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Morris: Good can come of this
South Carolina linebacker Jasper Brinkley celebrates after a stop with time winding down in the second quarter.
Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com
Posted on 09.14.08
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THROUGH DECADE AFTER decade of close loss after close loss, South Carolina coaches —- one after the other —- have claimed they do not accept moral victories. It is time to accept one.
Why not try something different? Why not accept that USC played toe-to-toe, helmet-to-helmet with the nation’s No. 2-ranked team? Why not accept that USC played its heart out and can take much from the 14-7 loss to Georgia at Williams-Brice Stadium?
“A lot of you guys deserved to be winners today,” Steve Spurrier said he told his team afterward, “but we’re all losers and that’s just the way it is.”
Not so fast, Steve. Let’s put a positive spin on things for a change. Let’s recognize a USC defense that allowed powerful Georgia one touchdown and a mere 252 yards of total offense. Let’s recognize a pretty fair performance by USC quarterback Chris Smelley, who completed 23 of 39 passes for 271 yards and a touchdown.
While we’re at it, let’s recognize that there is a reason Georgia will contend for the national championship. When it needed to make plays, Georgia usually did. An 80-yard drive for a touchdown in the third quarter gave Georgia the final margin of victory. A forced fumble at the goal line and an interception at the end kept USC from tying the game.
The frustrating part is that USC and its fans have seen this same game and this same outcome many times before. Need I mention Andrew Pinnock’s fumble at the goal line against Georgia that cost USC a victory in 2002? Need I mention the 16-point lead that vanished in a 20-16 loss to Georgia in 2004?
Those were just a couple of Georgia losses. We could cover the same territory in USC losses over the years to Florida and Tennessee and Clemson and ... you get the idea.
This one seems different. Maybe it is because USC took the field without a single big-play maker on offense, since wide receiver Kenny McKinley watched from the sideline. Maybe it is because USC really could not match Georgia’s talent level across the board.
Or, maybe it is because this USC team showed a tremendous amount of resiliency following a devastating loss a week ago at Vanderbilt. That was the kind of loss that sent many USC teams off to a losing season.
Perhaps that is why defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said he made the rounds among USC players afterward, telling every one this was no time to hang heads. As wide receiver Moe Brown walked past him en route to meet the media, Johnson stopped him to say, “heads up, now.”
“Some games you’re disappointed in your kids and some games you’re disappointed for them,” Johnson said. “I’m just really disappointed for them because I think they really played their hearts out.”
Johnson paused. Then he explained further.
“I frankly think they probably felt a little worse about themselves last week than this week,” he said. “You can’t fool an athlete or a competitor. He knows when he’s played his best. When you’ve played your best, you can live with a few mistakes. You can even live with this after awhile.
“You can get over it and move on. When you know you haven’t played your best, that’s when it’s hard to deal with it and hard to look in the mirror. I hope none of them (has) a problem of looking in the mirror after this one because I certainly don’t.”
Smelley certainly recognized that. He had high praise for USC’s defense and for his offensive line. He talked about Moe Brown’s big day, one in which he caught seven passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Then he talked about USC’s missed opportunity.
“We preached it all week: You get a chance to go out and do something the Gamecocks have never done before,” Smelley said of USC having never defeated a team ranked as high as No. 2 in the country.
“We came that close,” he said.
USC fans have heard that mantra for years. USC always seems to come close. As a result, its coaches —- OK, fans, too —- have been rejecting moral victories for years. Maybe it is time to accept one for a gallant performance against a very good football team.
Maybe it is time to accept that USC played one heck of a game. Instead of moping, maybe USC can use the performance to build on for the remainder of the season. That would be something different.
Listen to Morris Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 93.1 FM
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