Scott Davis: Smackdown soothes the soul

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

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When you’re bruised, when you’re battered, when your spirit is sagging and your heart is heavy and you’re not sure you can go on, there’s only one surefire way to get yourself moving forward again.

You need to smack someone else in the face.

Smacking someone else in the face works every time. It’s more effective than therapy, more powerful than a phone call to a friend, and cheaper than a vacation to the Caribbean. When you’re hurting, smack someone else in the face. This is the Golden Rule, right?

Oh, relax, friends – y’all know I’m not being serious here. I absolutely do NOT condone this as a coping strategy in real life. Don’t smack anyone else in the face today, tomorrow or ever.

Fortunately, football isn’t real life. Things work a little differently in the football universe. And for troubled football teams and their fans, a good, old-fashioned behind-kicking is often precisely the medicine that’s needed.

Blowouts can wash away our wounds like healing waters.

The South Carolina Gamecocks and their supporters – drifting in a state of emotional anguish after last week’s soul-crushing loss to LSU – needed a win in the worst way. And that win needed to be an emphatic one, a lopsided laugher, a skull-smasher.

Does South Carolina 50-Akron 7 suffice? I think so.

This wouldn’t have worked if it had been one of those dreary, sluggish victories like the Gamecocks collected in the season opener against Old Dominion. Our hearts could not have begun the healing process had we been forced to watch one of those wins the program has seemed to specialize in for decades, where the team survives a sloppy affair against an undermanned opponent but doesn’t inspire anyone while doing so.

No, after LSU, this Saturday night special against the Zips of Akron needed to be a full-on face-smacking, a beatdown, a knockout punch. And even with South Carolina’s most well-known offensive players sidelined by injuries, it was.

Other than a mini-meltdown near the end of the first half that saw lapses from both South Carolina’s defensive and offensive units, the Gamecocks controlled the proceedings from start to finish. Akron looked very much indeed like a football team that had been steamrolled earlier this year by Ohio State and Rutgers – delightfully so.

South Carolina was able to empty its bench by the fourth quarter, though bench players had in fact already been making an impact on the field as early as the first quarter. In short, it was precisely the type of performance you’d hope to see a Southeastern Conference football team deliver against a subpar foe from the Mid-American Conference, and it came at precisely the right time.

Something else that is coming at precisely the right time is the upcoming Bye Week, to which the Gamecocks will stagger after just four bruising games. The team had already entered the Akron contest down a starting quarterback, and it left the game without its leading running back and most potent offensive weapon in Rocket Sanders.

Can the Gamecocks get well in time for a titanic showdown with Lane Kiffin and rocket-fueled Ole Miss? Only time will tell. But a week off certainly doesn’t hurt.

And neither does a smackdown.

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The South Carolina Gamecock Fans Game Balls of the Week

Last week, the epic environment inside Williams-Brice Stadium led me to name our traditional Game Balls after South Carolina fans, and I tend to keep the namesake of the Balls in place as long as he, she or they continue to perform. So let’s toss a Ball to…

South Carolina Gamecock Fans – A week after watching the Gamecocks fall just short to LSU in what many of us came to believe was the program’s most devastating loss in recent memory, South Carolina fans sold out Williams-Brice Stadium for 1-2 Akron of the MAC. As much as we talk about how dedicated the Gamecock fan base has been across the decades, I actually think we’ve become so accustomed to this level of support that we’ve started to take for granted just how astonishing it truly is.

Robby Ashford – Starting at quarterback in place of an ailing LaNorris Sellers, all Robby Ashford did was rush for 133 yards and a touchdown and throw for 243 yards and two scores. We knew Ashford could run the ball effectively, and he used the zone-read to feast on Akron’s defense, often sprinting untouched by the Zips’ defenders. But most of us weren’t prepared to watch him throwing darts on deep balls throughout the night. It was a rewarding evening for the transfer from Auburn, who said after the game, “The road’s been tricky, but at the end of the day, it shaped me into who I am today, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Kai Kroeger – After a slightly subpar 2023, punter Kai Kroeger seems to be returning back to the form that made him one of the nation’s premier special teams weapons in 2022. Kroeger pinned the Zips at the one-yard-line with one punt, and he also ran in a two-point conversion in the first quarter to ignite an enjoyably raucous celebration. Have yourself a night, Kai Kroeger!

Mazeo Bennett – With each game that passes, it’s becoming more and more clear that Greenville, South Carolina’s own Mazeo Bennett is South Carolina’s top go-to option at receiver. Bennett is officially trending – he caught five balls for 71 yards and a touchdown against Akron. Here’s a health to my Hometown Hero.

Bench Party – In addition to Ashford’s performance, the Gamecocks also benefited from a deep bench through the play of Oscar Adaway, who filled in admirably at running back for the injured Rocket Sanders, and from a host of receivers and tight ends – 12 different players caught a pass Saturday night. Even third-string quarterback Davis Beville (also from Greenville, it must be said), came off the bench to toss a touchdown.

One Game at a Time – You can’t wash away the sour taste from that LSU result in one fell swoop. But a dominating performance definitely helps to start the process.

Hootieeeeeeeeeeeeeee – I had a chance to drop in on Hootie and the Blowfish’s ongoing tour on Friday night in metro Atlanta (they also played Greenville on Saturday night). The boys came out onstage to the strains of “2001.” Of course they did. It only seems like five minutes have passed since I was watching these guys play the Elbow Room in Five Points back in the early ‘90s. Who could have ever believed that more than three decades later, I’d be watching them play a jam-packed show in front of thousands of people in the Atlanta suburbs? Isn’t life a bizarre, fascinating, spectacular journey? Always fun to catch up with these dudes.

[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Ole Miss football game]

The South Carolina-LSU Officiating Crew Memorial Deflated Balls of the Week

Come on, you knew we had to give last week’s officiating crew one more run as the namesake of our weekly Deflated Balls, didn’t you? Those legends absolutely deserve it. Let’s hand out some Deflators to…

The Penalty Pile-up – A week after committing an astounding 13 penalties against LSU, the Gamecocks didn’t exactly quell the anxieties of their fans by stockpiling another seven against overmatch Akron. South Carolina wasn’t quite as freewheeling and devil-may-care as it was against the Bayou Bengals, but you absolutely would not describe this team as a buttoned-up operation at the moment.

Ankles – With starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers nursing a tender ankle on the sidelines Saturday night, South Carolina lost all-everything running back Rocket Sanders to yet another ankle injury during the first half. It’s safe to say this will be a long season if Sellers and Sanders are both on the shelf for an extended period. May the Bye Week work its magic on ankles everywhere.

The End of the First Half – Was probably the only period of the night where I felt anything resembling frustration welling up in my chest. The Gamecocks gave up an ugly long bomb to Akron’s previously beleaguered offense, then frittered away an opportunity to score at the end of the half through a variety of miscues, culminating in a fumbled snap that gave the ball back to the Zips and ended the half.

The Upcoming October Schedule – Is terrifying.

And it would have been even more terrifying had South Carolina dusted off one of the program’s patented back-and-forth, underwhelming wins against a lesser team. But they didn’t. They did just the opposite, in fact.

For one night, they played the role of the favorite and played it to the hilt.

They delivered the smackdown our weary souls needed to begin the healing process.

Now, let’s hope the Bye Week works its healing magic, too.

Tell me how you’re feeling after a much-needed smackdown by writing me at [email protected].

See what fans are saying about the game on The Insiders Forum!