Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks women's basketball roster note, football recruiting updates and the Mount Rushmore of Gamecock games I have attended. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:55] Okay.
[00:00:56] Welcome to episode 396 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 4th of July.
[00:01:12] Appreciate you guys bearing with me with, you know, taking the the week off, traveling holiday, all that jazz. But we are back in action now. Celebrated America 250 to the fullest and really just staring down the barrel of the rest of summer here, waiting until football season.
[00:01:30] It's great. I mean, you know, World cups wrapping up.
[00:01:33] USA's out of that. So, you know, back to waiting for four years to care about soccer again. But full on, full steam ahead, thinking about the Gamecocks talking ball. Starting to really get that itch. And yeah, it's going to be here before we know it. I mean, I've seen some countdowns. It's like what, like seven more Saturdays? Something like that. It's crazy. Very, very excited for it. But let's jump into things here. Got a few things to talk about here. And then doing something I've thought about doing for a while on the show but never did.
[00:02:06] First time for everything. But before I get into it, I'll of course have to take a look at my Gamecock trivia calendar here and let's see if y' all can get this one.
[00:02:16] Can you name the first Gamecocks baseball player to be inducted into the University of South Carolina Athletic hall of Fame? After playing football 1911-1912 and baseball 1912-13 for USC, he eventually went on to a pro baseball career with the Cincinnati Reds.
[00:02:39] I can confidently say I don't know who this is.
[00:02:44] Alfred H. Von Kolnitz.
[00:02:48] Sorry if I butchered your last name. Alfred H. Von Colnitz. Shout out. Shout out, Alfred.
[00:02:55] Al, Just a hell of a baseball player. Went on to play with the Reds. Reds are that old. That's crazy.
[00:03:00] Yeah, two sport athlete.
[00:03:03] That's what we talked. That's what I'm talking about.
[00:03:06] Carolina baseball history of winning and producing great talent. Shout out, Alfred. Shout out. South Carolina baseball. We are back on the come up here. All right, so I'm going to jump into some news and notes here. I have a interesting note to probably not the best turn of phrase there, but a note from the women's basketball team here as point guard Maddie McDaniel is stepping away from the team to address her mental health. So first off, I want to say like hopefully she gets whatever help she needs because it is okay to not be okay. Whether you are a student athlete, a family man, a student, a regular worker, white collar, blue collar, doesn't matter. It is okay to not be okay. And addressing one's mental health is incredibly brave and important from a sports perspective because that's the reason why this is making headlines. It is going to be interesting to see how this shakes out from a roster and rotation standpoint.
[00:04:13] McDaniel, big player for South Carolina, was expected to take that next step in development and be a big, big time player for us, especially at the point guard position.
[00:04:24] But there will be plenty of time to sort that out. I think Carolina is going to be a big tall team this upcoming season, so you just got to find someone who can work it down to the post. Going to be interesting to see how dawn figures that out, but again there's plenty of time for that and really right now just hoping Matty does whatever she needs to to get right.
[00:04:45] But shifting gears over to the football team, Got some recruiting update for y' all here. This is exciting. It's there's been some big time updates for y' all starting with four star safety Davion Jones, committed late last week to South Carolina. That comes off the heels of the big Josh Dobson commitment.
[00:05:05] I believe the two are actually teammates and really just continues the great work that Beamer and staff have put for the state of North Carolina. You look at it this past cycle and the Gamecocks have had a lot of success in the Tar Heel State, which was a bit of an enigma for this staff.
[00:05:25] I guess up until this season, like there had been a few instances, but that was an area where Beamer and co, I don't want to say struggled but maybe didn't succeed as much as you would think. But being right across the border in a state that South Carolina has done decently recruiting in, but this is making waves. Like not only is this going to make waves against, you know, teams like UNC and NC State, there's teams like Tennessee, there's teams like a new and improved Virginia Tech that this is a big time recruiting base for them. And so for South Carolina to get in there and throw some weight around, throw some nil around and to get some big time talented players, that's going to send a big message.
[00:06:07] And then continuing here, four star offensive tackle Nate Carson also committed to the Gamecocks. Local guy right out of Irmo ranked the fifth best player in the state, got to love a local, highly talented offensive tackle. Like that's just what dreams are made out of. So we'll absolutely welcome him home. And then three star edge Jaden Brody committed to Carolina on the fourth of July.
[00:06:32] How about that? I think he might be from North Carolina as well. I could be wrong, but nonetheless, there's been a flurry of recruiting activity coming our way, which I've talked about it before, is a big time welcomed sight after what was kind of a sluggish June and a month where we lost on some big time recruiting battles. So great to see the momentum back in our favor. I checked just before recording this, I think on 2, 4, 7, Carolina is ranked 28th, I think nationally recruiting rankings, but their rating system seemed a little fudged. Like Dobson wasn't rated as highly as he is in other places. So those are all to a degree, some subjective. But if you looked at those rankings this time last month, Carolina was in like the 50s, I think. So really has built up that class and it's, it's great to see here. And you know, as I've been going through the week and getting ready for the show and everything like that, I was actually approached this is on a different note here. I was approached to go on a Georgia podcast, who I actually have been a guest on theirs before. Sort of a behind enemy lines situation. I was talking about what to expect from the Gamecocks this season, talked about our upcoming matchup with uga and it got me thinking of just some of the great matchups that that rivalry has produced. And it led me to this next segment of one that I've thought about doing for a while.
[00:08:04] Finally have shout out PMT on this. I'm taking a page out of their book and it's Mount Rushmore. It is the Mount Rushmore of Gamecock football games that I have attended.
[00:08:16] So the disclaimer here is I've been, you know, said it before, been open about it. Like I was not someone who was raised a Gamecock fan. My Gamecock fandom started in 2011 when I stepped on campus, or 2010 when I toured it, let's say, right.
[00:08:35] Great time to start rooting for the team. But those expectations have just been permanently set way too high, which explains a lot of my frustrations watching games on Saturday. But I digress. So don't come at me if there's a game in like 2009 or something like that that I missed, because I'm sure it would be on the list. But everything is from 2011 after. And again, this is just football.
[00:08:59] Maybe I'll do this for basketball and baseball as well this upcoming season. But again, it's all eyes on football here. And this is just a fun walk down memory lane here. And it's crazy. Like, the precursor to this was just really trying to jog my memory. I had three right off the bat, and I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything. Right.
[00:09:22] So going back and looking at these schedules starting in 2011, like, seeing that era is insane. Just beating the crap out of everybody, like winning streaks out the wazoo. And then it was the exact opposite. Seeing it go sideways. And then you get the flashbacks of the early must champ years where you thought maybe this was going to work out, and then you see how terrible that went, and then you're back here reliving some of the recent years. It was a wild trip of nostalgia watching some highlights from these games, like looking up old box scores. Just like a very fun deep dive. If you have time, I would recommend doing that because it was fun.
[00:10:09] Sometimes a little depressing, but for the most part, it was quite fun. But. All right, let's jump into this here.
[00:10:15] Mount Rushmore, for those of you who don't know, Mount Rushmore has four faces on it. So this is effectively the top four games that I've attended in person for Gamecock football. There will be one honorable mention, starting with my absolute number one here, 2012 at home against Georgia. If you know, you know this game lives in Gamecock lore, especially modern Gamecock history.
[00:10:44] The team had arrived.
[00:10:46] You get to the SEC championship game in 2010, 2011, you have a fantastic season. 2012, there's the expectations. You're returning a bunch of guys, and this game was electric. It was slightly later in the year than it had been. There was more anticipation.
[00:11:03] Both teams incredibly highly ranked. College game day coming to the Horseshoe with an incredible backdrop.
[00:11:11] I mean, I was living off campus at the time, and I slept on campus in my friend's dorm room on the floor, just so we could wake up early enough to get a good spot for game day. And I'm getting chills thinking about it now, just hearing the roar from game day through this fog that was going around campus early that morning, and just the beautiful day that it turned out to be, and just this sense of excitement and anticipation that really permeated campus that whole week and cumulated in an incredible atmosphere in Williams Bryce. I mean, right away, just electric. And if you remember correctly, early in that game, Shaw threw A pass.
[00:11:58] It might have been to Demir Bird, but he underthrew it. And it looked like it was going to get picked off, but Bird went up and mossed it and took it back again. It might not have been demure, but nonetheless, game started out electric. You have the Ace Sanders punt return.
[00:12:13] One of two moments like that. You could argue that's like the loudest in Williams Bryce Stadium history.
[00:12:18] I remember who I was watching that game with. I remember where I was in the student section.
[00:12:23] It's insane. Like, if I could get a time machine and relive a moment of my life, it might just have to be that one. So incredible. Have to talk about this one. Have to lead off with this one. 2012 at home against Georgia. Wow, what a game.
[00:12:41] Next up, I got 2011 at home versus Clemson. Now, it was tough picking which Clemson game I wanted to list here. Again, fantastic time looking back and remembering the fear of the thumb and all that, because that was a great time to be alive and a Gamecock fan. But this was my first taste of the rivalry again. 2011, my first season of college football. I was bought in before I even got there. But having tasted it, it was just, I'm hooked. I'm hooked on this for life and here I am today. But nonetheless, that first rivalry game in person, it embodies it. And I said, okay, now I get it. And I was talking to fraternity brothers and friends who had experienced this rivalry for years and just hearing what it meant to them and their families and all the times that they told me about games they attended and, you know, close games, heartbreaks, things like that. What to chirp back to Clemson fans if they chirp at you. It was incredible. And, you know, it was a great game. You jumped up early on them. They had a late push at the half, you held them away, and you pulled away in the second half for what was a very comfortable game and a very fun way to wrap up that slate there.
[00:14:07] Then I have 2022 at home versus Texas A and M. That is the Xavier Leggett opening kickoff return.
[00:14:17] It's that and Ace Sanders as I think the loudest I've heard. Williams, Bryce, personally, finally beating A and M, getting over that hump. That was a struggle of a game. Like Carolina jumped out early and you had this thought that maybe this was going to be like that 2012 Georgia game where you were just going to roll. No, no, no. This was a struggle of a game at times.
[00:14:39] It took defense, it took grit, it took some special teams. But you Held off that team. And really, by the end of that game, it was absolutely rocking in Williams Bryce, and you got the win. I remember they were playing Soulja Boy as everyone was walking out. I thought there was a good chance that we were going to storm the field. And if Ray Tanner Co. At the time were a little bit more fun, I actually think they would have let that happen. But they were really quick to get full security. But, man, that was an absolute banger. And it was one where, as an alum. Right. I mean, look at this here. Ten years after that Georgia game I listed, it really felt like, holy smokes. Like, as great as the atmosphere is in Williams Bryce, to capture that energy and to feel like, wow, this is how it was in sort of those peak moments.
[00:15:39] It was just incredible to be a part of it. And then the last one here, repeat opponent. But again, they were Incredible moments here. 2014 at home versus Georgia. This one was very interesting that year.
[00:15:55] The team started to struggle a little bit. The defense went downhill, but there were still a lot of expectations at this point in the year. I want to say it was week three. I think we were 2 0.
[00:16:06] But this one had the extra element of the weather.
[00:16:10] If you remember correctly, there was a lightning delay, and they actually let you leave the stadium, at least in the student section. This was the case. I left. I went into the game ready for kickoff. There was a lightning delay, and they let you leave and come back. So you got double tailgate going into this game. You're raring to go.
[00:16:31] I mean, you're trying to figure out what time kickoff is. You get it? But it was pouring rain pretty much the entire game. And I remember it being late in the game, so dark out there and pouring rain. I just remember feeling like I was in a movie, just because it was just so dramatic.
[00:16:53] And that was a struggle of the game. Right? Like. And I think South Carolina just really willed themselves to that win. And I think collectively, that group said, like, we're not losing to Georgia at home.
[00:17:06] And they really, you know, buckled down, tightened it up late. There was that late stop and short yardage that secured the win.
[00:17:16] Man, that one sneaky, sneaky, good game to be at. And again, it was very hard to whittle this down. But, you know, those Georgia matchups, I mean, it's been that way for, you know, a while. They've created some incredible moments. There's been some absolute ones that have gone the opposite way. Right. But they've produced some very incredible times. So that's my Mount Rushmore there. My honorable mention is 2024 against Mizzou. And that was the Rocket Sanders late score. That game was probably the most up and down, physically exhausting game. I think I've been a part of.
[00:17:59] I've been a part of games that have been incredible, games that have left me hoarse for days.
[00:18:05] You know, shins hurt for leaning forward on the bleachers, sunburnt like it's nobody's business.
[00:18:12] This game was maybe the most emotionally taxing that I've been to in person, at least that I can think of. Because, again, you're trying to beat this team that had your number for a while.
[00:18:25] You felt good about the team going in it. There was a lot of excitement that season.
[00:18:30] That was a team that didn't know how to quit, a team that never said no.
[00:18:34] And all of a sudden, Mizzou just creeps back into it and takes the lead late. And you just. I think every fan was like, here we go again. This is what the Gamecocks do. They break your heart.
[00:18:44] And then Lenores orchestrates that drive. And I'm thinking, we're going to kick the field goal and tie this thing and go to overtime only for Rocket to score. And I remember I literally lost my breath.
[00:18:56] And I had, like. I had to sit down. I was like, I can't believe what we just witnessed.
[00:19:01] So it's hard not to put that one there. But when you look at, you know, you look at some of these ones, I just. I couldn't knock off, you know, like that 14 Georgia game. But nonetheless, what a trip down memory lane.
[00:19:14] Let me know what y' all think. If you have any games that stick out that you've been to, would love to hear it. 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.
