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Scott Davis: The Joy of Six

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.

Pop a cork.

Take your clothes off and run through the streets.

Hug and kiss the ones you love.

It has happened. South Carolina is going bowling.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. You’re thinking, “You mean I’m supposed to be excited to win a mere six games, with one of them a strugglefest against a 2-8 team from the Artist Formerly Known as Division 1-AA?”

Yes.

Yes, you should be excited. Take a shot of whiskey, do a celebratory lap around your neighborhood and give your dog a few extra treats today.

Why? Because precisely zero people in the national media predicted that South Carolina would go bowling in Year One of the Will Muschamp Era. Because this program wasn’t just left for dead last year – it had been buried and the eulogy had already been read. Because the seniors wearing Garnet and Black deserve a reward for all those mornings of waking up at 5:30 to lift weights and run drills.

And also because you love this team, these players and these coaches. Those players and coaches are happy today. You should be, too.

From the very second the 2016 football schedule landed on the Internet, I became an amateur mathematician, breaking down the games with scientific rigor and looking for a pathway to six wins there. Eventually, I found about three or four different scenarios that I thought made sense. You could lose to Mississippi State as long as you beat Kentucky. You HAD to beat East Carolina and Vandy. Slip-ups against the likes of UMass would kill the entire project. Daunting? Sure, but doable.

Then the Gamecocks lost to Mississippi State. And Kentucky. They looked lethargic and lost at midseason, sleepwalking through mildly winnable games against Texas A&M and Georgia.

And as South Carolina drifted into the bye week at 2-4, I’d already long since relinquished any and all hope of a bowl game. The dream was over. There would be no late December trips to exotic locales like Shreveport or Birmingham. Wait ‘til next year.

Right?

Wrong.

After taking care of UMass, the Gamecocks stunned Tennessee and went on to win four of five games to ensure a bowl bid before the final game of the season. How did that happen? Magic? Hard work finally paying off? Whatever it was, it was a lot more thrilling than I ever thought it could be to watch my team make it to six wins.

A couple of years ago, in the midst of those 11-win seasons that we all quickly assumed would just last forever, I would never, ever have imagined that I’d be here in 2016, ecstatic about outlasting a bad Western Carolina team to get bowl-eligible with six wins.

But I am. And I’m not ashamed about it.

After last season’s descent into darkness, I threw out everything I thought I knew about being a fan. The immediate goal was simply to survive – forget about thriving. And through the long months since Will Muschamp was hired last December, through all the spring practices, through the dull monotony of 95-degree days in the summer, one thought hung in my mind like a signpost leading the way to redemption.

Six.

Six wins.

Just get to six – it’s all that matters right now.

This year, with this team and at this moment, six is all we had to play for.

And now we’re here.

I hope there will soon be a day when we’d all be disappointed with six wins and an Independence Bowl bid. There will be time for all that later, I hope.

Not today. Today’s a time to celebrate. This ragtag group of freshmen and sophomores and journeymen are going to a bowl.

And all of us are going on the ride with them. That means something to me. I hope it means something to you, too.

ALSO SEE: The Insider Report - Did Gamecocks make a move with four-star OL and former commit T.J. Moore? | Four-star DL Stephon Wynn discusses visit | Top 2018 back impressed with rushing attack

The “Rico Dowdle is a Monster of Rock and Roll” Game Balls of the Week

Let’s toss out a few Dowdles to the following worthy winners:

Rico M______g Dowdle!!! – It’s not exactly a coincidence that the Gamecocks started to turn their season around at the exact moment the true freshman Dowdle and his true freshman classmate Jake Bentley took the controls of the offense. Dowdle’s been punishing fools for weeks now, and he hung 226 yards and two touchdowns on the Catamounts on Saturday. Those numbers somehow don’t tell the story of just how impressive he actually was. He could have rushed for 450 yards if the coaches had wanted him to do so. All I want for Christmas is a Rico Dowdle jersey.

Deebo M______g Samuel!!! – Will Muschamp said it in his postgame chat with Todd Ellis: “We’re a different football team when Deebo’s healthy.” I second that emotion, my brother. Samuel rushed for two touchdowns, caught four passes, and even mixed in a 100-yard kickoff return along the way to 270-plus yards in total offense, in case you were wondering what he contributed to the victory. Things got so out of hand at one point that I got the inevitable “DEEBO SAMUEL!!!!!” text from my Dad during the third quarter. That was fun. Like Kenny Chesney, Samuel is setting the world on fire right now.

Williams-Brice Stadium – I finally made it back to Williams-Brice for the first time this season (!!!!!!!) and immediately remembered why I need to be attending most games in person. Since I moved to Atlanta a few years ago, I haven’t made it to Columbia as often as I need to. But being back in the mix with my people, seeing all the garnet and black, tailgating like a boss and walking up that tunnel into the stadium, I felt all the old emotions swirling. I’m not saying I cried during “2001” or anything, but I may or may not have wiped my eyes a few times when it played. Only because my eyes were itching, OK? OK?????

Gamecock Walk – Can you believe I’d never attended this before Saturday? Me, the ultimate South Carolina Super Fan? I’d never dropped by the pre-game walk into the stadium by the players and coaches, when they’re wearing jackets and ties and high-fiving fans. My wife, in-laws and I took our five-year-old twin nieces to their first Carolina game on Saturday, and thought maybe they’d be excited to see the team walk into the stadium. They enjoyed it…but not as much as I did. I wound up pushing myself towards the front of the line, jockeying for position and yelling things like “There’s Jake Bentley! THERE’S JAKE BENTLEY!!!!” as my wife looked on in horror. “Look at my kid up there getting so excited,” she muttered to her sister, whose little girls behaved much better than I did.

Those Ham Rolls You Serve at Cocktail Parties – You know those ham rolls you often encounter as finger food at parties and family gatherings? The ones with Swiss cheese and poppyseed rolls? I love those things. My sister-in-law made a tray of them for our tailgate and I inhaled approximately 17,000 before it was all said and done. I wish I had one right now.

The Armed Forces Tribute at Halftime – Always a moving 20 minutes.

The Post-game Victory Meal at Rush’s – You have to stop by Rush’s for a chili cheeseburger basket after a Gamecock “W.” You just have to. I was so excited, I even went with extra pickles.

Me, for Actually Being Right for a Change – You probably don’t remember this, so I’m going to remind you just because I want to. Way back in July, I wrote a column in which I ranted for paragraph after paragraph about the way the media had dumped all over South Carolina’s pre-season hopes and dreams. This is what I said then: Let me say straight from the top, in case anyone’s wondering where I’m headed with this: I don’t think Carolina will win the SEC East this season. I don’t think they’ll even threaten to do so. But would it really stun you if the Gamecocks went 6-6 and wound up in a third-tier bowl sponsored by Cheez Wiz? It wouldn’t shock me.” Hey, something I predicted actually happened! That’s amazing.

Not Caring About the Clemson Game – I’m just gonna say it: I don’t care about the Clemson game. I just wanted six. I’ll watch it, but the agony that I typically feel when we lose to Clemson? It’s not happening in 2016.

Deflated Balls

Even in the afterglow of an incredibly rewarding sixth win, I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t drop a few Deflators on the following:

“Wait a Second, Is It Actually Cold at Williams-Brice Stadium????” – When I think of “football weather,” I don’t think of crisp, cool breezes, or burnt orange leaves, or warm hot chocolate. I think of a blinding sun, 90 degrees and humidity thick enough to suffocate a herd of lions. “I’m wearing shorts to the game,” I confidently announced to my wife the day before the game. “Whaaaaaat????” she said. She was not at all happy about this. See, I’ve never actually been cold at a South Carolina football game. Even when it’s dipped into the 50s in one of those late November night games, I’ve been utterly comfortable. By Saturday morning, she’d worked on my emotions enough that I finally consented to wearing jeans and taking a light jacket. Annnnnnnnd….I’m glad I’m married and listen to my wife on a daily basis. It was straight-up Arctic in there by the third quarter. I would still be sitting in Williams-Brice as a frozen, lifeless ice sculpture right now if my wife hadn’t insisted on me dressing appropriately for the occasion.

Me, for Briefly Trying to Pretend to Be Disappointed with South Carolina’s Effort on Saturday – Look, was this the best game that USC has played this year? No!!! No, it was not, people!!!! I flirted with complaining about various things throughout the game, then checked myself and said, “Uh, six wins. SIX WINS!” But I should have never allowed myself to get to that point.

Mobile Quarterbacks – South Carolina struggles with them, folks. They struggle. Fortunately they aren’t playing one next week against their archrival. What’s that? Let’s just move on.

I’m gonna do something crazy right here, right now. I’m going to ask you to join me in not caring about the Clemson game. I know, I know. It sounds crazy. It IS crazy.

Still, we don’t need to worry about it, think about it, obsess about it or recognize it. Hopefully someone drops a loss on them before this season is over, and we’ll go from there.

For me, I go back to what Will Muschamp said at his introductory press conference some 11 months ago. A reporter asked him how he could compete with an in-state program that challenges for national championships on a yearly basis.

His answer was quick and concise. “We’re just worried about the University of South Carolina,” he growled.

Yes sir. Yes, we are.

And the University of South Carolina is going bowling.

Here’s a health, Carolina.

ALSO SEE: The Insider Report - Did Gamecocks make a move with four-star OL and former commit T.J. Moore? | Four-star DL Stephon Wynn discusses visit | Top 2018 back impressed with rushing attack

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