Eight Is Enough For Gamecock Quarterbacks

posted by Scott Hood, Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Okay, South Carolina’s two primary quarterbacks combined to throw eight interceptions in the Spring Game.

Should panic-stricken USC fans give up on the 2008 season? Absolutely not.

Is it time to be concerned? No.

Why? My calendar says April 22, 2008.

Hopefully, yours says the same thing.

I refuse to believe that anything that happens on a football field less than one week after I filed my income tax return means a whole heck of a lot when evaluating the upcoming college football season.

Relevant? Yes. A high degree of relevancy? No.

Remember, we’re still four months away from USC starting serious preparations for the season opener.

The Gamecocks still have 29 practices remaining until they face N.C. State Aug. 28 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

In other words, USC has conducted just 15 of the 44 team practices allowed this calendar year before next season starts. That’s just 34 percent of the total.

Moreover, USC’s quarterbacks didn’t throw a single pass to Kenny McKinley the entire spring and senior RB Mike Davis carried the ball just twice in the spring game.

The USC offense the 31,000 people in attendance saw Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium should look much different when August rolls around.

And, I suspect, they’ll be a lot more productive.

Chris Smelley’s numbers Saturday weren’t impressive: 13-for-30 for 219 yards and five interceptions. Beecher had a higher completion percentage by connecting on 9 of 20 passes with three interceptions.

But there’s really only two numbers that ultimately matter: the number of wins and losses. Smelley was 4-2 as a starter last season.

But, I fully understand eight interceptions are still eight interceptions. I assure you there’s plenty of room for improvement by the Gamecock quarterbacks.

And that goes for Zac Brindise and Michel McQueeney, too.

Hey, I think I get it now. One interception in the spring game for each win by the Gamecocks during the 2008 season.

8-4? I’ll take that.

Hopefully, Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher will use their mediocre performance in the spring game as a source of motivation throughout the summer.

Creating wristbands for the quarterbacks with the number 8 written on them would certainly add a nice touch to the summer workouts.

Or, better yet, the wrist bands could say “Eight is Enough.” And I’m not talking about the old TV show, either.

It should come as no surprise that one of the interesting questions arising from Saturday’s game is this: should USC fans hope Stephen Garcia behaves himself between now and Aug. 15? Probably.

If anything, getting Garcia back will add some drama to the dog days of August when fall practice enters its third week and there’s still 13 days to go before the opening game.

USC fans can also hope Gamecock Athletic Director Eric Hyman sees fit to call off the dogs and allow Garcia to return to the team on Aug. 1 just in time for the start of fall practice.

Now, that would be some kind of early Christmas present for Gamecock Nation.

Of course, Garcia must jump through a number of hoops before he’d be allowed to return.

So, if you really, really want Garcia to make it all the way back, break out those Rosaries and start praying.

But be careful what you wish for, as they say.

Garcia has yet to take a snap in a game and, to be quite frank, hasn’t proven a darn thing to his coaches, teammates and fans.

All we have to go on right now is a few 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills last fall, along with accounts of his work with the scout team.

At this point, I’m not prepared to predict Garcia will ride into Columbia with the U.S. Cavalry Aug. 15 and save the day for the Gamecocks.

In my opinion, it’s still Chris Smelley’s job to lose. Tommy Beecher is putting up a good fight, though.

But it’s a long time until August.

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