Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This episode of Cox talking gamecocks is brought to you by the Mason Jar, New York City. The Mason Jar is the official gamecock bar for the New York City area. Fans and alumni of USC can come by the jar for some great barbecue, cold drinks, and of course to watch the gamecocks in any sport, all while surrounded by South Carolina memorabilia. If you want to get a slice of game day in Columbia, all while in the Big Apple, head to the Mason Jar on east 30th street.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: All right, here we go.
It okay. Welcome to episode 187 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. Brought to you by The Mason Jar, New York City. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 18 one to 2001. And y'all, I don't know where to begin. I just don't know where to begin. I don't know how to really articulate what I'm feeling.
And I think we're all kind of feeling the same thing. It's just this mixture of sadness, maybe a little bit of anger, confusion, frustration. Just got this bad, bad taste in all of our mouths from Saturday afternoon when it seemed like it was going to go our way. And then you turn the game off and the worst has happened. And it's just unbelievable. And think gamecock nation is in a little bit of a state of shock. And it's just one of those deals where I've said this before, it's like we get so excited for it and we wait for ten months, nine months, right, for this time of year, and it comes and you're excited. And every week you get so excited. You spend your time, your effort, your energy, your money to watch this game. And we love it, right? And it comes with the territory that you don't know what's going to happen. But just there are just sometimes you're just like, man, that's why it hurts so much, because you invest in it mentally, emotionally, physically. And when you don't see that return on so called investment, it hurts, right? It's sports, right? It's why we love it. And it's the bad part.
It's everything. So I'm going to get a little bit more into the game, recap, of course, but let me share some updates from around USC athletics from this weekend. Friday, women's soccer tied ole Miss nil nil equestrian lost to UGA 15 to four on Friday. And then on Saturday, women's cross country finished 6th in their meet.
So also we have an update here from the football program. Actually, four star athlete Jay Lewis Solomon has committed to the gamecocks he had previously committed to Auburn after it seemed like he was maybe going to trend our way, decommitted from Auburn. And then even after the game on Saturday, all that happened on Sunday, shane Beamer tweeted it out. He tweeted his welcome home tweet and J. Lewis Solomon welcome home. Four star athlete, explosive guy, a big pickup for the gamecocks there, which was this really weird bit of good news on a Sunday morning after you're just kind of laying there and just thinking about life and pondering our existence as gamecock fans to just see this welcome home Tweet. And you're just like, wow, as soon as I think I'm out, they pull me back in. But let's rip the band Aid off here, y'all. We'll see how long I can go talking about this. No promises on the 18 one mark here, but yeah, South Carolina falls to Florida, 41 to 39. And it's just this moment where you're just like, what the heck is going on? Right? And I think the word that I keep coming back to is disappointment.
I am feeling very just disappointed.
You had everything kind of go in your way. You get the bye week, you're at home, it's homecoming and you lose the game.
You're up late in the game, you lose the game.
Florida has been terrible on the road, you lose the game.
You sort of did all the little things that you were hoping to do when you look at the big picture and you still lose the game. So it's just this feeling of just being let.
Like we've had these quote unquote gut punch losses before. We've had losses where you were maybe like the Georgia game. Like you're just like, oh my gosh, we're in it. And then you lose and this game feels differently. It's not even a gut punch.
I feel let down.
I feel like we should have won that game. And we're in a position now where there is the most adversity that Shane Beamer has ever faced and the road is incredibly tricky coming up and it's just how can he get the team to respond? And what we saw Saturday afternoon is just not going to get it done, obviously, right? Like this felt like a game where we talked about it before, where it felt like a must win. It really did. You had to get back to 500. You wanted to get that SEC win. You wanted to make your path to a bowl game a little easier. Now all of a sudden you're sitting at two and four staring at some tricky matchups.
I don't know. So for the sake of continuity, I will continue with what I liked and didn't like from the phases of the game, but want to focus on something a little bit more specifically here. So we'll just kind of knock some of these out quickly. What I liked on the offensive side, I mean, you got to love, you put up 37 points, offensively offense really held their own, right? And then some, they did their job. It was kind of a funky game, right, where that first half sort of had the making of a shootout. And we were saying like, well, maybe the team that has the ball last is just going to win this game. Third quarter, everything on both teams just kind of came to a grinding halt. And then the fourth quarter, things opened, backed up again. So you were able to weather the storm. Mario Anderson, 98 yards, including a big run. He's RB one. I know he's banged up. I mean, we got to really hope for the best there. Leguete, he had a big me. Trey Knox, he had a huge game. It was great to see that. I loved seeing Josh Simon get that touchdown, loved seeing harbor getting that big catch. And he played a good amount of snaps, too. So again, you saw these things kind of falling into place that you were yes. Like, this is looking good. The offense was clicking. Spencer had a very good day and he was super effective scrambling. He was balling. He's been balling. And it's kind of to the point now where I feel bad for the know. It's almost like Thompson, right? Like, if you remember that season where he was putting up numbers, he was slinging it.
His defense was letting him down. Time and again, you're losing games that you probably shouldn't have. Kind of feels that way. Spencer's doing everything.
The offense has been solid. I mean, the passing game especially. But you look at the last couple of games, it's been feeling like a little bit more of a well rounded product.
It really was. There's a lot to like from the offense, and looking back on it, there's things that you would have wanted to see differently, knowing how the game went, but really that side of the ball did everything they could. You score 37 points. You should feel comfortable about that. But if I'm going to nitpick here in the third quarter, the first drive, we settled for three, but you had a nice drive going. If you get a touchdown there, you take the lead. You're not just tying it. And again, it was such a close game that those are difference making plays. And I think Beamer has said this a little bit where it's like you're two or three different plays on both sides of the ball where you win the game we're going to get to in a second here. Didn't need to be that way because we're talking to defense here. So for the sake of the segment, I'm going to list a few positives that I can really sift out because I am not very pleased with the defensive effort, generally speaking. So I liked the timely sacks. Jordan Strong comes to mind. There were a few moments where you needed a big stop and you got one.
You kept the Florida running game in check, held the Gators to 71 yards on the ground total, despite giving up a couple of big runs. So they hit a couple earlier in the game and you thought, oh, my gosh, they're going to be able to run all over us. They really kind of clamped those guys, and that was one of my crows to the game. And you kind of felt that that might be the path to victory. And really, I mean, for the first three quarters, I thought the defense held up okay. Felt like they were giving up a ton of yards between the 20s, right? And it just almost this sense of bend don't break. I mean, they obviously let up some scores, but Florida was able to move the ball, and then you kind of be able to slow them down a little bit. You give up 27 points through three quarters and a good chunk of the fourth, really, most of the fourth, really. But really, the story of the game is what happened in that fourth quarter. Defensively, you're up by 1037 to 27 with a little over nine minutes to go. Carolina scored ten point game, and you have nine minutes to go. So at that point, you're feeling pretty good. There's a lot of football left, but you're still feeling pretty good. You're up by ten in effectively the middle of the fourth quarter, right?
And we know what happened. South Carolina not only gave up ten points, but they allowed two scores, right. Which cost the team the game. Right. The absolute last thing you could have done is give up the two touchdowns.
You had the ten point cushion. When Florida's marching, I'm thinking like, all right, maybe they're going to give up the field goal here. Then they get that big play, and you're like, shit, are they going to score a touchdown here? And that's exactly what happened. So many things went wrong in that quarter. I mean, giving up multiple fourth down conversions that cannot fourth and long too missed tackles. I mean, there's plenty of examples of guys being in position to make plays and not making them, which, like, you can spin and you can say that the calls were made correctly, or you could say that the scheme is like, okay, and it's fine, but it's just this simple fact. Like, it all falls to this bottom line of you can't squander a ten point lead in the fourth at home.
It doesn't matter where you are, but you're at home.
Your offense was ball, and they did their job. You're up ten points. And yes, I know that there was a bad punt in there as well that put the team in a tough position to defend. That special teams. They made their play with the blocked field goal. That was amazing.
Might maybe not have been as crisp as we've seen last year across the board, different areas of special teams, but that blocked kick was absolutely massive and electric.
But going back to the defense here, you squander a ten point lead in the fourth. The buck stops with the coach, and that's Clayton White.
Why are these guys missing the tackles, right? Like, you're getting them in position. Why are they missing the tackles coaching. How do you let Mertz throw for over 400 yards? I understand that you're selling out on the run, but even so, like, 400 yards, that should not be the case.
Why does it have to be this bend don't break. Like, why can't we get a three and out?
Why are we giving up so much yardage consistently?
And I know we're thin in the secondary, but seeing Nicki Man Warri play in the slot late in the game, that just felt wrong.
His best position is at safety.
And then in game after game against good SEC teams, south Carolina has given up a ton of yards and a ton of points.
So you're really looking at this body of work and you're starting to scratch your head and you're starting to say, like, something is not right. These are not aberrations.
You're giving up 30 plus 30 plus, 30 plus all the time.
Guys are moving on us all the time, giving up chunk plays all the time.
And it's funny because after year one or during year one under Clayton White, a lot of people were loving it. A lot of people were loving the hire. They felt like that was the home run of the Beamer hires and everything like that.
And I think a lot of that was true. I think year over year, the defense looked better. And last year there were spots where you started to maybe see a little bit of cracks, like giving up a lot of points. But how the team ended the year covered a lot of that. But you also had some more dudes on that side of the ball. The defense is just thin in general, like losing Edge guys to the Portal, losing D backs to the NFL. You're relying on a lot of youth back there. And I get but again, the sample size is pretty big, that this defense has tended to give up a lot of yards and a lot of points.
So really you're kind of at this moment, where the honeymoon phase of the Shane Beamer Era is over. It is.
The team is two and four. Two and four.
And you're really thinking about, is there a path to six wins? Especially with how porous the defense has been. I'm sitting here legitimately thinking, like, can this team get to a bowl game? Where to start the year? You're thinking eight or nine wins is a legitimate possibility.
If you beat Florida, you may be thinking, all right, you can maybe salvage something here and you can go maybe seven and five. I would have definitely taken that. I would have taken that as a win.
Now when you can't even hold a ten point lead in the fourth quarter, how the hell are you going to find six?
And I just want to make it clear like, this is not me wavering on support of Beamer at, like, I think the overall direction of the program is moving in the right direction. I do think that he is the man for the job. But the honeymoon is over in that a, the team has never had a record like this under him, right. And nothing is in jeopardy with him right now this season. That's not the case. Right. But if someone is sitting at two and four, there's going to be questions about everybody.
So that's not the case with him now, but that's a bad record.
Two and four is a terrible spot to be in, but then the honeymoon is over B, because now there are serious questions about a few guys on staff. Right. We had this boogeyman in the first two years of Satterfield where you could just kind of scapegoat it for everything.
A lot of that was true. It was. But now you have a few other guys that you're talking about and again, it's not the first time that that's happened, but Beamer has he's shown he's very non reactionary. He's not just going to make this know, quick trigger reaction with someone on his staff. He wants to take his time and he prioritizes continuity, but he needs to take a hard look at his staff, a few people on the staff, one of his coordinators, namely. Right. And he's going to find himself at a crossroads at the end of the year unless something drastically changes, which I don't see that happening.
And he's going to have some difficult decisions to make in either way. Right? And some of those decisions in a year or two could very well impact him and his seat. So he's going to have to weigh a lot of options. He talks about doing the best thing for University of South Carolina football. He's going to have some tough decisions to make in the weeks ahead and even the days ahead.
So I mean right now this team is in a huge hole on one. You know, you have an offense that's being led by an incredibly talented quarterback and the running game is starting to come along. So you should feel confident about those guys. Right. But on the other side you have a defense that now has twice given up second half leads. So can this unit improve?
If this team wants to win down the stretch, they absolutely have to.
There's six games left. We still got a whole half a season left.
You got back to back road games now that you absolutely have to try and steal one like it was always know you can beat Florida, then you can maybe stomach not winning those road games because you're home all of November. Yeah, you're home all of November. Can you sweep November? It's possible. It is certainly possible. And that's six right there. But do you want to have to go into November with that as your goal? You absolutely have to sweep. Can you steal one on the again like there's there's no world beaters on the schedule, but there are some solid teams like Mizzou. Mizzou is good. This like, they're annoying. I don't like them. They're having a good know kentucky, they're maybe being exposed a little bit now, getting into the teeth of their schedule, but that's always a tricky game. They play you tough. You got to play the team in the Upstate, that's a rivalry game. They're going to be up for that game. There's tricky games here in College Station, so you really only truly feel confident about Vandy and Jacksonville State. So that's four wins. Where are the other two?
There's certainly a lot of ball left, but after having one slip through your fingers like this this past Saturday, you are just sitting in a horrible position. And I'm not blaming anyone who has shaken confidence about what this team can do the rest of the way.
If you are not feeling confident, like, I don't blame you because that is a demoralizing loss, one that really just it just can't happen. But it did. So now you're dealing with the consequences. But because of that, you have question marks about some of the guys on staff here. You just do. And I think as fans, it's okay to have those questions.
Even though the most South Carolina thing to do would be to go on the road and knock off the ranked team next week. That would absolutely be the most gamecock thing to do. Who knows? They just might. But we really just have to hope and trust for the best, right? Like, we have felt down before, and this team, this program has turned it around, right? We have been in tough positions and the team has gone on runs.
Bieber led teams have gotten better, typically speaking, as the season progresses, there's still toss up games out there, but right now it's just a tough, tough spot. So let's process this one as best as we can.
Shake it off, trust that the people in charge are going to continue to work at it, make adjustments, and we just basically have to hope that offense keeps balling like they do. Defense can do just enough try and win a game. But with that, y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media. X is cox gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show, cox Talking Gamecocks. And please, like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
