Friday, Jan. 02, 2009

Morris: Ugly stick knocks grotesque Gamecocks

TAMPA, Fla. Just when you thought South Carolina football could not further embarrass itself in front of a national television audience, it did just that Thursday afternoon in the Outback Bowl.

"Embarrassed, disappointed, all of that," said USC tight end Jared Cook in perfect summation of USC's performance in the loss to Iowa that was not nearly as close as the final 31-10 score indicated.

USC can only hope fans across the country carried a New Year's Eve hangover, forgot the late morning start and did not watch on ESPN. At least USC fans at home had the option of clicking away from the TV at halftime. By then, Iowa held a three-touchdown lead that might as well have been six.

Those USC fans who filled the one corner of Raymond James Stadium at kickoff began to filter out of the stadium before the Gamecocks returned for the second half. They were the smart ones because the third quarter was more of the same for USC in what became a comedy of errors.

One can only hope those fans were tuned into the postgame media conference on their drive home to hear Steve Spurrier offer them somewhat of an apology.

"I feel for our fans that came down here and spent a whole lot of money," Spurrier said. "I wish we could have performed better, but that's the way it happened today. Give Iowa credit for kicking our tails today."

Perhaps Spurrier should reconsider accepting his $100,000 bowl-game bonus and spread it among those fans who spent hard-earned cash to trek south and watch this debacle. They deserve some sort of rebate.

You can't sugarcoat this one. USC stunk. It was putrid. Rancid. If that smell seemed vaguely familiar to USC fans, it should. That same rotten odor lingered throughout and after regular-season fiascos against Florida and Clemson.

This one went sour just as the game's best story line did. What was supposed to be a grand homecoming for starting quarterback Stephen Garcia turned out to be his personal nightmare in front of family and friends.

"The way it ended was not the way it was supposed to go," Garcia said.

And how. Garcia's first pass attempt was intercepted. His first running play resulted in a lost fumble. He eventually threw three interceptions. He found the bench at halftime when Spurrier called Chris Smelley from the bullpen.

On USC's first play from scrimmage to begin the second half, Smelley hooked up with Moe Brown on an 8-yard completion, and Brown fumbled the ball away. That is the way it went all day for the Shamecocks.

It was not a lack of effort for USC, as both Spurrier and defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said afterward, it was a lack of smarts. Like the six personal foul penalties —- two of which were offset by the same penalty against Iowa. Like the Ryan Succop 46-yard field goal that was wiped away in the third quarter when USC was guilty of not having enough men on the line of scrimmage.

Of course, Succop's ensuing 51-yard attempt fell woefully short. That's about when the game reached the embarrassing stage for USC. How embarrassing? Consider:

• Garcia finished as USC's leading rusher with 25 yards on five carries ... and he did not play after halftime.

• Iowa's fabulous tailback Shonn Greene earned game MVP honors by rushing 29 times for 121 yards and three touchdowns ... and he did not play in the fourth quarter.

• Iowa did not punt until 9 minutes remained in the game.

• Trailing by 24 points with 2 minutes left in the game, Spurrier called on Succop to kick a meaningless 48-yard field goal.

"That's was fourth and about 10, wasn't it?" Spurrier said when asked his thinking afterward. "That's a long way, a long way. Just trying to put a few points up, 31-10 is better than 31-7."

Actually, it is not better. Spurrier and anyone else can twist that final score any way they want, and it still shows that Iowa out-played, out-coached and out-smarted USC in every facet of the game.

Perhaps it was only fitting that after Succop's field goal, USC attempted an onside kick that it successfully recovered. On this day, even USC's few successes came at a price. Succop was walloped by an Iowa player and had to be helped from the field.

It was symbolic in that with the pasting at the hands of Iowa, USC limps into another off-season wondering just where this program is headed. That might be as embarrassing as USC's performance on Thursday.

Hear Steve Spurrier's postgame comments

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