What A Difference One Year Makes
posted by Scott Hood, Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Three days ago, the Gamecocks trounced the Tigers, 34-17, to improve to 7-5.
Different years, same record. Pretty much the same team, right? Hardly.
Really, the differences between the 2009 and 2008 teams are like night and day. One team, as Steve Spurrier described it Sunday, was in “disarray,” late in the season while the other has been a breath of fresh air for a head coach looking for a new beginning.
In my opinion, the seeds for USC’s polar opposite performances in the Clemson game the last two years were sown in the Florida game.
Last year, the Gamecocks went to Gainesville with a two-game winning streak hopeful of knocking off the third-ranked Gators. Final score: Florida 56, USC 6.
I don’t think USC psychologically recovered from that beatdown, and it painfully showed two weeks later at Clemson. Then, everything carried over into the bowl game.
Ellis Johnson confirmed my suspicions after Saturday’s game when, comparing last year’s team to this one, he said the veteran players in 2008 “got frustrated” and let things “bother them and distract them.” Obviously, that karma swept over the team.
Johnson credited the seniors on this year’s team with refusing to allow anything to taint the season even in the face of three straight losses.
This year, USC went toe-to-toe with Florida for three quarters before a momentum-changing interception on the first snap of the fourth quarter doomed the Gamecocks’ hopes of knocking off the No. 1 team in the country.
Trailing by just three points (17-14), USC had the ball deep in Florida territory looking to take the lead. But it didn’t happen.
Yet, despite the 24-14 loss, I believe USC gained a lot of confidence from that game. They exited Williams-Brice Stadium knowing they had fallen a play or two short from pulling off a monumental upset against the No. 1 team in the country.
Clearly, that shot of confidence carried over into last Saturday’s convincing win over Clemson.
You sensed things were going to be different this year when quarterback Stephen Garcia strolled into the media interview room in the aftermath of the Florida game and, without hesitation, fearlessly said Clemson was a “must-win” game for the Gamecocks.
Last year, I don’t recall a USC player proclaiming to the media after the lopsided loss in The Swamp that the Clemson game was a ‘must win.” I’m sure no one was brave enough coming off a 50-point defeat. From that perspective, Garcia showed some chutzpah in potentially subjecting himself to ridicule had USC lost.
Of course, it also helps to have better players, or at least ones that play with energy and enthusiasm.
Here’s a good example: when defensive end Cliff Matthews was yanked from the game early in the fourth quarter after incurring his second personal foul penalty of the afternoon with a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Clemson quarterback, defensive line coach Brad Lawing inserted redshirt freshman Devin Taylor into the game.
What happened on the very next play? Taylor blasted through the Clemson offensive line and sacked QB Kyle Parker for a 10-yard loss.
Yeah, it’s called depth, something that has been sorely lacking around the Gamecock program in recent years.
Taylor is typical of the kind of athlete USC has recruited in the last couple of years – they’re here to win, they don’t make excuses and they have a great ‘team-first’ attitude. The leader of the group is Gilmore, who revealed little into his personality following his stellar performance in Saturday’s game.
Gilmore will not be satisfied until USC captures the SEC Championship because that’s what he came here to do.
You can say the same thing about Garcia, who has improved by leaps and bounds since his much-anticipated but mistake-filled debut last season.
If Garcia makes as much improvement over the next nine months that he did between the 2009 and 2009 seasons, then I have two words for you: watch out.
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One year ago, South Carolina lost, 31-14, to Clemson to fall to 7-5.
Three days ago, the Gamecocks trounced the Tigers, 34-17, to improve to 7-5.
Different years, same record. Pretty much the same team, right? Hardly.
Really, the differences between the 2009 and 2008 teams are like night and day. One team, as Steve Spurrier described it Sunday, was in “disarray,” late in the season while the other has been a breath of fresh air for a head coach looking for a new beginning.
In my opinion, the seeds for USC’s polar opposite performances in the Clemson game the last two years were sown in the Florida game.
Last year, the Gamecocks went to Gainesville with a two-game winning streak hopeful of knocking off the third-ranked Gators. Final score: Florida 56, USC 6.
I don’t think USC psychologically recovered from that beatdown, and it painfully showed two weeks later at Clemson. Then, everything carried over into the bowl game.
Ellis Johnson confirmed my suspicions after Saturday’s game when, comparing last year’s team to this one, he said the veteran players in 2008 “got frustrated” and let things “bother them and distract them.” Obviously, that karma swept over the team.
Johnson credited the seniors on this year’s team with refusing to allow anything to taint the season even in the face of three straight losses.
This year, USC went toe-to-toe with Florida for three quarters before a momentum-changing interception on the first snap of the fourth quarter doomed the Gamecocks’ hopes of knocking off the No. 1 team in the country.
Trailing by just three points (17-14), USC had the ball deep in Florida territory looking to take the lead. But it didn’t happen.
Yet, despite the 24-14 loss, I believe USC gained a lot of confidence from that game. They exited Williams-Brice Stadium knowing they had fallen a play or two short from pulling off a monumental upset against the No. 1 team in the country.
Clearly, that shot of confidence carried over into last Saturday’s convincing win over Clemson.
You sensed things were going to be different this year when quarterback Stephen Garcia strolled into the media interview room in the aftermath of the Florida game and, without hesitation, fearlessly said Clemson was a “must-win” game for the Gamecocks.
Last year, I don’t recall a USC player proclaiming to the media after the lopsided loss in The Swamp that the Clemson game was a ‘must win.” I’m sure no one was brave enough coming off a 50-point defeat. From that perspective, Garcia showed some chutzpah in potentially subjecting himself to ridicule had USC lost.
Of course, it also helps to have better players, or at least ones that play with energy and enthusiasm.
Here’s a good example: when defensive end Cliff Matthews was yanked from the game early in the fourth quarter after incurring his second personal foul penalty of the afternoon with a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Clemson quarterback, defensive line coach Brad Lawing inserted redshirt freshman Devin Taylor into the game.
What happened on the very next play? Taylor blasted through the Clemson offensive line and sacked QB Kyle Parker for a 10-yard loss.
Yeah, it’s called depth, something that has been sorely lacking around the Gamecock program in recent years.
Taylor is typical of the kind of athlete USC has recruited in the last couple of years – they’re here to win, they don’t make excuses and they have a great ‘team-first’ attitude. The leader of the group is Gilmore, who revealed little into his personality following his stellar performance in Saturday’s game.
Gilmore will not be satisfied until USC captures the SEC Championship because that’s what he came here to do.
You can say the same thing about Garcia, who has improved by leaps and bounds since his much-anticipated but mistake-filled debut last season.
If Garcia makes as much improvement over the next nine months that he did between the 2009 and 2009 seasons, then I have two words for you: watch out.
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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 @.