A Test of Leadership and Character
posted by Scott Hood on Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Which direction will the Gamecocks go? South, as they did in 2002 (five straight losses) and 2003 (four straight losses), or North, as they did in 2005 (five straight wins) and 2006 (three straight wins).
This week leading up to the Tennessee game in Knoxville is a stern test of the character and senior leadership of the Gamecocks. As Spurrier said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, USC doesn’t have any players who scream and yell a whole lot. Cory Boyd may come the closest to filling that role.
A team’s psyche is a fragile thing, as USC fans have painfully discovered in the past. A series of unfortunate events can send team morale plummeting.
Lou Holtz always said your seniors should be your best players. But that hasn’t been the case for USC the 2001 season when quarterback Phil Petty led the Gamecocks to a 9-3 campaign.
It will be up to the Boyd and players like center Williams Brown, tight end Andy Boyd and defensive back Brandon Isaac to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The problem USC faces – and I’ve talked about this on a few occasions in the past – is not enough of USC’s frontline players are seniors.
Thirteen seniors are listed on this week’s depth chart. Just five are certain they’ll start on Saturday against the hated Vols.
Five of the seven seniors on defense play secondary roles. The only two seniors currently listed as starters are DE Casper Brinkley and DB Brandon Isaac.
QB Blake Mitchell is a fifth-year senior as well but he played for the first time in four weeks against Vanderbilt.
Will USC recover psychologically from the stunning loss to Vanderbilt? Absolutely.
And I expect it will begin this week in Knoxville.
The first two years under Spurrier suggest the Gamecocks will bounce back. In 2005, I’m sure the doom and gloomers were out in force after the embarrassing 48-7 loss at Auburn in the fifth week of the season that dropped USC to 2-3.
What did USC do after that debacle? They proceeded to win five straight games, including road contests at Tennessee (16-15) and Arkansas (14-10). Granted, it took a good deal of good fortune to win those games, but they were wins nevertheless.
If I recall correctly, most national media types confidently predicted after the Auburn loss that USC would have trouble winning another game.
The 2006 team didn’t have a stretch like that five-game winning streak but it came through when the chips were down in the final two weeks of the season.
After walloping Middle Tennessee, USC had to beat Clemson to assure a bowl berth. They rallied from a 14-point deficit by scoring the final 17 points of the game.
USC’s record this year after eight games is actually one game better than last season at this time. In 2006, the Gamecocks fell to 5-3 after losing to Tennessee at home.
This year, there are no Middle Tennessees left on the schedule, and Clemson appears to have a better quarterback at its disposal, so beating the Tigers won’t be easy.
The last thing USC wants to do is enter bowl season with a 6-6 record. There are too many skeptics out there in the mainstream media that would skewer the Gamecocks for playing in a bowl game with a .500 record.
I predicted before the season that USC would be 7-1 going into the Tennessee game and that the Gamecocks would split the final four games to finish with a 9-3 record and earn a spot in the Outback Bowl.
While the loss to Vanderbilt dented USC’s hopes of playing in a New Years Day Bowl, it wasn’t a crushing blow. The Gamecocks could still end up playing in one of the Florida bowls on Jan. 1 or even the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans if they duplicate their feat of two years ago and beat Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida on consecutive weekends.
Win those three games and USC will be assured of a spot in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta.
If that happens, the Vanderbilt loss would be erased from memory.
Which road will USC travel?
More importantly, will the seniors lead USC down the right path?
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
Most college football teams face a moment of crisis each season. That moment has arrived for South Carolina.
Which direction will the Gamecocks go? South, as they did in 2002 (five straight losses) and 2003 (four straight losses), or North, as they did in 2005 (five straight wins) and 2006 (three straight wins).
This week leading up to the Tennessee game in Knoxville is a stern test of the character and senior leadership of the Gamecocks. As Spurrier said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, USC doesn’t have any players who scream and yell a whole lot. Cory Boyd may come the closest to filling that role.
A team’s psyche is a fragile thing, as USC fans have painfully discovered in the past. A series of unfortunate events can send team morale plummeting.
Lou Holtz always said your seniors should be your best players. But that hasn’t been the case for USC the 2001 season when quarterback Phil Petty led the Gamecocks to a 9-3 campaign.
It will be up to the Boyd and players like center Williams Brown, tight end Andy Boyd and defensive back Brandon Isaac to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The problem USC faces – and I’ve talked about this on a few occasions in the past – is not enough of USC’s frontline players are seniors.
Thirteen seniors are listed on this week’s depth chart. Just five are certain they’ll start on Saturday against the hated Vols.
Five of the seven seniors on defense play secondary roles. The only two seniors currently listed as starters are DE Casper Brinkley and DB Brandon Isaac.
QB Blake Mitchell is a fifth-year senior as well but he played for the first time in four weeks against Vanderbilt.
Will USC recover psychologically from the stunning loss to Vanderbilt? Absolutely.
And I expect it will begin this week in Knoxville.
The first two years under Spurrier suggest the Gamecocks will bounce back. In 2005, I’m sure the doom and gloomers were out in force after the embarrassing 48-7 loss at Auburn in the fifth week of the season that dropped USC to 2-3.
What did USC do after that debacle? They proceeded to win five straight games, including road contests at Tennessee (16-15) and Arkansas (14-10). Granted, it took a good deal of good fortune to win those games, but they were wins nevertheless.
If I recall correctly, most national media types confidently predicted after the Auburn loss that USC would have trouble winning another game.
The 2006 team didn’t have a stretch like that five-game winning streak but it came through when the chips were down in the final two weeks of the season.
After walloping Middle Tennessee, USC had to beat Clemson to assure a bowl berth. They rallied from a 14-point deficit by scoring the final 17 points of the game.
USC’s record this year after eight games is actually one game better than last season at this time. In 2006, the Gamecocks fell to 5-3 after losing to Tennessee at home.
This year, there are no Middle Tennessees left on the schedule, and Clemson appears to have a better quarterback at its disposal, so beating the Tigers won’t be easy.
The last thing USC wants to do is enter bowl season with a 6-6 record. There are too many skeptics out there in the mainstream media that would skewer the Gamecocks for playing in a bowl game with a .500 record.
I predicted before the season that USC would be 7-1 going into the Tennessee game and that the Gamecocks would split the final four games to finish with a 9-3 record and earn a spot in the Outback Bowl.
While the loss to Vanderbilt dented USC’s hopes of playing in a New Years Day Bowl, it wasn’t a crushing blow. The Gamecocks could still end up playing in one of the Florida bowls on Jan. 1 or even the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans if they duplicate their feat of two years ago and beat Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida on consecutive weekends.
Win those three games and USC will be assured of a spot in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta.
If that happens, the Vanderbilt loss would be erased from memory.
Which road will USC travel?
More importantly, will the seniors lead USC down the right path?
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
Previous Blog Entries
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 @.