Take that Tigers...

The South Carolina baseball team beat Clemson 7-1 last night; the Gamecocks have now beaten the Tigers six times in the past seven meetings. The win was the third in as many games for the Gamecocks (22-10) over Clemson (18-14) and assured them of winning the season series for the second straight year after what was likely the last game between the rivals at Sarge Frye Field. The two teams meet for the final time during the regular season next Wednesday at Clemson, which has lost six straight games now - its longest losing streak since 1982.

Read more HERE

Enter Aramis Hillary

Aramis Hillary, besides Chris Smelley, may be in line to gain the most from the recent Garcia situation. (Like Gray stated yesterday)

Aramis Hillary is a 6-3, 212 pounder, in-coming freshman who Rivals.com ranked as the No. 14 dual-threat QB in the nation. He passed for 2,400 yards and rushed for 980 yards as a senior at Strom Thurmond High.

The dual-threat QB Aramis Hillary, who is still attending Strom Thurmond High School in Johnston seems to be in line for some reps in 08 and most likely will see some design plays just for him in 08. Hillary has displayed a high level of commitment to the program by attending USC practices according to published media reports. But he isn’t just watching kids...He spent most of the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods next to Spurrier going over plays. Oh and keep in mind he is still in high school.

Yeah Smelley will be the starter on Aug. 28 when Carolina goes to Raleigh but my guess is that Hillary will play a significant role in 08, I envision our own tebow-leak scenario....since Garcia is not on the good side of Spurrier and questions linger if he will be back on August 15th, Hillary could be the "running QB" that we have all longed for to escape pressure from a weak line and to keep defense units in check.

Who would you pick as the Starting QB at USC?

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier says his starting quarterback candidates were about even at the Gamecocks' second scrimmage of the spring. Spurrier hopes that through spring drills a 'fav' will emerge but as you can see by reading this article - here - it is a tight race.

So who would you choose?

Here are his choices -

Chris Smelley, 6-2, 216, Sophomore
---He had a 4-2 record as a starter last season before losing starting job. He completed 92-162 passes for 1,176 yards and nine TDs. No. 1 on spring depth chart.

Tommy Beecher, 6-2, 227, Junior
---Second on spring depth chart, he completed 14-23 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown in limited duty in 2007. Holder for PATs and field goals.

Stephen Garcia, 6-2, 221, Redshirt freshman
---Highly-touted prospect yet never has taken a snap in a real game and oh, there is that suspension thing....

Aramis Hillary, 6-3, 212, Freshman
---Rivals.com ranked him as the No. 14 dual-threat QB in the nation. He passed for 2,400 yards and rushed for 980 yards as a senior at Strom Thurmond High.

Reid McCollum, 6-4, 205, Freshman
---Enrolled early at USC but left and will join the team in August. In High School, he passed for 3,644 yards and 44 touchdowns.

So my question is --- Who would you name as the Opening Day QB and Why?

The humor of Gamecock Football

The State’s award-winning editorial cartoonist Robert Ariail drew a fitting portrayal of the USC football team and their battle to be nice in 5 points in the Saturday (3/29/08) edition of the newspaper a few weeks back.

(h/t: the palmetto scoop)

Gamecock Baseball Update

The University of South Carolina dropped out of the top 10 in a pair of baseball polls today after being swept in a weekend series by the University of Georgia.

The Gamecocks (20-10) dropped from sixth to 15th in the Collegiate Baseball poll and from ninth to 15th in the Baseball America rankings. Georgia rode that sweep and a pair of wins over Clemson midweek into the No. 11 position in Collegiate Baseball and No. 14 in Baseball America after being unranked last week.

The University of Miami, which swept Clemson over the weekend and is on a 13-game winning streak, replaced Arizona State at No. 1 in the Baseball America rankings after the Sun Devils lost two of three games at Stanford. Florida State replaced Arizona State atop the Collegiate Baseball ratings.

USC returns to action Tuesday with a 7 p.m. home game against Western Carolina. The Gamecocks play host to Clemson at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

What has gotten into Ron Morris and does he have a crush on Horn?

Ron Morris, sports editorial writer for The State paper, I think has a crush on Darrin Horn. Horn is the newly named head coach for the USC Men's Basketball Team and it is safe to say that Morris approves of the recent hire by the AD at Carolina.

Here is the latest piece written by Morris concerning Horn - here - but there is more proof that Morris has a crush on Horn - here and here. I mean come on what is with the love-fest or is Morris (the weasel as referred to him by the crew at LOHD) setting up Horn only to turn against him come next season?

Never has Morris written 3 positive articles about Carolina sports...never.....will he make it four? I think the odds are not in our favor but let's have hope that the 'nay-sayer' in Morris is gone and he has turned over a new leaf to write positive things about gamecock sports.