Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Game Cox, the podcast gets back on schedule, and I preview the first half of South Carolina's football schedule. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:54] Okay. Welcome to episode 253 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And, man, does it feel good to say that again. I mean, I am finally settled into my new home in Charlotte. I'm sure y'all are very tired about hearing me move everything like that. It's already a pain in the ass. And then you have to hear someone else talk about it. But you're finally settled in the Queen city. There were delays and things like that. So that is why I have been Mia and the schedule has been so whack. And then also, if you're hearing a little bit different acoustics and things like that, I'm still trying to figure out really where that best place is to record rather in the new place. But bear with me here. But nonetheless, here, it is a officially official that I will be back on track with recording now every Friday until the first game. And then after that game ends, we will go back to the regular schedule Monday and Friday, pretty much until baseball season ends. Couple of breaks here and there, but that is the schedule. And it is crazy to think that we are basically two weeks away from the opening game. It's just so close that you can taste it. And, you know, of course, we'll have some other action between then and the 31st, right? But I am itching for that first Gamecock game, and even more so because I got some big news for y'all here that I will be in attendance at the opening game. First opening game that I have been at since I was an undergrad. I figured I'm in Charlotte now. I'm closer to Columbia. I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and start off right away. Going to more games there. So super, super excited. If you're listening to this and you'd like to meet up, shoot me. A DM would love to try and find, you know, some fellow Gamecock fans, some fellow podcast listeners out in the open. It'll be so much fun, but very, very excited for that. But enough about me. Let's talk about the show. And let's talk about the Gamecocks here.
[00:03:14] With the regular season so close, this will officially begin my season preview slash prediction series. I will preview the first six games of South Carolina scheduled now. And then next episode, next week's, I will preview the final six. So sort of part one, build a little anticipation for y'all and then roll that in to part two. And also that's my way of not dragging these things out too, too much and quick, easy listen for y'all here. So for anyone who follows me and anyone who's listened to past shows of football season and things like that, you know that I am a forever optimist. So previewing these things is hard for me because sometimes it's hard to be realistic. The first time I did this, I basically had us winning the national championship because I refused to say that South Carolina would lose a game. I said, you know, we have a shot in every game the year after that, you know, still optimist but a little bit more realistic. So I'm going to try and keep it that way. You know, the disclosure I guess here is that I am a little superstitious with this stuff. I mean, what sports fan isn't? So it is a balancing act, right? Where I'm going to try and be fair, but I don't want to mush anything. And I also am optimistic. Like I'm not going to sit here and say we're going four eight, right? Like what's the fun in that? This is the off season. I'm going to be who I am. I think we have a pretty good squad. I think we can do a little bit more than people are thinking and so we're going to have fun with it, right? And you know, side note, really quick before I jump into it, I put a poll out there on social media and the question was, do you think the South Carolina Gamecocks can crack the top 25 this year? Option one was hell yes. And the option one was you're crazy. And don't let the pundits have you believing that people are down on this team because a noticeable majority of people said hell yes, there's a chance. And that's where the mindset should be on August 15, 1617, all the way up until 31, really September the first.
[00:05:35] So find the good, enjoy this time. Everyone's undefeated right now. Anything can happen right now. Every year there's a team that surprises people. Every year there's a team that doesn't live up to expectations, right? And we might be facing some of those guys. So very, very exciting here. And without further ado, let's jump into it here. The first half season prediction starting with game one, South Carolina taking on Old Dominion at home to start the season off at 415 pm. Sort of an interesting time to kick off, but I like it because as someone who will be in attendance, that beats the hell out of a noon game in the stands and the second half, it'll be probably pretty nice, right? Sun might be going down a little bit. It'll be nice, but that stadium will be rocking. It doesn't matter that it's against old Dominion. First game, Williams, Bryce at home. It is awesome. And we are all super excited to see this new look offense, of course, led by Lenora Sellers and Rocket Sanders. Me personally, I am very excited to see this defense. I want to see what formation we come out in. I want to see Dylan Stewart and I want to see these guys feast. You know what I mean? Looking at ODU coming out of the Sunbelt conference here last year, they had a record of six and seven. They played a lot of close games and they tended to be on the wrong side of them. I will go into more details about their team before the game and that sort of official game preview episode, but they return a few key pieces, including their quarterback, excuse me, and their offensive line as well. And you know, there's some question marks there, you know, question marks and their secondary also. And so when you look at it, this is the type of game that is perfect for South Carolina to start the season this year. Think about it.
[00:07:38] They don't have to play a power five team.
[00:07:41] Power four. I think I'm going to still say power five because like the Pac two does exist. You know, they had their media days, it's two teams, but they still exist. It's still a legal entity. So power five. Power five.
[00:07:56] They don't have to travel, right? You're not going to a neutral site or going away, God forbid, anything like that. This is just a good old fashion, go to the bakery and have a cupcake because that's what this is. This is a cupcake opening game, nice and normal. You know what I mean?
[00:08:16] 90% of the teams out there at the power level open with a cupcake. And it seems like South Carolina loves to make it hard on ourselves. By very often it feels like, and maybe it's less often than, you know, in actuality, but scheduling harder teams. So hopefully this is nice and easy way to ease into it. But I do think you'll see a couple bumps along the way, especially as lenoris and these wideouts continue to gel. So don't be discouraged if it's a slow start, but I would expect this game to be in the bag by the fourth quarter. Give me South Carolina winning and covering to start the season one and oh, which brings us to game two. And the Gamecocks get right into it as SEC play begins and the Cox go on the road to Kentucky to take on the Wildcats at 330. Very, very interesting that this game is during the day. Feels like these two almost always play at night in recent memory. 330. You know that's not a nooner, but you're certainly better than a noon game on the road. You got to think that if anything might favor South Carolina. And we know that there is some beef and some tension between Shane Beamer and Mark Stoop. So both teams are going to be raring to go in this one. But I don't know if y'all have seen this, but there are some weird vibes coming from Kentucky and mark supes specifically. He has made some very odd comments and it kind of makes you wonder just how the vibes are in that locker room. Makes you think about the culture that he loves to preach about so much. Makes you think maybe he kind of has 1ft out the door, maybe an eye on a next job. Perhaps he just made some weird comments lately and really last year as well. So something to keep an eye on. But just like Carolina, Kentucky will be breaking in a new quarterback, but they will also still be getting used to a new offensive coordinator. So you have a lot of moving pieces there. And it also seems like their running back recently got hurt in camp and is questionable for this game already.
[00:10:41] So this is a big early test for Lenoris to see how he handles the road in the SEC, which is not an easy thing. That's not an easy thing for a veteran, let alone for a red shirt freshman at the most important position.
[00:10:58] But there are two things that tend to travel well in football, and that is defense and the run game. And both of those should be noticeably better from a year ago.
[00:11:12] So I'm going to go out on a little bit of a limb here, and I think the Gamecocks get an early season surprise win in a close, low scoring affair to start the season 20. How about that? How do you like them apples? I'd absolutely sign up for that today.
[00:11:31] Which brings us to game three, which is coming off a huge win. The Gamecocks will be storming back to Williams Bryce to take on LSU.
[00:11:40] Now, this game is unfortunately at a noon time, so it's going to be a tough one in the stands, right?
[00:11:48] Different opponent, different set of circumstances, but kind of reminiscent of that Georgia game a couple years ago that, you know, bad memory, but you just saw the people not being able to really stay in the stands, right. The score didn't certainly help, but noon game September SEC opponent. You just wish it was a little bit later in the day, but this game is very interesting. LSU, of course, has to replace Jaden Daniels. So your first instincts might be that they'll take a step or at least half a step back, right? But Brian Kelly is simply a good coach and they are a team with a ton of talent and they've seemingly gone and fixed their problem on the defensive side by bringing in a new defensive coordinator. They have a veteran offense and a quarterback with some experience. And while at this point in the season, I still think LSU will be trying to find their rhythm three games into things which could lead to this game being close, especially early.
[00:12:51] Unfortunately, though, and again, this is for the sake of being realistic, I do think the Tigers will pull away late to give Carolina their first loss of the year and bring the record to two and one. But again, it does feel like a game that could be close, especially early on.
[00:13:11] So game four. This game comes at a fantastic time, really, regardless of how you view those first three games going as the gamecocks stay at home and welcome Akron to Willy B. And yeah, I mean, simply put, Akron was ass last year. They're just not good. They were just terrible last year. They have a decent defense, I suppose, but there are red flags all over the place for the Zips. So give me Carolina in a route to move to three and one heading into the first bye week. I'll absolutely take that. Anyone right now listening this I'm sure would sign up for that. Maybe you think it goes a different way, but three and one at the break and very interesting with how the schedule goes two by weeks this year. So at this point, you got to imagine that the team is feeling good, the fan base is feeling good. And I would say that the top priority going into a bye week this early in the year, the focus would be on our offense, specifically Lenoris jelling and everything like that.
[00:14:19] Hopefully the offensive line is improved. I mean, it's hard to not be right, but hopefully it's to the point where you can say, oh yeah, they are a little bit better. And so hopefully this bye week gives the offensive staff an opportunity to continue to build that chemistry that you're looking for, specifically in the run game with the offensive line.
[00:14:43] Which brings us to game five here and now game five outside of the Clemson game.
[00:14:50] This feels like the game of the year for the Gamecocks coming off a bye week at home, taking on Ole Miss. Now normally a game against Ole Miss would be intriguing, sure, but not game of the year type of stuff, right?
[00:15:10] However, we can thank a one Mister juice Wells for changing that. And we can also thank Lane Kiffin a little bit as well. But you know, he's just trolling.
[00:15:23] This is the game that every South Carolina fan wants to stick it to, juice and prove to him and the rest of the SEC that the Gamecocks are a legit team and have everything going for them the same as the top programs do.
[00:15:40] If nothing else, Williams Bryce will provide every advantage it possibly can in that game. Because let me tell you something, everybody who I've talked to that's a Gamecock fan has this game circled.
[00:15:54] Everyone wants to be in the building there. Everyone's going to be watching.
[00:15:59] The place is going to be absolutely electric.
[00:16:02] We don't know the time yet, but it's for the late slots kind of how they're doing it differently this year. So earliest, it's a 330, latest, I think it's an eight. If this is a night game, oh my Lanta, buckle your seatbelts because especially that first quarter, it's going to be absolutely rocking.
[00:16:27] Now, looking at Ole Miss though, they're really the not so dark horse to be competing for that top spot in the SEC and certainly the explained playoff. I think you talk to most college football fans and quote unquote experts, they have Ole Miss penciled in for the College Football Playoff.
[00:16:47] They return a ton on the offensive side and Kiffin brought in bigger and stronger guys via the portal to bolster his defense.
[00:16:55] So you're looking at it, and I don't know, y'all. I mean, this game. This game feels like a tall task. It feels like a really tall task. And I have to say that I do think South Carolina may end up on the wrong side of this one. I hate to say it, it hurts coming out of my mouth, but I'm going to hope that the team coming off a bye week can take the next step in whatever they're trying to focus on. Maybe we see some new looks on the offensive side and they can come out and surprise people and catch Ole miss off guard. Kind of like that 22 Tennessee game.
[00:17:37] I just can't put my name to that just yet. But believe me, I want nothing more than to send juice Wells packing with a loss. So this is where a little bit of that superstition is coming into play, I think. But unfortunately, trying to be realistic here, I am going to have South Carolina leaving this game with a three and two record.
[00:18:03] Which brings me to game six. And it's funny because this stretch of games that is sandwiched between the two bye weeks is just absolutely brutal. You get Ole Miss and then you have Alabama, which we're going to talk about now, and then Oklahoma, and then you get a bye weekend. You're rewarded by. At the end of it, there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but my God, it's a brutal stretch here. So yes, after the Gamecocks take on the Rebels, they will head to Tuscaloosa to face the Sabin less rolling tide. It just feels so weird not. Not being able to see him on the sideline and everything like that. Right? So the Crimson Tide, a combined roll tide with the Crimson, Crimson Tide and sort of like the LSU game. I it kind of feels like a tricky one, maybe a little less tricky. But you know, their new coach, Caitlin DeBoer, he's a really, really good coach. He has won everywhere that he has been. And the Tide return a lot of pieces, but they also lost a lot of guys to both the portal and to the NFL.
[00:19:12] Milro, of course, is back and they return some studs on defense, but it's just an interesting thought to see how this team looks and plays without Saban. Are they just as dominant because of the talent left over?
[00:19:29] Will DeBoer be able to live up to SEC competition? Right. There are all these questions surrounding them.
[00:19:35] Very, very intriguing to watch them. And then looking at South Carolina, the strength of this defense should be the front seven. And when you look at Alabama, that probably will match up well with Alabama strength as well as give us a chance to contain Millrow on the run.
[00:19:56] On the road, though, I think the Tide are too much for this offense especially. And unfortunately, I have Carolina losing this one back to back games to bring the record to three and three.
[00:20:10] So there you have it.
[00:20:12] That is the official Cox talking game. Cox first half season prediction for this football season. There's definitely reason for optimism, in my opinion. And there are some games that I think could be closer than people give us credit for really looking at LSU and Ole Miss specifically.
[00:20:33] And so it's really a matter of Lenoris handling himself and gelling with the wide receivers and things like that. Right. I think at this first half of the year you will see some growing pains from the offense and those are the type of things that can hurt you in a close fight against a team like an LSU.
[00:20:52] On the flip side, though, with a good defense that can bail out some mistakes. Right. And also you can get the offense back on the field with a chance to put up points more, a little less pressure, perhaps on every drive than there was last year.
[00:21:09] So I think if you say three and three at the halfway point, with some winnable games down the stretch, I think most people would take that honestly.
[00:21:21] So we'll see how it goes. Next episode will be the conclusion to the season preview the final six games, 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 ka.
