Boyd a Buc. Cory Boyd is headed to Tampa Bay, causing nothing but heartache to those of us who pull for the Gamecocks and the Falcons. Sure, he could have ended up in worse places -- like with the Saints -- but the Bucs? Really?

The Bucs' press release on the event makes playing time look as likely as anything else in Tampa Bay, where the running back situation is a touch unsettled.

The Buccaneers concluded their draft with a running back for the second straight year. Last spring, Tampa Bay's final pick in the 2007 draft was Alabama running back Kenneth Darby, who remains on the roster.

The Bucs' current roster also features 2005 first-round pick Cadillac Williams, who was the NFL Rookie of the Year in '05 but missed most of the 2007 season due to a significant knee injury. Williams is confident he can return from his injury, but he hasn't played since the fourth week of the '07 season and will remain a question mark until he suits up next fall.

The Bucs also return running back Earnest Graham, who emerged as a legitimate force last season after Williams' injury and the one that felled Michael Pittman a week later. Graham ran for 898 yards and 10 touchdowns and averaged 4.0 yards per tote. In addition, the Bucs re-signed Michael Bennett just before the start of free agency and lured former Bucs start Warrick Dunn back to Tampa in March. (HT: LOHD)

So we've finally found a team with more running backs than Southern Cal. This is a discovery, indeed. And the NFL, no less, where roster limits and salary caps are supposed to control such things.

In any case, good luck to Boyd, whom we all hope (and suspect) will turn out to be a steal for the Bucs at No. 238.

Coincidentally, for any non-Gamecock fans who don't understand the fascination with Boyd, it essentially comes down to this: Over the last two years, when everything else about South Carolina -- from Blake Mitchell to the defense -- seemed maddeningly inconsistent, the one thing we could count on was Cory Body playing his heart out. Even if he did make an ill-advised comment every once in a while.

No player seemed to want South Carolina to win worse than Boyd wanted it. Certainly no player (with the possible exception of Syvelle Newton) played more like he wanted South Carolina to win than Boyd did. Which is not to disparage other players.

Boyd set the bar pretty high.

Whose Call? Yes, C&F is aware of the Spurrier play-calling hand-off, even if he's only mentioned it in passing. There will be more on this in the season preview.

In any case, The State does a wider piece on the phenomenon of coaches across the country handing the headsets to someone else.

One of the teams where the coach did this: Georgia. See the spelling-challenged Dawgs play last year? (And by that, C&F means after South Carolina beat them. cough cough) Not guaranteeing the same results here -- a lot of that will depend on how well Spurrier Jr. runs the offense and whether he has, like, a quarterback to run it -- but there do appear to be benefits to letting go of the main play-calling responsibilities.

"Before I was in the middle of the forest chopping wood like everybody else, and there's nothing wrong with that. I think there's some value to the leader being right in the middle of it," Richt said recently. "But once I moved away from that I was able to kind of back away some and see everything from a little bit different perspective, almost from the outside looking in." ...

With his extra time, Richt was able to spend 15 minutes in his office with each of his players last fall, "getting a chance to know them better."

Spurrier, though, isn't entirely backing away from the offense.

Spurrier said the switch allows him more time to look for big-play opportunities against various defensive schemes, which have multiplied during Spurrier's 23 years as a head coach.

C&F also wonders whether Spurrier will be able to resist the urge to jump in if the offense is struggling. (Hopefully, with better results than the 23-0 disaster that ensued when Lou Holtz tried that.) We shall see.

First Base tomorrow won't be pretty. Because any sweep was supposed to go the other way.

Elsewhere...

Arizona State in trouble with Iran. After all, if the theocracy is really serious about cracking down on things "which do not respect the required norms [and] present dangers for the health of children," then Dennis Erickson has to be at the top of your list.

Patrick Cowan is hurt. This is all Karl Dorrell's fault. Just ask UCLA fans.

Round 7, No. 238 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. More later.

Both baseball features on time this week. That might be some kind of a personal record.

The Gamecocks head to Baton Rouge to take on the Bayou Bengals at 8 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

THREE FOR THE GAMECOCKS

1. Justin Smoak. Perhaps affronted by doubters like RonMo, Smoak is looking to go beyond breaking the all-time HR record and obliviate it instead. With 16 long balls this year, Smoak has replaced the record of 48 with a record of 55 and counting. No reason to believe he won't add a couple this weekend. And he's at his best in conference games, hitting .420 against the league.

2. Blake Cooper. Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week. Holding a 3.05 ERA despite leading the SEC in innings pitched. For those of you who don't understand this "baseball" thing, that's good.

3. LSU. The Tigers are 6-11-1 in the SEC, with the tie coming because they fled Georgia like scared little girls. Actually, they had to leave because of time constraints, but suffice it to say that the Tigers aren't tearing up the conference, and South Carolina has done quite well against LSU lately, thank you very much.

TWO FOR THE TIGERS

1. Ryan Verdugo Jr. LSU's Sunday starter isn't shabby himself, holding a 6-2 record, 3.12 ERA and 44 strikeouts over 52 innings.

2. Matt Clark. The Tigers 1B has 15 home runs and is batting .309 while doing a pretty good job at defense. Seven of his long balls have come in SEC play.

Spurrier on the hot seat? Well, somebody thinks so, anyway.

Steve Spurrier has been put on the hot seat because when you are making as many millions as he is, dropping five straight games after reaching #6 doesn't cut it. Throw in some questionable discipline techniques, four years to rebuild, and you have a seat dialed up to hot. (HT: LOHD)

Wha?

Spurrier? On the hot seat?

Let's get one point of agreement out of the way: The end of last season was an unmitigated disaster. But, as I've noted before, anyone who believed that the Gamecocks truly deserved a No. 6 rating (as opposed to being a default No. 6 because everyone else was embarrassing themselves) didn't watch them play. The team was living on borrowed time, and it was just a question of whether the bank note came due in 2007 or later. It came due against Vanderbilt, and the team never recovered.

But placing the entire burden for the shambles that became the last five games directly on Spurrier is a bit much. Tyrone Nix contributed a good bit to the problem, as did the fact that the schedule was (as it usually is) horrendously backloaded, allowing expectations to outpace where the team actually was.

Meanwhile, rebuilding what Holtz left behind at South Carolina was always going to take more than four years.

And where does this talk of the "many millions," which has also been used elsewhere, come in? Spurrier's making $1.75 million, which is really not all that outrageous for an SEC coach nowadays.

$1.75 million? I lose that much in my couch cushions every week.

In any case, Spurrier is undoubtedly on the hot seat with some of the Gamecock faithful; has been since the end of last year. But to argue that he's on the hot seat in the traditional way -- meaning he should either be touching up the resume or seeing if he can become an analyst at ESPN -- is to part with reality in an abrupt manner.

Spurrier is 21-16 in three seasons. No, that's nothing to write home about, but it's a sign of steady average-ness for a team that hasn't had much of that. (Holtz was 22-14 over the same time period his best three years, but the records were far less consistent: 8-4, 9-3, 5-7. And that's only if, like C&F, you forget that Holtz was 0-11 his first year for a record of 17-18 for his first three years. Apologies, but C&F has a mental block that often leaves him forgetting 1999 -- for obvious reasons.)

Eric Hyman isn't going to show Spurrier the door after this year. Spurrier might leave of his own accord -- but not because he's been pushed.

Georgia fans, nervous about No. 1. The Mayor says they shouldn't be, but apparently some devotees of the spelling-challenged Dawgs are worried that being No. 1 might set them up for a fall. (By the way, the Mayor gets bonus points for using both The West Wing and TR in the same post. Kudos.)

I really wish I could say I was diabolically boosting Georgia's chances at being No. 1 for exactly that reason. But, alas, there are two problems with that theory: (a) that's not what I am doing; and (b) to try to do that would be to vastly overestimate my influence on the CFB establishment.

Meanwhile, EDSBS lampoons Georgia fans. Worth a read.

Scarlett drops. According to FHM, Scarlett is down to No. 5 on their list of 100 Sexiest Women. Of course, it probably doesn't help that they used a picture that makes her look like she's been spending a bit too much time with Amy Winehouse. Of course, what do you expect of a poll that has Mila Kunis at 81 and Hillary Duff at 7?

(Of course, C&F could just point out the general editorial standards of FHM -- which are low even in comparison to other men's magazines -- but why stoop to that level for what is essentially a cheap, tawdry knockoff of an already mid-priced and low-brow genre?)

Still No. 1 in C&F's heart. For whatever that's worth.

It's Beecher. For now, at least. Person seems pleased -- sort of.

But Beecher, named by Steve Spurrier on Tuesday as the Gamecocks' starter heading into the summer, showed this spring that he has the physical attributes and leadership skills to at least get the chance. ...

What struck me first about Beecher was his arm strength. At one of the night practices the first week or two, Beecher aired out a tight spiral in a drill that must have traveled a good 60 yards.

The pass fell incomplete, but I remember making a note of it because I had never seen Beecher crank out a throw like that. The rest of that night and throughout spring practice, Beecher proved he could make all the passes.

Now, they weren't always on time or on target, but it was never a question of arm strength -- something that remains a concern for Smelley following offseason shoulder surgery.

Well, that makes me feel all better. Hey, the throws might not always be "on time or on target" -- but they'll get there. And defensive backs all over the SEC lick their lips.

Spurrier rewarded Beecher for a solid spring by elevating him to the No. 1 spot, a move Spurrier undoubtedly also hopes light a fire under Smelley.

This is actually the first thought that occurred to me when I heard that Beecher had been chosen as No. 1: Is this for real, or Spurrier playing head games. Not that HBC would ever, y'know, play head games with his quarterbacks or anything. And, of course, Garcia is still out there -- living somewhere in Columbia, with either his mother, Spurrier or a pack of wild dogs, depending on which message boards you read.

Beecher has done as much or more than Smelley to earn the top spot -- though that's not really saying a lot. But it remains to be seen if he'll be under center when the season begins.

Getting ready for the draft. Cory Boyd, South Carolina's best and maybe only real NFL prospect this year (What? No one wants Blake?) is preparing himself for the draft. He seems to have a pretty good attitude about it.

Mike Detillier, publisher of the M&D Draft Report, expects Boyd to be picked between the fourth and sixth rounds. Detillier said Boyd performed well for scouts at the combine and USC's pro day, but he believes concerns about Boyd's character off the field and consistency on it will keep him from getting drafted higher. ...

Noting Boyd's hard running style and fearless approach, some analysts believe Boyd is undervalued as a late-round pick. ...

"If I slip and become someone's steal in the draft, it's OK," he said. "I'll still have more than I have now."

Good luck to you, Cory. And here's hoping you bounce back like ... well, you bounce back.

And then, the exit. For all the "vitriol" I've directed at Georgia, I've always been respectful of their players when talented, and one of those players is giving up the game. David Pollack is retiring.

Anyone who's been following the Gamecocks for five years or more will, of course, remember Pollack and why I respect him so much. In addition to just being a great player, he executed one of the most freakish -- and, for South Carolina fans, heartbreaking -- plays I've ever seen.

Best wishes for Pollack in his future endeavors. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go weep. Again.

It's about that time again.

Some are beginning to look at the coming season in college football, and already casting their eyes on what should obviously be the No. 1 team in the land: Southern Cal.

(Some, oddly enough, seem ready to go with Ohio State, a notion C&F feels no particular need to counter.)

Now, C&F has somewhat begrudgingly taken up the role of Trojan skeptic, starting last year, when he said in July that he was thinking about not having Southern Cal atop his ballot.

It would go against all four preview mags -- even Phil Steele! -- and against EDSBS' pronouncement that "anyone with half a tank of rationality will pick them at number one."

C&F's problem with these statements is not that choosing the Trojans as No. 1 is not defensible. It was more than defensible in the case of EDSBS last year and it is in the case of this year's early pro-other-USC booster, SMQ. It is the way opponents to that argument are framed.

More after the jump...

Oooh. On time for once.

How important is the race for the SEC East division crown?

In the larger scheme of things, not very. At least not for South Carolina. After all, the top eight SEC teams get into the postseason tournament -- the two division champs and the best six remaining teams. With a weak SEC West and the Gamecocks already 11-7 in conference play, it's pretty likely that South Carolina will play in the tournament.

But in terms of making life easier once you get to Hoover -- like Omaha, a city that only college baseball teams actually want to visit in summer -- winning the division can matter.

The two division champions shall be automatically seeded number one and number two based on winning percentage in conference competition.

Looking at the way the two divisions are shaping up right now, that means winning the East could make the difference between playing a first-round game against the No. 8 seed or the No. 6 seed. That would be the difference between playing Alabama (22-19, 8-10) and playing Florida (25-15, 10-8). Projecting beyond that in a double-elimination tournament is foolish; in fact, these projections are only to make a larger point, since the exact seedings will change between now and the tournament.

But it will make a difference. And there is, of course, the very really pride factor, especially if the race comes down to South Carolina vs. Georgia -- something that seems likely. The teams are 1-2 with 16 games left for the Gamecocks and 15 left for the spelling-challenged Dawgs. (Both, it should be noted, still face Florida and one of the other two would-be contenders, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, so this could change.)

This is where the sweep at the hands of Georgia hurts; the Gamecocks are 3.5 games out -- meaning all but a fraction of the spelling-challenged Dawgs' lead springs from that series.

How does the schedule shape up?

Not a huge difference, but South Carolina's remaining conference foes are four games under .500 in SEC play, while the opponents left on Georgia's slate are five games over .500 in the league.

In other words, the road is easier for South Carolina from here. Easier enough to make the difference? That's still sketchy. But wouldn't it look a lot better if that deficit were 2.5 games or 1.5 games or even half a game?

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Blake Cooper, who surrendered just one run on six hits during his complete game against Ole Miss. The performance -- the first complete game for the Gamecocks in two years -- won Cooper SEC Pitcher of the Week honors. Oh, and it came in the rubber game of the series.

STAT OF THE WEEK
From this week's release:

South Carolina owns a 24-0 record when scoring six runs or more this season.

The flip side of that, of course, is that the team is 5-11 when scoring fewer than six runs.

THE SLATE
Tuesday: at Furman, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: vs. Wofford, 7 p.m.
Weekend: at LSU, 8 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday

Said Lee Corso:

And my surprise pick in all the country, including the SEC, is South Carolina. Why South Carolina? They have 18 guys coming back for Steve Spurrier. They play at Vanderbilt, at Ole Miss, at Kentucky. There's three wins there. Watch this. November the 15th Spurrier's gonna bring South Carolina in here and I would not be surprised if it's for the SEC East title. South Carolina at Gainesville.

Said The State:

It said something that kicker Ryan Succop was named the offensive MVP of spring practice.

Yes, it said something -- several things. Most of them not, as The State suggested, about Ray Rychleski's coaching ability.

No, Ryan Succop was also the offensive MVP of spring practice because of the quarterbacks, who threw a jaw-dropping eight picks in the Garnet and Black Game -- despite the rules being slanted their way.

Spurrier tweaked the format to try to create more offense following last year's 14-7 spring snooze fest. The defenses played three coverages and were prohibited from blitzing in the 37-34 win by the Black. ...

Despite the absence of a pass rush and six defensive starters, the quarterbacks struggled.

Smelley threw five interceptions in the first half, including three in a seven-play stretch. Beecher was only slightly better with three picks.

In other words, this marked the worse performance in a rigged test since the missile-defense system tests where the interceptors were essentially told where the missile would be.

Not as bad as Smelley/Beecher

Yeah, it's situational ethics, but if this keeps up C&F might have to change his position on Garcia.

A Morris column more notable for a series of cheap shots nonetheless makes the point: South Carolina could depend on its defense to win this season. Which is not what was expected when Spurrier came to Columbia at the end of the 2004 season.

But, hey, if the Gamecocks can just get opponents to decline illegal participation penalties, Scottie Spurrier could have a huge year.

The day's best play, or at least the most fun, came when Scottie Spurrier came off the bench -- during the play -- to catch a 46-yard touchdown pass from Chris Smelley.

The officials called the obvious penalty for illegal participation. But the defense declined the penalty and allowed the play to stand, at the best of somebody, possibly the receiver's father.

"That's the first time we've hit the off-the-bench play," Steve Spurrier said with a laugh. "You all see it every spring. We get him wide open and the quarterback just can't get him. ... That was real encouraging that this year we caught the off-the-bench play. I found out that wasn't real easy."

So what does all this mean?

First of all, C&F is cautious about making any overly broad statement about the Gamecocks. If there is one thing he has learned over the past ten years or so, it is that when South Carolina is picked to do well, the team usually falls flat. When the Gamecocks are counted out, they usually outperform expectations.

But, in college football as in baseball, spring is usually a time of optimism for every team. Not so for the Gamecocks this year.

It's not time to panic. But it seems that leaning on Corso as support for your position is, in regards to this team, as sketchy as ever.

Yeah, the Garnet and Black Game will block out the sun this weekend -- even though it won't actually be counted in the record books. The baseball games against Mississippi, though, will.

The Rebels come to town for a series with -- gasp -- television coverage. Well, for a couple days, anyway. The 6 p.m. Friday contest is off-air. But FSN South picks up the 4 p.m. Saturday game and CSS will carry the noon Sunday match-up.

THREE FOR THE GAMECOCKS

1. Justin Smoak. The all-time South Carolina home-run king. And, yes, Ron Morris, he is the all-time South Carolina home-run king. No asterisks. No "yeah, but..." I hate the aluminium bats as much as the next guy, but let it go. Oh, and he has a .370 average.

2. Momentum. Hate to harp, but the Gamecocks are coming off a pretty big game, capping off a five-win week. Okay, the whole part about "hating to harp" on the Clemson win? That's a lie.

3. The long ball. Smoak's not the only one ushering the ball off the premises. The Gamecocks have clubbed 70 home runs, tops in the league.

TWO FOR THE REBELS

1. Pitching. Some of the match-ups on the mound aren't the most favorable for South Carolina. Mike Cisco's ERA of 4.35 looks a touch high against Lance Lynn's 3.21. As does Will Atwood's 4.17 against Drew Pomeranz' 1.89. (Not to mention that Pomeranz has 10 more strikeouts in three fewer innings.) Blake Cooper's line is favorable against Cody Satterwhite's, but one out of three ain't good.

2. What if they're cold? Because when South Carolina's bats cool off, they really cool off, and the team loses. In South Carolina's 10 losses, the team averages 2.6 runs a game.

...feels a lot like this.

Sticking to form with the three earlier meetings, the Gamecocks muscled to a 6-0 victory on Wednesday that was long on one-sided firepower and short on drama.

"We've played very well against those guys this year," coach Ray Tanner said. ...

Adding insult to the wounded pride, the rout extended the Tigers’ school-record losing streak to 11 games -- three of which USC accounted for.

Thus, for the first time since 1974, Clemson (18-19) dipped below .500 after the midway point in the regular season. ...

All of which led Leggett to praise the Gamecocks as the contrast to his beleaguered bunch -- confident, experienced and offensively potent.

Meanwhile, I ask a favor from readers: I have heard (and don't, for the record, believe) that Corso has said South Carolina could be SEC  football champions if they beat Florida, or some such nonsense. If this can be proven, I'd love to see it. Otherwise, I'll chalk it up to urban legend or a misunderstanding.

Let me be clear about one other thing: Anyone who thinks the Gamecocks will win the SEC championship in football this year has lost their minds.

When C&F was a child, his parents tried to describe how people can be misled by society this way: "Suppose you had been told your whole life that the color blue was really 'green.' It doesn't matter how many times you heard it was blue, you'd still think of it as green."

So what do we do now, when we find out that the color we've all known as garnet ... well, wasn't garnet at all?

On the Primary Matching System color chart, which has 814 colors, USC is going from color 201 to 202. ...

The move is an effort to get "a truer garnet color," said USC's Chip Harvey, director of creative services for university publications.

"It's one of those things where, if you look in the stands, you'd see shades from red to garnet. What we're trying to do is get things a little more consistent," Harvey said.

So everybody buy the new merchandise. Not so the university and the licensing companies can make more money or anything. It's for consistency.

As it turns out, he threw those picks because he was confused by the color scheme.

This raises more than a few questions. For one thing, when did the university start using the wrong garnet? How, exactly, do we know what's the "right" garnet? What if it's really color 203? Or 200? And what will the children think if there's a new garnet every time they turn around? Will it lead them down the road to moral relativism and drug use? "All of the colors are screwed up here anyway, so let me get high and see really pretty colors."

And does anybody think South Carolina is going in the wrong direction?

Mississippi State uses color 202, while Oklahoma, Alabama and Southern Cal use 201.

I suppose this isn't too much of a catastrophe. At least until they tell us that Cocky is really a rare Brazilian turkey.

The Gamecocks head to Athens to take on the spelling-challenged Dawgs. Gametimes are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

THREE FOR THE GAMECOCKS

1. Justin Smoak. His sixth home run of the year, which came Wednesday night, puts him third on the all-time list for the Gamecocks with 45 long balls in his career. The season numbers aren't shabby, either. Smoak has a .340 average and 29 walks for an on-base percentage of .493.

2. Reese Havens. Batting .387, hit three home runs last week, has 43 hits, etc. In other words, you know why he's here.

3. Four-game winning streak. Yeah, streaks end. But momentum in baseball is momentum. When a team begins to win, it can be hard to stop.

TWO FOR THE DAWGS

1. Trevor Holder Jr. His 3-2 record might not look too impressive, but Holder has a tiny 2.38 ERA with 25 Ks against just 12 walks in 34 innings of work.

2. Four-game winning streak. What's good for the Gamecock is good for the Bulldog. Plus, the Gamecocks have crossed the state line one other time this year: When the team traveled to Vanderbilt, a series it lost.