Finebaum calls Gamecocks, Volunteers programs heading in different directions
Week 1 games in college football bring strong reactions. That’s a given.
Coming out of South Carolina’s opening week loss to Tennessee, ESPN and SEC host Paul Finebaum described the situation in stark terms. In a radio appearance on WJOX in Birmingham, he said that outcome showed the Volunteers on an upward trajectory and the Gamecocks going the other direction.
“You see two programs here passing each other in the night,” Finebaum said. “Tennessee in the past, loses that game.”
It was the second loss in a row for Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp to the Vols after three wins in a row to start his Gamecocks tenure (and four in a row at Florida). USC is coming off two years in a row with fewer wins than the season before, while Tennessee has improved its win totals each of the past two years.
Muschamp did the same thing his first two years at USC. But after losing Saturday’s tossup game, his team is facing a rather daunting slate.
“When you look at South Carolina, that was the most critical game on the schedule,” Finebaum said. “You start doing the math. Where do they find wins outside of Vanderbilt the rest of the way? Everyone has a challenging schedule, especially if you’re South Carolina. I would anticipate South Carolina fans, you can feel good (and) say, ‘We came back, we had a shot,’ but in the end it was in vain.”
The Gamecocks rallied from down two touchdowns to tie the game twice, but gave up a late score and missed a pair of chances to tie, first by eschewing a fourth down to kick a field goal and then by muffing a punt to lose a last chance to get the ball. On his radio show Monday, Finebaum described it as things just falling apart after USC rallied.
Finebaum might have overstated the challenge of getting a win beyond Vanderbilt (Missouri comes to Columbia), but the slate is challenging. By ESPN’s FPI, the Gamecocks project to be favored only twice the rest of the way. Texas A&M at home and at Ole Miss and at Kentucky all have tossup potential, but none is going to be easy.
“This deep into Will Muschamp’s regime, his fifth year, moral victories don’t mean a thing. The way games are played don’t mean a thing. You lose to a Tennessee team that you have had some regularity of winning against in the past. That looks like it’s come to an end.”
USC 2020 football schedule
Sept. 26: Tennessee 31, South Carolina 27
Oct. 3: at Florida, Noon on ESPN
Oct. 10: at Vanderbilt, Noon on SEC Network
Oct. 17: home vs. Auburn
Oct. 24: at LSU
Oct. 31: OPEN
Nov. 7: home vs. Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m., ESPN or SEC Network
Nov. 14: at Ole Miss
Nov. 21: home vs. Missouri
Nov. 28: home vs. Georgia
Dec. 5: at Kentucky
This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 10:46 AM.
