The national story for South Carolina's 31-10 thumping of Missouri will be that the Tigers are not ready to compete with elite SEC teams on the road.  The story for Gamecocks should be that their team is starting to look like an elite SEC team, even if there is room for improvement.

Connor Shaw decided to steal the spotlight from Missouri and put on a historic performance.  The junior put to bed any murmurs of a quarterback controversy by completing 20-21 passes for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He completed his last 20 in a row and is only a few more completions away from setting the SEC and NCAA records.

He also looked good in the pocket.  He seemed to have more time and made the most of that time.  He didn't run too early or too often, but he did maximize his talents by running when he needed to.  And on those occasions he took care of himself better by finding sidelines and sliding.  He'll need to stay healthy for USC to have a year to remember, and he stands a better chance of doing that if he avoids unnecessary contact.

The Missouri Tigers visited South Carolina to clash with the Gamecocks inside the gates of Williams Brice stadium. What they left with was a 31-10 thumping and a rude awakening to the SEC world of football. Lots can be said about this game but here are five things we learned from this win:

1. Connor Shaw is Fine - He finally looked good under center as he seemed relaxed and in command of the offense. It might have taken four games to get to this point but I like what I see out of him and hope he does this every time out. Shaw finished 20 of 21 passing for 249 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed 12 times for 41 yards. He had zero turnovers.

2. Lattimore is the best back ever at USC - Lattimore, who played for the first time without a knee brace, rushed for 85 yards and scored two short-yardage touchdowns. His first score of the game made him the school’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns, passing George Rogers and Harold Green.

3. USC found their LT in Corey Robinson - He played his best and it was much needed at this spot. He protects Shaw's blindside and did a fine job doing it. He needs to continue to develop as he will need to be playing great each game out.

4. USC special teams can be special - Whether it was the kickoffs into the endzone, Ace Sanders juking on the punt return, Bruce Ellington's 50-yard kick-off return in the second quarter marked the first kick-off return this season for South Carolina or Adam Yates' 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. All and all it was a great showing from the Gamecocks special team unit - Finally!

5. Home is good for USC - The Gamecocks have a seven-game home winning streak going. In their last 25 games at Williams-Brice Stadium, the Gamecocks have won 23. The slogan..."we must protect this house" it taken to heart.

The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Missouri Tigers by the score of 31-10. Here are the video highlights of the game:

The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the visiting Missouri Tigers by the score of 31-10. This dazzling punt return by Ace Sanders provided the early spark to help the team get the win, check it out:

Can we say "play of the game?"

University of Missouri Tigers
School History:  Established in 1839, in Columbia, MO. First public university west of the Mississppi River.
Students: 34,225 (26,821)
Head Coach: Gary Pinkel (12 season 84-54 record)
Record vs. USC: Missouri leads the series 2-0 in 2 bowls games, the last being the Independance bowl in 2005
2012 record: 2-1 overall (0-1 SEC)
Famous alumni: Brad Pitt, Sheryl Crow, and WalMart founder Sam Walton
Missouri fun fact:  The University of Missouri claims to have invented the tradition of "Homecoming" in 1911.  

 
Further reading... 

 Gamecock Nation, this morning I went on WACH Fox here in Columbia to talk Missouri with Tyler Ryan. There's also some talk about Connor Shaw and D.J. Swearinger, and I give a homer completely scientific prediction. Enjoy the video....

Posted with Blogsy

SEC coaches on the hot seat, AKA the Jimmy Sexton is about to get paid

Part 1 will look at two coaches who have a great deal of work to do to make it to media day 2013. Part 2 will look at two other coaches who are in dicey situations.

1. John L. Smith—Arkansas. Some in the blogosphere tried to spin this as a very smart hire (guilty) in the wake of the Bobby Petrino/girl in the athletic department in the volley ball shorts train wreck. Familiarity with personnel and staff, head coaching experience, and a loosey goosey attitude were all listed as positives. It took three weeks of football before Arkansas went to hell in a hand basket. Jeff Long, who made the right but tough decision to fire Petrino, is faced with an even tougher decision now. Alabama and LSU are not slowing down. New kid on the block A&M has resources to burn and a young, energetic coach who can recruit. The wrong hire sets this program back a decade. Two men who will surely get a look are Arkansas native and SEC vet Charlie Strong and experienced program builder and Texas recruiter Art Briles. If the ‘Hogs can land one of these two, they will be in good shape.

2. Joker Phillips--Kentucky. All of Rich Brooks’ hard work is currently going down the drain. Joker Phillips’  has a young team (72 freshman and sophomores) but losing to Western Kentucky is unacceptable at an SEC school. Sledding doesn’t get any easier as the Wildcats trip to Gainesville to take on a team that holds a 25 game win streak over Kentucky. Kentucky might take a peek at Cincinnati head man Butch Jones or Louisville DC Vance Bedford.

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Bryant Roberts is a life long SEC fan, has 2 autographed pictures of Steve Spurrier, is addicted to BBQ, and a graduate of Presbyterian College.  Follow him on twitter here. 

Coach Steve Spurrier has squashed any thought of a quarterback controversay as he has named Connor Shaw the starting quarterback for the University of South Carolina against the new SEC foe, Missouri Tigers, this weekend.

Shaw has been shaky in his reps under center for USC and has had a shoulder concern. His back-up, redshirt sophomore Dylan Thompson, has had some nice outings throwing for 507 yards and 5 touchdowns.  By comparison, Shaw has thrown for 174 yards and one score. Despite the stats and message board input from the fans, Spurrier says there is “no issue on who the starter is this week.”

Spurrier, in discussing Shaw today, said “he’ll start. He’s fine." He also said "If there’s a place for Dylan to come in the game and help us try to beat Missouri, we’ll certainly consider that.”

So is this the right choice in your view?

Shaw is 10-1 as a starter and this is a big-time game against Missouri in the "Battle of Columbia." USC is 0-2 against the Tigers. USC needs a strong showing from whomever is under center as this has implications on the SEC race. Kick off will be at 3:30 p.m. EDT and this game will be televisied nationally on CBS.

As I am sure you've heard by now, D.J. Swearinger has been suspended by the SEC for his hit against a wide receiver in the UAB game. Mike Slive announced the suspension on Monday. In pertinent part the release stated:

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has announced that South Carolina senior defensive back D.J. Swearinger has been suspended for the Sept. 22 Missouri at South Carolina football game. This action is the result of a flagrant and dangerous act which occurred at the 5:46 mark in the third quarter.

Did that hit deserve a suspension? Not all Gamecocks agree. Here is the video:

During the game Swearinger was flagged for violating Rule 9, Section 1, Article 4 ("Rule 9-1-4"). Rule 9-1-4 reads in its entirety as follows:

No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, elbow or shoulder. When in question, it is a foul.

That's not quite a simple as helmet to helmet. Let's unpack that a little bit. In order for it to be a foul, the player must 1) target the head or neck area, 2) initiate contact to the head or neck area, 3) the contact must be initiated with the helmet, forearm, elbow or shoulder and 4) the opponent must be defenseless. That's almost too much to ask referee to judge in a split second, so there is the added sentence that if there is a question, it is a foul.

Much, much more after the brreak.

In the second half of Saturday night's win over UAB, Shaq Roland caught his first touchdown pass of his college career. Dylan Thompson found Roland on a deep post in the North end zone. When it happened, the catch reminded me of another player's first TD catch. First though, here's Shaq's touchdown.