The South Carolina Gamecocks concluded a historic season on Monday afternoon by defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 30-13, in the Capital One Bowl. Steve Spurrier has overcome 118 seasons of mediocrity and accomplished what 32 predecessors prior to him at USC could not attain ---an 11-win football season in Columbia. FYI… SPURspective did predict an eleven-win campaign for South Carolina during the preseason; albeit, I admit that I did predict 11 wins in the regular season (not including the bowl game). Carolina defeated the fourth most successful football program in NCAA football history (Nebraska 846 all-time victories) with the convincing victory over the ‘Huskers in Orlando. Before I list the highlights & low-lights from the game, let’s review the obstacles this team overcame throughout the season to achieve an 11-win season. The Gamecocks lost several key components to its squad during the season, like Cornerback Akeem Auguste (played a handful of snaps in the UGA game before taking a medical redshirt with foot injury), OL Kyle Nunn (missed the last eight games of regular season before returning to the bowl game), Quarterback Stephen Garcia (dismissed from the team after failing drug test and countless personal issues) and then the heart & soul of the team RB Marcus Lattimore (suffers a knee injury in the MSU game). The culture of this program has definitely been changed under Spurrier in seven years and there are no better facts to back up this argument than the distractions and injuries that did not derail this team’s quest to rewrite the history books at the University of South Carolina this year. The DNA in this program has changed 180 degrees under the Spurrier regime and finally patient Gamecock fans can be proud of their football program with a resounding bowl game victory over a tradition-rich program like Nebraska, an 11-win season and back-to-back-to back convincing victories over Clemson!
With that said, let’s take a look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the Capital One bowl.
The Good:
→Steve Spurrier won his 55th game as Head Football Coach at the University of South Carolina. Spurrier is now 55-35 in seven full seasons at South Carolina. That is a .611% winning percentage. Spurrier is second all-time on USC’s Career Wins List for USC football coaches, trailing only Rex Enright (64 all-time wins)
→USC snaps a three-game bowl losing streak (Outback – Iowa ’09, PapaJohn’s.com – UConn 2010 & Chick-fil-A – 2010)
→South Carolina finishes a season on a four-game win streak for the first time since 1958, per WOLO-TV 25 in Columbia
→The Gamecocks finish in the AP Top 25 for the seventh time in school history
→USC will be represented in the final AP & Coaches Poll Top 10 for the first time ever
→The 14-member senior class earned more victories (34) than any other senior group in South Carolina football history
→Gamecocks earn elusive 11th win for the first time ever in program history
→School record 20 wins over the past two seasons, per The State newspaper
→Junior Wide Receiver Alshon Jeffery named Capital One Bowl MVP; playing less than four quarters
→The Calhoun County native set a new school record of 100-yard receiving games (12) with a four reception, 148-yard and one Pass TD (Hail Mary) performance. Jeffery’s finale in a Gamecocks jersey (going pro) was his first 100-yard receiving game of the season
→WR Alshon Jeffery has caught a pass in 36 straight games. He now trails Kenny McKinley’s school record, 43 straight games with a reception, by seven games
→Jeffery tied Sidney Rice’s all-time Touchdown receptions record (23) at USC with his heroic Hail Mary catch at the end of the first half
→Shaw tosses eight TD passes over the last three games against one INT (The Citadel)
→Connor Shaw – touchdown machine as he accounted for three touchdowns in the bowl game (two TD passes & one TD run) and a total of 13 touchdowns during USC’s four-game win streak to close out the season
→Zero turnovers in a bowl game
→Unblemished Fourth Down Conversion Rate Offense going a perfect 3-3 (100%)
→Smothering Gamecocks defense limited Cornhuskers offense to 253 total yards, registered six sacks (season high), and recorded 11 tackles-for-loss for negative 52 yards
→Lorenzo Ward’s “in-game adjustments” holding Nebraska scoreless after first quarter and limiting the Cornhuskers to 64 total yards in the second half & negative yards 18 over the last four NU possessions, per John Whittle of TheBigSpur
→Ball-hawking USC defense forced two turnovers finishing the season with 32 turnovers gained (19 INTs & 13 Fumble Recoveries)
→USC’s Third-Down Conversion Rate Defense yielded only 3-13 (23%)
→Blocked PAT by Travian Robertson and two-point conversion return by Stephon Gilmore
→“Walking in High Cotton” Nebraska Associate Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach, Barney Cotton, is a USC streak savior. Barney was on the New Mexico State staff in 2000 when Carolina ended its 21-game losing streak and he obviously was on NU’s staff this year when the Gamecocks ended their three-game bowl losing streak, per Andy Demetra, USC basketball/baseball play-by-play personality.
The Bad:
→Early returns on Lorenzo Ward’s defensive scheme were not popular as Nebraska’s offense scored touchdowns on its first two possessions
→Lack of focus on both teams’ part as the squads combined for 16 penalties
→Special Teams were anything but “special” in this game, as Kicker Jay Wooten missed a 20-yard attempt, while Punter Joey Scribner Howard shanked his first two punts
→USC wide receivers unable to get open during the first offensive series as Connor Shaw had all day to throw the ball but could not find WRs open down the field
The Ugly:
→The third quarter fist-a-cuffs between Alshon Jeffery and Alfonzo Dennard, which ultimately led to both players’ ejections from the game. Jeffery’s subsequent ejection cost him a chance to become the SEC’s all-time yards receiving leader (UGA’s Terrence Edwards 3,093) & USC’s Touchdown Receptions Leader.
Congratulations Gamecocks!
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