The Verdict: the Kentucky game is just another piece, nothing more
In South Carolina, the verdict is published by the Clerk of Court. In other words, when a jury has reached a verdict, the Clerk of Court, not a member of the jury, announces the verdict to the courtroom.
But in every jury trial – whether criminal or civil – there is no mistaking that the jury, and only the jury, is the finder of all facts.
Starting in August and running throughout the season, I will be writing a weekly column called The Verdict - presented by the Goings Law Firm. And much like a jury, I will try to base my findings and opinions on facts. But unlike a jury, I want to hear from the gallery, both what I got right and what I got wrong.
This week’s Verdict is in: the Kentucky game is just another piece, nothing more.
One thing Judge Joe Anderson teaches in his evidence class at Carolina’s school of law is not to “over-try” your case. What does he mean when he says not to over-try a case? When a case finally gets to trial, attorneys have spent years of their lives talking to witnesses, taking depositions, pouring over documents, and filing motions (among other things). But during the trial, an attorney has just a few days, heck sometimes just a few hours, to convey and communicate years of work to 12 strangers.
Judge Anderson always references a doodle he picked up from the jury box following a trial in which an artistically talented juror had drawn one of the attorneys beating the proverbial dead horse. It’s a trap many have fallen into. There is a feeling that you must get all the evidence in on every single witness, and that you need multiple witnesses all to say the exact same thing, and that you need hundreds of pieces of evidence that are all repetitive because at the end of the day you don’t want the jury to miss anything.
How do you not over-try a case? You build a case. You allow each witness and each piece of evidence to be a brick in the case you are building. A great scene in the movie My Cousin Vinny is when Vinny explains that building a case is like building a house. “Each piece of evidence is just another building block.” Each block isn’t in and of itself the house, instead it’s just a piece of the house. Similarly, each piece of evidence isn’t in and of itself the entire case, instead it’s just a part towards building the case.
How in the world does this have anything to do with Gamecock Football? Because this Saturday’s game against Kentucky is just another piece in Shane Beamer’s rebuild of Carolina. The Kentucky game is a part of the rebuild. The Kentucky game isn’t the finished product.
Last week, I wrote that the Georgia game would put this Carolina team to the test. Georgia whipped Carolina 40-13. It showed the ugly and harsh reality that Shane Beamer isn’t sprinkling magic dust on this program. It showed that Carolina wasn’t magically transported back to 2012.
It showed that Carolina didn’t have Jadeveon Clowney and Connor Shaw and Stephon Gilmore walking out of that locker room. This is not going to be an easy bounce back where Carolina hires a miracle worker and the Gamecocks get back to winning double-digit games and beating Georgia.
But what it did provide was ample evidence that another brick was added in this rebuild. One of the best examples was a video that ABC Columbia’s Cam Gaskins tweeted out which gave me chills.
After giving up a long touchdown, defensive back Darius Rush was visibly upset as he stared at the Sanford Stadium video board with his hands on his hips. Fellow defensive back Jaylan Foster came over and moved Rush’s hands off his hips, patted him on the back, and continued back to the huddle. Mo Kaba, Aaron Sterling, and JJ Enagbare all slapped his helmet and offered words of encouragement. There was no yelling at each other. There was no blaming one another. And the team continued to fight through the bitter end.
That was a breath of fresh air. I was in Williams-Brice for the Texas A&M game last season. The mood in the stadium was rage followed by apathy. The team looked disinterested in being there. And throughout that game – and throughout that season – the vibe you got from the team (whether it was true or not) was that a me-first culture had reared its ugly head in the locker room. Current Executive Director of Character and Player Development Derrick Moore says it best when he said that it is we over me.
This Saturday’s game is another chance to lay a brick down in the foundation of this program. When perusing through the Insider’s Forum and (especially) Twitter, I saw a decent number of fans suggesting that Kentucky was not only a must-win game, but that it was the most important game of the season.
I don’t subscribe to that line of thinking. (For the record, I do think there is one game that in a vacuum Carolina must win, but that is a post for later in the season.)
Of course, I want Carolina to beat Kentucky. The Wildcats have been a thorn in the side for Carolina for close to a decade now. And I agree that if Carolina has a legitimate shot at bowl eligibility, a loss to Kentucky this Saturday would significantly hinder Carolina’s chances in reaching six wins this season.
But whether Carolina wins or loses, there is something else at play that in many ways is just as important in the rebuild: recruiting visits. If you subscribe to Gamecock Central (which if you don’t, what are you waiting for?), you have read the list of recruits that will be in Williams-Brice Stadium for Saturday night’s game.
Recruits want to see two things on visits to games. They want to see a great homefield atmosphere and they want to see an exciting program to jump on board and join. Both of those things can be accomplished whether Carolina wins or loses. Without a doubt, it would be more exciting and more palatable after a win, but barring an embarrassing blowout, if Williams-Brice is rocking and the team fights hard for four quarters, the Kentucky game will be another solid piece in the rebuild.
In four years, we are most likely not going to be talking about whether Carolina defeated or lost to Kentucky in 2021. But what we may be talking about is Gamecock wide receiver Antonio Williams who decided to sign with Carolina after seeing the passion of the fanbase and the culture of the football team.
So, what does all this mean? It means we as fans play a role in how this rebuild takes shape. Do we show up on Saturday fired up and ready to make some noise? Do we show patience while still supporting this team? Do we support Beamer and this rebuild through the good, the bad, and the ugly? Because the answers to all those things will be noticed by the dozens of recruits in Williams-Brice Stadium this Saturday.
Remember, Shane Beamer and this staff are trying to build a championship-level program. The Kentucky game – and specifically how recruits digest what they see before, during, and after the Kentucky game – is just another piece in their efforts to build this program.
That said, Beat Kentucky.
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