| 28 August 2010
The University of South Carolina football team kicks off their season on September 2nd at home versus the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. With kickoff less than a week away, you would think a Spurrier team is completely focused and it is business as usual. Boy could that not be further from the truth. The month of August for USC has been a soap opera with QB controversy, hotel issues, investigations, injuries, and a TE suspension.
I really do not think you could write this stuff if you attempted. Let’s try to recap a little and bring you up to speed before we get to next week and Southern Miss….
Injuries
The Gamecocks have been a little bitten by the injury bug with some key starters. FB/TE Pat DiMarco has a cracked bone in his arm but is trying to play through it a bit. He should be fine for the opener. USC’s running back stable has seen Kenny Miles and now Jarvis Giles a little limited through the preseason. Both should be okay come Sept. 2nd but you want the horses going at full speed so proper evaluation can occur. Lucky for SC, the depth at this position is deep and no cause for concern. At LB, the leading tackler Shaq Wilson has a bump hamstring that has not allowed him to participate in practices outside the first one. Not good in a corp that needs to replace Eric Norwood. Big things are expected from Mr. Wilson so he needs to heal quickly. The OL has seen some players wearing the yellow jerseys but all should be okay. The big blow as far as injuries was to South Carolina junior offensive tackle Quintin Richardson, who had to have shoulder surgery and will be out the rest of the year.
QB Controversy
So a true freshman is having pretty good preseason practices and this stirs the media up while making coaches think about a two qb rotation of sorts. Seems Stephen Garcia is getting pushed by Connor Shaw. Good or Bad? Depends on how you look at it and no one should be surprised. This has been the case since January. Connor Shaw is good. Garcia is your starter. There I said it. Garcia has the experience and going into the season, that means something. Don’t get me wrong, Shaw will play and heck he may end up by the season overcoming Garcia. But the spot is Garcia’s to lose and I just don’t see that happening early in the year. You will see both used in the opener but “in Garcia we trust.”
Weslye Saunders Suspended
Senior Tight End Wes Saunders has been suspended. Seems yet again his actions (stupidity) have gotten him into the Coaches doghouse. Amazing a kid with so much talent cannot use his brain to aid him in making good decisions. This stems from what has been determined to being his lie to coaches for being late to a practice session. Seems he used the NCAA as an excuse which was found to be untrue. Amazing…
Quinton Richardson
He will be out for the year due to a shoulder issue but got into some troblue for a "alleged" assualt on his girlfriend. Not much on this issue has been discussed openly. Not good to see or hear about and hope the issue is resloved.
NCAA part #1
Two fronts here. One is the agent issue that is linked to UNC and some of their internal issues. Seems, yet again, Mr. Weslye Saunders is involved here and what is being sorted out is if he had “improper contact” with an agent. Mr. Saunders has cooperated with the NCAA as they investigate a party in Miami and his possible attendance (mainly if he went – who paid for the trip?).
Whitney Hotel and NCAA #2
Seems we are gaining a little insight in which players are involved due to them missing portions of the Gamecocks practices/workouts. DBs Akeem Auguste and C.C. Whitlock missed all of Tuesday's practice and the early portion of Wednesday's workout. Offensive tackle Jarriel King and DT Melvin Ingram missed parts of practice the past two days. TE Wes Saunders is also involved and it seems he is still staying at the hotel. The others have moved out.
There are six projected starters among the players who have been linked to the Whitney: Saunders, Paulk, Robertson, Auguste, King and defensive tackle Ladi Ajiboye. Whitlock is a second-team cornerback.
Spurrier said USC wouldn't appeal any punishment from NCAA officials, who continue to interview players about their living arrangements this year at the Columbia hotel.
Main issue revolves around if they received a “special rate.” The NCAA is sorting through this mess and each day gets a little deeper.
So there you have it, stay tuned and don’t turn the channel. I am sure we have not seen the end of the above issues.
The main cause for concern on any of the above is of course the NCAA investigation into the hotel issue. If the players received a “special rate” that Joe Public could not get --- look out as suspension will follow. On the Weslye Saunders issue, I bite my tongue on my true feelings towards his decision making skills. Again loads of talent there and if he misses the season it will hamper the offense a little but the offense has plenty of options to throw the ball too. Not concerned if he is out for a long time. More concerned with the potential of the multiple players that could miss a game or two because of the hotel issue.
I hope all this mess gets sorted out very soon. This has become a huge distraction for the team and the fans. The opposing fan bases and the media loves it as it is fueling discussions.
I also hope that Spurrier tightens ship. The team is young and as I have written before a perceived lack of leadership exists since Norwood left. Need to jerk this chain and get the boys focused on Southern Miss.
For this season to be truly special for Carolina, then the team needs to be focused and have the players playing.
College Football could not get here quick enough…..
