First off, let's give credit where credit is due; we may hate Clemson, but you have to admit that they executed and we didn't. I’m not going to spend too much time reviewing this game, because there’s not a whole lot to say other than that we lost because of poor QB play by Chris Smelley. Granted, there were other problems, but QB play was the main one. You could say that the defense didn’t play well, but they actually came out and played hard early and gave us good field position that we couldn’t take advantage of. If we had built a lead, we would have played better defense throughout the game. Our defense basically did the same thing Auburn’s defense did last night in the second half of the Iron Bowl: they wilted under the pressure of having to do everything because the offense was so pitiful. You could say that we never established the run like we should have against a team with a poor run defense, but we actually ran the ball better than we have at other points in the season. With better QB play, we could have had something resembling a balanced offense yesterday. Poor special teams play—particularly, a holding call that gave Clemson a first down on their first punt and took away great field position for us and a blocked punt later—was a big problem, but you have to expect some things like that to happen in poor playing conditions. Plus, would we have done anything to take advantage of the good field position? Probably not. Spurrier pointed out that Jared Cook wasn’t giving a good effort, but can you blame him? Smelley has to be the only QB in the SEC who can consistently overthrow a 6’5 monster like Cook. You could blame Smelley’s play on the rain, but Cullen Harper only had minimal trouble with it.

These issues were all problems, but Smelley was the main one. His performance was truly pitiful, maybe worse than Tommy Beecher’s game earlier in the season against NC State. Smelley overthrew his receivers several times, mainly because was throwing the ball too early and his receivers couldn’t get to it. Some of his passes in traffic were truly perplexing, as there didn’t appear to be anyone on our team in sight to catch the ball. Some of these problems may have been the receivers’ fault for not running routes correctly, but is Smelley so set on getting the ball to a certain place on the field that he isn’t capable of adjusting when a play goes awry?

I defended Spurrier’s decision to go with Smelley based on what I had seen on the field the past couple of weeks, but I’ll now admit that I was wrong. Garcia should have played this game. Even if he had played poorly, he probably wouldn’t have thrown as many picks. One thing you can say for Garcia is that, unlike Smelley, he’s capable of adjusting when there’s no one open, even if that only means scrambling for a two yard gain. His scrambling would have really helped us when the receivers didn’t run routes correctly. And even if we hadn’t won, at least Garcia would have gotten some experience playing a rivalry game. The truly perplexing thing about Spurrier’s coaching yesterday was that he left Smelley in even after it became clear that Smelley was way off his game. In past games, notably NC State and Kentucky, Spurrier has been quick to pull his starter out before it was too late. Why he didn’t do that yesterday was beyond comprehension.

The question now is what this game means for the state of the program. I said before the game that this was a must-win game that would define the Spurrier era thus far. Clemson is down, we had a chance to get to eight wins and finish the year ranked, and we could rake in a good recruiting class with a solid performance. The result? Not only did we lose, but we lost in embarrassing fashion. Winning the bowl game would assuage some of the pain and might net us some momentum going into next year, but beating Clemson was much more important.

In my view, this lost is a serious indictment of the job Spurrier has done here. Should he be on the hot seat? Perhaps, although I’m not exactly ready to see him forced out. By our standards, Spurrier has been fairly successful and deserves some goodwill for that. He hasn’t had a losing record, has beaten Tennessee twice, and is the first Carolina coach to beat Florida in decades. Moreover, next year could be better if Garcia lives up to his potential. We also have a solid recruiting class in the works, although you have to wonder if we’ll retain all of the players we poached from Clemson after Bowden resigned.

Despite those positives, though, the program’s development has stalled significantly after a promising first two years. The fact that the SEC and Clemson are down this year and were ripe for the taking only serves to highlight the lack of development. Moreover, the reasons we haven’t moved forward don’t speak well for Spurrier. We got the few big wins we’ve gained over the past two years with defense. However, Spurrier coaches the offense and leaves the defense to his assistants, so does he deserve the credit for those wins when our offense has gotten progressively worse since the heady days of late 2006? Not really, I would say, although I guess one could make the argument that Spurrier’s name helps us attract talented assistants and recruits that we build the defense around.

Granted, part of the problem with the offense owes to the fact that Spurrier hasn’t yet found a QB worth his salt. Garcia (or even Aramis Hillary) might be that QB next year, so perhaps there’s reason for optimism. Some people have suggested that Spurrier should look into finding a new offensive coordinator, but I don’t think that’s the case, as Spurrier’s offense doesn’t seem to me to be outdated. We had open receivers all day yesterday against Clemson; Smelley just couldn’t get them the ball consistently. Another commonly cited problem is the offensive line, but again, they didn’t play terribly yesterday. We ran the ball better than usual and Smelley had time to throw. Spurrier might do well to consider looking into finding a new line coach, but the problems yesterday all go back to Smelley’s inability to hook up with his receivers. We can hope for better play under center next year.

All of this is to say that Spurrier shouldn’t be forced out right now but should be on the hot seat going into next year. If we can’t get to eight or nine wins next year, then I say it’s time to look into young blood like Mark Dantonio, a Carolina graduate who has Michigan State playing great football this year. If Garcia comes through, though, I see potential for major improvement next year. I should add that Garcia’s training should start right now; if Smelley starts the bowl game, then I’m officially giving up on Spurrier.

Let's hear it Garnet and Black Attack readers. Is Spurrier still the man for the job? How do you feel about the state of the program?

Go to the Game Thread to leave your thoughts about the battle of Good vs. Evil and Well-Done Color Scheme vs. Eye-Bleeding Monstrosity.

1. ACC vs. SEC. I kind of made fun of Ron Morris for his picks, but he makes one good point before going round the bend:

Middle-of-the-pack SEC vs. middle-of-the-pack ACC makes for easy pick.

You could argue that there's a gulf of difference between South Carolina's "middle of the pack" (7-4, 4-4 SEC, 6-4 vs. FBS) and The Team from the Upstate's "middle of the pack" (6-5, 4-4 ACC, 4-5 vs. FBS). But that doesn't really matter. Morris is right that South Carolina's .500 record in the SEC is worth more than The Team from the Upstate's .500 mark in the ACC. Every league in America is better than the ACC, with the possible exception of the Big East. South Carolina is better prepared for a big game.

2. Not the DaviSpiller monster you remember. In fact, James Davis and C.J. Spiller have looked downright mortal this year, combining for 110 ypg. Neither has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game since both of them did it against Maryland on Sept. 27. In years past, this was a running back tandem to fret over. But this year, much like the rest of The Team from the Upstate, there's no reason to be concerned about them.

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This is how Clemson pays tribute to its father institution, Auburn University. They also pay tribute to LSU by nicknaming their stadium Death Valley. This afternoon, they pay tribute to our defense by losing.

Here we are: the big game against our in-state rivals. The season sure did blow by, didn't it? I've already talked about how much this game means to these two teams, so let's get down to business. These are the three things that need to happen for us to beat the Tigers.

Establish the Run

With rain and poor field conditions likely, we're not going to be able to rely on the pass as much as we usually do. Moreover, you have to think that Steve Spurrier would like to take some of the pressure off mistake-prone Chris Smelley. That means that Mike Davis, Bobby Wallace, Brian Maddox, Stephen Garcia if he plays, and the big guys making the push up front need to pick up some of the slack. Our running game's performance over the course of the season doesn't exactly inspire confidence, but Clemson's questionable defensive front has been horrible this year. To make matters worse for the Tigers, talented DE Ricky Sapp went down with a knee injury against Virginia last week. Even when healthier, the Tigers have given up several big rushing games to their opponents this year. Granted, some of the teams that have had success running the ball against Clemson are teams like Alabama and Florida State that have significantly better running backs and offensive lines than us. Still, I think we have a puncher's chance to taking it to Clemson on the ground. If we can do that, we could score 30+ and run away with the game unless we give up lots of turnovers or special teams scores.

Smart Play from Chris Smelley

If we can run the ball decently, we won't need Smelley to throw for 300 yards to score enough points to win this game. However, he can't kill us by throwing any interceptions, especially deep in our territory. Although I criticized Spurrier earlier in the year for not opening up the playbook with Smelley under center, in this game I really almost want to say that I think we should play it very safe and stick to safe plays like hitch patterns to Kenny McKinley, screen passes to Davis, crossing patterns over the middle to Jared Cook and Weslye Saunders and the like. This is a game our defense can win for us as long as we don't give away too many turnovers. I'm sure we'll have to throw the ball down the field at some point, though, and I hope and pray that Chris will avoid making bad decisions when we do. One thing that works in our favor is that Clemson doesn't have much of a pass rush, especially now that Sapp, their most likely defender to get into the backfield, is out. Like most QBs, Smelley isn't quite such a poor decision maker when he has lots of time, which will hopefully be the case today.

Contain CJ Spiller

James Davis and Cullen Harper are good players, but Spiller is the one that really scares me. Davis, a between the tackles kind of guy, has had trouble over the course of the season because his line isn't getting as much of a push as Clemson would like. Harper and the receivers are very solid, but I expect we'll put a lot of pressure on Harper and limit the effectiveness of Clemson's downfield passing game. In general, I think we will play very well defensively against these dimensions of Clemson's offense. Spiller, however, remains dangerous even without a solid offensive line because of his breakaway speed. The Tigers will try to get Spiller the ball in space by running sweeps and passing him the ball on screen plays, and if our defense doesn't play smart, Spiller could  make a couple of big plays and really hurt us. We can't let that happen.

Prediction

Surprising, Ron Morris predicts a 42-6 Carolina victory. I wish I believed him. If we do the three things listed above very well, I think it would be possible for us to win by that kind of margin. However, while I think we'll be successful, we probably won't be 42-6 successful. CJ Spiller will probably have one long run, Smelley will probably throw an interception at some point, we probably won't run for 200 yards. However, if we can run it a little, keep from giving up more than two turnovers (and get a couple of takeaways of our own), and keep Spiller from going nuts, I think we will win this game. My prediction: 27-17 Gamecocks.

It's rivalry week, so there should be some good games this weekend. Expect an upset out of either the Georgia-GA Tech or Auburn-Alabama games. I'm going to keep this pretty brief because I have things to do and still have to write a preview for the Clemson game.

Friday

Mississippi State at Ole Miss

This one is going on right now, and the Rebels are predictably mauling State. Look for a pretty big MOV for Houston Nutt's team, which is red-hot right now.

LSU at Arkansas

This one might be closer than you think because LSU is playing so poorly, but the Hogs are a terrible team and the Tigers should pull out the win late and take home the Golden Boot.

Saturday

Georgia Tech at Georgia

This is my upset pick of the week. Tech is playing well and will beat the disheartened Dawgs.

South Carolina at Clemson

More on this later tonight.

Auburn at Alabama

I wish I could say that Auburn will win here, but Bama is just a much better team this year. The Tigers will keep it closer than most expect, but the Tide will win en route to a beating at the hands of the Gators.

Florida at Florida State

Again, the talent differential is just too big here. FSU might keep it close early, but in the end the Gators will win by 21+.

Kentucky at Tennessee

If Kentucky doesn't win this game, they will never beat the Vols. I think the Cats will pull it out, though.

Vanderbilt at Wake Forest

Ole Miss's victory over LSU last week probably shot Vandy's chance of playing in the Peach Bowl, as LSU is now likely headed to Atlanta. That means that this game isn't quite as significant as it might be, as a win will do little to change the Dores bowl projection. They'd still like a win, though, although I think the Deacons will be too much for them.

No, I haven't cleared this with Gamecock Man, so don't blame him...

Anyone who read Cock & Fire will remember Random Clemson Fan Guy (don't know that he had that name at the time), as he was our stand-in for The Team from the Upstate. In any case, with this weekend's game coming up, I decided to ask RCFG to give us his thoughts on the game this weekend. His response follows.

We know how you South Carolina fokes see us! We remember that survey in The Gamecock that said, "Have you ever slept with a cow? What was the Clemsonite's major?"* We seen that, and so I wrote in The Tiger, "Have you ever slept with a rocket physicianist? What was the Carolina-ites major?" Har har har.

And we can read here at Clemson, contrary to what you Uesssee youesssee YouSsee Carolina fans think. We know that the SEC is in a down cycle baby! And we're from the A!!! C!!! C!!! Power conference, h*lls yeah! We don't need your Florida and your Alabama! We got more division champs than we know what to do with!!!

Plus, we have all the motivationalism we need! Six wins and no bowl game - that's screwed up, man. Sure, we played two FCS teams, whatever those are, but - we beat Duke! And N.C. State! And Virginia! We should get to a bowl based on that alone!

Besides, Dabo's the man. He's going to lead us back where we belong!!! PBS title, baby!!! Or PCS, or whatever they call that thing.

IPTAY, losurz!!!!!

*True story. I was on that year's staff.

The Famous 1902 Transparency. Check out Photon Torpedo Tube for a story that should make every Gamecock proud (and every Tiger ashamed).

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Like last year, Carolina and Clemson come into their annual slugfest going into different directions, but both could reverse their paths by winning the game. This time, though, the roles have switched. Last year, the Gamecocks welcomed Clemson to Williams-Brice with the weight of a four game losing streak on their shoulders. Beating Clemson would have been  a way to partially remove the taint of the lost dreams of what had been a very promising season. Clemson came to town having had a pretty solid season, although they had lost to Boston College the previous week and lost a bid in the ACC Title Game in the process. Of course, the Tigers won that game on a last second FG, ruining the Gamecocks' season and bolstering their 2008 preseason expectations.

This year, things have gone the other way. The Gamecocks, although hardly world beaters, have generally lived up to expectations. If we win this game and our bowl, we will finish the season ranked for the first time in the Spurrier era. Much like Clemson's win did last year, that will likely set up relatively lofty 2010 expectations for Carolina, who returns a lot of players and has a solid recruiting class in the works. Clemson, meanwhile, has utterly failed to live up to their preseason role as a dark horse national title contender. The Tigers removed their battle captain in the middle of the season, replacing Tommy Bowden with Dabo Swinney. Swinney has Clemson playing better football, but this season has been a rough one for the Tigers, and they desperately want to beat us as a consolation prize.

As it should be in any great rivalry, the implications of this game are huge for both teams. For the Tigers, Saturday brings a chance to redeem a horrible season. A win could also give Dabo Swinney, who seems like a very good coach (certainly better than Bowden) and is very popular with the players, a chance to keep his job. A loss, on the other hand, doesn't bode well for Swinney and will plunge Clemson deeper into the abyss of uncertainty. They could lose disillusioned players to the NFL Draft. They could lose the favor of many in-state recruits. Things could get bad. This is a scenario that I would like to see.

What does this game mean for us? In his fourth year, Steve Spurrier needs this win to give him a chance to have his best year in Columbia. A win, and everything appears to be as it should be. We'll be on our way to the Outback Bowl and have a chance to finish the season ranked. That's a good season considering what happened last year. A loss, though, and the program will appear stagnant. This is especially true considering that this game has never been riper for a Carolina victory. Simply put, this is a must-win game for Steve Spurrier and his Gamecocks. I will be extremely disappointed if we don't win Saturday, and I'm not just talking about the kind of disappointment you always get from losing a game, especially to a hated rival. I'm talking about the kind of disappointment you get when you begin to seriously wonder whether your team is ever going to take the next step or whether 6-6 and 7-5 is just your lot in life. This game is a, maybe the, definitive moment thus far of the Spurrier era.

I'll be back on Friday with a preview of the nuts and bolts of the game. Until then, I want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time with family and friends. Also, do your friend Gamecock Man a favor and pray that I don't burn my turkey.

Thanksgiving Week. What are you going to do?

1. Florida, 141 points (9 first-place votes)

2. Alabama, 135 (3)

3. Georgia, 120

4. Mississippi, 107

5. South Carolina, 91

6. LSU, 87

7 (tie). Vanderbilt, 63

7 (tie). Kentucky, 63

9. Auburn, 47

10. Tennessee, 38

11. Mississippi State, 28

12. Arkansas, 16

Below three, almost everyone moves. Ole Miss zooms to No. 4, South Carolina stays put, LSU falls two, Vanderbilt and Kentucky stand pat though the Wildcats tie the Dores, Auburn escapes the first quartile and Tennessee flips with Arkansas as the Hogs once again grab the lead in the race for the "Worst of the Best" Cup.

Voters?

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The Good

Oklahoma

What impressive things did the Sooners do this past weekend in Norman? 625 yards of total offense? Check. 35 points in one quarter? Check. An incredible performance at the exact time when the voters are most likely to be swayed? Check. The last point is the most important. Whether they deserve it more than Texas, the Sooners are likely in the driver's seat to the BCS Title Game if they can win out. Voters tend to have a "what have you done for me lately?" attitude, and Oklahoma has done a lot lately.

A related point potentially playing into the Sooners' favor? They'll get another chance at an impressive victory this weekend in Stillwater, whereas voters will not be impressed by a Texas victory over a reeling A&M team. Of course, the downside for Oklahoma is that Oklahoma State would love to knock their rivals off their perch. They're good enough to do it, so don't be surprised if it happens. If it does and Texas and Texas Tech both win, Tech would play in the Big XII title game by virtue of a tiebreaker with the Longhorns.

The Bad

Consistency in the ACC

I know I've harped on this before, but seriously: the ranked teams in this conference change weekly. Getting ranked almost certainly means you're going to be destroyed by an unranked team in your next game. It's ridiculous. The latest victims were Miami and UNC, to Georgia Tech and NC State, respectively.

The question is: are any of these teams any good? The way the conference played in its OOC games against BCS teams earlier in the year would suggest that they're not, but the conference will get a chance to redeem itself this weekend when Clemson, FSU, and Georgia Tech all get chances to prove themselves against OOC in-state rivals.

The Ugly

The Apple Cup

Think the state of your favorite team's rivalry isn't what it used to be? Then think about this: in a battle of previously winless teams, the Huskies completed an ignominious winless season over the weekend, losing to rival Washington State.

Perhaps the most bizarre thing about the Huskies is that someone thinks Looney Les might be their next head coach. We all know Les is a lunatic, but he'd have to be an idiot to take this job. Although who knows? If he loses too many more like he lost last weekend, he might get run out of town by the LSU faithful.

South Carolina gained two commitments over the weekend and lost one.

First the good: we picked up DB DJ Swearinger for this year's class and DL Kelcey Quarles for next year's class. Swearinger is a former Vols commit that is backing off due to the coaching situation in Knoxville, while Quarles's is the son of a former Gamecock. Both are very solid players, and Quarles plays a position we'll need more talent at over the next couple of years.

Now the bad: OL Johnnie Farms decommitted and pledged to North Carolina. Why Farms was impressed with the Tar Heels' putrid performance against NC State is beyond me, although I guess I can't blame him if he likes Chapel Hill and the school.

Losing Farms is, to put it lightly, not good. Considering our needs on the offensive line, Farms was possibly the most important recruit of this class. Hopefully we can either sway him back to Columbia before signing day or pick up another quality lineman somewhere.

This is the final installment of a series on our QB controversy. This time around, at the risk of angering most of Gamecock Nation, Gamecock Man tells the Garcia Evangelicals to put a lid on it and support Chris Smelley.

Let me preface this by saying that I believe Stephen Garcia is our QB of the future. With a dazzling array of physical skills, Garcia has a higher ceiling than Smelley. If he spends his time in the film room and away from Five Points over the off-season, he could become a great QB, perhaps one of the best ever to don a Gamecocks uniform.

That said, based on what we've seen over the past few weeks, Spurrier is right when he says that Garcia is not ready. Chris Smelley, on the other hand and despite his shortcomings, has played with a certain degree of poise over the past few weeks. He may not have Garcia's physical tools, but he more than makes up for that with his mental edge on the freshman.

Is Smelley perfect? No. Does he throw too many interceptions? Yes. Is he less accurate and mobile than Garcia? Yes.

However, other than one or two drives against Tennessee, Garcia has done very little since the second quarter against LSU. For those of you who think Garcia is such a great player, tell me: has Garcia really done anything special other than in the fourth quarter against Kentucky and the second quarter against LSU? And no, UAB does not count. His lack of understanding of Spurrier's offense has been very obvious. Moreover, and contrary to popular belief, he's been sacked quite a few times; his mobility hasn't helped us all that much.

Smelley, on the other hand, has had a handful of periods of good play. He was great against NC State. He threw some bad passes against Vandy, but generally moved the ball fairly well in that game. He was good against UGA. He was a monster against Ole Miss. And since he's begun sharing snaps with Garcia over the past two weeks, he has clearly outperformed his young teammate.

This isn't to say that I'm sure I'm right about this. There are lots of good reasons to go with Garcia. This also isn't to say that I don't want Spurrier to keep Smelley on a short lease against Clemson. Spurrier's decision to pull Chris against Kentucky was a wise one, and if Smelley comes out and struggles against the Tigers, I hope SOS pulls him again. However, Smelley is the right choice to start this game and lead us to a second straight victory in Death Valley.