The Verdict: Saturday can change the narrative 

South Carolina football superfan Chris Paschal writes a weekly column during the season for GamecockCentral called “The Verdict.” Chris is a lawyer at Goings Law Firm in Columbia.

Yesterday I asked a diehard Gamecock if we were going to win on Saturday.

The response? “We love to lay an egg at home, so I have my doubts.” 

We never really put up much of a fight against Ole Miss a few weeks back. We had our hearts ripped out of our chests in a narrow defeat to LSU. And who could forget how ugly the Old Dominion game was.

The Florida Gators pulled an all-time stunner last season when they came back in the final moments to beat the Gamecocks. Then there was the shocking loss to Missouri in 2022 right when it looked like we had turned the corner. And of course, there was the beatdown by the Georgia Bulldogs just two games into the Spencer Rattler era. 

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If you consider recent history, maybe we do lay eggs at home. Maybe we just don’t show up in front of the home crowd. Maybe we don’t have the homefield advantage so many Gamecocks (and pundits) say we have.

Maybe…

Or maybe we just don’t play well until the sun has sunk into the Congaree River and Williams-Brice is beneath the Crescent Moon. South Carolina has not lost a Southeastern Conference football game under the lights since Shane Beamer’s fourth game as a head coach. Tennessee stood no chance in 2022. Neither did Florida in 2021. And the last time the Texas Aggies traveled to the Palmetto State, they were met with a home crowd that made Columbia home to one of the wildest scenes in college football that weekend. 

So, while it may feel like there has been no magic in Williams-Brice Stadium as of late, just remember that 1125 George Rogers Blvd comes alive at night. And it is going to take some magic, good luck, and strong play this Saturday for Carolina to pull off the upset. 

A&M comes to town this weekend sitting in the catbird seat atop the SEC standings. And they do it playing old-fashioned football.

Teams facing the Aggies struggle to run the football and they struggle to stop the run. A&M is currently first in the SEC in rushing yards gained and fifth in the SEC in rushing yards allowed. They surrender a mere 18.4 points per game and average over 32 points scored per game. A&M has defeated all five of its conference foes so far this season, winning four of those matchups by double digits. Their defense is littered with NFL talent and their offense received a massive shot in the arm when dynamic freshman Marcel Reed entered the game at quarterback last week against LSU. 

The Aggies come into this game as the favorite and it’s easy to see why when you look at all the things A&M has accomplished this season. But Carolina has accomplished a lot this season, as well. For all the defensive statistical categories that A&M can point to and beat their chest about, Carolina may have even more. A&M has Le’Veon Moss; Carolina has Rocket Sanders. A&M has an athletic dual threat quarterback; Carolina has an athletic dual threat quarterback. 

The big question mark entering this game is the offensive line. While certainly improved from last season, the big uglies up front still leave a lot to be desired. The rushing attack has looked better, but one could argue that is a byproduct of having an All-SEC running back and an elusive quarterback in the same backfield.

The egregious number of sacks forfeited has been partially attributed to a young quarterback not getting rid of the ball, but surely the pass protection is the main catalyst for these issues. In CBS Sports analyst Jeff Tarpley’s preview of Carolina-A&M, he basically wrote that Josiah Thompson is too weak, Cason Henry is too stiff, and Vershon Lee is too slow to be able to block this A&M defensive front.  That’s what the national media thinks of our offensive linemen. 

For years, Carolina has tried to win football games with an inferior offensive line. Which may be true again this season, but the difference this year is that Carolina has started to accrue legitimate SEC talent in that room.  At some point, I am convinced it is going to click. Whether that means a gameplan will be implemented that allows our guys to succeed, or it means that a psychological (maybe even spiritual) connection finally takes hold among the five up front, the Carolina offensive line will have a game where things come together. 

It may be a big ask to hope that connection is made this Saturday, but at the same time, maybe it isn’t. This game against A&M will require a performance this offensive line hasn’t shown yet but is capable of. Coming off a bye week, Carolina will have the offensive line as confident and rested as it has been all season. For Carolina to change the perception that the Gamecocks lay an egg in Williams-Brice Stadium, the offensive line will need to change its perception (and perhaps reality) that they are a liability out there on the field. 

A&M has a few defenders that wear their emotions on their sleeves. They are a confident bunch. As they should be. A&M fans – if you peruse their message boards – are confident their defense is going to stymie Carolina much like Ole Miss did. And they may be right. Hell, if I were an A&M fan, I would be thinking the same thing. 

But I know what can happen under the lights at Williams-Brice. And I know that many players will perform at a level even they didn’t know they had. If A&M gets punched in the mouth, this will be a four-quarter ball game. On Saturday night, if I were a betting man, Josiah Thompson won’t be too weak, Cason Henry won’t be too stfff, and Vershon Lee won’t be too slow. 

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