Scott Davis: Knockout in Knoxville
GamecockCentral.com columnist Scott Davis, who has followed USC sports for more than 30 years, provides commentary from the perspective of a Gamecocks fan. You can follow Scott on Twitter at @scdonfire.
I can’t breathe.
It’s unclear whether I’m actually alive right now.
South Carolina 15, Tennessee 9, in Knoxville, on the banks of the Tennessee River.
With the Vol offense on the 2-yard line and threatening to win the football game as time expired.
You know what? I can’t do this.
I’m too strung out, too stressed out, too whatever’d-out to write a column about this.
In the words of Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, “I’m too old for this (bleep).”
And I am. I really, really am.
We won, I’m not exactly sure how it happened, we’re inexplicably 5-2 after losing most of the two-deep to injuries the last few weeks, so let’s just toss out Game Balls, get out of here without angering the Football Gods, keep our heads down and Bye Week the hell out of this thing.
Five-and-two.
Five-and-two.
Five-and-two…
The Deebo Samuel Large Pepperoni Pizza Game Balls of the Week
When South Carolina defeats Tennessee in football in Knoxville, I typically have quite a few Game Balls to hand out, and I’m throwing Deebos to the following:
DEE-FENSE!!! (clap, clap) DEE-FENSE!!!! (clap, clap) – In the first half, with the Gamecocks sputtering repeatedly on offense, the defense single-handedly kept the team’s hopes afloat by continuing to keep the Vols out of the end zone and forcing them to settle for field goals. In the second half, they simply denied Tennessee from moving the football at all, allowing just a handful of first downs and a meager 75 yards during the last 30 minutes. As it turned out, South Carolina needed every single one of those defensive stops and somehow still found themselves clinging to life in the final seconds, counting on its defense to make one more play to win the game (and then…one MORE play). They did (and then did again).
D.J. Wonnum – Six tackles and two sacks if you needed him. While we’re here…
Seven Sacks for the Gamecock Defense? SEVEN SACKS??? – There have been entire seasons when South Carolina’s defense didn’t rack up seven sacks (at least it felt that way). We all now genuinely understand that if Will Muschamp is your head coach, you are going to play well on defense, right?
Withstanding a Hideous First Quarter on the Road in the SEC and Somehow Winning a Football Game – Early in the first quarter, Neyland Stadium was alive, electric and bordering on scary. After everything that has happened this season, Tennessee fans needed to see something good happen, needed it more than life itself, and those fans were responding with passion. South Carolina kept strangely favoring its “We’re absolutely fine with running the ball a couple of times and going three-and-out” offense. Newly installed Vol quarterback Jarrett Guarantano was running around and finding ways to not be tackled. Penalties kept piling up. I kept waiting for the Gamecocks to be blitzed out of the stadium. And waiting. And…
All of the sudden it was halftime and Carolina was only down by six.
No one seemed to know how that happened.
All we knew was that there was a half of football left to play and South Carolina still had a very vigorous pulse left. That was exactly the kind of game that has quickly gotten away from USC all too often over the last, oh, 125 years or so. It didn’t get away on Saturday. Maybe you weren’t overjoyed by some things you saw out there, and I absolutely feel you, but still…
South Carolina typically loses games like this.
Keep saying it to yourself: South Carolina typically loses game like this.
This week, they didn’t. And for a young team like this one, that’s a very good thing.
My Wife for Saying About ESPN Announcer Tommy Tuberville “You Know, All He Does is Point Out What Everyone Is Doing Wrong, and Not in a Good Way. Didn’t He Get Fired at Auburn?” – Yes. Yes, he did get fired at Auburn.
My Father-in-Law and I Successfully Executing a Chest Bump That Should Have Been Included in All ESPN Highlights of This Game – My in-laws came down from Greenville for a weekend visit. I like watching USC games with them because I need to be around people who care about this stuff as much as I do, and they do. After Tennessee’s last pass attempt (the final, FINAL, “Seriously, that really is the last down, right?” attempt) fell short, my father-in-law and I spontaneously chest-bumped each other and I almost tore a pectoral muscle. That was fun.
My Father-in-Law and I Embracing Like Castaways Being Rescued from a Deserted Island After Clemson’s Improbable Loss to Syracuse Was Final on Friday Night – That was fun, too.
Me Finally Realizing, “You Know What? I HAAAAATE Tennessee.” – I thought I hated Tennessee before Saturday. But as I watched all those folks in pinkish orange swaying to “Rocky Top” and cheering on the inept referees during the game, I realized just how much I truly loathe the Vols. That was an enjoyable revelation to discover on the same day that my team went into Neyland Stadium and won a football game.
The Bye Week Coming at Exactly the Right Time – With injuries piling up and my sanity slipping away, there’s never, ever been a better time for Bye Week. Get healthy, boys.
The “I Picked a Bad Week to Stop Sniffing Glue” Simultaneous Game Ball/Deflated Ball Award
Sometimes a thing can be good and bad, all at once. Such as…
Holding Off Teams That Are a Yard or Two from the Goal Line and Can Tie or Win the Game as Time Expires – On the one hand, you love knowing that your defense can bow up and just straight deny a team rolling towards the end zone as the clock ticks away. They’ve done it twice now this season. Super encouraging, and I admire the fortitude and the warrior-like persistence our defense keeps showing with the game on the line.
On the other hand…
I’m getting old. I can’t handle any more games that involve the defense frantically working to stop the bleeding as the clock sinks under minute. Really. I can’t do anymore of this in 2017. Cannot do it. That’s going to have to be it for this trend for another year or so. At least if anyone’s interested in me remaining alive.
Deflated Balls
Even though the Gamecocks won in Knoxville for just the third time in roughly a millennium, there were still plenty of Deflated Balls to go around for one game and then some, and those go to:
Needing to Hold Tennessee to Nine Points to Be Able to Officially Win a Football Game – This offense continues to stumble forward in search of an identity. The running game finally got going in the second half and enabled South Carolina to keep the Vols off the field for long stretches (and yes, for the thousandth time, we all realize there are approximately 700 offensive linemen and top weapons who aren’t on the field due to injuries), but the Gamecocks just can’t find anything in the neighborhood of consistency on offense. They aren’t doing anything particularly well at the moment. The play-calling seems, um, interesting. At some point, they’ll need the offense to make a play at winning time to secure a “W,” and right now, there’s just not a lot of confidence that can happen. While we’re here…
Holding the Ball on Offense for a Staggering Nine Minutes During a Fourth Quarter Drive and Yet Still Needing to Settle for a Field Goal and Being Unable to Put the Game Out of Reach – That drive pretty much summed up what it’s been like to watch South Carolina on offense this season.
Failing to Pick Up Short Yardage Plays on Fourth Down…Again – If it’s third down or fourth down and South Carolina needs to pick up a yard or two to keep the chains moving, I’ll end the suspense for you. They’re not going to get that yard. They’re going to run up the middle, they will be swarmed, and they will not get that first down. It’s just not going to happen in 2017, so let’s all just collectively decide to be OK with that.
The Officiating Crew All But Having the Orange “T” Logo Painted on Their Faces During This Game – I’m not one of those crazy people who complains about the refs trying to keep us from winning every week. Really. I’m not. I absolutely do not believe that. When it comes to officiating calls, you’re going to win some and you’re going to lose some, it typically all evens out, and the hope is simply that you don’t find yourself on the wrong end of an egregiously terrible call that decides the outcome of a ballgame. But Saturday, just about every call that could have gone against South Carolina did go against them, just about every one that could have helped the Volunteers did so, and penalty after penalty that should have been called against Tennessee was ignored (do SEC officials still call holding or are we done with that?). An example: Early in the game, a Tennessee defender did everything but wrestle USC receiver Bryan Edwards to the ground, pass interference was correctly called…and then the crew picked up the flag and announced no penalty had occurred even though replays emphatically showed the play was the very definition of pass interference. Huh? I’d forgotten just how frustrating it is to watch a football game when somewhere around 100% of the calls are going against the Gamecocks. We’re all fortunate that I was able to survive that experience and still remain married.
Tennessee Players and Fans Inexplicably Deciding to Spend the Week Trash-Talking South Carolina Players and Fans After Losing in Excruciating Fashion to Florida, Being Pasted by Georgia and Hoping to Fire Their Own Coach – You know what I don’t usually do right after a couple of heartbreaking losses when my fan base is in turmoil and demanding to fire its own coach? Spew trash talk to anyone, for any reason. Especially not the players and fans of a team that beat me last year. Still, Tennessee players and fans took to social media en masse throughout last week to make fun of Gamecock players and fans, with one alleged Vol fan even gleefully Tweeting out a video of Marcus Lattimore’s college career-ending injury, as though that was something to cackle about. This made no sense for the following reasons: 1. You’re really worried about South Carolina to the point that you feel the need to up the ante on trash talk? South Carolina? Seriously? Man, it really has been a long fall since the Phil Fulmer glory days; and 2. Didn’t you just lose at home by a score of 41-0? Probably not the time to get jiggy with the taunts and insults. A Tennessee receiver openly called out Gamecock cornerback Rashad Fenton by name during the pre-game buildup. This receiver entered the contest with all of two catches in 2017. That’s an absolute clinic on what not to do. No wonder Vol fans want the Butch Jones Era to end.
Tennessee Somehow Being Able to Run 47 Plays With Seven or Eight Seconds Left – Who was the clock operator for this game, Peyton Manning? The Gamecocks kept denying UT again and again in the shadow of the goal line, and yet I kept staring at the TV and seeing that there were still seconds left on the clock. The Vols lined up with four seconds left for what would typically be a “this is absolutely the football game”-type play, failed to convert as USC’s players celebrated what they assumed was a victory…and somehow a second still remained. One more chance, everybody!!! Have I mentioned that everything about this game drove me crazy except the final score?
Fibulas – After already losing Deebo Samuel (merely the team’s best player) and K.C. Crosby this year to fractures of the fibula, the Gamecocks watched as their most potent running back found himself limping to the sidelines with yet another fibula fracture. Rico Dowdle’s now likely done for the year, just as he was finally starting to get healthy enough to make a difference for this team. Coach Muschamp groped for answers in his post-game press conference, and couldn’t find any. “I’ve never been around anything like this before,” he said. For whatever reason in the last few seasons, South Carolina has been unable to keep its very best players on the field. In recent years, if the Gamecocks lose someone to injury for an extended time, it never seems to be a walk-on long snapper – it’s a household name and someone who absolutely, positively needs to be out there. I hate it for the kids and their families, and for the rest of the players who keep having to go to war without their very best teammates. Injuries happen to every football team everywhere, but lately they seem to happen to USC with maximum impact. When you consistently find yourself reading post-game wrap-up stories and skipping to the end to look for “out for the season” blurbs, you’re in a bad place.
And still, after all of that adversity, South Carolina won an SEC football game on the road in Knoxville, Tennessee in front of 100,000 people.
They won in a place where they’ve lost some of the most agonizing games in the program’s history.
They beat a talented team that absolutely, positively had to win to keep their season alive.
They’ve played seven games. They’ve seen fire and they’ve seen rain.
But they are 5-2.
They were picked to go 4-8 by the SEC Network. And here they are.
Five wins, two losses, five games left to go.
It is the middle of October and there is still plenty of time to make this season special.
The Gamecocks are coming home from Knoxville with a victory, and they have a week to rest.
Don’t go anywhere, folks. This season’s getting interesting.
