Is South Carolina Actually... Decent?!?!?!
Can South Carolina make some noise in the SEC East after a shocking defeat of #15 Auburn last week?
I’ve been a Gamecock fan my entire life. There have been some great seasons but most of the time, it’s been miserable. Year after year, they come in with expectations to least contend in the SEC East and most of the time, they fail. That’s what made this weekend’s game against Auburn so special. For the first time since I can remember, there were absolutely no expectations for this team. After a horrible showing against Tennessee in the opener and a depressing ending against Florida, it looked like it was time to clean house and try something new. Sure we beat Vanderbilt, but that’s about as difficult as drinking that first beer Saturday morning after a big Friday night. Sure it’s rough at first, but eventually you get up and power through it.
Being with this team for so long, I had all expectations for us to lose. People were predicting us to win, people were starting to get excited again, and it had all the signs to be Muschamp’s final letdown. But something happened that South Carolina fans don’t get to see too often, we actually won. And not only that, we looked damn good doing it. It took about a quarter to wake us up but God (Jaycee Horn) and the defense went to town on Bo Nix. Did they give up around 500 yards of offense, I mean I guess, but who gives a shit. Jaycee was snagging INTs, Shilo Sanders (Deion Sanders’s son) was laying people out at safety, we came out with a dub. The offense didn’t look too shabby either. The Colorado State grad transfer, Colin Hill, did enough at QB with his 3 torn ACLs and the 1-2 punch of Kevin Harris and DeShawn Fenwick are the pairing that nobody expected before the season but have carried the load. But the real story on offense is my guy Shi Smith absolutely feasting on Auburn’s secondary. My guy’s got so much confidence that he posted on Instagram right after the game a picture of him Mossing Auburn’s sophomore corner Nehemiah Pritchett with the caption, “Damn I got 3 lil boys now ! somebody @ 14 lil ass.” That’s GOAT status right there.
At the end of the day, is South Carolina an amazing team? Probably not. They’re 2-2 and have a lot of tough games left on the schedule. Is Muschamp the guy to lead the team back to the top? Not even close. But are they good enough to compete and actually steal some games? Hell yeah. It’s always tough having to go to the defending National Champs and play, but with the confidence the team has right now, don’t count out the Cocks next week. Spurs Up!!!
-John Taylor