Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecock's preview for the opening football game. Six pack of picks and more. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:52] Okay.
[00:00:54] Welcome to episode 402 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And Merry Christmas, y'. All. I cannot believe it's here. We have real life college football back on our TVs and it just feels so, so good. We're talking South Carolina football this episode full preview. We're talking about it in our group chats and on the phone and on Twitter and it just, it's just so exciting. Like such a special time where literally everything is in front of us. Like you can feel as hopeful as you possibly can. And we made it. We made it. Congratulations. Congratulations. And now we have the next several months to look forward to a football debates and everything like that. And then of course the NFL is right behind it. But let's just focus one thing at a time here. So I'm going to get into a few things here and then really dive into the preview for the Kent State game. And then it is the first six pack of picks of the year. We're back to that and we are off to the races. So with the return of football season will return the the twice a week schedule certainly for football season.
[00:02:23] So expect it to be this week with the holiday and everything like that. Might be a Tuesday drop, stay tuned for that. But the regular cadence will go back to Friday previewing the weekend and then Monday instant reactions for the game and things like that. So back to that. Which means this will be the last trivia for y'. All. That's a fun summertime tradition that we have and as we enter football season it's time to put it away. But let's go one last time around the block. Piece of trivia for y'. All.
[00:03:00] Name the South Carolina right handed pitcher who made his major league debut on this date in 1980. Going one and a third innings out of the bullpen for the Mets. Shout out the Mets.
[00:03:12] Two weeks later he won his first big league start, snapping the Mets 13 game losing streak.
[00:03:19] 1980. I swear I do not know.
[00:03:23] Ed Lynch. Shout out to. Ed Lynch. Shout out to South Carolina baseball on the come up. Yeah, how about that? Ed Lynch, 1980. There we go. Absolutely love to see it. And then quickly touching on a week in review here.
[00:03:38] I am recording this a little bit early than I normally do, just moving houses and things like that, but nonetheless, only a few things to review this week as Tuesday, the women's volleyball team beat Michigan 3 to 2. But I do want to quickly shout out both soccer teams. They have continued their strong starts and are currently both ranked for the first time in years.
[00:04:05] Really cool accomplishment. I think it's only one of a couple schools nationwide that both men's and women's soccer teams are ranked. So shout out to Gamecock Soccer right now. I am recording this before the latest men's game, so hopefully this isn't a mush, but nonetheless, really great start from both programs. Absolutely love to see it. Stone Stadium is a fun place to go catch a game, so if you are able to, would certainly recommend doing that.
[00:04:33] But with that being said, it is time to shift our focus to the event and to the day and to the game that has captured all of our attention and something that we've pictured and envisioned and looked forward to for months now. And that is week one South Carolina taking on Kent State 1245 kickoff.
[00:04:57] It's here.
[00:04:59] And with this game, South Carolina officially turns the page from last year and begins a season that it really does feel like it's full of potential. Like, I'm always hopeful and I'm always excited for football season, but this feels like a roster that is really good.
[00:05:20] This coaching staff is probably the best and most experienced that Shane Beamer has had in Columbia.
[00:05:28] And, you know, I've been thinking about it a lot, and the word that comes to mind for this team is balance.
[00:05:36] You know, you have veterans on both sides of the ball, not just guys who have played a lot of football and are upperclassmen, but guys who have been at South Carolina who have been here for multiple seasons. You have an experienced coaching staff on both sides of the ball, and then on both sides you have that young potential for a couple of playmakers who can really emerge as the next generation, but who can really help you win some games.
[00:06:04] And with that, we have the potential here to play true complementary football throughout this season.
[00:06:13] I mean, we've seen it time and time again where one side of the ball is just outperforming the other throughout a year.
[00:06:21] This year, I think you can correct some of that where, you know, the defense was asked to do a lot last season and they kept us in games. This year, hopefully the offense can live up to its billing and can put points on the board and can have some extended drives to take some of the burden off the defense. But it seems like it's a very balanced roster and a balanced staff and everything like that. And that's going to make for a tough opponent, Right? Like, we're going to be tough outs. I said that before. So very excited for this Saturday. It's the first time we're going to see all of that in action. The school already announced a sellout. No surprise there. But, you know, 101 degree heat, no problem, doesn't matter. It's going to be electric from the start.
[00:07:08] Shane Beamer, in his press conference, he had a funny way of phrasing it, but he kind of hit the nail on the head here where, like, he loves week one because you're back in it, you're back in the groove. All the hard work is paying off, all the anticipation is here. They're awesome. But he said that at the same time, they're awful because there's always those unknowns and there's those question marks that you're looking for answers for. And as a fan, you know, we don't have to worry about getting guys into their routine. We don't have to worry about how does a freshman handle the moment and all that jazz that coaches do for us. We're really excited.
[00:07:44] But week one in college, of course, brings question marks to any program. Right? And week one, week two, even at college, can be a little wacky. Your team needs to hit their stride in what they do injury wise. Really Wasn't anything that we don't already know about, at least that has been announced.
[00:08:01] Peak and Stewart won't play.
[00:08:04] We've known that for a while. But I was thinking about it and with both of them being out for a while now, right. They've missed a lot of time.
[00:08:14] The guys who are holding it down for them. Right. I don't want to say replacing them, but the guys who are playing in their stead have gotten all of the reps throughout the spring and the summer. So it's not a situation where you have a guy who's going to be out of position, you know, whoever it is that lines up at left tackle presumably will have been doing a lot of work at left tackle. The Edge group has been getting reps. Talk a guy like Anthony Addison, like they've been getting more and more reps to fill that gap of Stewie and Peak, who hopefully we will see, you know, this month. Right. Next, next week or two would be ideal there. But what are the Gamecocks looking at in the Kent State Golden Flashes? The Mack team has been through the ringer over the last couple of seasons, but had a decent season last year, bouncing back to five and Seven. Three of those losses being against power four teams. Their defense gave up a lot of points last year.
[00:09:11] I saw that. They tried to address some of that via the portal, but still a lot to rebuild there. The bright spot for this team is their quarterback, Drew DeShields.
[00:09:23] Pretty fantastic name there. He is back this year, back on the team after recording 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions, I take it. You know he is a dynamic playmaker, right? He can throw the ball, he can make moves on his feet. They don't return a ton on offense, but they do have some guys. You listen to Shane Beamer, you listen to Clayton White, they bring up the slot receiver. They have a tall tight end. So there are some guys who you have to be made aware of. And again, they called them out in their press conference. But the bottom line, right, like this is a Mack team that's coming to Columbia in a climate that they are certainly not used to and while improved, still only won five games last year.
[00:10:07] You certainly need to take them seriously because, you know, again, every week, one is tricky for teams, right? I think of that Old Dominion game where we thought we were going to just blow through them and end up being uncomfortably close for a bit there. So you really want USC to dominate this game, which leads me to the first of the year, the Crows to the game. So for any new listeners out there, first of all, welcome. Second of all, you're probably used to hearing keys to the game and whatnot. That's tired. We have our rooster Crow.
[00:10:42] So I have the Crows to the game here. So overall, for the team, the Crow is just impose your will, okay? We are the bigger, faster and stronger team at home and we need to act like it. And we need to not give Kent State any daylight. No, no breathing room whatsoever here.
[00:11:04] Now, specifically on defense, my first Crow to the game is dominate up front.
[00:11:09] Now, I expect this front seven, with or without Stewie, to be physical and greed gritty week in and week out.
[00:11:18] I want the linebackers to limit the quarterback's running ability. And let's see, the defensive tackles not only be disruptive in the run game, but help disrupt the passing lanes as well. We talk a lot about the edge group because of Dylan Stewart, who's going to step up in his absence and whatnot. This D tackle group I've talked about at this offseason is going to be good.
[00:11:42] They're pretty deep, but they're experienced. You got Gabe Brownlow, Dinley veteran who's been in Columbia for a little bit. You bring in a Couple transfers and that group is looking nice and they're experienced, so I want to see how they play as well. And again, the linebackers experienced same group from last year, another year older and wiser in the same system. You absolutely love to see that second crow on defense here, establish strong safety play.
[00:12:14] Who plays opposite of Peyton Williams will be a story really for the first few games and it could go throughout the season.
[00:12:22] But this is a fantastic opportunity in Game 1 to evaluate that position. But for someone to go in there and play and play well and earn more reps for the next few games, right?
[00:12:36] Probably in my estimation, we'll see David Busey start and if he plays well, he probably will play the vast majority of the game. But is there another younger player? Is it currents or others who go in there and earn playing time? And if they play well, this is going to remain a competition again, certainly for the first few games, but probably through that first six out of as well as they look to establish that rotation.
[00:13:05] Now shifting over to the offense here. Got a few first crow score early and often. I want to see this offense rip from the very first drive. Okay? We deserve that as fans. We deserve to see points early and often. Now, I know Kendall Browse is not sitting there thinking about that, thinking of how much we had to suffer from last year, but I just want to put it out there that we do deserve to see the points. But you know who also does?
[00:13:35] These players and everyone who returns from last year. This group needs to taste scoring in bunches against real live competition and they deserve to be cheered on as such because the vibes were not great last year, especially at home.
[00:13:55] I was in that stadium last year where there were some boo birds coming out there after another three and out. Let's change the vibes around this offense. Let's see some points. Let's have some fun.
[00:14:08] My second crow let Lenoris cook. I'm just so excited to see what Kendall Briles dials up for Sellers. But I love to see vintage Lenoris, the one that we love that has that deep shot ability, solid running game.
[00:14:25] Pulling this number somewhat out of thin air here. I'd like to see him record over 55 yards on the ground and that's only a little bit less because I think we could be in a position where he's sitting in the fourth quarter or at least for a chunk of it, right? So nothing too crazy, you know, I mean he could break one for 15 or 20, but let's, let's get a nice consistent game From Lenores there and going off that third Crow, I'd love to establish a running game.
[00:14:55] I'm anxious to see what that rotation looks like. We know Matt Fuller will likely start, but do we see Christian Clark, August Dave Jordan Howell, like do we see anyone else flash and earn more time?
[00:15:08] And that group, just like the rest of the team, like needs success, right? Like we need to be able to establish the running game.
[00:15:18] Thinking of down the line here, teams need to prepare for us in all facets.
[00:15:25] Last year it was a lot of scheming for Lenoris and against Lenoris and you were able to stop us.
[00:15:31] It's going to be harder to defend him in general under this system, but if it's a situation where we are consistently establishing the run game, then it's only that much harder for teams to prepare against us. And that starts week one with figuring out a solid rotation and getting these guys great reps.
[00:15:50] 4th Crow Usually there's not four of these, but I want to win at the line of scrimmage. Okay. Too often in years past we saw a South Carolina offensive line get pushed around by an inferior opponent. I would love to see this new look offensive line win the majority of the battles and to have clean pockets and clean run lanes throughout the game.
[00:16:18] And then I got a special team Crow here kick well.
[00:16:21] We don't know who the kicker is at this point.
[00:16:24] Now Beamer said he thought he had one guy that was trending to win the job, then the other two guys kind of caught up. We don't know who's going to be kicking. So whoever it is and it might even be multiple guys at this rate, just kick well. Like make it easy on us please.
[00:16:42] So overall for the game it is just so great to be back. This is an opportunity to come out of the gates feeling really well, getting a strong start and getting momentum on our side early in the season.
[00:16:58] I have respect for the Mac. I love Maxion and you can't take your opponents lightly. But this needs to be a game that Carolina comes out and handles business almost immediately. Now I'm not saying you got to win 55 to nothing, but as a 35 point favorite you need to act like it and you need to handle your business well.
[00:17:20] Let's go. We're so back. I can't believe it. Yeah, I mean that's really it. The name of the game in this one is to just operate well and starting strong hasn't been the calling card of Shane Beamer. The schedule works out that you have a little bit of margin of error those first two weeks because your talent and physical ability should carry you. But when you are a huge favorite and you have all this excitement around you, when you have the playmakers, you need to take advantage of it. And I think if we can go out there and establish things early and put our foot on the gas early, it's going to be a great sign. And that's exactly what you want to do, right? Let's get everyone on the same page from the word go. Let's see clean operations on offense really on both sides of the ball, right? Let's see very few mental mistakes, very few pre snap penalties. Let's play a good game, go out there and just get after it. Let's get this dub which brings me to my six pack of picks. First one of those this year. As a reminder, I will do one pick from the Power 4 conference, one from the Group of 5 and then a bonus usually in one of the power fours.
[00:18:35] So in the acc give me SMU minus three versus Florida State, Big 12 Oklahoma State minus 13 and a half versus Tulsa. Whole new revamped Oklahoma State. I think they come out there firing Big Ten give me North Texas at Indiana over 55 and a half. I think Indiana is going to handle their business in that one and do the majority of the lifting in the SEC.
[00:19:01] I got two here. LSU minus 10 versus Clemson. Clemson is a whole mess. LSU, I understand they are the villains of the sport right now. I feel the same. But I want them to beat the brakes off Clemson. I would never ever want to see Clemson succeed. I don't care who they're playing.
[00:19:19] And then give me Louisville versus Ole Miss. I'm taking the over in that one as well. 55 and a half and then the G5 going to App State minus and a half verse Maine. But with that y', all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media Twitter or 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.
