The Verdict: Gamecocks can’t shy away from moment

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.

In 2022, we thought we had turned the corner.

After some early season conference losses, the Gamecocks rolled into a visiting SEC stadium (Kentucky) in October and killed their opponent. A few weeks later, South Carolina whipped Texas A&M in front of a raucous, sold-out Williams-Brice Stadium. After being doubted for most of the season, the 2022 Gamecocks were finally ranked in the AP Top 25 and were hosting an underdog Missouri team. 

Sound familiar? 

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Just like in 2022, these 2024 Gamecocks host Missouri coming off a massive SEC road win over Oklahoma followed by a whipping of the Aggies. And just like in 2022, we have finally been told we are nice and pretty and accomplished and that we should beat the Missouri Tigers for a late-season conference victory.

In 2022, Missouri dismantled the Gamecocks in front of their home fans. They had the edge, the gameplan, and the physicality needed to win a Southeastern Conference football game. We did not. 

It is almost inherent for a South Carolinian to be the underdog. Our state is smaller than our neighbors. Our state is not as wealthy as other states. We are a little grittier. We are a little tougher. We are underestimated at times.

I felt it all the time in mock trial competitions while a student at the South Carolina law school. We competed against North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Georgia, NYU, University of Denver, William & Mary, Washington & Lee, and on and on. Many of them thought they were better than us simply because they went to some school not named South Carolina. And many of them left the weekend wiser and sadder following a resounding Gamecock victory. (My team never lost to a team from a North Carolina law school.) 

Our football team under head coach Shane Beamer has taken on that same mindset. If you doubt us, if you think we are the underdog, if you think we can’t beat No. 5 Tennessee or No. 8 Clemson or No. 10 Texas A&M, then you better think again. Some people take offense to Beamer’s postgame rants where he can sometimes come across as defensive (or vindictive), but to me, that just shows how much he truly cares about this program and how in many ways he is just like the people that fill Williams-Brice Stadium every Saturday.

If he feels as if someone is disrespecting the Gamecocks, then I hope he always possesses that hellfire to prove them wrong. We have wanted that in our football coach for years. We have wanted a coach that believes in Carolina, fights for Carolina, and wins for Carolina. 

But what about when Carolina is finally deemed the favorite? I’m not talking about being the favorite in a few one-off games against Vanderbilt or Mississippi State or fill-in-the-blank bottom dweller. I’m talking about being tabbed a double-digit favorite over a team that has won 18 of their last 22 games. 

This team has been fueled by being doubted. And certainly, there are still plenty of doubters. But can there be something else from within this program that fuels their fire other than being the underdog? I don’t worry about the Gamecocks being outmanned by Missouri, because I think we have the better team. What I am worried about is that the moment is just too big for us. For Carolina to win this weekend, they must go out and prove that the past few weeks were not just nice wins but the status quo. A win this Saturday proves that these Gamecocks win not in spite of being Gamecocks, but because they are Gamecocks. 

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

For years, heck for decades, when South Carolina wins it’s because they did something outside their character. When Carolina wins, it’s because they didn’t play like Carolina and instead played like winners. That’s what the national media and rival fanbases think when we win. 

In years past, if Carolina won, it was because Carolina decided that weekend to buck the usual trend. That is what they all thought. And (withstanding the 2011-2013 seasons) the second the narrative outside Columbia was anything remotely close to “we think these Gamecocks are actually pretty good,” the very next second was when they all pointed and laughed as we failed to live up to the moment. 

The national media, the playoff committee, the rival fan bases, they all think deep down inside that a massive letup is right around the corner. Sure, they may pick us to win this game, but they all know a choke job is a matter of when not if. 

Almost everything positive being said about this team is still somewhat backhanded. This Carolina team is ranked? This defense has elite players? This quarterback – the quarterback some preseason prognosticators picked last in the conference – is playing good football? Wow, good for them! Many pundits and fans didn’t have much hope for this team in August and September and October. And those same pundits and those same fans are just waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

A win this weekend is not only a win over Missouri and their smug head coach, but it’s also a win for living up to expectations. It’s a win for proving you do belong. It’s a win that allows you to still sit at the table, even if the rest of the college football community doesn’t want you there. A win this weekend tells the wolves dressed in sheeps’ clothing that they’ll have to wait a little longer than expected before they can turn their back on this team. 

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