Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, a full preview and breakdown of the first half of South Carolina's football schedule. And also both basketball teams released their SEC schedules. Okay, here we go, Sam. Okay.
[00:00:59] Welcome to episode 331 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And y', all, I am back.
[00:01:15] I am back in the US Of A.
[00:01:18] Back talking Gamecocks.
[00:01:20] Back in the good old south and just ready for college football.
[00:01:25] It feels good.
[00:01:27] Had an amazing trip coming back a married man. Trip of a lifetime. But that's not what y' all want to hear. Y' all want to hear me talk about sports, and I'm ready to get back into it. And it feels good to be behind the microphone again. And hopefully y' all didn't forget me, and hopefully y' all didn't fall in love with other new podcasters or something along those lines. The more Gamecock content, the better, right? That's my motto with it. But it's football season. Football is back. Like, make no mistake about it. Like, I was over gallivanting on my trip. Quick sidebar. I think I made a Gamecock fan out of this random British guy that I was talking to on the beach. He was asking about college football versus the NFL. Told him about Lenoris.
[00:02:11] So Gamecocks have at least one new fan because of me. But the time for talking is over. We got the Netflix special out there and that'll get you ready for this. I mean, you already had every fan base in the SEC itching for something to get the juices flowing for football, and Netflix basically threw a match onto a bunch of Tinder. And the jawing between fan bases that I'm seeing because of the Netflix special is incredible. The behind the scenes access that you get seeing the South Carolina program is just so, so cool. And seeing Shane Beamer in many different lights is fantastic. Seeing more of the personality of not just the coaches, but the players in our program is just so, so cool. So if you haven't watched it, please do. You know, trigger warning on that first episode. They do relive a tough game for us against the particular LSU team, but not going to get into all that. But my goodness, I'm just so excited to be back. So excited to be talking college sports with y'. All. I have a lot to cover in this episode.
[00:03:25] Might exceed my 1801-2001 time limit, so bear with me on that. We're going to Do a full breakdown preview of the first half of the schedule for South Carolina football. Because it's that time of year. I know normally I have a little bit more of a build up to these things, but we're jumping right in. We're going to do first half this episode.
[00:03:50] Next episode will be the second half. So the first six games and then the next six games and then I think we have one more episode before that which will just sort of be, I think, an overall sentiment for where I'm at on this team going into the year. And then we're off to the races. We're previewing Virginia Tech and then we're back to twice a week breaking down the games, covering all the other fall sports.
[00:04:15] It's here. So we're going to jump right into this. We are still doing trivia until we play Virginia Tech. We're hanging on tight with my handy dandy trivia here and it's actually a fact. This one for y' all here. So In a summer 2019 article on SI.com, university of South Carolina mascot, Cocky was listed as the number seven greatest mascot in college football history. Shout out Cocky. I mean, shout out Cocky. He is just the best.
[00:04:46] He really is. I think he's number one. It just has a little bit of everything. You know, he has the fun personality.
[00:04:54] He's not just a human with the head just thrown onto it. He has some shape to him. The beak flap, the spurs.
[00:05:01] He's the best. Honestly, I love Cocky. But before we jump into football here, believe it or not, I have basketball to discuss with y'. All. That's right, we're talking hardwood here because both the men's and women's SEC schedules were released. So kind of a funny thing to imagine at this point, like talking college basketball, but here we are.
[00:05:27] For the men. I like the schedule this year compared to last. It gives more of a, you know, ease into things vibe than it was last year where we were really thrown into the deep end right away.
[00:05:41] Home games against Vandy to open SEC play. That's fun. Florida and Kentucky stand out to me. And then road trips to Arkansas on Auburn and Alabama should prove to be very interesting. Hopefully the guys can get off to a good start in the non conference games. And then if you can start SEC play hanging around, you know, not going on that tough stretch like you did this past year can try to keep some of those momentums going there. But on the ladies side of things, I think it's a pretty balanced schedule.
[00:06:18] You know, nothing really Stood out to me as like a whoa type of game. I mean, Gamecock women's basketball typically coming from a position of strength, too, but they open things up at home against Bama, also host Texas in January. That's a good game to look forward to. And then going to LSU is going to be one this team and fans have to have circled for a few reasons here. And that game is on Valentine's Day, of all days.
[00:06:48] So I wonder how many dates and dinners and everything like that will be postponed, interrupted, put on pause, because the Gamecocks are taking on the Tigers in a game that's gonna have a lot of drama around it and a lot of excitement. But, yeah, pretty crazy to think that. I mean, you know, like, we're about to get football started, and then right around the corner from there, we have college basketball. It's just.
[00:07:16] It's all in front of us, y'. All. Like, we are almost there, you know, like, talking season might as well be over. We have guys on the practice field, we have handicappers talking about the lines. Football, it's just mere weeks away. And then everything that the sports calendar brings is still in front of us here. So very, very exciting here. But speaking specifically about football here, before we even hit the field, the Gamecocks are making waves as this team lands at number 13 in the preseason coaches poll, first ranking since 2014. So shout out to this team, shout out to the team last year, because all the success that they had and all the good things that they did set this year's team up for that.
[00:08:10] And I've talked about this in the past. I've touched on it on socials recently.
[00:08:18] In my opinion, that was the biggest thing that held back this team last year, maybe, aside from a couple of BS calls, was that South Carolina had to fight against a lot of preseason.
[00:08:35] What's the word? They had to fight against the preseason lack of expectations. Right? So they were a team that was off the radar, unranked pick to finish near the bottom of the sec, and they had to fight against all of those negative narratives to then become ranked. And then when you're talking about being this nine win team to try and crack in the playoffs, I think it was easy for the committee to say, well, this team wasn't even ranked to begin with. Like, they're good, but how good could they be? Yada, yada, yada. So now you get the recognition in the coaches poll top 15 team. We'll see where the AP lands.
[00:09:18] But this, I think, is the. The boost or that Little crack in the door, rather, that could help potentially, Carolina getting to their goals and exceeding what they did last year. Of course, none of it matters unless the guys perform right. You know, that's the caveat to all this stuff, and Shane Beamer's been asked about it, people have been writing about it, is that, you know, how do you handle these expectations? Because just a couple of years ago, coming off of the 22 season, when Carolina knocked off Tennessee and Clemson and ended the year hot, you went into the 23 year with some expectations, maybe not quite as high as this year, and the team struggled. Now, totally different rosters and lack of depth and things like that, injuries, etc.
[00:10:08] But that's going to be this new challenge for this team. And I do think, without getting into it too much, I do think that there's enough veteran leadership and enough carryover from the team last year that will stay hungry and that will stay humble to be like, yeah, we had a fantastic year last year. We put in a ton of work. It was not by accident.
[00:10:38] We bought into all this, but we still came up short. So we still have work to be done. So it's going to be very interesting to see. But again, none of it matters right now unless you perform on the field. So, like I said, I'm going to dive into the first half of the Gamecock schedule here and I'm going to give you my thoughts. So we're looking at the first six games. When you look at the schedule, though, before we get into it, it's really broken up into thirds, in my opinion. You have the first five games, then you get a buy, then you have kind of similar to last year's schedule, you have your sort of gauntlet where you have, you know, lsu, Oklahoma, Alabama and Ole Miss, and then you have another buy, and then you have your remaining couple of games, A and M, Coastal, Clemson, right?
[00:11:33] So while I won't be doing it into thirds, it really is like, can you handle it section by section? And I think each one has different expectations, right?
[00:11:44] I maybe talk about that right before we get the season started, but if you want to break it down like that, you're looking at your first five, basically, and you want to start as hot as you can. And then if you look in that middle group, it's, you know, trying to sneak that extra win, right? Like, you're probably not going to be favored in all those games, so can you get an upset in that cluster? And then you want to bring it home strong.
[00:12:12] So looking at these first six Games, though.
[00:12:16] Anyone who's been listening to me for a while now, anyone who's listened to me go through these, y' all know I'm eternally optimistic, right? Sometimes to a fault. Some people say I wear the garnet glasses.
[00:12:28] My rebuttal to that is, if. If you're not excited going into these games, and if you don't have hope, then what the hell are you doing, right? Sports are supposed to be fun.
[00:12:39] You want your teams to do well. I'm not going to go into these things with a negative attitude.
[00:12:46] Now. I had to adjust these previews a little bit because there was one year where I refused to say that I think Carolina could drop a game. And, you know, if you listen to me, I basically had Carolina winning the national championship. I think we won six games that particular year.
[00:13:04] So I'm trying to be sensible, but I'm optimistic, right? And so there may be times where I'm like, hey, this could be tough. I could see it slipping here, but I'm probably still going to point out the positives and ways that I think Carolina could win.
[00:13:22] Spoiler alert. I do think South Carolina is in for a good year. So I'm going to be saying, win more than lose here. But one of the harder things to do when you're doing this type of thing, and as a college sports fan, especially a college football fan, one of the harder things to do is to look at this year's team, right? To look at the team that's in front of you and to look at this year's schedule in singularity, right? Like, it's important to remember what the team did last year, but you have to try and remember that those results don't have any bearing on how this team does.
[00:14:07] And that's really hard to do because every being in my body wants to say, well, just look at what happened last year, and then you bring a more experienced Lenores. Of course we're going to do better.
[00:14:22] It's important to remember who from that team isn't on this year's team, but it also is important to remember who is and remember some of the good things that those guys did and the continued development that hopefully they show as well. So when you're sitting at home and you're. You're thinking about games for next. For this upcoming year, that's the one thing I. I struggle with as a fan. And, you know, when I go into the games, you know, into this season, I'll probably reference last year for the first few games, but that's Something that's difficult to do is to just take it with. This is the team in the present.
[00:15:04] And, you know, these dudes that made some incredible plays for us last year might not be there, you know, so diving into this here Game one, right off the bat, the Gamecocks get into it for better or worse. Like, here we are again playing a Power 4 team at a neutral site with all the expectations on us, right? Like, but this is an exciting one. Like, this is going to be the sole game on in this time slot that Sunday, 3pm Aug. 31 in Atlanta, going against Virginia Tech.
[00:15:39] Not going to get into the whole Beamer connection of it all. That's for a later date.
[00:15:45] This is the perfect time to tell the country that the Gamecocks are for real, like, outsiders. They might know about Lenores. You know, he's on these top quarterback lists and things like that. Like, South Carolina is probably going to be ranked in top 25 going into this, but there's a lot of people who might not know what this team is all about, and there's plenty of doubters out there as well. So this is the perfect time to showcase our team.
[00:16:15] But at the same time, Week one in college football is the most unpredictable of them all.
[00:16:23] If you need proof, just look at last year's week one against Old Dominion. Right? Like, you just don't know sometimes.
[00:16:33] And look like there are questions going into this game for South Carolina.
[00:16:40] Do we see improvement from the wide receiver room?
[00:16:44] Who steps up in the tight end group?
[00:16:46] Does the O line start on the right foot? That's been a struggle for them in years past.
[00:16:53] How does the defensive front look with a bunch of new faces?
[00:17:00] So, realistically, there are plenty of reasons to think that this game won't be smooth sailing and even more reason to think that it could take some time for the Gamecocks to settle in. I mean, that's any team in college. In week one, there's no preseason.
[00:17:18] You don't have a lot of tape on your opponent.
[00:17:21] It sometimes just takes time.
[00:17:23] And if that happens, it's okay because I believe that this veteran leadership on this team will help those guys settle in.
[00:17:33] So if we're looking at Virginia Tech, they're a team that was pretty hot and cold last year. They've progressed under their coach, but just have not found much consistency. They are replacing both coordinators, I think.
[00:17:46] So my hope is that there's a learning curve and that guy's, you know, there's a new system in place, communication issues.
[00:17:54] They're not gonna be in their full bag yet. But at the same time that can also be tricky to prepare for. Cause you only have the tape of these guys at their previous stops and I don't even really know who they are. You know, I'm not well versed in that.
[00:18:11] Like are they. Is it a first time OC type of deal? I don't know. Right.
[00:18:16] They lost a lot of talent on offense. Virginia Tech did. So that's good for the USC defense. I think their run defense could be stout, but through the air I think Carolina definitely has the edge.
[00:18:29] All told, this is an opening game against a Power 4 team that while they have struggled, they're coming off a season where they made a bowl game and they have some talent at spots. I don't think it's going to be a cakewalk, but I think USC settles in and pulls away in the second half to start one and oh nothing like a cardiac.
[00:18:54] Week one game and I was in the stands against Old Dominion. That was woof.
[00:19:01] Game 2 the Gamecocks return home on a short week's rest. Mind you, I think this is a weird caveat in this opening schedule. That first game's on a Sunday so it's six days rest as opposed to seven. But nonetheless open things up at Willie B against SC State. So home opener.
[00:19:18] I think if given the opportunity, Jaron Howell will have a big day against his old school. I like when Carolina plays SC State. I think it's great for the state. I think it should happen almost every year and I think it'll be good for the Gamecocks this year as they'll cruise to 2 0.
[00:19:36] This game could be very valuable to the defense.
[00:19:39] They're going to need to gel quickly. Right. It's. They don't really have much of a ramp up you're going against Virginia Tech. But I think it's a deal where they're going to make the plays when it matters. They're going to do enough to get that win. But then I think again against SC State, Game two, expect the starters to play more. Just maybe to have that continuity, but you're getting reps in for depth purposes and this is a game where I think they can settle in.
[00:20:06] Game three, the Gamecocks stay home and open SEC play against Vandy.
[00:20:13] Y', all, it is absolutely bonkers to say but you have to take Vandy seriously. I can't believe it. Like I cannot believe that we have finally reached a point where this is not just a two sentence. Carolina's going to cruise. Carolina has that incredibly long win streak against Vanderbilt. You have to take them for real.
[00:20:38] You. You know, they're a team that made a lot of noise last year and yes, they won just six games, but they played pretty much everyone really hard. And they return nine offensive starters and eight defensive starters.
[00:20:55] Funny enough, this is like a side note here.
[00:20:58] Vandy plays Virginia Tech the game prior to playing us. So they play them and then they play us.
[00:21:06] I think that will give the coaches some great tape to study. So, like things that Virginia Tech does that Vandy struggled against, etc. Etc.
[00:21:19] Now, last year's team D line specifically was able to keep Pavia in check pretty much all game at this point in. So when we're at Game 3 in this upcoming season, I think the front seven is still going to be getting their feet underneath them. They better have it sorted out after this game.
[00:21:40] But nonetheless, I think it could prove a little spotty at times. I do think the past defense for South Carolina will shine in this game and make Vandy one dimensional. And I do think we have the athletes in that second level of defense and linebackers, etc. To chase Pavia down if he does decide to run offensively.
[00:22:02] I think we'll have answers to a lot of those questions that we had going into week one. And I think everyone really will have that chemistry that you want. And Lenores will now be in front of the home crowd for a second week in a row, hopefully continuing to thrive. And I think a home crowd. This is a night game in the SEC opener. I think it makes life very difficult for Vandy and ultimately is a difference maker. I think this game ends up being higher scoring than most people want to think. But I think you get a couple of big drives for Carolina to put the gamecocks at 3. 0 to start the year.
[00:22:43] It's crazy. Vandy.
[00:22:46] All right, moving on to game four here. It's the first true road game for Carolina as they head to Missouri.
[00:22:55] Now, y' all know my take on the Tigers.
[00:22:57] I have them atop my most annoying teams list.
[00:23:01] I don't have the hatred for Mizzou like I do Clemson because they simply are not worth my time. But I do have them atop the list for most annoying teams. We play like teams that it's just like, why are you hanging around here? Like, they're just like an annoying little bug that keeps flying around and. And keeps giving you problems until you finally have to smack it away.
[00:23:26] Now, it's interesting because we don't know what time this game will be Yet. But with the new TV deals and everything, we know it's slated to be anywhere between 3:30 and 8pm Como is a tricky place to play. It's not the biggest, it's not the loudest, but it's just tricky. So I do hope it is during the day.
[00:23:49] Last year we all know Beamer finally wiped that grin off Drinkowitz's face and my God, being able to do it again at their place would just be so, so satisfying.
[00:24:01] I mean, I don't know what to make of Mizzou this year. I don't.
[00:24:06] I think with a new and largely unproven quarterback and losing their top backs, like they have to take a step back offensively, right? Like they just have to.
[00:24:18] But that damn zone run scheme, whatever the hell they call it, is just so annoying and it's hard to defend.
[00:24:25] It's what keeps them in games.
[00:24:27] They're able to control the clock a lot of the time.
[00:24:31] They play teams close a lot of the times because of this.
[00:24:34] But if you can build a leap lead on them, you know, they don't have Brady Cook to pull these heroics anymore. Right.
[00:24:41] They return a lot of guys on defense, but I think at this point in the year our offense is going to be humming and I expect to have a clear cut wide receiver one by this game. And so I also think we're going to have at least one freshman wide receiver who is elevating their game by now.
[00:25:02] Last year this game was decided by four points.
[00:25:06] Something tells me that this year it's going to be another hard fought game. But I think Lenores continues to shine and and makes a big statement in this game. And The Gamecocks move to 40 on the year, winning on the road in this one.
[00:25:22] Game 5 Carolina comes back home and they host Kentucky Kensucky and this is another one where It'll be between 3:30 and 8:00pm that's kind of a theme the rest of the way here. This is a series, you know, against Kentucky where I feel Beamer has really righted the ship in this one, sort of asserting dominance once again and has been able to get the better of Kentucky here. Kentucky is going to be coming off at bye week before they play us. Really weird schedule for Kentucky. A very early bye week and it will also be their first road game. So bi week road game. There's a lot going on in their building before this one. Looking at Kentucky, this is a critical year for Stoops in my opinion.
[00:26:08] They had been, you know, a tough team, you know they a hard team to play against. They had that big pop 10 wins. They plateaued for the last couple of years and then last year the bottom really came out of things. So morale in that building could be on edge. And if they drop an early game before ours, look out.
[00:26:31] They had to replace a lot on defense and offensively I don't see them improving much, especially when they lose their top receivers. This is a game where the Gamecocks are coming back home and if my prediction holds, fan support's gonna be through the roof. It all it already is. But if you take a step back like this game is probably a sellout regardless, but it's definitely a sellout in this scenario. Cox are undefeated going into this one before the bye week. It's gonna be a madhouse.
[00:27:01] I think Carolina rolls in this one and moves to 50 undefeated going into the bye week.
[00:27:09] And so if that is the case 5 and oh going into the bi week there's a couple of big time matchups in those first two weeks of college. So you're going to have some teams that are highly ranked. Someone's got to lose, right?
[00:27:26] So if this is the case, you're going to see Carolina in a spot that we haven't in over a decade. Decade. I would expect Carolina to be in the top 10.
[00:27:34] You'll have legitimate Heisman buzz around Lenores and all of that pressure and excitement and expectation really comes into play, especially if you're talking about the postseason.
[00:27:46] But I do think this bye week comes at a great time.
[00:27:49] SEC play is well underway.
[00:27:52] You've yet to really get into the teeth of your schedule so guys can heal up and Beamer has tended to get his teams to play well after buy. So you're self scouting and doing all of these things before you're getting into the gauntlet if you will.
[00:28:06] And you essentially play a month and then you get a break and lock in for a tough stretch here.
[00:28:14] Which brings us to Game 6. Coming off the bye week, Gamecocks have their matchup that I think next to the Clemson game willing to bet most fans have circled and that is the LSU game going to Baton Rouge.
[00:28:30] And now going into this game we might as well play the Avengers theme song for this one because that is what this team is being tasked to do going there, which is to avenge the screw job that kept us out of the playoffs last year in this game against lsu.
[00:28:48] It's a big but though, right?
[00:28:52] Because going into Death Valley, the real Death Valley is never an easy task.
[00:28:58] This game Again slated for the afternoon 3 between 3:30 and 8. And if it's at night, that's one of the hardest places to play.
[00:29:07] And if you have an undefeated South Carolina against a potentially undefeated or maybe one loss, LSU probably going to be a night game.
[00:29:17] Last year LSU felt like a disappointment but they quietly, you know, they went nine and four. It was, you know, it's a disappointment for where their maybe preseason expectations were but they return a lot of talent on a team that, you know, all things considered did pretty well.
[00:29:33] They have to replace some key linemen so that's of note. Brian Kelly has worked the portal well, but you know, just ask fsu, right? That doesn't always equal success.
[00:29:44] But this is going to be a must watch football game.
[00:29:48] Both teams have first round NFL draft caliber quarterbacks and both teams are going to be battle tested by this point.
[00:29:56] I actually think LSU might also be coming off a buy for better or worse there.
[00:30:01] But this is a game that if South Carolina wins, it's going to be squarely on the back of Lenores. And, and if doing so, South Carolina will have officially kicked the door down in the college football world to say we are here and we are for real.
[00:30:21] Man, I get some juices going.
[00:30:23] I think defensively South Carolina can take away a lot of the passing game for lsu that's going to be, you know, you have Stewart on the line but you have a very experienced and deep secondary.
[00:30:36] It, you know that defensive line and those linebackers are probably not going to dominate like they did last year. I just think naturally you're going to take a little bit of a step back with who you have to replace.
[00:30:49] But if you can still generate pressure with Stewart and whoever's opposite of him, you have an experienced backfield, right? So I think you can take away a lot of the passing game for lsu. So you're talking about Nussmeier maybe being neutralized offensively for South Carolina. This could be a Heisman moment for Linoris. All eyes on him.
[00:31:13] Team wide coaches, special teams, nutrition, everybody.
[00:31:19] This is where the rubber meets the road. Shane Beamer has had some massive wins in his tenure. I don't know where this would rank. Right?
[00:31:28] But in this scenario, if South Carolina is undefeated, going on the road to lsu, if you can get that done, I mean it's up there because any coach takes pride in going to LSU and winning. It's just that hard of a place to play.
[00:31:48] I want nothing more than to avenge last year's game.
[00:31:53] And the more I talk about it and the more I think about it, like, I. I think this game is winnable, but if I am trying to be a little bit realistic here, I think the place just ends up being too tough, too tough of a road environment.
[00:32:16] I think there's probably better depth at LSU at almost every position, and I think that probably plays a factor.
[00:32:28] And I think you probably have an incredible effort from Lenores. But I do think this is a place where Carolina suffers its first loss to slip to five and one in a close game, which would absolutely suck. I hate saying it, but again, I'm trying to be somewhat realistic here. So you're at the halfway point in the year, Carolina sitting at five and one with a respectable. You know, you're on the road. Lsu, I'm not going to justify it would suck.
[00:32:58] But look, for all the reasons I listed two seconds ago, again, I think this is a winnable game.
[00:33:06] LSU plays some pretty legit teams before us.
[00:33:12] We're going to have an idea, a pretty good idea about what that team is going into it, right? A lot can change between now and whenever that is. October, you know, they could be falling on their face and they could be in disarray.
[00:33:29] You never know.
[00:33:31] But with that, y', all, that wraps up this episode. I mean, that's a good place to be.
[00:33:36] Five and one at the halfway point. Again, everything's still ahead of you. Then you're coming home for a couple games. So next episode, I'm going to preview the back half of the year, figure out where we're at at the end of the season.
[00:33:49] And yeah, it's just so fun to be back. But yes, this 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.
