On the one hand, I love it when the pollsters show that they know less than me. I speak for a whole lot of people when I say that we knew that Ole Miss was overrated (even my Mom and little sister, after a cursory glance at the polls, said “there is no way that the Rebels are that good”) and I love being proved right. On the other hand, the meltdown from Columbia had the Gamecocks blown that game would have been SPECTACULAR. Oh, well.

First of all, any player who’s had less than a season of starting experience in the SEC is green in my book. I don’t care who it is or how it got that way. Maybe I oversold the case on the offense a little bit, but I’ve said before that I don’t trust first-year starting quarterbacks in the SEC (and this is the first year he’s been the clear-cut starter), and that’s for a reason. I would call Joe Cox relatively green simply because he’s not started or played significant snaps in more than a few games up to this point.

But don’t just take my word for it about Garcia improving - ?urn=ncaaf,191979" >listen to Hinton, a South Carolina skeptic if ever there was one.

But even though he was erratic, too, it does seem like we were watching the continued maturation of Stephen Garcia that was obvious two weeks ago at Georgia.

As for Georgia — yes, Georgia has surprised me with just how good they are this year. I think it has to do with your perspective a bit. I thought Georgia was probably overrated in the preseason, maybe even on my ballot, and I certainly thought they were after the Oklahoma State game.

. . . but, so far, it looks like the Eric Zeier era out there. Lots of offense, little to no defense, and next to nothing to show for it.

Joe Cox is a good example. Cox came into this season with neither a start nor significant playing time in two and a half years. That isn’t remotely comparable to Stephen Garcia, who was on the field quite a bit last year. Garcia’s maturation is continuing now because his own boneheadedness delayed what should have been his maturation a year or two ago.

Even if you’re right to call him “green,” though, it certainly isn’t fair to claim that he’s just beginning to grasp the offense. Like Joe Cox, Stephen Garcia has been in the program for a while. If either of them is just learning the offense now, he should be riding a short bus to the stadium.

Now they’ll believe they will win the East, destroy Florida, beat Clemson, win their BCS game, Garcia will win the Heisman, etc.

When the truth is that the Chicken Curse builds them up, only to tear them down.

Watch em lose to Vandy.

Kyle, more than once now I’ve read your quibbles that an SEC match up shouldn’t be a Thursday night game. I was hoping that you could elaborate a bit on why you have such an animadversion for something that I genuinely enjoy.

Earlier on a blog (perhaps even back in the Xanga days) you explained that a Tuesday night MAC game was required viewing, as “Bad Football is still football, and any football is better than no football.” If we are going to watch the Thursday Night game regardless of the teams opposing one another, I would much rather it be an Ole Miss at South Carolina duel instead of Wyoming at San Jose State.

Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks, Tiller.

I would quibble with a couple of C&F’s points, however. How many years does Stephen Garcia have to have in the program before he ceases to be described as “a relatively green player just beginning to grasp his offense”? Through his own idiocy, he hasn’t seen the field as much until this year, but he’s been in the system for quite a while.

Are you honestly saying that being around a football program is equivalent to taking snaps under center as a starter? Surely not. And, surely, you are not negating the clear progress that Garcia has shown between the Iowa game and now. And, also surley, you wouln’t suggest that a sophomore couln’t make progress by the time he graduates as a senior as well. Garcia’s relative “idocy” aside, he’s a red shirt sophomore who has only played four games as the clear cut starter. Are you also going to tell me that you would rather have a sophomore Mathew Stafford than a senior one?

After a big play gave the Gamecocks a first and goal, Garcia was shown running down the sideline, jumping and gesticulating like an epileptic cheerleader or a fan who’d had way, way too much to drink before the game. It’s one thing to do that when you’ve scored, but it was first and goal. There was football left to be played. Garcia’s next three plays? Bad option pitch, sack, incomplete pass that hit an Ole Miss defender in the gut. Think about playing football before showing us your moronic dance moves, son.

So Garcia can’t possibly celebrate after a great play and still maintain his concentration? You might have a point here. You would never see Georgia do something like that. It’s true that the plays thereafter were a miserable failure, but a reasonable person might conclude that that was a result our historically bad red zone offense and not Garcia’s celebration. And another thing – he was playing injured for most of that game. If the kid wants to celebrate a little to get pumped and get his endorphines going, what do you care?

If you’re an ACC also-ran, a Big East program from off the beaten path, or a mid-major looking to gain exposure, it makes sense to agree to do a Thursday night game to place your team at center stage. If you’re a mid- to upper-tier SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac-10 program, you have no business playing on a weeknight.

Don’t compare us to an ACC also ran. Them’s fight’n words. I guess it’s a little harder to smell the poop on the loop from way up there in your ivory tower. We play on Thursdays because we do need the exposure. We also need the money. In this league you have to take any comparative advantage you can get. Our comparative advantage is that we’re willing to play on Thursday night twice a year in exchange for some great exposure and some cash. And you know what else? We perform well on Thursday nights. So please, get over yourself.