Scott Davis: Avoiding the void

Scott has followed South Carolina athletics for over 40 years and provides commentary from a fan perspective. He writes a weekly newsletter (sign up here) year-round and a column during football season that’s published each Monday on GamecockCentral.

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We were close.

We may have been closer than any of us realize.

Had Jacksonville State hung on to its third-quarter lead and finished off South Carolina in Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, this fan base was ready to drop directly into a black hole and start swimming in the empty nothingness there. We were walking on the side of the cliff, and we were teetering and all of us could feel it. A Vortex of Negativity was calling out to us to step forward and drop off the edge, and we were listening.

We were just about to freefall straight into the void.

And if you’ve been there before (and we have), you know what an ugly place it is for a fan base that always hopes for the best and too often finds something else.

For at least another week, South Carolina and its supporters remain out here in the fresh, living air of the real world, away from the void’s blank, hollow core. For at least another week, there is, apparently, still some life left in this 2023 season.

But lord almighty, we were close.

As Jacksonville State methodically and quite efficiently drove down the field in what was a 10-play, 59-yard-drive in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, looking very poised indeed to score a go-ahead touchdown, I started thinking those thoughts. If you follow this team for long enough – and I have for decades – those thoughts are the thoughts that start creeping in even when you’re trying to kill them with everything you have inside you.

Where will this loss rank among the worst South Carolina losses in my lifetime?

Was I thinking it, there at the end of the fourth quarter, as the Jax State offense moved towards the end zone?

Friend, I was.

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit it. That I’m not ashamed tells you everything you need to know about what this season has felt like for South Carolina Gamecock fans.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. “There have been so many ‘worst losses of our lifetimes,’” you’re thinking. “This one wouldn’t have been in the Top 10.”

Wouldn’t it, though?

Wouldn’t it have been right up there near the very top?

I get it: Jacksonville State came into the game at 7-2. They’re coached by the always dangerous Rich Rodriguez. They’ve upset some big boys in the past. They’ve got one of those frenetic, constantly moving offenses that drive opposing defenses crazy. Jax had even become a trendy choice to cover the spread as the game approached.

And in my lifetime, South Carolina has lost to Furman and The Citadel (twice!)

While we’re here, this South Carolina team entered the football game at 2-6, needing to win out to remain bowl eligible. Would a loss to the other Gamecocks really have been that disastrous for this fan base’s emotional well-being?

It would’ve.

Just eight weeks ago, Gamecock fans gathered by the tens of thousands in Charlotte to cheer on their team against North Carolina to open the season, and ESPN’s College GameDay was on-hand to capture the program’s arrival as a new challenger. The hype was loud and all-consuming, and totally appropriate. After all, less than a year ago, this team was playing Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl after concluding the 2022 season with wins over Tennessee and Clemson. Quarterback Spencer Rattler had returned for another shot. There seemed to be offensive weapons in all the right places. Recruiting had momentum.

And South Carolina fans had given their hearts, minds and souls to head coach Shane Beamer. It was a lovefest unlike any the fan base had participated in since Ray Tanner’s reign in the baseball dugout. While we adored Steve Spurrier and still do, he will always be a Florida Gator, and in our hearts we knew this.

Beamer? Beamer was ours.

And even though most of us knew this season probably wasn’t going to end in an SEC Championship for South Carolina, we were so, so soooooo ready to watch this team play football in 2023.

And that’s why it would have been a cold-blooded assassination of this fan base’s spirits, hopes and dreams had Jax State completed that last drive.

Members of those legendary Spurrier teams and the Ball Coach himself were on hand to be honored at halftime. The razor-sharp distinction – unavoidable on this Saturday – between the glory days of a decade ago and the disappointments of 2023 left a palpable unease in the air, and the crowd was wriggling in discomfort for most of four quarters.

Coming into the game a 15.5-point underdog in its first year playing at the FBS level, Jax rolled up a breathtaking 421 yards against an SEC defense and looked ready to finish that defense off for a final time. Boos were burbling throughout the Williams-Brice stands. The Jacksonville sideline looked strangely, frighteningly confident. The void was awaiting.

Yes, friends. For all of those reasons and many more, this would have been one of the worst South Carolina losses of my lifetime, your lifetime, any lifetime.

Somehow, in a season when big plays have been all but impossible to find, South Carolina linebacker Stone Blanton stepped in front of a Zion Webb pass and returned it 88 yards to the house for a game-clinching (and season-saving) Pick Six. In an instant, we avoided the void.

It’s still waiting for us, of course. It always will be.

But for now, we’re still here. We’re still alive, still breathing, still playing for something.

I’m not sure how, I’m not sure why, but we’re alive.

And for one week, that will have to be enough.

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The Taylor Swift Game Balls of the Week

As the disappointing losses began to pile up over the last few weeks, Taylor Swift – who is having a better 2023 than the South Carolina Gamecocks – took over the namesake of the weekly Game Balls and quickly made it her own. And when an SEC team, fighting for their lives and needing a win in the worst possible way, needs last-minute fourth-quarter heroics to avoid losing to a Conference USA squad in its first year playing at the FBS level, we’re absolutely not taking the Balls away from Mighty Tay. Let’s toss a few Swifties to…

Xavier Leggette – What a season for the X Man. After stockpiling heroic moments throughout 2023, Leggette saved South Carolina (and potentially, its season) with nine catches for 217 yards and two touchdowns. No matter what else happens this year, this man did all he could do.

Stone Blanton – The South Carolina defense struggled for much of Saturday, but when they absolutely, positively had to make a stop, Stone Blanton emerged out of the scrum at exactly the right moment. There are few plays in football more exciting than a Pick Six. But a game-winning Pick Six at the end of the fourth quarter in a game that could have broken the Gamecocks’ postseason chances for good? That’s another level of ecstasy.

My Wife, for Uttering the Following Monologue on Saturday: “Why are we playing them again? Because they’re the Gamecocks, too? Let’s don’t do that again. Who do we need to schedule to get an easy win? Riverside High School?” – Hard to argue.

Not Being on Social Media During Those Moments When the Gamecock Fan Base is in a Dark Place – This has gotten a Game Ball from me multiple times over the last few seasons. It’s getting one again. More than likely, it will get one for the rest of my life. I deleted all of my social media accounts in a frenzy five years ago. I’m never happier about that decision than when South Carolina football is struggling. I urge you to hit that delete button. It will change your life.

Kool & the Gang – After the game, my wife and I strolled through one of those fancy food and home décor markets in Buckhead. While staring vacantly at an impossibly cheery display of Christmas ornaments, I suddenly heard Kool & the Gang’s “Get Down On It” roll through the shop’s speakers. I won’t lie – my mood immediately improved by a solid 75 percent.

• Enter to win a framed ‘Forever To Thee’ print from SC artist Beth Clark

South Carolina-Jacksonville State Deflated Balls

Believe it or not, we’ve got some.

Feeling Like Jax State’s Nice Little Effort Had Been Squashed…Only to Watch Them Take a Third Quarter Lead – Tied with South Carolina near the end of the first half, Jacksonville State’s offense had moved the ball to midfield with around a minute remaining when disaster struck. The boys in garnet and black recovered a fumble, Xavier Leggette immediately started doing Xavier Leggette things, and before you knew what had happened, South Carolina entered the half with a seven-point lead and would be receiving the ball to start the second half. Ordinarily you’d expect an overmatched opponent to wilt under those circumstances, and I firmly believed South Carolina would run away to a relatively easy win in the second frame.

Instead, the Gamecocks (our Gamecocks, that is) turned the football over on the first play of the second half, Jacksonville State scored minutes later, and not long after that, scored again to take a lead into the final moments of the third quarter. And that’s when it happened…

Me, for Wondering Where This Would Rank in the “Worst South Carolina Losses of My Lifetime” List During a Game That Had a Quarter Remaining – It happened. No one can deny it.

Jacksonville State Rushing for 225 Yards While South Carolina Rushed for 89 Yards – Weren’t we supposed to have bigger, stronger, faster players in this game? Yikes.

The Magic Disappearing on Special Teams – Shane Beamer’s commitment to special teams excellence has yielded some game-changing plays during his first few seasons at South Carolina. But it’s just not happening for this team in 2023. After battling inconsistency on special teams throughout the season, the Gamecocks tried a fake punt at a crucial moment Saturday, with punter Kai Kroeger heaving a deep ball in the direction of Xavier Leggette. It was batted away, South Carolina turned the ball over on downs and the special teams magic of ’21 and ’22 seemed to officially evaporate into the air.

Third Down – South Carolina was three-for-13 on third down tries Saturday against Conference USA’s Jacksonville State.

Wins That Sort of Feel Like Losses – Aren’t my favorite wins.

Tyler from Spartanburg – Forget it. Let’s get out of here.

Whether it felt like it or not, there was a lot at stake on Saturday afternoon: Bowl eligibility, any and all remaining momentum in the Shane Beamer Era, an entire fan base’s emotional well-being. For at least one more week, we’ve staved off the void.

Like Shane Beamer and the players, let’s enjoy it. It’s been a while since we’ve been in the winning circle. Let’s enjoy it.

The void will wait patiently.

Tell me how you’re feeling after Saturday by writing me at [email protected].

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