Sure looked to me last night that the Cocks have themselves a team this year. A typically testy defense and now a very good looking freshman back in Lattimore, a more together Qb Garcia showing leadership and the Ole Ball Coach getting smart and calling the offensive plays himself.....which was apparent. Teams that have to play SC in Columbia include: Georgia Alabama Oct 9th (SC has a bye week on Oct. 2nd...the day of UA- UF ) Tenn Arkansas I would say the Gamecocks have a real good chance to have a very direct influence on who wins the division championships if not win it themselves.
What am I missing here????? Weren't these the same guys who were manhandled at the line of scrimmage and whacked 20-7 by UConn in their bowl game?? Yet aren't you poo-pooing the quality of UConn as they match up against M? Help me out here.....UConn is no good when they are facing M, but can dominate in their bowl match up an SEC team that has a shot to win a division title...something's wrong here.....how does that work?
BT...I'm taking your cue that what happens on the field this season is what matters.....for this season. Lattimore is an addition to the SC running game, Garcia seems to have more game control and Spurrier is back to calling offensive plays. S. Miss won it's bowl game last year and was supposed to be competitive. Hey...I didn't say that UConn wasn't competitive but I did say the Michigan fans expect a win over the Huskies and the game in Ann Arbor. A win for the Big 10 in that game would be a great start I said....but a loss wouldn't be the end of the world for the Big Ten rep. Now...if UConn AND Miami both won on the road next week that wouldn't look too good.
Of course......what was I thinking???? So until proven otherwise, UConn is an inferior opponent, but the Cocks are going to be a force to be reckoned with in conference. I get it.....so if UConn wins or M struggles, then M must suck and by extension the entirety of the conference and further given the Cocks dominating performance then by extension the entirety of the conference....right? Carry on..... :lol:
Like I said....it's a new year. New players....new team chemistry. Some teams may closely resemble last year.....some may not. I watched SC and I have watched them for years under Spurrier and while I could be wrong this looks like one of his better editions. Some teams will be better.....some worse. The way it is every year.
Last year is last year, and this year is this year. It's the wonderful thing about College football and the turnover every year. It does look to me that S. Carolina is better this year. Under Spurrier they have typically been a good defense and a weaker offense, unlike what his typical team was at Florida. However it looks to me like Spurs has himself a good QB and some good receivers. He could make things very tough on a number of teams this year.
Definitely could happen, but in that case the losers would learn from their mistakes and move on to be a better team as a result....far better to step up to the challenge, play a quality opponent and lose than to not, imho.....
Well heckfire there BT....if UConn is a quality opponent then I suppose Florida is playing one also next Saturday in a non-con game.....a Holtz coached team from the Big East....USF. I hope Florida can step up to the challenge like Michigan has to but if the Gators lose they will be all the better for it....having played a quality opponent. 8)
:roll: :roll: Of course, I forgot, forgive me it is all about the Gators....and yes, USF did beat Northern Illinois in the International Bowl at season's end and are surely projected in the top 100.......well done.
Actually I haven't made much of deal about it but I watched last year as USF put a licking on FSU on the road. They also just a couple of years ago achieved a #2 BCS ranking in late October before screwing the pooch so I hope the Gators are wary of the Bulls. Not to mention that since I live in Bulls country I would hate to have to explain that one.
Wasn't it you that brought up the Big East as it related to my comments about SouCar? And then....ever so slyly commenting how nice it is for Michigan to have a challenge by playing a Big East team?
I brought up UConn.....I brought up UConn and their recent destruction of South Carolina in response to your annointment of South Carolina as a divisional power in the SEC in conjunction with your scornful comments about UConn and thought the juxtaposition was ironic to say the least..... I daresay I'm not the only one that saw the irony in the comparison. The sudden materialization of Miami and the Gators shall remain a mystery to me, but I fear the worst.... Carry on....
Huh? I brought up USF playing UF because of the Big East inclusion in our convo. Last night SouCar beat S Miss....who is not a Big East team last I looked. It is you that felt it necessary to place more significance on the Big East bowl win last year over SC as more relevant than what I was saying about SC looking like an improved team. Heck in your estimation teams don't change year to year I guess.
I didn't bring up the Big East, I brought up UConn.....because again slowly, .....and it was the last game that they played. Perhaps the Cocks are improved, and perhaps their play against So Miss indicated to you that they can be a threat in the SEC but based upon their most recent on the field performance I don't know how one can in the same breath be dismissive of a team that took the Cocks to the woodshed and be considered rational.....
I don't think overall that the SEC had a good start this weekend. UF struggled mightily.....Ole Miss had a shocking loss and NW showed why they go to bowls and Vandy doesn't. LSU struggled against a team missing a lot of it's star players and could have surprisingly lost the game at the end. Tenn did get off to a great start but against a team with a hyphen in it's name so I don't know what that proves. Bama and Georgia likewise hammered underwhelming opponents so no points gained there. The SEC may yet have a good year but so far it doesn't look to be so.