Scott Davis: Fearless Domination by the Gamecocks

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Scott has followed Gamecock sports for more than 30 years and provides commentary from a fan perspective. His columns appear on Gamecock Central each Monday during football season and other times throughout the year.

If you’ve been watching Gamecock football as long as I have, you’ve seen it happen again and again.

The situation: South Carolina is matched up against a team with far less talent, far fewer impact players and far less hope for coming out with a win. As a fan, you walk into the stadium before games like that thinking, “Hey, I hope we see the backup quarterback by the third quarter, because I need to know exactly what he’s got. And I’d love for that true freshman defensive tackle to get some reps, too. For that matter, don’t we finally need to know if the light’s come on for that little-used cornerback that I think could be helping us?”

Oh, you’ve thought it. You’ve absolutely thought it.

And far too many times to count, you’ve watched the Gamecocks allow these opponents – the mid-majors, the members of the Southern Conference and the Sun Belt Conference – to hang around…and around…and around.

Before long, it’s the fourth quarter, and you’ve come to the unfortunate realization that your starting quarterback and starting running back and starting defensive line all continue to spend quality time on the field. And the game ends, and USC wins by some less than inspiring score like 27-17, and you walk back to your car wondering what exactly just happened (and wondering if that little-used cornerback will ever get his number called).

Despite having every available advantage in games like these, South Carolina’s football team has historically seemed almost afraid to walk onto the field and calmly put the hammer down.

Whether the opponent is Louisiana Tech or Eastern Michigan – or even Wofford or Furman – the Gamecocks have undeniably lacked a killer instinct when playing as heavy favorites across the decades.

And that’s why it was so refreshing to see them walk out of the tunnel on Saturday night, look across the field at a Southern Conference opponent, and then methodically and mercilessly impose their will for four quarters.

Gamecock football teams usually win games like this.

But they rarely have the clarity of mind, sense of purpose and, yes, the courage to dominate games like this.

In the grand scheme of things, it may not end up meaning much. South Carolina’s next opponent is undefeated, about to win the Atlantic Coast Conference and will play in the College Football Playoff for what seems like the 900th year in a row (barring a miracle). The Gamecocks are headed to a bowl game that will be forgotten almost as soon as it’s played.

Wins – even convincing ones – over the likes of a 6-4 Chattanooga team probably shouldn’t be taken as a sign that a future dynasty is brewing in Columbia.

And yet…

Watching the game unfold, I kept thinking “This is what real college football teams do. They destroy overmatched teams. They relentlessly destroy them.”

For far too long, Gamecock football teams haven’t been able to pass that simple test: Destroy the overmatched.

On Saturday night, they aced that test – something I honestly doubted would happen in the disappointing aftermath of the Gainesville Meltdown.

If we want to look for signs of progress heading into 2019, then let’s start right there.

Emptying the Bench – If you were hoping to look down at a group of garnet-clad Gamecocks on the Williams-Brice turf and think to yourself, “Wait, who are these guys again?”, then this was the game for you. By the fourth quarter, quarterback Jake Bentley had handed over the offensive controls to Michael Scarnecchia, who in turn handed them over to true freshman Dakereon Joyner, who himself then passed the baton along to Jay Urich. The Gamecocks’ leading rusher was true freshman Deshaun Fenwick. And just about everyone playing defense for South Carolina in the game’s final moments was someone you’ve rarely seen on the field and probably weren’t sure you were going to see in 2018.

Explosive Plays Exploding All Over the Place – It took about half-a-season, but the Gamecock offense seems to have finally taken a bold step out into the light under first-year offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon. Will Muschamp has long suggested that the team needed to stockpile “explosive plays” on the offensive stat sheets if it wanted to win, which are described as runs for 10 yards or more and passing plays for 20 yards or more. While the following may not all meet the technical standards of that definition, I’d like to hand out individual Game Balls to the following plays that exploded across my television screen and blew apart my mind:

Bentley scrambling to his left, shaking off an almost certain sack, then throwing across his body to a wide open AJ Turner, who tap-danced along the back of the end zone for a TD

Bentley finding a diving Bryan Edwards along the sidelines for a huge pickup as Edwards scraped a foot in-bounds

Deebo Samuel taking a bullet across the middle and then sprinting past stunned Chattanooga Mocs on his way to the house

Shi Smith hauling in a screen pass near midfield, running directly into a pac of Mocs, then grinding his way through the would-be tacklers to bounce free and race for one of the weirder TD’s I’ve seen in awhile

Cool Temperatures in Williams-Brice Stadium – Almost never happen. Football weather! In Columbia, South Carolina?

Gamecock Fans Trying to Be Fired Up for a Game Against Chattanooga the Week Before Clemson and the Week After Their Team Lost in Excruciating Fashion in Gainesville – For a half or so, that was actually a fairly spirited scene in W-B, at least considering the circumstances. The students, in particular, seemed to be giving the moment as much as they could summon.

The Breakneck Pace on Offense – Is something we kept hearing about all offseason, then didn’t always see on the field. But it’s been coming into focus the last couple of weeks and never more so than Saturday, when the Gamecock offense often snapped the ball before the SEC Network’s cameras had even returned to the action.

Injuries on Top of Injuries (Multiplied by Injuries) – This was a game that you hoped the Gamecocks would simply survive after both the defensive secondary and the running back corps have been decimated by injuries in 2018. Almost inevitably, freshman safety Jaycee Horn (who was manning a safety spot because of previous injuries) suffered an ankle injury within minutes of the opening kickoff. And with two running backs already sidelined because of injuries, starting tailback AJ Turner wound up getting banged up after a productive first half. Both guys should be OK for the next couple of games, but still…what the hell is happening out there?

Me Thinking About Watching a Decimated, Injury-Plagued Gamecock Defense Trying to Stop Clemson’s Offense This Weekend – To say I’m looking forward to this coming Saturday would be, like, 100% false.

The SEC Network Alternate Channel’s Commercial Lineup During the Game – If you were wondering whether or not South Carolina vs. Chattanooga was a ratings blockbuster for ESPN, you needed to only glance at the commercials that played during the SEC Network’s Alternate Channel broadcast of the game. Were you excited to learn more about the ScotteVest, which, as far as I can tell, is a vest that has a bunch of pockets on it? How about Brett Favre and Jerry Rice hawking back braces? My favorite was an infomercial-length spot featuring an old man who repeatedly couldn’t hear his son tell him “I love you,” and his life seemed utterly pointless…until he found new hearing aids for the bargain price of just $699!!! While we’re here…

The Spectacularly Uninspiring Lineup of SEC Football Games on Saturday – Does Alabama vs. The Citadel, Georgia vs. UMass, LSU vs. Rice, Auburn vs. Liberty, Florida vs. Idaho and South Carolina vs. Chattanooga make you heart go pitter patter? You know things are bad when the marquee CBS matchup at 3:30 features Tennessee vs. Missouri…who are something like a combined 3-437 in SEC play in 2018. Look, this has been happening for years and years – the week before SEC schools play their archrivals, they want to schedule what is essentially a glorified bye. I understand, it makes sense, I get it…and I still hate it. I almost contemplated running shopping errands with my wife. I mean, I didn’t, but I thought about it.

At least for one chilly night in November, the South Carolina Gamecocks were absolutely unafraid to dominate a football game.

They’ll need the same caliber of courage this weekend if they’re going to turn the tide in a rivalry gone wrong.

Come to think of it, I need some courage myself.

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