SOUTH CAROLINA LOSES SHOOTOUT …
By FITSNEWS || University of South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier pulled out all the stops in search of a season-changing upset victory over fifth-ranked Auburn on the Plains Saturday night … and it almost worked.
After converting an onside kick on special teams and five straight fourth downs against the Tigers’ shaky defense – South Carolina came up short on its final fourth down conversion attempt (the one that mattered most).
Quarterback Dylan Thompson – who threw a career-high five touchdown passes – couldn’t connect with Shaq Roland in the end zone on South Carolina’s next-to-last possession of the game. Then Thompson’s Hail Mary attempt on the final play of the game was intercepted by Jonathan Jones – the third pick thrown by the fifth-year senior on the night.
For the Gamecocks (4-4, 2-4 SEC), there just wasn’t enough magic in the dice … although the 19-point underdogs were throwing to the bitter end against the defending Southeastern Conference champions.
Why all the gambles from Spurrier? Easy: The complete and total inability of defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward‘s unit to even slow down – let alone stop – Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn‘s offense.
After being forced to punt on its first possession, Malzahn’s offense reeled off six consecutive touchdown drives – each one looking easier than the last. Those six straight scoring drives provided enough points to enable the Tigers (6-1, 3-1 SEC) to escape with a 42-35 victory.
Auburn’s offensive juggernaut moved through the Gamecock defense like a hot knife through butter – amassing a whopping 551 yards (including 395 yards on the ground). The blitzkrieg was paced by senior Cameron Artis-Payne – who racked up 167 yards on 25 carries.
Quarterback Nick Marshall added 89 yards on ten carries – scoring three rushing touchdowns. He also completed 12 of 14 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.
The latest evisceration of Ward’s SEC-worst defensive unit squandered a gutsy effort by Spurrier’s offense – which racked up 535 yards (including a career-high 402 passing yards courtesy of Thompson’s right arm).
Thompson, who slipped to 7-4 as a starter, easily had his best game of the season – although his interceptions were tremendously costly (two thrown in the end zone and another in the red zone).
Of course it’s impossible to win on the road in the Southeastern Conference when you’ve got to put up seven points on literally every single drive … which was the untenable position in which Spurrier’s offense found itself on Saturday night.
As a result the “defenseless” Gamecocks – who rank last or next-to-last in every defensive category – have now lost as many games over the last two months as they lost during the previous two seasons. They’ve also lost three straight SEC games for the first time in five years.
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59 comments
Considering the talent discrepancies between the two teams, I think South Carolina gave Auburn all they wanted and then some.
But yeah, the defense was a complete embarrassment on both sides.
While tailgating in Clemson this weekend..you know what I noticed most?
No trash.
You USC F’ers are a bunch of friggin pigs. Have some pride in…something.
Good effort by SC. Came up short.
In the upstate, Clemson had better hope the freshman QB is back for the Georgia Tech and SC games.
Only if SC can find some defense.
no need. with out Watson that offense sucks even worse than the USC D. 16 on the Cuse at home?
$400,000… that’s what you get for $400,000.
funny though, $400,000k is a lot less than the highest paid offensive coordinator in the country gets, and he could only score 16 against Syracuse. he better pray “Glass man Watson” plays vs USC or its going to be 6 in a row. They suck without Stoudt.
USC Defense = Big T Intellect
Are you saying USC Defense plays like a girl?
A little girl.
No, he is saying they play just like your mom. How is that in the dirt pecker lover mother doing?
USC Defense =Tom Ervin and his ugly wife
This is starting o look like ACC football! No defense and basketball score.
Clemson plays the better ACC football this was pathetic and to have Ward Finnish out the season shows that the will to do anything to win is just not there!
Recruiting will suck and next year will be the same, after getting some turkey stuffings this year by Clemson…we were really close but the guys at the helm dropped the ball spurrier included ! Ran a great offensive today but it ain’t enough with that high school defense
and your “great” offense did what exactly with that high powered fast paced attack you taters love? 16 total points? Against big time highly ranked Syracuse? Hell if it weren’t yet another shit ass ACC team you would have had your ass handed to you. good job tater fan. come to life prediction: USC out scores that suck ass O of yours by 17 in November. 6 in a row bitch!!!!
hahaha..you hope.
Auburn wasn’t penalized for having two players with a number “1” on their jerseys on the last play.
Does SC ever lose that fans don’t find some reason that it’s not their fault they lost?
Are we going to see Auburn fans 6 bombing little Stevie?
sounds more like a clem5on saying to me. “we didn’t lose we beat ourselves!”
The penalty would’ve given them another hail mary attempt five yards closer. I’m a tiger fan, but it would be eight bombing by Auburn.
South Carolina’s playcalling was surprisingly creative. If Whammy has a job at the end of the season, there’s something wrong with Spurrier.
Football season never ends in SC.You never know though;maybe they’ll go to the
Okra Bowl,this year.
LMAO: Now, after reality slaps FITS upside the head, he just ignores the bruising truth that makes him look so stupid. Hahahaha…PRICELESS…
How many times has FITS, like all cliche media, immediately attacked Spurrier as the one source for SC’s disaster of a season.
Last night, even the most ignorant, and talent-less observer could deduce, easily, that SC has NO defense, and a pretty decent Spurrier-led offense…
Nice try FITS, but you’re still punch-drunk, trite and a joke.
PS: We’ve got a better (more practical and forward-thinking) reaction on SCPSD…and we’ve been RIGHT about the Gamecocks, ALL along, while the now-slobbering FITS and The State newspaper were looking for a way to bury Spurrier. Check our archive.
You have some good stuff on there the last few days. Keep up the good work. MANY are reading your brilliant analysis of events as they unfold.
Nice to read opinion and analysis knowing its not “bought and paid” for.
Thanks Sandi. We NEED an alternative voice MORE THAN EVER now. FITS is in lockstep w/ the establishment. The State newspaper, today, endorsed Sheheen (just like FITS) and the Charlotte Observer endorsed Hagins (D) for the US Senate.
And FITS is most-ignorant anytime he craps out anything about the Gamecocks…
These idiots are OUT OF TOUCH!!!
When i looked to see just how many visits you have had on tumbleweed.com (your lame ass blog no one reads) Here is the answer from Google: Topics
SCPoliticalDigest.com
Search term
+Add term
Not enough search volume to show graphs.
LOLOLOLOLOLROFLMAOLOLOLOLOL bang up job asshole.
I don’t believe Tango accepts money from politicians or public officials before deciding what his opinion will be on a subject.
Does Fits?
I don’t believe Tango accepts money from politicians or public officials before deciding what his opinion will be on a subject….
TBG has never accepted a sexual proposition from Mila Kunis, either.
had to change your name huh..sad.
It seems you’re too stupid to know where to look to see the numbers, but they are there. And: I get a charge out of the fact that you are S#!tting all over yourself, scared….LMAO…
oh so your the second unique visit to this idiots blog site..i was guessing Emilys mom but looks like its you Sandi.
Oh so now it makes sense, you’re the second unique visitor on this idiots tumbleweed blog, when I saw that two people had actually went to the blog i assumed it was Emilys mom but nope, it was you. Shows the old truth that two fucking idiots will hang together. You two make a cute couple.
T-Rav and Fits made a cute couple until the break-up..Ervin and Fits make a cute couple…Ron Paul and Fits make a cute couple…ISIS and Fits make a cute couple
What is the problem? Everybody needs a friend! :-)
“Check our archive” —- I tried but discovered that the garbage is picked up every Thursday in your neighborhood.
Still no visitors on your ghost town blog huh? Still spend all day posting on THIS site instead..LOL even you dont go to your own blog..that is sooooo sad.
Don’t like being fed reality, do you? …LMAO….
well then how many visits are you getting daily, its so small that google doesn’t even register the hits but please do tell…
still no visitors to the site? Spend all day on this site = loser of the year
What ever happened to “FITSPICKS”?
Did FITSPICKS run away with Sakerlina’s National Championship SEC Championship SEC EAST Championship Decent Bowl Game Hopes?
Should we put out a BOLO?
Reckon if FITSPICKS returns…it’ll be a baby mamma/daddy?
My guess he is sitting in a tree with Steve McGarret and Tom Ervin outside the governor’s house waiting on Wo Fat to deliver a bag of “asian” money.
Book em Dano!! What clowns.
+1 for the Wo Fat reference.
“FITSPICKS”…He knows as much about picking football winners as he does political winners, case in point…T-Rav.
Notice you left out SIX IN A ROW…LMAO…ball-less…huh???…Hahahaha…
Notice you left out SIX IN A ROW…LMAO…ball-less…huh???…Hahahaha…
TBG’s sources say that there is a big party at a Hartwell lakehouse scheduled for the first weekend in December.
SIX IN A ROW will be there, along with FITSPICKS, SAKERLINA’s Championship Hopes (all of them: National, SEC, SEC-East, State, Major Bowl, Lesser Bowl, ANY Bowl), Obama’s Positive Poll #s, Upstate Support of ISIS, Lindsey Graham’s Heterosexuality, Sakerlina’s Defense, 2015 Florida Coach Will Muschamp, Philip Branton’s Understandable Posts, South Carolina Political Digest’s Blog Traffic, The Colonel’s Love of ALL THINGS T-RAV, Harrell And Haley’s Ethics [They may bring some *friends*] and T-Rav’s s Current Sex Life W/ His BABYMOMMA.
Probably going to be a pretty quiet affair, if you ask TBG.
but – but – but- ……… will we be invited?
…but – but – but- ……… will we be invited?
TBG doesn’t care.
Rumor has it that while all of 2014 FITSNEWS Tittie Pics are attending; there will be NO STRIPPERS.
No scrippas. No TBG.
The MAJIK ROUND DICE have been ….. silent.
The MAJIK ROUND DICE have been ….. silent.
ITBGRC, at the beginning of the season, the MAJIK ROUND DICE and TBG were beating FITSPICKS like the proverbial red-headed step-child a Lorenzo Ward defense.
With the remaining schedule, the Old Ball Sack and Gamecocks may not be going to a bowl game this season. Major disappointment from winning the SEC championship!!!!!!!!
What ever happened to “FITSPICKS”?
Did FITSPICKS run away with Sakerlina’s National Championship SEC Championship SEC EAST Championship Decent Bowl Game Hopes?
Should we put out a BOLO?
Reckon if FITSPICKS returns…it’ll be a baby mamma/daddy?
Give Spurrier and the chicks some credit. It was a gutsy performance no matter how you look at it. However, I do think AU was looking very much ahead to Miss.
WAR EAGLE
I thought SC played a helluva game – heartbreaking loss.
I thought Cocks fans would still be crowing about their decisive victory over Furman.
You can’t lick our cocks !
Is anyone else getting a weird version of Disqus comments on their computer? Mine has a faded character to the typed text being displayed in the comments.
Yes.
We see which staff can prepare in 3 weeks and which can not.
Comparing the USC Defense against Clemson’s both running a similar Defense, just shows how rotten a coach is Ward. Clemson stunts, moves their Linebackers constantly and sacks QB’s all the time. While USC freezes its linebacker 6 yards off the ball, never moves, never stunts, and runs the same Defensive setup, never changing the defense to confuse the Offense.
Clemson’s Defense is in the top 10 in the Nation, while USC with a much better Offense than Clemson, couldn’t stop a loon in a wheel chair.
Interesting to note, that the same rotten Defensive Coach USC had Ward as an assistant too, Ellis Johnson, was coaching Auburn’s Defense. And, getting about the same results as USC’s similarly duplicate coached Defense. Looks like neither one of them are worth a damn at coaching Defense.
Fire Lorenzo Ward.