Garcia gets tackled by ref and national attention
While us Gamecocks fans saw this Saturday night and scratched our heads, apparently we weren’t the only ones who thought this was a little odd. If you recall QB Stepehn Garcia got laid out by the ref, and it’s been college football’s talk of the week on the web and ESPN.
The more I watch it the more I see why. What the heck was going on here?? Apparently 2 out of 3 angles look like LSU’s defense growing by one player may not have been as much of an accident as it seemed? For the record Spurrier and Miles say there was no foul play. (That is besides the Gamecocks’ fourth quarter offense).
Longhorns Leap to No. 1 in Football Poll
Texas jumped, leaping past Alabama, to the top of this week’s poll with their pounding of Oklahoma Saturday. The Gamecocks got back into the vote-getters category and sit right outside the Top 25 with their win over Kentucky. Check out the widget below for the entire list:
Garcia Helps Nudge Gamecocks over Kentucky
Spurrier made his own “change we can believe in” by swapping the interception-prone Smelley out for Garcia late in a messy game, and the Gamecocks defense held the game within reach. The Gamecocks won a crucial game that would’ve could’ve derailed a wobbly season. And Garcia earned himself the immediate call as starter against LSU next week.
http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/552096.html
Recap
South Carolina (5-2, 2-2) won its ninth consecutive meeting against Kentucky (4-2, 0-2), which came in with momentum after nearly upsetting Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Instead, the Wildcats’ string of futility against Spurrier is the longest by any team against a single coach other than two losing streaks against Penn State’s Joe Paterno.
The game, billed as a field position showdown between two of the Southeastern Conference’s top defenses, lived up to that hype, at least until midway through the third quarter. That was when Spurrier, always quick with the hook on his quarterbacks, made a change that paid immediate dividends.
Stephen Garcia replaced a struggling Chris Smelley and led four consecutive drives into Wildcat territory, which the Gamecocks turned into 10 points. It could have been more if not for three missed second-half field goal attempts by Ryan Succop.
http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/552061.html
Smelley Wins SEC Player of the Week
This'll sober ya up, Garcia.
http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/546580.html
USC quarterback Chris Smelley was named the SEC’s offensive player of the week after throwing for a career-high 327 yards in the Gamecocks’ 31-24 win at Ole Miss.
Smelley, a redshirt sophomore from Tuscaloosa, Ala., completed 22 of 32 passes and tied a career high with three touchdown passes.
The right-hander has completed 63.1 percent of his passes this season, which ranks second among SEC quarterbacks, for 1,171 yards. His nine touchdown passes are tied for the conference lead.
Smelley is the second USC player to be honored in as many weeks. Kicker Ryan Succop was the SEC’s special teams player of the week following the UAB game.
