South Carolina Dominates Georgia: Makes Married Man Get Cock Tattoo
Columbia, South Carolina
For generations Williams-Brice Stadium was a football graveyard, the place promising coaching careers came to give up the ghost, one plodding loss after another. No matter who South Carolina brought to take over the football program the Gamecocks were a perpetual Charlie Brown, running pell mell towards a football that was so tantalizingly close to being struck, until, at the last possible moment a series of Lucy's yanked the ball away and their big kick caught nothing but air.
Seven years ago, God finally smiled on the Cocks.
Granted Steve Spurrier didn't arrive and immediately remake the Gamecock football program, but he did breathe life into a moribund program. Slowly, progress bloomed. In 2010 Spurrier won the SEC East. Granted it was with a 5-3 football team, but it was still something South Carolina had never accomplished. Last season Spurrier posted eleven wins despite losing Marcus Lattimore and finally booting the Lindsay Lohan of the SEC, Stephen Garcia.
With five straight wins to begin the 2012 football season, the Gamecocks had set the table for a visit from number five Georgia.
Gameday was in the house, fans were so psyched the traffic stretched for hours in the afternoon heat, immobile, queasy in anticipation over kickoff, fans bolted from cars to sprint to new tailgates. Even sorority girls, amped up and too excited to sit still were bailing on cars on George Rogers Boulevard, jogging down the street in their black skirts and dresses.
It was gametime for the Cocks, what pregame radio was calling the biggest game in the history of Williams-Brice.
Sometimes a home crowd can lift a team to heights unseen. Other times it can overwhelm a team, make them play tight. Which would it be for the Cocks, loose or tight?
By kickoff the stadium was rocking, the press box was literally shaking, an earthquake brought to Columbia on an October football night. Taking the opening kickoff down the field South Carolina scored in five plays, a wide open Bruce Ellington in the left corner from twenty yards out. It was vintage Spurrier, a receiver who suddenly comes open on a otherwise crowded field. On the first defensive possession the Gamecocks picked off a tipped pass and a few plays later Rory Anderson went in from 14 yards out.
It was 14-0 Gamecocks and the Williams-Brice crowd was delirious with glee.
To cap off the scoring, in a raucous, wild, Williams-Brice Stadium Ace Sanders took a punt back from 70 yards out for a touchdown.
With just 5:18 remaining in the first quarter it was 21-0 Gamecocks and South Carolina had all the points it would need.
Gamecock all-everything quarterback Connor Shaw, the heartbeat of the team, said the crowd's energy inspired them. "This was the greatest atmosphere I've ever played in," he said.
The Gamecock defense stifled Georgia for the rest of the game, unleashing Jadaveon Clowney -- who said on the first series he recognized that Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray was giving away the snap count by nudging his center -- on play after play. Clowney and crew were dominant, whipping the Georgia offensive line. In fact, write this in stone, Jadaveon Clowney will be the number one overall pick in the 2014 draft. Indeed, he'd be the overall number one pick in the 2013 draft if he was eligible to leave for the NFL.
As South Carolina shadowboxed with the Gamecocks for the remainder of the game, it was enough to make you wonder, why wasn't anyone smart enough to pick the Gamecocks as a national title contender? If only someone had written that the Gamecocks would win the title back in July.
At 30-1 odds no less.
Given how weak LSU's offense has looked this season is it beyond the question that South Carolina could go on the road and beat the Tigers, setting up an SEC East championship game on October 20th in Gainesville?
That could certainly happen in a couple of weeks.
But that's in the future. For one night anyway stud running back Marcus Lattimore was pleased with the performance of his team. "We definitely sent the message out to the whole country. This isn't the old South Carolina," Lattimore said.
All over Columbia where "Game" and "Cocks" chants echoed through the dark night from the cockabooses to the luxury condominiums that have sprouted up since Spurrier came to South Carolina, ebullience grew. Meanwhile a reflective Steve Spurrier contemplated what garnering his 250th career coaching victory meant. In particular, Spurrier's winter renaissance at South Carolina is fascinating because of the way it's happened. The once pass-happy visor tosser from the Swamp has become a game manager, relying on his team's strong running game, punting on fourth down.
Playing for field position.
Indeed, South Carolina ran the football 51 times and had just ten pass attempts. "We run it and throw it a little bit," Spurrier said, "that's what we do."
What Spurrier and the Cocks also did tonight is reward the long faithful Gamecock fans who have seen so many losses over the year with their tenth straight win.
"Our fans have paid their dues," Spurrier said, "and they need something in return."
Tonight they got payback in a big way.
For Georgia fans, payback seems farther away than ever tonight. The Bulldogs, facing just two top 25 teams all season, felt this was their year to enter the national title race. Instead the Bulldogs never showed up tonight. It was a curious absence, made all the more galling to Bulldog fans thanks to its familiarity. The Bulldog loss was eerily similar to previous top ten Bulldog losses in big games that could have been launching pads to national titles, a 35-0 deficit in Columbia mirrored 35-0 deficits in Knoxville in 2007 and at home against Alabama in 2008.
Once more Georgia had a chance to announce itself as a legitimate national title contender under Mark Richt.
And once more Georgia failed to do so.
Now Bulldog fans making the long drive through the night back to Georgia are left with a lingering question, will Mark Richt ever win a national title at Georgia?
For his part Richt strained to find a postive from the game's loss. "We took a whipping," Richt said, "but the good news is we all took it together. It was a team loss."
Why is that a good thing?
At all?
Meanwhile, can we please stop with the coronation of the 195th straight next Herschel Walker? This time cleverly called Gurshall.
Gamecock fans called y'all out on that.
For one night at least Gamecock fans in the midst of euphoric win, let their minds run wild.
"If we keep playing like this we may have a real big year," Spurrier paused for just a moment, "May," he said
Will Georgia super fan @ludakrisi ever be able to celebrate another title?
She hopes so.
Her neck might not hurt from the tattoo anymore but Jadaveon Clowney has his own weather forecast for the six teams remaining on the Gamecock's schedule.
"Clowney: With a chance of pain."
For once the Gamecocks are inflicting the pain instead of feeling it.
Leaving the cock crowing all night long in Five Points.
Because the Gamecocks, the long time redheaded stepchild of Southern college football, were number three in the nation for the first time in program history.
God's smiling on the Cocks, indeed.