Scott Davis: The Spark is Flickering

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 was sitting alone in an empty house, watching the South Carolina-Central Florida game and feeling like perhaps the last remaining human being aboard the Gamecock Bandwagon.

My wife's birthday was this past weekend (she just turned, um, 29), and we scooted out of Atlanta early on Saturday morning to spend some time with family back in Greenville. By 11:30 AM, I was sitting in front of a widescreen watching the College GameDay boys and nervously anticipating our game against UCF.

The only problem was that I was doing so alone. And it's always scary when I'm allowed to watch games by myself.

With no other members of civilization around to check my behavior, I quickly slide into Savage Beast mode and start saying and doing things that I'm not going to print here. After all, my mother reads this column.

My cute four-year-old nieces had a soccer game at noon, so the wife and my brother-and-sister-in-law headed out for that while I stayed behind to watch the Gamecocks. Let's just say when you skip out on making family memories to watch 1-2 USC square off against 0-3 UCF, you might have a football addiction problem that will eventually require medical assistance. Or you might just be a complete weirdo whose priorities in life are totally out of whack.

Either way, I can't say I felt terribly good about my decision after the Gamecocks started the contest by dropping passes, muffing punts, missing field goals and doing very little to inspire confidence in their despondent fan base going into halftime, where they trailed 14-8 against a team that lost to Furman last week.

The Savage Beast was alive, well and frothing at the mouth during that first half.

Fortunately for all of us, there are two separate halves in a football game. What's also fortunate is that the rest of the family returned for half number two, forcing me to behave like an actual human being.

That was a lot easier to do once our boys started to finally pull away.

Sparked by the running of true freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez and a strong defensive effort, the Gamecocks slowly wilted the Knights into submission.

Still, the ultimate question all Gamecock fans are asking themselves this morning is this: Can we build on this?

And my answer, as an experienced analyst and esteemed football mind, is this: I have no idea.

If that sounds like a cop out, well, that's exactly what it is. (This kind of profound insight is why Gamecock Central pays me the big bucks, folks).

I have no idea if we can build on this or not. The defense played as well as it's played since 2013, but the performance came against a team whose key offensive playmakers were all injured or suspended. Can we keep it real for a quick second? The Knights entered the game last in America in almost every key offensive measurement. This wasn't LSU and Leonard Fournette. This wasn't even Coastal Carolina.

Still, it was a start. Right? Right???? Come on, go with me on this. We're staying positive today. (Just keep telling yourself we're staying positive today. We can do this. Force yourself to think of good things, like bacon cheeseburgers. And afternoon naps. And that morning in February when you open the mailbox and realize the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is in there. Positive thoughts, people. We. Can. Do. This.)

On the flip side, Nunez played about as well as anyone could ever hope a true freshman quarterback could play in his first start. Did he throw a few balls that should have been intercepted but were dropped because Central Florida isn't a good football team? Sure, but again, we're focusing on bacon cheeseburgers and not broccoli today. OK? OK.

At the very least, Nunez provided the often elusive element that a struggling football team needs the most: A spark.

Oh, you know all about The Spark. When a team is bloodied and bruised, when things seem hopeless, when the fans have deserted them, that's when sportswriters and commentators dust off their finest clichés. Such as…

"What this football team really needs right now is a spark, something to light a fire under them and give them some momentum."

Ah, The Spark.

College football fans love nothing more than The Spark - an unlikely player who comes off the bench to rejuvenate a down-and-out bunch.

And if that player is a true freshman? Oh, boy.

As we all know, there's nothing - NOTHING - that college football fans love more than a true freshman who makes an impact. What is it about true freshmen that gets us so irrationally excited? Hope for brighter days down the line? The memory of how cool it was to be 18 and going to college for the first time? Whatever it is, we can't get enough.

Just ask Clemson fans about Deshaun Watson last year. Actually, don't do that, not unless you want them to start salivating all over you and start talking like brainwashed Scientologists. And just to prove I'm not completely biased, we all did the same thing during Marcus Lattimore's freshman year. I most definitely salivated on some people during Lattimore's freshman campaign. College football: Where we all get weird about freshmen!

And on that lovely note, let's hand out some Pharoh Cooper Large Pepperoni Pizza with Extra Cheese Game Balls of the Week and head to Mizzou for another "Battle of Columbia."

The True Freshman…From Kennesaw, Georgia…Number 19….Loreeeeeenzoooooo NUUUUUNezzzz! - After accounting for over 300 yards by himself on the ground and through the air, in his first start, as a true freshman, I felt like Nunez deserved a professional wrestling entrance announcement for his first Pharoh Cooper Game Ball. Yeah, it was against Central Florida, but whatever. We need something to rally around right now, and for the moment, the youngster is it. Nunez passed his first test with flying colors. Now he gets to face an SEC defense on the road. We'll see what happens.

T.J. Holloman - After not getting many chances thus far in 2015, Holloman was named the starter at middle linebacker earlier this week and responded by messing around and picking off two passes and flying around the ball. Do we love guys who come of the bench and provide a spark to a down-and-out bunch? Yes, we do.

Boosie Whitlow - Delivering an injection of life to a defensive line that desperately needed one, the true freshman Whitlow provided a safety, a sack and a tackle for loss in his first extended action as a Gamecock. Do we love guys who come off the bench and provide a spark to a down-and-out bunch, especially when they're true freshmen? Yes, we do.

Pharoh Cooper - Since Cooper is my favorite Gamecock player of the last million years or so, and since these Game Balls are named after him, and since I am completely incapable of admitting that Cooper can actually make mistakes like regular people, I'm not acknowledging something he did in the first half. If you mention it to me, I'll stare back at you with a stern look that might actually frighten you. What we ARE going to talk about is his unbelievable, twisting, "I can't believe I just witnessed that" run on a busted play that turned a surefire loss of yards into a touchdown. We're also talking about his catch of a 35-bomb from Nunez, also for a touchdown. Those are the two things we're talking about regarding Pharoh Cooper today - nothing else.

Press Box Follies - You might remember last season that then-defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward announced, rather dramatically, that he was moving up to the press box from the sidelines to try to fix our struggling defense. When the move didn't create many positives, Ward announced after a few weeks, rather dramatically, that like Gen. Douglas MacArthur returning to the Philippines, he was returning to the sidelines. This week, in an effort to breathe life into the offense, coach Steve Spurrier announced, rather dramatically, that QB coach G.A. Mangus would move from the sidelines to the press box, and wide receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. would head down from the box to the field. I just can't get enough of this Press Box Musical Chairs Saga. In fact, I'm enjoying it so much that for the rest of the season, I'd like for a new coach to ascend to the press box each week. We could even hold a weekly press conference on Mondays to announce the new Press Box Guy of the Week. We need to create some enthusiasm around this program, and this might do it. Who's in the box this week - Kirk Botkin? Everette Sands? Tell me that wouldn't generate some buzz. Please coaches, MORE PRESS BOX!

My Brother-in-Law for Listening to an Entire Game on the Radio - I didn't think this was actually possible in 2015, but my brother-in-law (not the same brother-in-law I mentioned earlier, but in the same family circle) somehow managed to follow the entire game on the radio Saturday. Finding himself without ESPNU, he decided against driving five minutes to watch the game with me and even declined to head over to a sports bar, and instead sat alone for three hours in front of a pair of speakers, listening to the Golden Tones of Todd Ellis and Tommy Suggs. What is this, 1972? How does someone not watch a game on TV in 2015? I have to admire the commitment. When I razzed him about this relentlessly on Saturday night, he weakly shot back, "Hey, I was also following on Twitter on my phone!" Let's give an "A for effort" to that dude.

My Nieces for Completely Changing the Mojo and Single-Handedly Delivering USC the Victory - The Gamecocks looked lost. The offense was sputtering and the defense, finally, was bending. Against all odds, USC was losing, at home, to woeful Central Florida. Then my nieces ran upstairs, changed into USC cheerleader outfits and came back to perform a spirited cheer for the Gamecocks. I'm not kidding - within seconds of this, T.J. Holloman picked off a pass, and our guys were off to the races. This actually happened. I'm convinced they altered the vibes in the universe and made this happen. Here, see for yourself:

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Obviously, we'll make sure that the girls do this for the rest of the season when things are going bad. You need as much good karma on your side as you can get.

Until next week, let's all keep thinking about bacon cheeseburgers. And naps. And Swimsuit Editions.

On to Missouri.

Injury report, game balls, key plays, dress listClick Wes Mitchell's thoughts about the UCF gameClick Louisville commitment takes in Carolina gamdeClick ALSO SEE: In-depth coverage & insider analysisHere to view this Link.Here to view this Link.Here to view this Link.