USC downs USF and heads to the Championship Game

Don't rub your eyes too hard when you read this statement but the Gamecocks sealed the win with clutch free throws down the stretch. 
I know, it is hard to believe since just a short few years ago it seemed the team could not hit free throws if they were paid to do it.  But this is a new crop and they have a great coach in Darrin Horn.  South Carolina now moves to the championship game of the Charleston Classic after downing South Florida 69-66 on Friday night at Carolina First Arena.

What won this game?  South Carolina made 11 of 14 in the last 1:49.  That is what winning teams do.

After a slow start out the gate again for Carolina, they finally got there act together in the second half when they took a 40-38 lead at the 14:36 mark of the second half.  From that point on they never gave up the lead but it was tight the remainder of the game and it took FTs to seal it for Carolina.

USC was aided by Devan Downey, who scored 17 points, and South Carolina senior forward Dominique Archie tallied his 1,000th career point in the victory in route to finishing with 15. 

Next up - Miami in the Championship game on Sunday.
 
BOX SCORE: USC vs. South Florida

Great Run for the Lady Gamecocks in Soccer comes to a end

The 1-0 loss eliminated the Gamecocks from the NCAA tournament but ladies you have nothing to hang your heads about as you gals had a great season.  I can only imagine the heart ache of losing at the 89:59 minute due to a corner kick perfectly placed with a nice flip in the back of the net to end a season. 

The Gamecocks (19-4-2) may have lost to Wake Forest (16-5-2) but gamecock nation is proud of the effort showed and the SEC Championship you achieved.  Every sport at Carolina can learn from your teamwork, heart, drive and frankly the SEC Championship.  So keep those heads high and prepare for another good run in 2010.  Go Cocks!

{pic credit - C. Aluka Berry of The State paper}

RIP UGA VII

Sad news coming out of Savannah, GA that UGA VII  died of heart failure yesterday.
It’s especially sad because Uga VII was only four years old, just into his prime dog years. He surely had five or six years ahead of him, and many games hanging out in the doghouse on the UGa sidelines. Remember Uga VI, the winningest Uga yet, went on to doggy heaven just recently and now UGA 7...on top of a bad UGa football season....geez!

There will be no mascot on the UGA sidelines this weekend for the Kentucky game. Which is also sad as you know you can never tell what a live mascot is going to do on the sidelines of a game. I think UGA has given us some pretty memorable moments like the time he tried to bite the Auburn player Robert Baker in 1996.

Enjoy that doggy treat up there in doggy heaven from LOHD.  And to all our UGa friends hang in there....

Gamecocks Eric Norwood Named a Finalist for Butkus Award

Gamecocks LB Eric Norwood made the short list of finalists for the Butkus Award. 

The 25th annual Butkus Award, goes to the top linebacker in college football.

The 5 left standing are...

• Alabama's Rolando McClain
• South Carolina's Eric Norwood
• Florida's Brandon Spikes
• Texas' Sergia Kindle
• Missouri's Sean Weatherspoon

The Butkus Award is selected by a 51-person panel comprised of scouts, coaches and journalists.
 
You can vote your choice HERE

Gamecocks Bowl-ing Options

South Carolina's bowl projections are all over the place. Possibilities include the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., against a Big 12 opponent; the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham against a Big East team; and the Music City Bowl in Nashville against an ACC team.

LOHD feels strongly that it is really down to the Music City Bowl or the PapaJohn's Bowl and both take place on 1/2/10....

• Win vs Clemson and USC goes to Music City Bowl
• Lose vs. Clemson and USC goes to Papa J

Match-ups that could play out:

• Music City Bowl - USC v UNC
• Papa Johns Bowl - USC v South Florida

Thoughts?  Which do you prefer?

Gamecocks baseball signs 13 for 2010 class

The USC baseball program has announced the signing of 13 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the November early signing period. The class consists of eight high school players and five junior college transfers.

2009-10 GAMECOCK SIGNEES


Player Pos. Hometown (Previous School)

• DeSean Anderson OF High Point, N.C. (Ragsdale HS)
• Greg Brodzinski C/3B Turnersville, N.J. (Bishop Eustace Prep)
• Wes Cook LHP Montgomery, Ala. (Central Alabama JC)
• Cameron Greathouse LHP Columbus, Ga. (Gulf Coast JC (Fla.))
• Bryan Harper LHP Las Vegas, Nev. (College of Southern Nevada)
• Patrick Harrington C Virginia Beach, Va. (Kellam HS)
• Forrest Koumas RHP Elgin. (Lugoff-Elgin HS)
• Peter Mooney INF Loxahatchee, Fla. (Palm Beach CC)
• Erik Payne 3B/OF Richmond, Va. (Mills Godwin HS)
• Donn Roach RHP Las Vegas, Nev. (College of Southern Nevada)
• Drake Thomason RHP Taylors (Eastside HS)
• Jake Watson SS/3B Charlotte, N.C. (Charlotte Christian)
• Mason Williams OF/RHP Winter Garden, Fla. (West Orange)

Domino's Pizza on Campus

Domino's Pizza on Campus has just found a quick way to lose business in Columbia. I am not sure if it's a business's best idea is to kick the local school while they are on a losing streak. I think Papa John's just picked up a sponsorship.

2 Sports Stars

Tonight in Charleston, USC will be competing in the Charleston Classic Basketball Tournament. ESPN has been running the idea all week that LeBron James could play in the NFL, as he was a pretty gifted WR at his high school in Ohio. Well this morning Jeremy Shockey posted on his Twitter account that there is no way LeBron would even make a practice squad in the NFL.

This got me thinking, what player or players from the Gamecock football team would you like to see on Coach Horn's team this season? I think the last player to cross over from the football field to the hardwood was USC favorite Cadillac driving, women beating running back Derrick Watson.

Maybe a Alshon Jeffrey that played on numerous state championship teams, or Tori Gurley who was a UNC basketball commit and led Rock Hill high to its first ever high school state championship in basketball. How about freshman Justice Cunningham, who average 12 points and 11 rebounds his junior and senior seasons in high school. How about Cliff Matthews who was an All State Basketball player his senior season at Cheraw.

These guys might not be playing on the basketball team tonight, but Coach Horn doesn't really need them as he has vetern team that will tip off tonight at 9:30 against La Salle in the first round of the Charleston Classic Tournament. The game will be show on ESPNU for those who can't make it down to Charleston.

Picture credit goes to The State Newspaper

High School Football Playoff Schedule

Class 4A Division 1

Big 16

Mauldin at Byrnes

Spartanburg at Sumter

Gaffney at Summerville

Dorman and Irmo

Division 2

Greenwood at Berkeley

North Augusta at Goose Creek

Hartsville at Northwestern

James Island at South Pointe

Class 3A

Upper State

Daniel at Greenville

Clinton at Union County

Lower State

North Charleston at Myrtle Beach

Lake City at Marlboro County

Class 2A

Upper State

Batesburg-Leesville at Abbeville

Strom Thurmond at Pageland Central

Lower State

Cheraw at Manning

Timberland at Dillon

Class A

Division 1

Upperstate

Calhoun County at Chesterfield

Lower State

Hemingway at Lamar

Division 2

Upper State

Ware Shoals at Williston-Elko

Lower State

Lake View at Scott's Branch

Byrnes looks to still be in the drivers seat in the Big 16 this week.

Rock Hill was upset last weekend by Spartanburg,

so that match up with Sumter should be a good one.

Northwestern seems to be playing the best ball right now, running up the store last

week against South Florence 53-0.

The game of the week is Dorman at Irmo, Mustafa Greene the 25 ranked running back by Rivals.com is Irmo's best player. However he has been injured most of the 2nd half of the season but Irmo has still found a way to win. Some would say that Dorman is probably playing some of the best football in the state right now, making this one of the best 2nd round match ups in the Big 16 Playoff's.

If you have the opportunity please get out there and see

one of these games in your local area and feel

free to report back to us your thoughts and options.

Update on the Vandals at Willy B

As you may recall LOHD was the first to report of vandalism at Willy B this morning- HERE - well it took us longer to get a straight answer....guess no one wants to answer to a blog but it was not for lack of effort trust us ---

Hat tip to Joe P as here got the scoop yet no love for LOHD...Here is what Joe Person from The State wrote...

A week and a half before the Clemson-USC game, vandals painted orange in the south end zone at Williams-Brice Stadium overnight Tuesday.  USC equipment manager Chris Matlock saw an aerosol can and “a little orange paint” on the field Wednesday morning. Matlock said the damage was minimal and would not require workers to re-sod the grass before the rivalry game Nov. 28.  Matlock said the graffiti message, which included a ‘C,’ appeared to be incomplete.  “It looked like either they got caught or ran out of paint,” Matlock said.  The stadium vandalism has become a destructive part of the rivalry. Last year vandals sprayed orange paint on the weight room windows at Williams-Brice.  Matlock hopes officials can identify the culprits through surveillance videos.

Nasty Rumor

There is a rumor going around that a couple classless Clemson fans vandalized Williams Brice Stadium last night with orange paint. Painting a tiger paw on the 50 yard line as well as spray painting the windows and doors in front of the locker room with orange tiger paws. I will be heading down to the stadium at lunch to see what I can find out. The other rumor floating around is that the paint on the field is so bad, that USC is going to have to re-sod that part of the field before the Clemson game next week.
We are still checking with other sources to find out if the rumor is true.
Stay tuned....

LOHD Heisman Watch List

Again these are canidates for the Heisman that we feel are on the short list...

Tim Tebow, Florida quarterback
Season: 128 of 198 passing for 1,730 yards, 12 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He has also rushed for 604 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Mark Ingram, Alabama tailback
Season: 194 carries for 1,297 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Colt McCoy, Texas quarterback
Season: 254 of 351 passing for 2,628 yards, 19 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

Kellen Moore, Boise State quarterback
Season: 203 of 300 passing for 2,558 yards, 32 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

Case Keenum, Houston quarterback
Season: 358 of 514 passing for 4,192 yards, 31 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

CJ Spiller, Clemson running back
Season: 1 Passing TD / 1 PR TD / 3 KR TD / 153 carries for 836 yards and 6 touchdowns. Oh and 1 tackle.

So who are you picking?

SEC Football Television Schedule for Nov 21st

SEC Football Television Schedules for November 21st:

Mississippi State Bulldogs at Arkansas Razorbacks (in Little Rock)
SEC Network 12:21pm

Chattanooga at Alabama Crimson Tide
SEC Network 12:21pm

Florida International at Florida Gators
PPV 12:30pm

LSU Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels
CBS 3:30pm

Vanderbilt Commodores at Tennessee Volunteers
ESPNU 7:00pm

Kentucky Wildcats at Georgia Bulldogs
ESPN or ESPN2 7:45pm

Also LOHD will be fans of UVa and BC on 11/21....just sayn'

Gamecocks announce 2010 baseball schedule

From USC Sports Information:

The South Carolina baseball team has announced its schedule for the 2010 season featuring 25 games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams as well as 33 home games at Carolina Stadium. The season opens on Friday, February 19 as Carolina hosts a three-game series vs. Duquesne. The schedule also includes 30 Southeastern Conference contests, a three-game series with in-state rival Clemson, and an early-season weekend series and rematch with 2009 NCAA Regional opponent East Carolina in Greenville, N.C.

South Carolina and Clemson will meet in a unique three-game setting this year. Carolina will travel to the Upstate and face the Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday, March 5 with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. The two schools will then make the trek to Greenville, S.C. and face off at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. First pitch on Saturday is 2 p.m. The series then concludes on Sunday afternoon in Columbia at Carolina Stadium with a 2 p.m. start.

The Gamecocks’ 30-game SEC schedule begins on Friday, March 19 with South Carolina hosting Tennessee. The Gamecocks will also host Mississippi State (April 2-4), Ole Miss (April 16-18), Alabama (April 30-May 2) and Florida (May 20-22). SEC road contests include Auburn (March 26-28), Vanderbilt (April 9-11), Georgia (April 23-25), Kentucky (May 7-9) and 2009 CWS participant Arkansas (May 14-16).

Carolina will also play 10 additional in-state contests this year with Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, Furman, Presbyterian, The Citadel, USC Upstate, Winthrop and Wofford.

South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner is entering his 14th season at the helm with the Gamecocks and his 23rd year as a collegiate head coach. Tanner’s career record is 975-439-3 (.689) with a 580-266 (.686) mark at South Carolina. The .686 winning percentage is third highest in SEC history.

Did you know.....

South Carolina owns the longest current streak of NCAA Regional appearances among the 12 SEC schools with 10 straight trips to the tournament dating back to the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina has seven NCAA Super Regional appearances (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007) and three trips to the College World Series (2002, 2003, 2004).

South Carolina is one of only seven schools in the nation to make at least seven NCAA Super Regionals in the last 10 years and one of only eight schools in the country to have reached the NCAA Regionals every season in this decade. The program’s 10-year total record of 468-201 is the fourth highest win total among NCAA Division I schools.

Archie leads Gamecocks over Eagles

USC senior forward Dominique Archie recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds Monday night to lead the Gamecocks past Georgia Southern 90-66 at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

The Gamecocks led by just seven points at halftime but scored the first 16 points of the second half to break open the game. Four other Gamecocks scored in double figures. Devan Downey had 14 points and six assists, but he also turned the ball over seven times. He has been slow out of the gate but it is only the second game so I can envision improved play in the coming games. 

Biggest thing Carolina must correct is turnovers.  In this game the Gamecocks committed 24 turnovers. The teams combined for 45 turnovers and 48 personal fouls.  Sloppy play will not win in the SEC.

The Gamecocks are now 2-0 and will play LaSalle Thursday night in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

LOHD Ballot for the SEC Power Poll for Week 11

No. 1. Alabama - Saban is earning every penny kids....

No. 2. Florida - Unbeaten yes but not sold on them being the best in the SEC.  Tebow looks cautious.

No. 3. LSU - big deal you beat La Tech.

No. 4. Ole Miss - figured out how to run the offense through Dexter a bit too late.

No. 5. Auburn - made Gene Chizik a house-hold name.

No. 6. Arkansas - got tons to build from for next year.

No. 7. Tennessee - Arrests mounting which equals losing.

No. 8. Georgia - Martinez still needs to go at end of season to please the fanbase.

No. 9. South Carolina - wishing only the 1st seven games counted

No. 10. Mississippi State - If only Dan had Tebow.

No. 11. Kentucky - football?  It is basketball season in bluegrass country.

No. 12. Vanderbilt - chances of a upset are just about gone to get the 1 SEC win.

The Lane Kiffin Show w/ Mr. Richardson

One of our fav's on YouTube - Lane Kiffin Show – has been updated to feature NuKeese Richardson, one of three Kiffin recruits at UT who was arrested recently for an attempted armed robbery outside a Knoxville convenience store.  Funny stuff...

Mumme Poll Ballot

1. Florida

Does this offense look like the offense of the #1 team to you?

2. Alabama

Sound thumping of fading Mississippi State.

3. Texas

Rolling on to BCS game against SEC Champion.

4. Georgia Tech

Rolling on to ACC Champ Game against Clemson.

5. LSU

I know it was a trap game, but how what it that close with Louisiana Tech?

----------------------------------

TCU

The only one of the mid-majors who 'may' be for real.

Ohio State

Beat Fading Iowa team sans Stanzi in overtime. You get a Rose Bowl invite for that?

Cincinnati

3 point win over West Virginia? Oh, that's impressive.

Pitt

27-22 at home over Notre Dame. This is why no one respects the Big East

Boise State

Another win over another nobody

Stanford

Back to back wins over Oregon and Southern Cal jump Cardinal into the poll

Oregon

In the poll, out of the poll, rinse and repeat.

Gamecocks Eric Norwood makes Semi-finalist List for Lott Trophy

Per this article from The Lott Trophy website -

Gamecocks LB Eric Norwood joins a leite company of 7 others to be named to the semi-finalist list for the 2009 Lott Trophy.

Here is the final 8 -

• Eric Berry (Safety, Jr., Tennessee, 5-11, 195, Fairburn, Ga.)
• Taylor Mays (Safety, Sr., USC, 6-4, 225, Seattle)
• Gerald McCoy (DT, Jr., Oklahoma, 6-4, 300, Oklahoma City)
• Ndamukong Suh (DT, Sr., Nebraska, 6-4, 300, Portland, Oregon)
• Rolando McClain (LB, Jr., Alabama, 6-4, 249, Decatur, Ga.)
• Sam Acho (DE, Jr., Texas, 6-3, 260, Dallas)
• Jerry Hughes (DE, Sr., TCU, 6-3, 267, Sugar Land, Texas)
• Eric Norwood (DE, Sr., South Carolina, 6-0, 249, Acworth, Ga.)

He is what they wrote about him...

“Has 62 tackles, seven sacks (28 in his career with 51.5 tackles for losses). Team captain. “He’s the way we want our student-athletes to be, I think he epitomizes it. I can talk forever about him, that’s how strongly I feel about him and his character.” - Raymond M. Harrison, Jr., Director of Academics and Life Skills, University of South Carolina.

The trophy is named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the Lott Trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Now in its sixth year, the Lott Trophy is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Congrats Eric for making the short list and Go Cocks!

Gamecocks vs Clemson Tigers game will kick at Noon

The game between USC and Clemson will kick off at Noon at Williams-Brice Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

USC is 6-5 and has a much needed week off coming up.  Clemson has won eight of the past ten meetings against USC. The Tigers have a 65-37-4 edge in the series.  But this game is "must win" for Carolina as 7-5 sounds better than 6-6 right?

Ten questions for last weeks college football?

1.) After the lose to Pitt on Saturday night, is Charlie pretty much done at ND?

2.) After Toby Gerhart back to back impressive performances against the Pac-10's two best team, does he deserve a seat in NY on Heisman night?

3.)Is there any chance that TCU makes the National Championship?

4.) After watching the Gator's live this past weekend in Columbia, what are you thoughts on Bama beating the Gator's in the SEC championship?

5.) Better mustache: Mark Mangino Kansas, Dave Wannstedt, Pitt, or Magnum P.I.

6.) Bigger disappoint from this past weekend, Brandon Spikes not pointing someone's eye out or Tennessee on kicking 2 players from the Robbery arrests off the team?

7.) Who do you feel has the biggest bandwagon fan base?

8.) Did anybody see the story of the 61 year old place kicker actually made an extra point this past week in a Division 3 game. At 60 what are you hoping to still be able to do?

9.) Is there any chance that Florida and Alabama play against each other in the national championship?

10.) This weekend Ohio State will play Michigan which some people call , do you care?