Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] 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. All right, here we go.
[00:01:13] Welcome to Episode 194 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. We're sort of clicking on all cylinders here. Gamecock NatIon. All of a sudden, we got men's basketball in action, women's basketball in action. We got lots of other sports going on, a couple of other sports entering postseason play. All the while, football team is fighting for life. Just a lot of action. All of a sudden, a lot of wins. Find ourselves neck deep in Gamecock athletics. I love it. I absolutely love it. But it's all of a sudden crept up on us. It's been a fun week. Been a fun week. Hope y'all had a good one there and are ready to take on the weekend where there is a lot of action going on from our Gamecocks here. I'm going to get into all that, but let me walk you all through this. Last week in Gamecock Athletics. There's a lot to cover here. Starting on Monday, the women's basketball season, they tipped off in Paris, France, against Notre Dame, and they beat the Fighting Irish 100 to 71. I mean, at some points, it was a freaking clinic. I mean, talk about you got some new faces, right? Especially on the starting five, but just this same level of dominance. And there were probably some people out there who thought the team would take a step back. I thought it would certainly be a little bit of a slower start, maybe sluggish, and have a sort of a rock fight of a game, especially this one different continent and all that jazz. But nope, it was a close first quarter. But the second and third, the ladies pulled away some of that classic South Carolina defense. The Irish, you know, scored a little bit towards the end there, but by that point, the game was pretty much in hand. Camilla Cardozo with a double double really leading the way as that veteran presence. But freshman Malaysia Fulwiley, with maybe the play of the year in the first game of the season, was incredible. If you haven't seen it. I don't know how you haven't, but simply go on the women's team social media page. She was dribling it up, went behind the back and like around for a beautiful lay in. This freshman could be the next star of this sport, let alone for this program. It's about as impressive as a start as you really could ask for, especially given the circumstances, right? You're in France, there's a lot of excitement. You're off your whole routine, but then you don't have some of those stallworths that you had on the team for the last three, four years. So for this team to come together and handle their business like that against a highly ranked Notre Dame team, very, very impressive. The women's next game is this Sunday afternoon at home against Maryland, another pretty formidable opponent for the Gamecocks here. So that'll be exciting as they look to get this thing rolling already. Very cool to see, but it's going to be even more fun to track along and see who continues to shine full. Wiley seems exciting. Can Chloe Kitts grow into that role a little bit more? It's going to be very fun to watch these really, first two or three weeks, I feel like, and then we'll get a better idea about who is the playmakers here and there.
[00:05:01] Also on Monday. There we go. The men's basketball team tipped off their season against USC Upstate and won the game 82 to 53. And you can take one look at this team, you could have watched five minutes of this game and you can tell that this is a more experienced team, a more mature team, one that understands what coach Paris is trying to do better. I mean, the offense was just free flowing. Guys were taking shots, but they were distributing it very well. Not too many dumb shots, not too many head scratcher moments. Defensively, the team played really well also. They were able to clamp down at times. Upstate made a little bit of a run towards the end of the first half, but in the second it was really all gamecocks. Michi Johnson did his thing with some deep threes, but I was really impressed with newcomers BJ Mack, Miles Stute and also Talon Cooper. I mean really all three of them, they were the big transfers, but they had very good nights. Mack especially, he fits what coach Paris is trying to do. Lamont said that and he's just bringing this big body that can also handle his own if he's away from the basket. So it's going to be really cool to see these guys gel throughout the year.
[00:06:26] It's probably not going to be as easy as this. This team still has a lot to overcome, but you can just tell it's a more mature team and when you look at the roster, it's just deeper. Last year it was six, maybe seven. They're seven, eight, maybe nine. Now, guys, deep. So really exciting to see. Their next game is Friday night in Charlote against Virginia Tech as part of a special series that's happening up in Charlote, Virginia Tech. Pretty good last year. Pretty good. Talented squad. Going to be a challenge and going to be interesting to see how they go early in this season here.
[00:07:04] On Wednesday, the women's volleyball team, they were in action. They beat Mississippi State three nothing. And also on Wednesday, the men's soccer team lost to West Virginia, two nothing. But quick shout out to that team, the men's soccer team. This past Sunday, they beat the number one ranked UCF Knight. So that's awesome to knock off the top team, especially in a year. Know we're going over these scores. It's been up and down. It's kind of been a struggle for the men's team. So really exciting there. Shout out to them and everything that they're doing. In a little bit of other news from the football team here, the Kentucky game was announced as a 07:30 p.m.. Kickoff. So night game in Williams Bryce against Kentucky. And don't forget that is the game where derude the man who produced and invented Sandstorm. He's going to be in Columbia for this game. He's going to have a little pregame concert, to my understanding, but then he's going to be the starter for the game. So you absolutely had to have a night game for this. You can't have a man who created a song that is the quintessential rave song and have that be a noon game that just would not have been right. So really exciting there and kind of makes it all the more important to handle business this weekend as South Carolina takes on the Vanderbilt Commodores. This Saturday at noon in Williams Bryce. Because if you're able to handle your business here, then you know that you have that big home field advantage at home at night right around the corner.
[00:08:50] But back to the task at hand here. The Gamecocks are currently sitting as 14 point favorites. Might go half point here or there, whichever way you look on the injury front, we know right now that Trey Jones is out and also DE Carryon Joyner is out. I didn't realize this, but he hurt his ankle in the game against Jacksonville State must have happened late, must have been a play, must have been going on. But that came out a day or so after the game that he got hurt. So hopefully it's nothing too bad. Hopefully it's just a one week type of deal. But those are your two guys that you know are out for sure. Other guys who are banged up are questionable, but those are the two big names that were out. But we all know what the Gamecocks have to do here. Injuries are not. This is now step two in the potential November to remember. You just simply have to find a way to win this game, no matter what. 1.14 points, 34 points, does not matter.
[00:09:57] You scratch and Claw to get this done in this matchup, the Gamecocks are currently riding a 14 game win streak against Vanderbilt. So it's funny because it's just this weird constant around our program that no matter how up or down the Gamecocks tend to be, the one thing that you can hang your hat on, the one thing that's been steady is that you can handle your business against Florida Vanderbilt, not Florida Vanderbilt. There we go. But that doesn't mean that this team can put your feet up and take it easy.
[00:10:38] It's just not something know you can rely on. Right? But it is kind of funny to take a step back and feel that maybe history is on our side a little bit again. You know, if you're Shane Beamer, the task at hand has to be playing cleaner and more consistent football than the team did last weekend.
[00:11:01] Because when you have no room for mistakes, the team has to be sharp in everything that they do and they need to come out fast and they need to execute well.
[00:11:12] So what are the Gamecocks looking at in Vandy? Vanderbilt is currently two and eight. They are O and six in the SEC, and they are currently on an eight game losing streak. Now, they have had some flashes, though, right? That could be a little rat poison. A lot of Nick Saban, right? They started off strong against Georgia. They did. And they hung with Mizzou for a lot of their game as well. So they do fight. This is not a completely doormat team. Despite a horrible record, Shane Beamer mentioned how little by little their roster has improved under Clark Lee. I think they have a pretty clearer vision of what their program is heading towards under Clark Lee right now. They're running out multiple quarterbacks. Makes it a little bit difficult, but they play hard and they do the little things right. Pete Lembo called out their special teams unit for being one of the best in the SEC. One of the better ones in the country.
[00:12:18] So when you're paying attention to little things like that, it can make for a difficult opponent, right?
[00:12:25] So from my perspective, you're either going to get a Vandy team that is beaten down, maybe morale is a little low, maybe a little frustrated based on how things are going for them lately for the last two months or so, or maybe you get a group that is really dead set on ending that losing streak against the Gamecocks and you get a group that's hungry for their first SEC win.
[00:12:57] You just don't know what you're going to get.
[00:13:00] So what are my crows to the game here for any new listeners? I don't do keys to the game. Everyone does those. We have our rooster crow have my crows to the game.
[00:13:10] So overall, for the team here, play smart, Vandy. Again, they've started games well against teams that are much better than South Carolina, so you can't get caught napping.
[00:13:22] Last week, being the most penalized team clearly hurt the Gamecocks. So that needs to be a major priority to be on the right side of that stat at the end of the game. Got to be the least penalized team cannot hurt yourself. We cannot shoot ourselves in the foot in this game or any game thereafter.
[00:13:43] Now on defense, my first quote of the game here is tackle.
[00:13:48] It was beyond evident that the tackling last week really left little to be desired. Now, Vanderbilt, they do play more of a balanced offense, so it makes me think that there will probably be less strain on the linebackers. You saw Stone getting exposed a little bit before his pick in the tackling department, right. I feel like that's just kind of being strained on and relied on a little bit more. They were running it so much, quarterback sneaks, et cetera. However, everyone needs to be ready to make the tackle, show some grit if the opportunity presents itself, especially on the back end of the defense. Right.
[00:14:29] My second crow to the game here is get off the field on third down. Jacksonville State last weekend was over 50% on third down, some of which was because of the poor tackling. Right. It's incredible concept. These things go together.
[00:14:46] That percentage cannot be that high against Vanderbilt. So Clayton White, he needs to be creative in his calls and you have to have the guys go execute and you can't allow these extended drives so much because those tend to catch up with you as the game goes on.
[00:15:05] So it's two pretty fundamental things we're asking the defense to do here.
[00:15:12] And really, if those things had happened last weekend, you're probably looking at a much different score at the end of the day.
[00:15:19] It's basically just don't give Vandy any extra advantage, right? Get off the field on third down and make your tackles. Basic stuff here for this defense now on the offensive side of the ball here, my first crow be better on third down. See how that goes.
[00:15:37] Last weekend, the Gamecocks went four for 14 on third down. That's 29%.
[00:15:45] That is not going to get it done. I don't care who you're playing.
[00:15:52] And just because it's Vanderbilt, right, that does not mean that they don't have big, strong SEC caliber athletes on their defense, meaning you can't take any third down lightly.
[00:16:06] So Dowel Loggins hopefully has a handful of plays that he feels really, really good about, that he can dial up if and when Carolina is in a critical third down spot because this offense needs to take the burden off the defense as much as they can.
[00:16:27] Vandy has given up a lot of points this year. I mean, all signs point to their defense as being the weak link of this team. So the Gamecocks simply need to take advantage of that.
[00:16:40] And especially in the middle of the field, too, where if you're on in that no man's land area, you need to be able to get into field goal range and then when you get into the red zone, be able to convert. But more so, let's keep the extended drives.
[00:16:55] My second quote of the game is going to tie into that, establish a run game, a consistent run game, rather, because with the exception of one play last week that really eluded South Carolina, the run blocking has to be better, especially being down Dak Joyner, because now you got to take extra care of those guys.
[00:17:16] So the guys up front need to make space for Mario Anderson. Juju McDowell might see DJ Braswell more than you have.
[00:17:25] Because if those guys can consistently bring balance to that side of the ball, it'll just open things up for everybody and make life a lot easier.
[00:17:35] Now, my third crow here on the offensive side, keep feeding the.
[00:17:42] KNow, I was going to try and get cute with this one, and I was, you know, you gotta have to find someone else to be a compliment to Xavier LeGuette, maybe take a little heat off him and things like that. But I said screw it.
[00:17:56] Xavier LeGuette is a freaking beast. Feed him all of the targets. Give him the ball until Vandy proves that they can stop him. Because if they can't, you can just do what you did last weekend and he's gonna have a record day I mean, he's clearly getting the separation he needs. Like, he's playing his position incredibly well.
[00:18:21] He plays great at home. He's on pace for a historic.
[00:18:26] Know the weather in Columbia might be a little iffy this weekend, so you need to turn to veterans who aren't going to let that stuff affect them as much. So just give Xavier Leguette all the targets you possibly mean people were talking and I was talking about it, too. Like, why weren't some of the other guys incorporated a little bit more? Maybe a guy like Nick harbor, right?
[00:18:51] Maybe it's possible that Spencer's reading the field and he just sees Xavier LeGuette is the most open on the field. He's probably his first read. So if your first read has a couple yards of separation, you're going to throw him the ball. Can't just throw the ball to harbor out of pity.
[00:19:07] Like, yes, if Nick harbor gets incorporated a little bit more, that makes for a dangerous combination. But if your best player, your best pass catcher is getting open, freaking give him the ball, who cares if it's working? Stick with it.
[00:19:26] Do it until they stop him. That's right.
[00:19:30] So overall, for the game here, it's another moment for South Carolina to try and get some momentum for this.
[00:19:37] Know, last weekend, I kind of look at it like they got the weight off their shoulders by actually winning a game this weekend. The question is, can you do so in a more convincing fashion so that you feel confident in yourselves for the last two games?
[00:19:56] Because there's no doubt Vanderbilt has a couple of good athletes on their team. More than a couple.
[00:20:02] But we are talking about a team that hasn't won an SEC game this year. They haven't won a game since week two and they're currently riding a 14 game losing streak to South Carolina.
[00:20:18] So Shane Beamer and staff have to have a game plan that's going to force Vanderbilt to turn to whatever depth they may or may not have. Because in my mind, that is the biggest gap that a program like theirs faces compared to the rest of the league.
[00:20:40] But looking inwards, the Gamecocks need to execute better across the board because Vanderbilts, they're not just going to give it to you, right? They have fought close battles with Carolina in recent memory. This needs to be a moment where the Gamecocks remember who they are and rise to the occasion and stick it to a team that they have owned because they're not going to go quietly. The last time these two played in Williams, Bryce came right down to the wire.
[00:21:09] So if South Carolina can take the field Saturday in Willie B and handle their business and be on the right side of this game, kind of right around that spread mark two scores and not needing a miracle, pick six to do so.
[00:21:25] Then I think that can put the entire team in more of that winner's mindset, which is what the team needs to try and close out this month.
[00:21:36] And I've said it before, this team is in no position to take any opponent for granted. But I am glad that the team is trying to correct some of these things and get it going against Vanderbilt and not another SEC team.
[00:21:55] But hopefully the weather holds up. Hopefully Willie B is rocking because of that and hopefully the guys tighten up the screws and if they do that and all these things fall into place, I think we should be okay by the end of this one and hopefully we feeling good. Go Cox. Let's absolutely go.
[00:22:13] All right. With that, let me give you all my six pack of picks for this weekend and then I will get you all out of here in the ACC. Give me Virginia Tech versus Boston College Under 49 and a half. BC is not terrible this year. Big Twelve Texas Tech versus Kansas minus four. Big Ten Michigan versus Penn State under 44 and a half. Defense is going to be at a premium this game. Pac Twelve Utah plus nine and a half versus Washington. Washington has played a couple of teams close. Utah is the type of team to not be afraid of traveling on the road. They smack in the mouth. They play good defense. Think it's going to be tight in the SEC. Give me Alabama minus eleven verse Kentucky. I recognize that this game is in Lexington. I kind of think Alabama has it rolling at this point. I kind of think Saban's figured it out. I'm going to take just an eleven point spread versus the Wildcats. Group of five. Give me Yukon versus JMU over 48 and a half. But with that y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is coxGamecocks. 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.
