00 P.M.: Wow, it's 24-0 Michigan over ND. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy, Charlie Weiss. Watching that atrocious ND OL, Jimmy Clausen probably wishes he was back in So. Calif. about now. Do you think Gary Gray wishes he was back in Columbia?
Things are picking up here at the press box. The teams should be arriving within the next 15-20 minutes. The State Fairgrounds is about 75 percent full. I haven't felt the buzz I expected. I think USC fans are taking a casual approach towards this game. SCSU fans are far more emotional, based on what I've seen. But I'm not surprised by that.
Much has been made of the fact this is the first meeting in FB between USC and S.C. State. The Bulldogs are celebrating their 100th season of playing football. They started in 1907. USC began playing FB in 1892. S.C. State was picked by the league coaches to win the MEAC this year. They also had six players on the pre-season All-MEAC team. While this is the first meeting with SCSU, the two schools have faced off in other sports such as MBB, track, tennis, and golf. I remember a MBB game a couple of years ago when SCSU took USC to OT.
USC is definitely going to have to put a spy on SCSU QB Cleveland McCoy. He's a senior. As a matter of comparison, Air Force limited him to 10 of 22 for 84 yards two weeks ago. He was a little better last week at Bethune-Cookman. One of their best RB is Will Ford, last year's MEAC Rookie of the Year. Here's an interesting note from SCSU: the Bulldogs have five players from tiny Lamar High School on its roster. 4 of the 5 players are defensive backs.
4:30 P.M.: Below is a list of the players who are on the dress list.
CB Captain Munnerlyn
RB Cory Boyd
WR Jason Barnes
QB Stephen Garcia
CB Carlos Thomas
QB Tommy Beecher
LB Melvin Ingram
CB Addison Williams
WR Larry Freeman
WR Moe Brown
RB Brian Maddox
WR Kenny McKinley
QB Blake Mitchell
WR Mark Barnes
K Ryan Succop
QB Michael McQueeney
WR Dion Lecorn
TE Nick Prochak
RB Taylor Rank
S Emanuel Cook
CB Mike West
LB Cody Wells
RB Mike Davis
S Brandon Isaac
S Ty Erving
RB Calvin Parks
LB Gerrod Sinclair
S Darian Stewart
LB Marcus Davis
S Chris Hampton
S Douglas Peterson
LB Greg Wright
FB Jim Hutton
S Stoney Woodson
FB Lanard Stafford
CB Ranzino Valentine
DE Eric Norwood
DE Travian Robertson
CB Mike Newton
DE Ryan Brown
FB Clark Gaston
LB Rodney Paulk
FB Bryan Kingrey
FB Patrick DiMarco
LB Vandaral Shackleford
LB Damien Wright
LB Casper Brinkley
LB Jasper Brinkley
LB Marvin Sapp
OG Hardee Sanders
OG Lemuel Jeanpierre
LB John Guerry
LS Charles Turner
OG Pierre Andrews
OG Seaver Brown
C Ryan Broadhead
OT Hutch Eckerson
OG Garrett Anderson
C William Brown
OT Heath Batchelor
OT Gurminder Thind
C Jeremy Burgess
OT Jamon Meredith
OT Justin Sorensen
DT Marque Hall
TE Andy Boyd
OG Terrence Campbell
WR Paul Haile
WR Freddie Brown
DE Cliff Matthews
WR Scott Spurrier
TE Jared Cook
WR Joseph Hills
P Spencer Lanning
TE Alex McGrath
TE Weslye Saunders
WR Leon Gamble
TE Foxy Foxworth
DT Ladi Ajiboye
TE Robert Pavlovic
K Thomas Hooper
DT Nathan Pepper
DE Clifton Geathers
DT Kenrick Ellis
P Nate Spurrier
DT Joel Reaves
DL Jonathan Williams
DID NOT DRESS
LB Alonzo Winfield
QB Chris Smelley
CB Jamire Williams
WR Matt Clements
WR Chris Culliver
QB Zac Brindise
RB Bobby Wallace
CB Chris Hail
LB Yvan Banag
LB Dustin Lindsey
CB Cedric Snead
LS Chris Vaughn
DT Donte'e Nicholls
OG Kevin Young
OG James Thompson
OT Kyle Nunn
OT Quintin Richardson
DE Byron McKnight
3:55 P.M.: We could be seeing the upset of the year in the SEC. Auburn faces a fourth down inside the Miss. State 10-yard line. This is why I love the SEC. There's the pass. Incomplete! Great win for Miss. State. I like Sylvester Croom. Outside of Spurrier, if there's any coach who's comfortable in his shoes, it's Croom. He's a straight shooter like Spurrier. He's gotten a lot of unfair heat from the MSU fans. He took over a mess from Jackie Sherrill and it's nearly impossible to turn around a program overnight in the SEC. The league is too competitive. The heat will definitely be turned up on Tommy Tuberville. Frankly, Auburn should be 0-3. They were fortunate to beat Kansas State in the opener. Something is amiss with the Auburn offense. Brandon Cox looks awful right now. Auburn better get it turned around quickly if they want to stay in the SEC West race. The Tigers host New Mexico State next week but then they have to face Florida, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and LSU over a four-week span. It could be a painful year down on the Plains. Based on the schedule, it's possible Auburn could go 4-7 or 5-6 but they'll probably win a game or two. They still have a lot of talent.
Kudos to The Citadel for a well-played game against Wisconsin today. It was 21-21 at the half before the Badgers scored 24 unanswered points. But the Bulldogs played well.
There's some good 3:30 p.m. games. Tennessee-Florida is underway from the Swamp and the Futility Bowl between Michigan-Notre Dame has started as well.
3:15 P.M: This is the day many S.C. State fans, and possibly a few USC fans, have been waiting for. I saw a post where someone asked why SCSU has been getting so much media attention this week. This game is a classic "David v. Goliath" matchup. David will always get more media attention. As Wilt Chamberlain once said, no one roots for Goliath. Further, as most of you know, this is the first-time USC and SCSU have played in 100 years. In the minds of many, this game represents SCSU's first opportunity at beating of the "big boys." In fact, there's some in the media who are picking SCSU to win. I'm not sure why. USC is far more talented. And they're prepared to play. Steve Spurrier pushed the team in practice this week to avoid a letdown. I can assure you he understands the historical significance of this game and wants win very badly. I understand App. State pulled it off the major upset two weeks ago but there's a reason why, prior to then, no I-AA had ever beaten a D-I ranked team. It's difficult to do. This game could play out similar to The Citadel-Wisconsin game. The Citadel was tied 21-21 at the half but Wisconsin has pulled away in the second half. SCSU could hang around for a half before USC's depth and talent takes over in the second half. I'll stick with my 44-3 prediction.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.