USC again stumbles across the finish line

COLUMBIA — As much as South Carolina wanted to distance itself from last season, prove that the .500, bowl-less finish was a fluke step in the wrong direction, the Gamecocks really didn't manage a whole lot more in 2008.

They wound up in a New Year's Day bowl. They won one more game than they lost. But the fumes and smoke coughing out in the end had a similar look to last year's team that lost its final five games.

Both years featured losses to Vanderbilt.

At least the 2007 Gamecocks reached the top 10, with a win against Georgia, before defensive injuries caused an unraveling.

The defining moments for

this year's 7-6 team came in wins at Mississippi and Kentucky.

"We did some decent things in the middle of the year, but we really struggled," Spurrier said.

But the slide couldn't be pinned on injuries. Just a lack of offensive cohesiveness. And a spiraling attitude by several players, many of them on defense, with eyes on their pro careers.

Florida, Clemson and Iowa outscored South Carolina 118-30 in the final three games.

"Finish, finish. We've got to learn how to finish," said cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, the junior who is expected to turn pro. "Last year we lost five in a row, didn't finish. This year we didn't finish."

Look at the quarterback position as an illustration of the fact that nothing is any more set, answered or assured now than it was in August.

At least then Spurrier and USC believed it had its answer in fourth-year junior Tommy Beecher. Spurrier went so far as to call Beecher, whom he named the starter in the spring, "The Man." He said he could start for the Gamecocks for two seasons.

Instead, Beecher lasted two quarters against North Carolina State. He wound up as a clip board-holder, a player that Spurrier said declined to play when asked to go in.

He'll leave the team with eligibility remaining.

In his absence, Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia mostly struggled in virtually a season-long rotation.

They did have their moments, in those two big road wins.

Smelley was terrific at Ole Miss, earning SEC player of the week honors. Garcia rescued him the following week at Kentucky, with a flawless quarter and a half.

But those moments of glory were seldom seen after October.

At Florida, the Gators' blazing speed dizzied South Carolina in a 56-6 defeat.

At Clemson, only one team seemed like it wanted to play in the drizzle and cold.

In Tampa, Iowa was better prepared and better coached.

"It was about discipline," said Hawkeyes defensive tackle Mitch King, the Big Ten's defensive lineman of the year. "It was discipline on offense and discipline on defense. We out-disciplined them and we out-prepared them all month long."

Who's the team's quarterback moving forward? Are there answers on the roster at running back and receiver? What about all the losses on the defensive side of the ball? Check back in April.

For now, like last January, it's look-in-the-mirror time for the Gamecocks and Spurrier.

In four seasons with the Gamecocks, Spurrier is 28-22. He lost 27 games in 12 seasons at Florida.

Despite it being Spurrier's fifth season, he says he'll lean heavily on newcomers to alter the status quo.

"It's very disappointing. But that's the way it happened," Spurrier said. "We'll lose some guys, we've got some new guys coming in. Hopefully some new freshman faces will be playing out there. It'll be a different team."

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.charleston.net/blogs/gamecocks.