Making History, One Win at a Time

From contributor, Richard Viola

Those who follow college football today, can see that certain schools are beginning to make some waves...

Since South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992, there have been some streaks of good and, sadly, much more of the not so good. There have been great coaches and some well, not so great. (We will leave the name calling up to the reader).  But one thing is for certain...

The last coaching change was the best one in school history.

When Head football coach Steve Spurrier came to South Carolina, it came as a thunderous shock that had every college football fan turning their heads. The first few seasons that "The Head Ball Coach" coached the squad, the teams went an average 7-6 and 5-3 in the SEC.

Then came 2010. Coming into the 2010 season, there was talk that this talented-laden squad was going to be the team that would finally make it to an SEC Championship Game.

Those people were right. That season was what set the standard of winning. It seemed as if the football players had seen that they could compete with the top tier teams. That year, South Carolina would wind up beating the number one team in the nation (Alabama) which became a turning point for the program. Add to that, the Gamecocks beat Flordia in the swamp and Clemson in their house.

The next two seasons were just as special, going 11-2 and 6-2 in the SEC on both seasons. Even though South Carolina did not compete for the SEC Championship the past two seasons, there have been numerous records broken at Williams-Brice Stadium and the school. It has all started with great recruiting.

The trend started at the end of 2009 going into 2010. South Carolina landed a super-star that will forever be remembered throughout Gamecock football lore. Who, you ask? Anyone who has ever kept up with football should know the answer to this. Marcus Lattimore was sought after by numerous schools but instead of leaving his home state, he decided to come and play at South Carolina. This is what started the trend for South Carolina. Superstar players staying in state. 

The new challenge that we all ask is, where do those Gamecocks go from here? As long as the Clowney's and Lattimore's continue to roll into the programs, then we will continue to compete for the SEC and National Championships. Even if that never happens, we will continue to scream at the top of our lungs and continue to support those great Gamecocks.

Road Woes Continue

Check out the story from my Bleacher Report Page.

It's the sad, sad truth. The Gamecocks, media darlings just two weeks ago, have proven to be a bad team.

On the road, at least.

At home, they are nearly unbeatable. On the road? They're straight up bad. I have never witnessed a team that had such an amazing run at home suck so bad away from it.

This season, South Carolina is 4-0 at home, and 2-2 on the road. While that may not be the worst possible record, it's the way in which they have played that is shocking.

At home, the team has won their games by an average of 32.5 points. On offense, they averaged 41 points per game while the defense only gave up an average of eight. That's an average score of 41-8! Missouri and Georgia are included in this, and they aren't terrible teams.

On the road? Not so much.

On offense, they've managed to scrape by with 22 points per game. The team has given up 24 points per game. I say team, not defense. The defense has played pretty well. The offense has given up ridiculous turnovers. The example of the Florida game comes to mind, as they were spotted 21 points by the offense.

Now, Florida would have rolled South Carolina without those gifts, but you can't pin that loss on the defense.


The Gamecocks currently have the eighth ranked defense in the country to go along with the 97th ranked offense. The Gamecocks have to do something. There is too much talent on that side of the ball to be one of the worst offenses in college football.

Up next for the Gamecocks are a trio of important home games. Then, a suddenly very scary trip to the "other" Death Valley.

Hopefully, the team is mentally prepared to bounce back at home, where they play much better.

While the national championship hopes and dreams are gone, and the SEC championship dreams are almost there as well. An 11-2 season (with a bowl win) would still be a good year for this squad.

Something has to change for the future. I'm not quite sure what it is yet.

October 13th, 2012: South Carolina vs LSU

So here we are.  The Gamecocks have finally become the team that we've always hoped they'd be.  A top three contender. 

Our reward?

A trip to the real Death Valley, where no team has won since 2009. 

So what am I thinking?

LSU has an absolutely horrid offense.  They can't pass.  They look completely lost.  They have no emotion and a quarterback that looks like an even dumber version of Aaron Murray.  Jadeveon Clowney will be able to completely harrass and destroy Mattenberg to the point that he will not be able to function.

Offensively, South Carolina has been underrated.  They have a very difficult offense to stop.  Will Connor Shaw run?  Will he throw?  Will Lattimore take the handoff?  Who knows?  Who cares?  It's all effective!

I think South Carolina will be the team to end that win streak. 

South Carolina- 27

LSU- 10

Coming Soon

Coming soon from Alex Roberts, South Carolina Featured Columnist from Bleacher Report.  All me, no editors, no filter.