Gamecocks Connection: Five thoughts

Five thoughts.

Hey, I’m Chris Clark with GamecockCentral.com, and welcome to Gamecocks Connection.

This weekly newsletter will consist of a summary of some of the latest happenings in Gamecock Country and one “main idea” that’s on my mind. Plus, there will be some other goodies along the way.

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What’s on the docket today?

I’m changing things up this week. Instead of rolling with one particular topic, I’m going to give my thoughts on five different topics pertaining to South Carolina – and beyond.

We’ll keep things fairly brief on each.

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Get caught up.

Three quick things to know about your Gamecocks from the last few days.

🏈 Everything Shane Beamer said about Missouri on Tuesday.

🏈 Everything Eli Drinkwitz said about the Gamecocks on Tuesday.

🏈 USC RB commitment Matthew Fuller continues to put up giant numbers this season. He most recently had 272 yards and 3 touchdowns on Friday.

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The main idea(s).

1. There continue to be NIL-related hearings on Capitol Hill. 

It seems like there are probably better things for those folks to do, but here we are.

Yesterday, Lindsey Graham called college football “in complete chaos” because Utah players are all getting truck leases tied to their enrollment.

Joe Manchin said it was “hard to root for kids when they’re millionaires as freshmen and sophomores.”

Of course, the number of athletes that are in that category is incredibly small.

And what a weird thing to say, either way.

Of course, over half of the people in Congress are millionaires. 

The athletes sure seem a lot more entertaining and useful.

Sur, there probably needs to be some adjustments.

But I think the game will survive if a player gets some compensation.

Or a truck lease.

2. Shane Beamer broke his foot after the Florida game after kicking a Gatorade cooler in frustration.

It was easy to predict the news would become “a thing” in the news and on social media.

For hot-take artists, this was like manna from heaven, an opportunity to take an event and use it to fit a desired narrative.

Of course, if Beamer had remained cool and collected after the game, the same folks could easily accuse him of not showing enough emotion, not caring enough, or needing to display more fire.

We see this in the press conference realm as well.

If a coach doesn’t say something, people want the coach to say a particular thing.

If a coach says the particular thing, it’s caling out players, or an excuse, or still the wrong to say.

When you lose games, you’re literally in no-win territory.

3. There’s been a lot of talk about Nyck Harbor among the Gamecocks fan base, especially after a big contested catch down the field against Florida.

It may once again be time for some perspective, even though Harbor was ranked as the number one athlete in the country coming out of high school.

The nation’s number one receiver in the 2023 On3 Industry Rankings was Zachariah Branch, who’s had a big impact at Southern Cal with the ball in his hands when healthy.

Behind him? Jurrion Dickey, another five-star who signed with Oregon. The third-ranked receiver was Texas signee Johntay Cook.

Dickey has no catches this season. Cook has four.

Both of those guys have been receivers for much longer than Harbor, who was originally slated to be a defensive end/tight end. 

He’s not the same player he was in week one, and he’s not right now what he could be even by the end of the season.

One of the guys that Harbor mentioned yesterday – Xavier Legette – is a case study for perhaps giving guys a bit of time.

4. Speaking of talent…

It’s still the name of the game in college football.

Think even about the conversations we’re having in Columbia about the nickel position. Sure, the Gamecocks defense was not great last season. But there were a couple of NFL cover corners, and USC found a winning formula at season’s end.

This season, there have been well-documented struggles in the secondary. The scheme and coaches are the same. Those things definitely still matter. But the players are different.

That’s one very specific, zoomed in example from a more broad point: The best college football teams still are the ones that have the best college football talent.

I have a lot of respect for what teams like Duke and Washington State have done this year. 

Realistically, those teams are not going to contend for conference titles and playoff berths on a year in and year out basis. The teams that acquire the most talent will.

Anything adjacent to winning should be a priority in Columbia right now. 

Especially talent acquisition.

5. I’m reserving the final space to remember a legend.

Gamecock Nation tragically lost Tommy Moody on Tuesday.

I think he was probably the nicest person I’ve ever met.

It always made your day to have him greet you, or to hear his “have a good one, Chris!” on the way out of the 107.5 The Game studio doors.

I never would have thought sitting beside him last week would be the last time I saw him.

A quick Tommy story that just captures him as a person:

Spencer Rattler came into the studio earlier in the year to record some things with us. Some of the station personnel spotted him and wanted a few things signed, which Spencer obliged.

As Tommy tended to do, he started showing Spencer some of the memorabilia on his desk, including a small souvenir football from 1965. 

In autograph mode, Spencer started to sign it but stopped himself. 

“Wait, you want me to sign this?” he asked.

Even though it was almost 60 years old, Tommy told him to go for it.

That ball was still sitting there today when I passed by Tommy’s desk at the station.

There was not much better than sitting on the porch listening to Tommy on a Gamecock baseball radio broadcast. 

It just will not be the same around here without him.

He loved his family. He loved the Gamecocks. 

RIP, Tommy.

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SHOP GC!

— If you haven’t heard, we recently launched the GamecockCentral Shop!

We’re going to expand the store in the future, but we have some cool designs to offer right off the bat.

The first is a reboot of the popular “Bluff Road Football Club” shirt, designed by SC native and Gamecock superfan Kev Roche. (You may have seen his work on ESPN’s baseball broadcasts). This shirt is available in charcoal or gray

A thanks and a request.

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