Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, the football team hits the road. A possible Dylan Stewart return. And I give my six pack of picks. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:53] Okay.
[00:00:55] Welcome to episode 412 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y' all had a lovely week. Gamecox ready for what could be a little bit of a wet and wild weekend here, not only in the Carolinas, but really throughout the Southeast. Really threatening to upend our college football Saturday. And you know, that's just how you're gonna get people to pay attention and heed maybe some weather warnings or to do something about the weather. We can't be having these hurricanes that are moving games and things like that. That's just where I draw the line. But for real ones who remember that Georgia game that got moved to a Sunday, I was actually at that game in Columbia that weekend. That was a wild one. Yeah, I mean, I just remember waking up Saturday and being like, yeah, we can. We could play in this. And it was a full blown, like, the effects of a hurricane. Like, no, absolutely not. But we'll see how it goes.
[00:01:56] Gamecocks. It seems like the weather is going to be hit or miss, which is just par for the course for this year, and hopefully we're fine. Although seems like some games elsewhere in the conference might be affected, but that's not our concern. We got plenty on our plate and let's jump right into it here, starting with a week in review. I don't really have much to review with y'. All. It's been a very sparse week. A lot of the action is focused on the weekends here. But if we're going to go back a few days here. Sunday women's volleyball was in action and they beat Arkansas 3 to 2. Absolutely love to see that. And we have a lot of action coming up this weekend that I will catch y' all up on next episode. And hopefully we're feeling little bit better than we have been in the post game review. It's going to be tough sledding here as the football team heads on the road to the Swamp. First time playing the Gators in a few years, and as tricky as it is to go to the Swamp, and as up and down as those matchups have been against Florida, it is nice to see them on the schedule here. Of course, this game is coming at a very interesting time as the Gamecocks are looking to get back in the win column and get this season on track ahead of the bye week. That bye week comes smack in the middle of the season, a lovely time for Carolina, but really it is. Can you get this monkey off your back? This losing streak, not just this year but extending into last year is gotta be on weighing. It has to be weighing on these guys. I mean the more I think about it, just the more frustrated I get with the fact that we just have been on the wrong end of this thing for so long and I'm just demoralized and I'm talking with my buddies about it and I think that that's a pretty good word to sum up a lot of the fans feelings right now. And it's just demoralizing. And you get so excited for these Saturdays and you know, you're damn right I'm going to lock in and I'm going to sit down and watch all of these games because that's what we look forward to. And I love this team and I love this school but you gotta win something. You know what I mean?
[00:04:16] So coming at a very interesting time here.03 in the SEC on the road in a tough place to play in the Swamp. And let's talk about the Gators here, 16th ranked going into this matchup under first year coach John Sumrall who came in and has seemed to really captivated that locker room and that fan base. And really early they looked the part and he seems to have gotten them on track here sitting at four 1, 2 and 1 in the SEC. But they are coming off a loss.
[00:04:50] They were on the road last week to Missouri and really got bullied if anyone's keeping track. I had Florida in this, in that last week's matchup in my six pack. I thought they were rolling after really cruising past Ole Miss. But no, Missouri was able to really contain Florida's offensive attack and then defensively expose them. And it's an interesting dynamic with Florida. You know they have these good skill position players. They have a really good running back in Jaden Ball. Philo, their quarterback has been doing some good things as well. So they're going to put up a very staunch offensive attack for you. They, they're, they're going to be tough to battle for this Carolina Gamecocks team but defensively they have not been as sharp and in fact, you know, I got to give a credit here to SEC Mike out on Twitter. He always puts out these fantastic graphics here when, when you look at how these teams match up here, you know, defensively, passing defense, Carolina ranks higher, rushing offense Carolina ranks higher. Rushing defense, Carolina ranks higher. Third down defense, Carolina ranks way higher. So in some of these key metrics, it feels like South Carolina may have a technical edge.
[00:06:14] I think that's the frustrating part in what we've seen so far this year from South Carolina is that statistically in some major categories, the team has done pretty well. They have one of the best rushing attacks in the country.
[00:06:29] Offense is the. Is, you know, points per game wise, very solid. Best that we've had in a while.
[00:06:38] And yet it's some of these in game decisions and in game instances and collapses that have plagued the team. So, yeah, it's like an interesting spot where I don't necessarily doubt that South Carolina can go down to Gainesville and put up a fight.
[00:06:58] Like, I don't doubt that this game is not going to be competitive. It's interesting that you look at the spread here. It's kind of damning. Carolina is eleven and a half point underdogs. Sheesh.
[00:07:10] Yeah, word is out on the Gamecocks here. Like long are the days when we were favorited. But even so, if we can get the Lenore Sellers that we saw against Kentucky and, and if Matt Fuller can continue to tout the rock well, and if you can tighten up some of these issues with the receivers and drops and things like that, like you can put pressure on this Florida team.
[00:07:34] The total for this game is 59 and a half points.
[00:07:38] That's kind of what I'm expecting. I think this could be a game where both teams get into the 30s. It could very well feel like a shootout. Weather could be a factor, but we'll see how that goes.
[00:07:50] And that could be a situation where maybe special teams gets.
[00:07:54] Gets impacted a little bit by the weather here. But when we look at Carolina, there's a few roster things going on this week. First off, Dylan Stewart mysteriously may or may not play. Shane Beamer said in his press conference that he was back with the team. He's no longer suspended from team activities. He was at practice, Beamer said. They spoke. I think he said every day and was pretty coy on his answer, as if he's going to play or not. But if Stewie's practicing and frankly, you're on the hot seat, you're trying to go into the buy with some momentum. You need all the help you can get. I'd bet, I'd bet almost anything that I have that Dylan Stewart's going to play. Which leads me to the injury report, which is not something that I've dove into a lot here recently.
[00:08:48] A lot of it fluctuates so much by the time I record and it goes out, it's so different. But I think it is important to call out that Stewie is not listed in that report. He was, I believe, last week listed as out, so he's not on this at all. But the Gamecocks all of a sudden are pretty banged up. I mean, we didn't hear about this much in post game press conferences or even midweek press conferences.
[00:09:11] You got Mazio Bennett and Carter Miller. Offensive lineman Carter Miller are questionable as of Wednesday evening. Hopefully that progresses well by the time y' all are listening to this and you still have Gabe Brownlow, Dinley listed as doubtful and Edge Julian Walker is listed as doubtful as well. So not exactly what you need. Especially when we talk about an offensive group that really has struggled so far this season. You need to be at full strength. So if you can find a way to get either of those guys back, either Walker or Gabe Brownlow Dinley, one of those guys back in addition to Stewie, that's a shot in the arm that this defense can need on the offensive side of the ball. When we talk about Mazio Bennett, I mean minus one instance that I can think of, he has been probably the most reliable target for Sellers this season. He's experienced, he's hungry, he's a leader.
[00:10:05] That's someone that you need out there because outside of him, there's not many guys that you can trust to simply catch the ball. Maybe outside of Donovan Murph, now that I'm thinking about it.
[00:10:15] So if Mazio is out, then you need a healthy dose of Murph. He needs a start.
[00:10:20] And if Nitro Tuggle has a drop or too early, he should not see the field after that. Harbor, I don't know.
[00:10:27] You know, love the kid has every tool in his bag except the hands.
[00:10:32] And you need to keep him on the field because he can draw the defense his way.
[00:10:37] You have to run a couple of go routes with him every game, see if you can hit on it, see if you can get hit on that bubble screen to make a guy miss and then take off.
[00:10:46] But in terms of those critical moment catches, I just don't know.
[00:10:52] So hopefully by the time you're listening to this and it is published, we are ready to go and feeling healthier going into this game. But it should be an interesting one and it's also a real test to this Florida team as well. Came out of the gates hot, had a huge home win against Ole Miss. But then got on the road and got spanked. How did they respond? It is possible that this Florida team maybe is going to level off a little bit. And you have a team in South Carolina that's been doubted for weeks.
[00:11:26] And something that I, you know, really hope that this staff is looking at is how they do things in their processes and their procedures in game prep.
[00:11:36] And then we talk about halftime adjustments. Shane Beamer touched on this a little bit. He said that their process has largely remained the same. I'm actually going to hold off on that as I'm about to get into my crows of the game and I do mention halftime adjustments. So let me jump right into that now.
[00:11:52] Fantastic podcasting there, but I'm changing things up a little bit here. So y' all know me that going into these games, I get kind of nuanced, if you will. I look at each.
[00:12:06] Each side of the ball and what they need to do. The fact of the matter is, I was sitting throughout this week and I'm saying sitting at the record that the team has, and again on the wrong end of a very long losing streak against Power 4 competition, that there's not these little things that the team need to focus on going into this game and then they can get over the hump. There are systematic issues that have plagued this team that need to be corrected going into this week and beyond. If you go on Garnet and cocky.com I wrote the article about this. It's going to say a lot of the same stuff, but pieces together what I'm trying to say here. So the first thing is exactly those halftime adjustments. Okay, just said it two seconds ago. But Beamer in his press conference said that they have largely done the same process at the half.
[00:13:01] His entire tenure here, he said it's not that far off from anywhere he's been in college football. But my question to that is, how come other teams come out of the half seemingly better prepared in almost every game and certainly every power game this season?
[00:13:19] But there have been numerous instances where South Carolina comes out and has either not made any adjustments to the layman's eye, or has made adjustments and they have just flat out wrong.
[00:13:30] So you need to figure out what's going on at the half. Like, either these discussions about what we're going to do need to happen earlier in the game, or maybe we need to not focus on, you know, position groups and just have entire units speak to each other and, you know, so you can't have the same mistakes going on again. This game could be Competitive going into Florida. And if it is right, like even if South Carolina is behind, which maybe that's what this team needs, maybe Carolina needs to be in a tight one going into the half. Like down seven, you get the ball at the half and you're like, okay, well we have to come from behind now. We possibly can have a choke job in the third, maybe.
[00:14:22] So you need to absolutely come out of the, out of the gates in the second half. Well, another thing that needs to get cleaned up this week and beyond is communication.
[00:14:32] So if you'd like to see what miscommunication on a football field looks like, look no further than the two point conversion play where South Carolina lost against Kentucky last week.
[00:14:44] The defensive backs were very actively communicating and Shane Beamer talked about this. You can see them on the field, talking to each other, pointing.
[00:14:55] And yet the receiver, tight end, whoever it was, was wide open for that touchdown. Two point conversion. Excuse me.
[00:15:04] So right there is a miscommunication that there is physical communication going on. It's not like these guys are ignoring each other out there, yet they're not understanding and comprehending what to do.
[00:15:17] So that boils down to me to coaching because it's like, okay, you guys maybe understand in theory what needs to go on, but in practice it does not.
[00:15:27] So something needs to be simplified or retaught, something along those lines.
[00:15:31] That's just. But one example, another one is self inflicted wounds. Okay?
[00:15:38] Dropped passes, bad 4th down calls, untimely penalties. If I went through them all, it would just be too long to list, right? So time and again there have been instances of these mistakes which have proven critical to the game's outcome.
[00:15:55] If someone can't execute, he needs to be subbed out.
[00:15:59] And Beamer, you know, I, I said this last episode, I, I think he needs to have a better understanding of the psyche of this team.
[00:16:10] And yes, maybe analytically it makes sense to go for some of these fourth downs or you're trying to coach aggressive as he says, this team needs to see a couple go through the hoop, so to speak. So if we open up the game well again and you get deep into Florida territory again and you're well within field goal range, you need to take those points. I think it's okay to coach a little bit more conservative this game, especially early on.
[00:16:43] Get those points, show the offense that their, their hard work is paying off, and then let your defense catch their breath and don't put them in a hole with maybe some poor field position.
[00:16:54] So all of these things come together and it's going to be one of these games where maybe, just maybe, we can get back on track here.
[00:17:07] Looking to beat Florida for the first time since 2021, I believe so.
[00:17:12] It's going to be a challenge. That's absolutely the case. But, you know, you can't quite put your finger on this team. Right? You know, you think we can handle ourselves against Mississippi State and doesn't go well. Kentucky, you know, maybe this. This team needs to get on the road.
[00:17:31] They're looking at just each other in that locker room.
[00:17:35] Maybe they surprise us. Right?
[00:17:37] This team has been competitive.
[00:17:40] This team has talent.
[00:17:43] It's just a matter of getting them to put it together for the entire time.
[00:17:47] And while we haven't seen it yet, I have to believe that somewhere Beamer is looking at what goes on in the second half. I mean, you would hope so, right?
[00:17:59] You can't be giving out atta boys at halftime.
[00:18:02] Got to tell this team to stay aggressive.
[00:18:05] So let's go. I mean, you know, let's. Let's see if we can't get that dub out there. If you get this win against Florida, you can go into the bye week, you can get healthy, you got some momentum. That second half of the schedule doesn't look as daunting as it once did. And maybe you can get this season back on track. It's crazy to think that we're only halfway, but we'll see how this. This goes next week. We'll take stock of where we're at in the bye week and we'll go from there.
[00:18:35] Let's go.
[00:18:37] All right, let me give you all my six pack of picks, and then I'll get you all out of here.
[00:18:41] In the ACC, Stanford versus Notre Dame over 54 and a half. In the Big 12, Arizona versus West Virginia over 60 and a half.
[00:18:51] Big 10, UCLA plus 11 and a half versus Oregon.
[00:18:56] And SEC give me Tennessee minus 13 and a half versus Arkansas and A&M versus Mizzou under 48 and a half. And then Group of 5, Old Dominion versus APP give me APP minus 9 and a half. But with that, y', all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media Twitter or X is Cox gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking gamecox. And please, like, subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'. All. Go Cops.
