Reportedly this past Wednesday Steve Spurrier was spoted on a college campus other than USC’s. The News & Observer out of Raleigh has discovered that Spurrier has been seen on Duke’s campus and has been meeting with the AD. A school spokes person has outwardly commented that they are looking for a replacement for Ted Roof. Check the articles out, 1 and 2.

So the author of Why South Carolina Will Beat Clemson was wrong about the outcome. I won’t fault someone too much for not being able to predict the future. I will fault the author for the logic behind his decision.

The author begins by pointing out that the heartbreaking loss to Boston College guaranteed us no chance of winning a championship or going to a big-time bowl — no news there, in his words, “it was the classic ‘Clemson Meltdown.’”

He continues,

Unlike Clemson, however, South Carolina has a steady ball coach—the Head Ball Coach actually, who will look to right the ship and close out the year with a strong win. Coming off a much-needed bye week, look for the Gamecocks to be sharp in a game they need to win for bowl eligibility.

Thus, not only will Clemson be in their all-too-regular post-meltdown state of shock, South Carolina will be healthy, rested, and coached by a man not in perpetual lame-duck status.

Well that logic seems robust. But it can be made stronger, right? After pointing out that in Clemson’s loss to BC, home field advantage was not all that valuable, he gives USCe credit for home field advantage.

But the hatred for Clemson is real around Columbia, and I expect another raucous crowd, similar to the one Kentucky faced months ago.

On top of that, it’s just hard to imagine bowl season without Steve Spurrier.

So that’s the gist of the post. In hindsight, it was clearly wrong. However, when it was written it was still wrong and, well, pretty stupid.

First off, their are no “classic” Clemson meltdowns. Sure there are annual meltdowns, but they come in all shapes and flavors. Beside that point, what had happened in the 8 seasons prior to this one in which we came into the USCe game? Well I count 6 wins and only 1 of the two losses was in Columbia. So for as inconsistent as Bowden’s teams have been throughout the season, they have pretty consistently beaten South Carolina regardless of home field advantage.

And I’m not sure how “steady” Spurrier is or how that’s an advantage for Carolina. In 2005 he went 7-5 with some good wins and stupid losses. (Yeah yeah, those were the lame players from that last national champion coach they brought in.) In ‘06 he went 8-5 with no stupid losses. But, coming into the Clemson game, the team was 6-5 with 3 of his own recruiting classes (but they’re still young!) with some good wins, some stupid losses, and a 4 game losing streak. If his performance at Carolina is the definition of steadiness, then I don’t exactly see how that is any kind of advantage.

But we can fall back on the incontrovertible logic that it is just too doggone hard, or damn near impossible, to imagine bowl season without Spurrier around. Perhaps it would be hard to imagine if there weren’t all those years where he wasn’t around for bowl season because he was failing in the NFL.

So I don’t get it. Or is the joke on me? Was the post supposed to be some kind of satire about the mental state of the average Carolina fan?

First, let’s take a quick step back (I know the tile and the first statement don’t jive, deal with it) and look at a few points from this past weekend. First of all, I would like to say that, as of Monday afternoon, all should be right in the universe again because the Tiger Football Team should be ranked ahead of the Basketball Team. This major crisis was real and I could see The Nothing from The Never Ending Story devouring South Carolina as a whole due to this paradox. All should be well in Clemson land.

There is one point of info which I am sure we have all viewed slack-jawed over from this past weekend’s game, Tiger and Gamecock alike. The major reason why Clemson came away with a win in Columbia is time of possession. The Tigers kept the ball out of Spurrier’s hands for nearly 3 entire quarters (CU38:37 USC21:23). I truly believe this was the game winner for the Tigers. An extra few minutes of ball possession on the Gamecock side and the outcome would have, very possibly, been different. This is the one glaring statistic on paper for this game which made the difference. Most of the numbers on both side of the ball are VERY similar.

On a side note, a hot topic, what to do with Bowden? Well, difficult to fire the man after a 9-3 regular season, even if we get thumped in a bowl by an SEC team. Pickings will be slim to none for a decent coach in the off season, we have a fantastic class of recruits headed to Tigertown this year, and nearly every kid is graduating in four years on the team. Everyone, it’s time to put the pitchforks and torches away for awhile. Bowden’s current contract is through 2010. It’s time to show the nation we are serious about our program. I for one am about sick of the media gabbing on about how we are going to fire Bowden and how he is on the “hot seat”. This is devastating to a program and how it is portrayed from the outside in. I feel it to be a good move to offer a two year extension with a nominal pay raise (contract to 2012) with a rider of a possible additional three year extension(contract to 20015) and pay raise at the end of a potential “great” season in 2008. Keeping the program moving in a positive direction and giving a contractual goal for Bowden is good business and is critical from every standpoint. Recruits want to know who they will be playing for all four years, negative media needs to be silenced, and the administration needs to make sure Tommy doesn’t leave Clemson in the middle of the night because we won’t put up for some job security on his part. Extend the contract, keep a decent/good coach and keep moving in a positive direction. Things could be much worse. Clemson could be 6-6, not going to a bowl game, and have just lost our 9th game in 11 years to our rival and our coach could be in the mist of the longest losing streak of his career.

Clemson Football, winning at least three games a year in spite of our play calling for the last nine years. I could fuss, moan, complain, and generally sound like a USuCk fan but I’ll take it. As Broken wrote, it was the the most painful good experience I have had in sometime. We made mistakes, they made more. Fortunately for the good guys, our mistakes were more “off” the field than theirs and it made the difference. Easily could have been a 17 point win but we wouldn’t be the cardiac cats if we played that way. Fans get to contemplate for another week what town to make New Years reservations for. Most likely start looking for a room in JAX and get your Gator Bowl tickets. At the same time, we could get crapped on and end up in the Champs Sports (ACC 4) though with our fan following it’s doubtful we fall with VT rolling what most think has been an overrated UVA team who has found ways to win. At the same time, BC isn’t known for traveling and it’s been five years since we rolled the Vols in the ATL for the Peac……I mean Chick-Fil-a Bowl. We are within a win and the folks in Georgia have the option of taking us. I’ll hold off on bottled water comments for the time being. There is also a very slight chance we go to Atlanta as BC and VT get into the BCS mix due to the rules regarding max number of conference teams in the BCS and the effects on the Big 12 and SEC. I’ll break down the scenarios later in the week after the BCS is released tomorrow. As it stands now, Mizzou and WVU control their destiny for a title game appearance in N’awlins. Good week to be a Tiger, for the most part. CU, Mizzou, and Auburn all took care of business as ranked teams in grudge match games. We wont talk about the folks on the bayou.

That was the most horrifically awful, painful, good-experience of my life.

The powers that be in Vegas have made Clemson the favorite by 2.5 to 3 points.

I’m surprised that we’re favored all. So therefore I must conclude that their is either: A) a lot of easy money to be made, or B) USCe is really, truly, horrifically awful.

• The men’s basketball team came within 1 point of doubling up Furman. Unfortunately, in a stat that I hope to monitor closely this year, the team shot just just 57% from the free throw line.

  They also forced 37 turnovers.

• Ticket sales for the BC game have picked up, but the game isn’t sold out yet. So if you’re in the market, you can get gouged for the top-deck north seats, or just buy illegally from a scalper at a reasonable price.
• Finally, it has been announced that the Clemson-USCe game will be played under the lights of the dead cockroach. Game time is 7 PM and ESPN2 will have the coverage.

I think the song and video say it all.

Thanks Spinal Tap!

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