Scott Davis: The Replacements
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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 GamecockCentral.com each Monday during football season and other times throughout the year.
Were you like me?
Did you find yourself introducing yourself to a bunch of guys in garnet and black on Saturday night?
As I looked at the television screen during South Carolina-Georgia – mercifully the final home game in an unimaginable 2020 – I kept running across Gamecock players who, uh, hadn’t necessarily had an opportunity to make themselves household names this season.
On defense, USC found itself thrusting backups and youngsters into the spotlight simply to try and field an 11-person lineup. Several key defensive starters had already flashed peace signs to the program and its fans after coach Will Muschamp was fired, while injuries and COVID-19 ravaged the rest of the roster.
Over on offense, true freshman Luke Doty was making his first start at quarterback, where he had an opportunity to hand off the football to true freshman Rashad Amos (who ended up with six carries in his first extended action). Shi Smith – the team’s only proven offensive weapon after Kevin Harris, and the only receiver on the roster who’s made an impact in 2020 – was unfortunately on the sidelines after suffering an injury early in the Missouri game. ZaQuandre White (ostensibly a running back for South Carolina) managed to see time on offense, defense and special teams.
Meet the Replacements.
You weren’t expecting to see most of them this season – at least not for long stretches of games against Top 10-caliber opponents like the Georgia Bulldogs – but in a year like this one, anything’s possible. The Gamecocks even subbed in a new placekicker at one point during this football game just in case it wasn’t clear that we were trying anything and everything.
The results were predictable. Georgia 45 – South Carolina 16 in a game that could have been much uglier. In fact, the only true battle during the contest was whether the South Carolina defense or the Gamecock offensive line would struggle more emphatically. Let’s call that one a draw.
Just a season ago, USC actually upset Georgia in a game Between the Almighty Hedges, and in fact, South Carolina had split its games against the Bulldogs over the preceding decade, with each team winning five apiece coming into Saturday. For all the bluster you often hear from Dawg fans, this has been an evenly matched rivalry for quite some time.
So why did one team look like a Southeastern Conference program on Saturday night and the other look like a loose collection of up-and-comers and one-last-chance’ers? We all know how we got here, and there’s no need to rehash the road to ruin that led us to this place. But just in case you were still stubbornly clinging to the noble belief that this team was capable of playing SEC-level football in 2020, you are now allowed to surrender it.
Here’s what’s interesting about all this: I enjoyed watching the Replacements play more than I’ve enjoyed watching anyone in a Gamecock uniform do anything in the weeks since that Auburn game (which now seems like it happened somewhere back in my childhood, when I was a young boy with actual hopes and dreams).
The Replacements tried. They wanted to be there. They wanted to play under the lights at Williams-Brice Stadium in front of fans who wanted to cheer for them.
And right now, that represents a wobbly step forward over what we’ve seen the last month.
No, they weren’t going to actually defeat the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night. Or for that matter, tackle them. Not under any circumstances.
But they showed up.
They showed up for themselves, for their pride, for their teammates, for their coaches and for their fans. No matter what happens to them next year or the year after that, whether they ever become top contributors to an SEC football team, whether their future in football is bright or murky, they will know that at the moment their team needed them the most, they showed up.
I won’t forget that they did.
They won’t forget that they did.
And the guys who didn’t show up? The guys who weren’t injured, who could have been there, who could have made one last stand with their brothers, their coaches, their fans?
Well, they’ll remember where they were during the moment of truth, too.
The Purell Hand Sanitizer Game Balls of the Week
Superlatives, shout-outs and salutations go to the following:
Everyone Who Showed Up in a Garnet and Black Uniform to Play the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday Night – I can’t imagine it was fun to wear a South Carolina uniform and stand on the sidelines or out at midfield during the Georgia game. Still, a few dozen players and coaches did it anyway, and they did it because it was the right thing to do. No, this team, as currently assembled, wasn’t going to win the SEC. It wasn’t going to finish with a winning record. It wasn’t going to defeat Georgia. The man who’d brought these players and coaches here was gone. Many fans had run for the hills, too. This was the absolute definition of “nothing left to play for” purgatory. And yet a large number of men showed up and answered the bell to finish what they’d started. With the program seemingly in ashes, the only way to build it back is through the commitment of people like the ones who showed up on Saturday night.
Carbs – I invented a new diet over Thanksgiving week. It consists of eating only carbohydrates from the moment you awake until you pass out, drooling, on a love seat in relative’s den. Try it. I think you’ll be pleased with the results. I’ve never felt better.
Deflated Balls
Pile Pushing – Was it me, or did Georgia running backs seem to have a few thousand instances of being stopped somewhere close to the line of scrimmage, only to chug and chug until they’d single-handedly pushed nine different Gamecocks backwards for seven or eight yards? That’s tough to watch under any circumstances, even when the Replacements are giving all they’ve got.
Georgia Compiling Nine First Downs on Offense Before South Carolina’s Offense Had Picked Up One – That actually happened. I mean, if you’re hoping to find yourself down 21-0 very quickly, that’s one way to get that done.
South Carolina’s Run Blocking, South Carolina’s Pass Blocking, and Anything That Includes the Words “South Carolina” and “Blocking” – Poor Luke Doty was running for his life from the opening kickoff – he’d picked up his daily allotment of 10,000 steps by midway through the first quarter. In general, the Gamecocks looked far away from being an SEC-worthy contender in the trenches, on either side of the football. This isn’t going to be a quick fix for the next head coach at the University of South Carolina.
Our Prospects for Actually Getting to Watch South Carolina Play Football Again in 2020 – Could that do it? COVID’s still running wild. Injuries are piling up. And at this point, it’s hard to be exactly sure who’s suiting up for the Gamecocks from week to week (or for that matter, who’s coaching the team). Carolina’s next opponent is Kentucky, and the Wildcats aren’t playing an SEC title game berth. Could this wind up being one of those games that gets washed away under the tsunami of the 2020 pandemic? It could. And why in the world am I feeling something resembling disappointment at the thought of not having to watch Gamecock football again this year?
I think it’s because in a weird way, I feel more tied to my school than ever.
When the chips are down, things become startlingly clear: This is my school. This is my family. And I don’t want to say goodbye just yet, as ridiculous as that seems.
I can’t tell you why I hope South Carolina plays one more game this year.
But I do.
I want one more chance to pull for this team.
I want the Replacements to have one more chance to play SEC football.
Because yes, it’s true. This is my school. This is my family.
It cannot be replaced.
Let me know if you’ve recovered from carb overload and how you’re getting though this fever dream we call 2020 by writing me at scottdavis@gamecockcentral.com.