Scott Davis has followed Gamecock sports for more than 30 years and provides commentary from a fan perspective. He writes a weekly column that appears on Gamecock Central each Monday during football season. In addition, Scott writes a weekly newsletter that's emailed each Friday year-round. To sign up for the newsletter, click here.

Something felt different from the very beginning of South Carolina’s blowout win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday night.

My wife was engaged.

In a South Carolina football game.

It had been awhile since that had happened.

I think I remember her being mildly stirred when the Gamecocks won the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day in 2018. And I’m almost positive we got a flicker of a smile and a touch of the old spark out of her when USC last beat Florida during the 2017 season, since she despises the Gators with an almost frightening zeal.

But other than that, it’s been a quiet few years from her. And that’s not a good thing for the fortunes of South Carolina football. You see, I keep track of something that I refer to in my mind as the Wife Meter. The Wife Meter is important for all of us, and we all need to be aware of it.

It can be understood as follows: If my wife and other casual fans are talking and thinking about our team, then life is good. If my wife makes specific plans around watching games and even volunteers to go to Williams-Brice Stadium without me asking her to, then life is very good. In 2012, the Wife Meter was on 10 and stayed on 10. In 2019, the Wife Meter was on zero – and it was pinned on zero, hard…and if it was possible for it to have fallen below zero, it would have been -135.

Once a passionate follower of the Gamecocks even during the down times (I could always count on her to look up at me, lips pursed, her eyes winking, waiting for a kiss anytime South Carolina scored a touchdown), the last five seasons or so had seen Mrs. Davis drifting towards something that looked and felt like indifference. She still took up her spot beside me in front of the TV during football games, and occasionally she’d glance at the screen, see Gamecock defenders chasing a running back around the field and scream, “GET HIM!,” but once she curled up in her chair with her iPad, it was Instagram and JCrew.com that seemed to be drawing her attention more than the boys in garnet and black.

Let’s face it: She was bored.

And over the last half-decade of South Carolina football, she wasn’t alone.

The post-Spurrier years left significant numbers of casual Gamecock fans – and more than a few die-hards – feeling adrift, alienated and asleep. If nothing else, Shane Beamer’s energetic and exuberant arrival as head coach during the offseason had seemed to jolt the fan base awake after an interminable hibernation. Like a dazed, weary band of Rip Van Winkles, Gamecock fans rose from the deep slumber of the last five years, took a look around on Saturday night and remembered how fun this thing called life can be.

Wide awake in the Palmetto State at last.

Within minutes of us sitting down to watch the game, my better half was cracking a series of one-liners and razor-sharp observations that had the entire family chuckling, and when she’s making jokes and delivering punchlines, you know the Wife Meter is pushing into the red.

“Awww, he’s so cute,” she gushed the first time the camera settled on Shane Beamer roaming the sidelines. “His outfit looks sharp, too. Soooo much better than that ridiculous all-black ensemble Muschamp was doing.” (Muschamp’s sartorial shortcomings had been among the coach’s many failings in her mind).

We were off the races. The Gamecocks were, too. Before it was all over, there had been a lot of laughs, a couple of blocked punts, quite a few points by the Good Guys, a win, some high-fives and a general vibe of hope and faith permeating the scene.

As the clock ticked towards zero, I took a look at a full living room, with my Dad, Mom, sister and wife hovered around the television, and one thing seemed obvious.

Everybody cared.

Longtime readers of the column know I hand out Game Balls and Deflated Balls after every contest, and in the past, the Game Balls have been christened to honor people or things that inspired me the most at that moment. Past Game Balls have been named after the likes of Pharoh Cooper, Bryan Edwards and pepperoni pizza, so it’s obviously the highest possible praise and reserved only for Hall of Famers. Until further notice, we’re renaming the Balls after my wife, whose powerful Game One performance served notice of better days for the Gamecocks. Let us hand the first Christies of the season to the following:

Shane Beamer – We all knew he’d had an impeccable offseason. Beamer won every press conference in which he appeared, won a few surprising recruiting battles, and most importantly won the hearts and minds of Gamecocks fans far and wide with his upbeat, engaging demeanor and hopeful vision for the future. Without piling on previous coaching regimes, let us simply say that his approach was like a gust of fresh autumn air after the stale, humid and swampy atmosphere of the last couple of years. But we still hadn’t seen him take the field in the role of head coach yet. In fact, no one else had either. Now we have. Beamer’s crew carried itself with a surprising fearlessness – the team went for two after scoring its first touchdown, and the coaching staff left the offense on the field to fight for a few fourth downs, called timeouts to preserve the waning moments of the first half to battle for more points, sent the house at Eastern Illinois’ beleaguered quarterback early and clearly instructed its charges to try blocking every punt the Panthers attempted (with two of those punts getting swallowed up). The “let’s play to win with bloodthirsty abandon” approach was not just exciting to watch. It was almost shocking after the last few years. First win in the books.

ZaQuandre White – Pressed into duty with all-world running back Kevin Harris ailing, White responded with Harris-like numbers: Twelve carries, 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Indeed, this Gamecock running back corps looks as deep as any in recent memory. In fact, let’s just go ahead and give a Christie to…

South Carolina’s Current Running Game Situation – In addition to White, former five-star recruit MarShawn Lloyd made his Gamecock debut and rushed for 55 yards on 14 carries, while sparkplug Juju McDowell looked mighty shifty along the way to 46 yards on 12 carries. This was with Harris sitting on the sidelines, and all he did was rush for more than 1,000 yards in a shortened season last year to deliver the best performance from a Gamecock running back since Marcus Lattimore wore garnet and black. This is a potent unit with a lot of options.

BEAMER BALL!!! – Have I mentioned blocked punts? Lethal special teams play was a mainstay for Shane’s pop Frank Beamer’s Virginia Tech teams, and after one game, it looks like there’s a plan for Beamer Ball to spread its wings in Columbia, as well. In general, there was a “anything can happen at any time” feel to South Carolina’s approach that brought those vintage Hokie squads to mind.

Defensive Dominance – First game, FCS opponent, and yes, I understand all the qualifiers, but who among us couldn’t enjoy seeing the Gamecocks spend most of the evening in the Eastern Illinois backfield? And the unit’s two interceptions were both highlight reel-ready, with Jordan Burch’s long touchdown run an exclamation point on the team’s entire performance.

Technology – I’ve spent the past few days on a mountain vacation with my folks and my sister’s family for the long Labor Day weekend, nestled deep into the hills of North Georgia in a cabin far from the rest of humanity. As recently as 15 years ago, I would have simply had to read a summary of this game online the following day. But Saturday, we scurried away from an early feast of fried chicken and fried okra and fried everything at the venerable Dillard House, listening in the car to the Golden Tones of Ellis and Suggs on SiriusXM within shouting distance of the Appalachian Trail, as I simultaneously pulled up the SEC Network + broadcast on my phone. At my age, I don’t take these things for granted. My ability to watch South Carolina play Eastern Illinois in the absolute middle of nowhere still astounds me.

Duke’s Mayonnaise – I’ve always enjoyed it.

Wifely One-liners – As the camera settled on Eastern Illinois’ head coach, my wife commented unfavorably upon his odd haircut before pronouncing, “He looks like a buff George McFly.” Hard to argue with that. Later, after a shot lingered on the Gamecock coaching staff, she noted, after a long pause, “It looks like we got a bulk rate on khakis this year.” Man, it’s good to have her back.

Penalties, penalties and more penalties – Opening games are often sloppy, but the Gamecocks were sloppier than a North Georgia hog farm for long stretches of this one. An astounding two touchdowns were taken off the board due to South Carolina penalties, and even my old Isuzu Trooper didn’t have as many false starts as the Gamecock offense did Saturday night. This team won’t be able to withstand that many mistakes against SEC opponents, and it was obvious from the coaching staff’s comments following the game that everyone involved knows it.

The Caliber of Commercials for SEC Network + Streaming Broadcasts – I don’t know about you, but I saw the same three commercials for the entire three hours that I watched South Carolina play football Saturday night. While it was encouraging to see former ‘90s supermodel Niki Taylor hawking CoverGirl makeup (again, and again…and again), I probably didn’t need to see that Verizon commercial 612 times, or that guy in a hideous multi-colored sweater selling me on a credit union, or (especially) that despicable Applebee’s “Fancy Like” commercial, which actually made me want to eat at Chili’s.

All in all, it was one of the more exciting evenings we’ve seen at Williams-Brice in a long while. Exciting enough, in fact, that the Wife Meter might be hovering near 10 heading into this weekend’s contest at East Carolina. I don’t know how long it will stay there, but for now, let’s keep the pedal to the metal, shall we?

Check out my weekly newsletter, arriving on Friday to in-boxes everywhere, and let me know what the reading on your Wife (or Husband) Meter is by writing me at scottdavis@gamecockcentral.com.

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