Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecock's reaction to the Missouri game and a weekend recap from around Carolina Athletics. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:32] Foreign.
[00:00:54] Welcome to episode 341 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And it might just be. It might just be 18 minutes of sadness here.
[00:01:11] I mean, sheesh, sitting here on a Sunday. Just tired of it, you know, just. It stinks. It just stinks, you know, sitting here again after a loss, dropping two in a row. And this one just. We're gonna get into it, of course, but just a heartbreaker, you know, just. I talked about this game being a gut check, and a lot of times you describe losses as like, you know, a gut punch, but this kind of did feel like a gut punch. Not from the standpoint of like, it was unexpected or anything like that, which I think that often gets associated with that term, but just like you just got hit in the gut and you're just, like, keeled over. Like, oh, what did we just witness? But.
[00:01:59] All right, we'll get into that in a second here. But before I do, let's do a weekend recap from around USC athletics. Got a few, a few to report on here Friday evening. Men's soccer tied Georgia State two to two Friday as well. Women's volleyball beat USC Upstate three, nothing. And the women's cross country team, they were in action Friday as well. They finished third in the Adidas Cross Country Challenge. That was up in Raleigh. There's a few things lingering that we will see how they shape up on Sunday evening just before or after, rather, I'm recording here. So we'll see that with women's soccer playing Florida.
[00:02:44] So, yeah, pretty good. Pretty good news from around Carolina athletics outside of the, outside of the football game here. But yeah, like, that's where we are now, you know. So Carolina obviously went out to Missouri, dropping a game to the Tigers 29 to 20 to move South Carolina to 2 and 2 on the year. And, you know, it's funny because last episode going into this game, I talked about how this is a bit of a litmus test for this team as to how will you respond to some adversity. You know, the game against Vanderbilt happened, and it was to me, all right, what is this team? What is the makeup of this team? Are they going to go to Missouri and lay an egg and, you know, kind of show signs of like, hey, that, that, that game kind of made you roll over a little bit or do you go and you show fight and you know, the reality in my mind is if you put aside the result and people could probably chastise me here, but you put the result aside for the most part. You did show up to this game. You know, I, you know, we're going to get into a little bit more specifics here, but you were right there. You were winning the ball game going into the fourth quarter, you were winning at halftime, and you were winning the ball game going into the fourth quarter. So to me, this team did kind of rally, you know, like it wasn't a blowout. The, the team did make some plays. You know, the offense was frustrating and sputtered, but you scored, you know, you scored twice in the second quarter there.
[00:04:37] So you got to give them credit for that a little bit. And there's people who will say, you know, there's no such thing as moral victories and things like that. And that that's true.
[00:04:48] Like you're sitting here with two losses, 02 in the SEC and however this season shapes up, when you look back at the Missouri game you lost, you're not going to say, well, they responded pretty well after the Vanderbilt, but you know, living here in the moment where it's a little bit more granular, I do think there's a little bit there that you can take a little bit. You know, like you went on the road, a weird, wacky place to play and you were winning the ball game for three quarters basically, you know, obviously 00 after the first. But you know, I.
[00:05:26] Self inflicted wounds. You know, that's, that's really my takeaway here. Just self inflicted wounds. I don't have the numbers in front of me here, but penalties and you know, I don't want to open up a can of worms here, but I feel like we talk about penalties almost every year and I'm a fan of Shane Beamer, I think he's a good coach for us.
[00:05:49] But his teams have been penalized at a high rate. I feel like, you know, going back a couple of years, that was like the topic of discussion this year. It has seemed to really kill us, especially pre snap.
[00:06:03] And we talk about Shula and the offense and all that jazz. Like that's on you, dude. Like that's on Shula for having these pre snap penalties and you have to get that under control because time and time again putting us behind the sticks is just crazy.
[00:06:21] It's just, that was just not acceptable in my mind. Like you're not going to be the most penalized team by far, and then expect to win the ballgame.
[00:06:34] So that was like my big takeaway there. Second, you know, just the inability to get that big third down stop, you know, especially late in the game. And this is what Missouri does, right? These games are always close with Missouri because their style of football very often is not the kind that's going to blow you out. Right. It's not the kind that's going to blow you away ground and pound, and that wears you down. And I think you saw that. I think there was some attrition come the fourth quarter. I think there was some fatigue come the fourth quarter. And that's exactly what Missouri wants to do. And you played right into their hand.
[00:07:10] But late in the game, that inability to get that big third down stop was just brutal.
[00:07:17] And you know, yes, you held them under 30 points and you were, you know, pretty much holding serve defensively for, you know, three quarters of the game.
[00:07:30] But you saw that against Vandy, these long drives, and that's their brand of football as well. And then you saw it even against Virginia Tech at times, just getting them to third and medium, third and long and you're not able to get that big stop. And that's concerning. It is.
[00:07:48] But I mean, where do we begin? Like offensively? You know, I thought Lenores did some good things, you know, when, you know, he did some good things throwing the ball. But there were a few, a few moments where he, he had some mental errors, you know, one or two that should have been picked that could have been back breakers and you avoided them kind of by luck of the draw, took far too many sacks. And look, there are times when there's a few when he, he couldn't do much, right?
[00:08:20] But there were a few where he should have gotten rid of the ball, you know, times when he would scramble out and held onto it and took a really, really bad sack.
[00:08:30] So, you know, I, I don't know what's going on there.
[00:08:34] You know, I mean, we've seen Lenores make some incredible plays. Like when he gets out of the pocket under duress, he scrambled and I think that's what he was doing. You know, he's keeping his eyes downfield and when he makes those plays, it's incredible and he has the ability to do it. But you saw Saturday night what happens when you aren't able to convert some of those and it really hurt the team. So that needs to get cleaned up. And I feel like there is a lot on Lenores plate now where, you know, I mean, just imagine what's going on in his mind and in that quarterback room. And we're just thinking about it as fans. You know, teams are playing you differently. You know, you're trying to become a little bit of a better passer, but you're still thinking, well, I have the ability to run. I can make plays with my legs, and when I scramble, I can get out and I can find a guy on the run and I can do these things.
[00:09:29] I think there's just a little too much on his plate, and I think things need to be simplified for him because when you see some of these plays, he has that magic ability. Like, you know, some of these deep shots he took were incredible dimes. There was the deep shot. I forget right now off top of my head who dropped it.
[00:09:48] But that would have been an incredible play. So I thought Lenores did a lot of good, but you certainly have to call a few things out, especially holding onto the ball, taking unnecessary sacks and things like that. But I talked about going into this game getting, needing a running game, and y' all can blame me, I guess, but the running numbers here are atrocious. You know, you end the game net minus nine, and they were holding that up on the screen. That was a little misleading because they're including the sacks in that. But it doesn't even matter because you look at the numbers and Attaway had 8 yards, Sewell had 6, Matt Fuller had 7. Like, so it's not even like these massive sacks that Lenores took, were taking away from. Like, how does that happen?
[00:10:48] My God, I'm looking at the box score now.
[00:10:50] How do you have eight yards of rushing? I mean, 22 rush attempts, you know, they, they, they were trying to be some, you know, stubborn with it to a degree.
[00:11:02] And it didn't feel like that in the moment, but like, yeah, you weren't able to get that big pop off the line that you really needed.
[00:11:09] I don't know, it's just, you know, you, you, you had some, you had some big plays which were, which were great. Van Vandrevius had a fantastic game. Seven receptions, that 49 yard touchdown, like, just fantastic. You know, Brian Rowe had a nice game. Nick harbor, you know, you saw JB make a play, so it felt like the passing game when Lenores had time was clicking. Like. And I think that's the frustrating thing with this game is, again, we were winning for a good chunk of time.
[00:11:46] And so you have a little bit of a fourth quarter collapse where you give up the points defensively.
[00:11:54] You know, back breaking drives. From Missouri, but offensively you just simply couldn't do it. And you know, I was watching it and you're like, okay, like this is a moment where this offense, like, needs to make a play or this is a moment where you could get one big play from the Norris and it can really change momentum here and just didn't get it. Missouri has a good defense. You're on the road, yet, you know, you end up as a nine point loss.
[00:12:24] You know, it's, it's tough. It's tough. So then, you know, you, you're sitting here again losing two in a row and you're just taking stock, right? Like, that's what I've been doing, processing this. It's just, where do we stand now? Right?
[00:12:42] There's a lot of season left, but, you know, you're, you're almost through, you know, I mean, you're through, I guess at four games. It's pretty crazy and sad to say, but you're, you're a third of the way through the season, right? You got one game before the bye.
[00:12:57] You're going back home against Kentucky. Like, again, that's not going to be a walk in the park, but you certainly like to believe that you can get that done at home at night and hopefully get you back on the track. But this first cluster of games, this first five games, and I talked about it in the off season, like, this was your chance to stack those wins.
[00:13:24] This was your opportunity to stack the wins and get the momentum and build that resume. Now that resume is just, you know, where, where can you find six plus wins, right? But you got one game left for the buy. I think the buy is going to really help this team. I think they need it. I think the fans need.
[00:13:44] But you, you have to be able to find a way to, to regroup here. So, you know, anytime after a loss, it's like, okay, well, what are the takeaways here?
[00:13:55] You know, it's, it's kind of more of the same, right, where the offensive line needs to continue to protect Lenores better. The run blocking, which has been bad all year, was terrible against Missouri. I understand they have a good D line and all that jazz, but you still need to be able to win some of these things.
[00:14:18] You don't have a rusher get 10 yards. I mean, really, like, what are we doing with that? Like, that needs to get the attention of everybody. Okay? Like, that's all hands on deck. Because if you can't get 10 yards of rushing from someone, my goodness, like, you need to figure out a different scheme, you got to figure out something. Because if you're just relying on Lenores to make plays all year, that will take you probably, you know, like, that's kind of cakes and point of this game here. You know, like, you were really leaning on Lenores to do everything, and he can do a lot for you.
[00:15:01] He can put you in striking distance, which he did.
[00:15:05] But when you can't get anything from the run game, you're just, you're just going to be out of luck.
[00:15:13] Yeah. So, like, that needs to be called out. Absolutely. When he has the time and he's able to sit back and dissect, the passing game has looked fine.
[00:15:25] That's not the issue. The issue was giving him the time and then maybe some of the decision making as far as not tucking and running or throwing it away, things like that. And, you know, you certainly can raise the point that, you know, he's still maturing and still developing and all that jazz in his football career. And you're absolutely correct.
[00:15:45] But it's everybody, you know, like fourth quarter, that's when games are won and lost and to not be able to put together really anything, that's. That's tough.
[00:15:58] That's tough. And then in that fourth quarter, and you know, that's not complimentary football. Right. Like, yes, we can talk about the defense having a little bit of a fourth quarter letdown, but, you know, you were asking a lot of the defense and for the most part, they did okay.
[00:16:16] They did okay. You know, there's certainly things throughout the game that you, you want back. You know, talk about running game. I mean, they were running all over us. Run defense was not good, so things to work on there, but when you lean on them, like, it's, you can only have so much, you know, like fourth quarter, you got to find a way to put points on the board, so self inflicted wounds. Because really, like, that's, that's what it is. You know, like the penalties and then the lack of a run game, like, you're not able to generate that, you know, and at the end of the day, I, I think this is, it's on the gamecocks, right? Like, there wasn't this big turnover or anything that that was caused. And you were right there. This one hurts because you were right there. And you know, I was watching and I'm like, man, like, you know, just stay calm, you know, like, we just gotta make a play or two here and like, we could do this and, you know, we could get back on track here and you end up shy of it. I think the number was nine and a half or ten going into the line going into the game, and it was nine points. Like, Vegas was right on top of it, as always. But, yeah, you know, what do you. You know, what can you do? You know, as fans, we sit here, we take it on the chin, and we move on. And I think that that's what the team has to continue to do. You know, we can't keep bringing up last year. I hate doing that so much as much as I have this year, because it's a new team, and clearly it's a new team. But, you know, last year, this team took some lumps in that first half of the year and then was able to turn it on.
[00:17:56] So it just goes to show that there is a lot of season left. But some of the things that we're seeing, like, are certainly concerning good news, is some of it's correctable, right? Like, if you erase the penalties from this game, it could be a different outcome. And so if you are able to tighten these things up and you cut the penalties, let's just say in half, moving forward, okay? You know, you got a team that's beatable in Kentucky at home next Saturday. Okay?
[00:18:28] Let's focus on that. All eyes forward, all onward.
[00:18:32] If we just get that winning feeling back, go into a bye week, then you're going to the teeth of your schedule and you got to give it hell. But that's what we do. So 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. Like, subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'. All Go Cox.
