Scott Davis: The Halfway Hurrah Awards are here
Scott has followed South Carolina athletics for over 40 years and provides commentary from a fan perspective. He writes a weekly newsletter (sign up here) year-round and a column during football season that’s published each Monday on GamecockCentral.
It only took a month.
After waiting the entirety of 2023 for football season to get here, I made it all the way through…well, merely the month of September before I was ready for a breather. And friends, I was ready for a breather.
In case anyone was confused about this, I’m officially old.
South Carolina’s five-game journey into the teeth of the 2023 season has seemed unusually exhausting to my weary body. I’m not the spry, energetic fan that I was in my thirties. It feels like I’ve been wandering the desert for the last five weeks in search of water: My lips are parched, my tongue is swollen and occasionally, I find myself slumping to the ground, rocking back and forth, and talking to myself while hallucinating an oasis in the distance.
By the way, we’re not even halfway done with this thing yet.
As tired and as spent and as worn down as I feel, we must acknowledge that this hasn’t been one of those disastrous “maybe we should burn this thing to the ground and start over” campaigns. There have been some encouraging moments mixed into the disappointment of South Carolina’s 2-3 start.
And it’s not like I sprinted into the 2023 season expecting the Gamecocks to compete for an SEC championship. Like most of the rest of you, I knew this program was still a few years away. While we’re here, the Vegas oddsmakers predicted South Carolina to fall short in all three of the losses they’ve compiled thus far, so in a weird way, they’ve merely met expectations to this point.
Still, I think we can all look each other in the eyes and admit to one another that our spirits sagged after that bruising night in Knoxville last Saturday. I limped into this year’s Bye Week licking wounds and needing a spiritual awakening in the worst way.
I’m tired.
And that’s why we all need to be reenergized by the Second Annual Halfway Hurrah Awards, which this column created last year to commemorate the big winners and losers at the halfway point of the season. First, a disclaimer: It’s not actually the halfway point of South Carolina’s season – we’ve played five games and have seven left. Fortunately for all of us, I get to make the final ruling on whether we’re close enough to go ahead with the show, and I’m ruling that we are. Why are we still talking about disclaimers – let’s roll!
Best Feelgood Comeback Story – Spencer Rattler. We all know the story by now. Rattler roared into Oklahoma as one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits after an electric high school career, then played his way into the Heisman Trophy conversation with a strong redshirt freshman campaign. Weeks into his second year as a starter, he suddenly found himself benched, eventually leading to his transfer to South Carolina in a move that appeared to stun the college football media. Rattler had his moments with the Gamecocks in 2022 (particularly his evisceration of Tennessee), but there was still enough for the quarterback to prove to NFL scouts that he returned to Columbia for another season.
That decision has paid off, both for him and for South Carolina. Despite playing behind a young and inexperienced offensive line that has at times struggled to keep him upright, Rattler has completed a staggering 73 percent of his passes this season and has all but single-handedly kept the Gamecocks alive to this point. He’s also managed to work his way back into the discussion as a potential first-round NFL draft pick. This is one of the all-time instances where a change of scenery ended up being exactly what a talented player needed to revitalize himself. As I said in my column after the Mississippi State game, regardless of what happens to South Carolina the rest of the year, I’ll remember the Rattler Era fondly.
Most Surprising Feelgood Story – Xavier Leggette’s Emergence as One of the Most Exciting Receivers in the SEC. After Leggette’s ridiculously impressive start to 2023, it seems like we’ve now entered a phase where Gamecock fans are racing to tell each other that they always knew the receiver had a season like this in him. I did not. Like many fans, I’d seen Leggette make some plays in the past (remember that electrifying kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game against Texas A&M last year?). But I did not know that he was getting ready to become one of the most fearsome receivers in the Southeastern Conference, which is precisely what he is after five games. It’s an achievement that is particularly impressive when we consider that Juice Wells’ injury has made it all the easier for opposing defenses to shift all their attention to Leggette during passing downs. Even while blanketed, Leggette just makes plays, and he and Rattler form one of the more interesting dynamic duos in the league right now.
Best Performance by a Cliché – “If you can’t run the football and you can’t stop the run, you aren’t going to win many games in the Southeastern Conference.” This unkillable cliché has enjoyed such a renaissance in usage by South Carolina fans recently that I already shouted it out once in a column this year. Why not make it twice – it’s just been an extraordinary run.
Most Childish Performance by a Middle-Aged Man Who, Despite Knowing Better, Allowed Himself to Really Enjoy a Few SEC Teams Being Put in Their Places This Week – Me. Can we talk about Missouri and Kentucky? Something about these two programs drives me crazy. I just can’t stand either one of them. I think it’s because – without a shred of evidence to back the claim – I believe South Carolina should be better at the sport of football than either Mizzou or UK. Inexplicably, I think I still vaguely do believe the Gamecocks actually are better than either, despite the fact that Kentucky has won seven of its last nine games against South Carolina and Mizzou has won four straight against my alma mater. Making matters even more infuriating, both of these loathsome teams entered this past weekend undefeated and in the Top 25, while South Carolina…well, you know.
While we’re here, let’s also acknowledge that I do not have pleasant feelings towards either team’s head coach – it’s difficult for me to talk about the relentlessly unlikeable combo of Mark Stoops at Kentucky and Eli Drinkwitz at Mizzou without needing to pause and gather myself.
I provide you with this background in the hopes that you will forgive my overbearing childishness in celebrating the demise of the dream seasons for both Kentucky and Missouri on Saturday. Mizzou led LSU for a significant portion of its home game with the Bayou Bengals before fading, while the Wildcats were absolutely drilled Between the Hedges by Georgia. I really, reaaaaaaaaally enjoyed those two defeats. And yes, I’m aware that my team is 2-3 and still has to play both of these programs and just thinking about that makes me nauseous. Still, Saturday was fun! That’s what a Bye Week can do for you right there.
Best Actor – Kirby Smart at Halftime of the Kentucky Game. With his team leading previously undefeated Kentucky 34-7 as he jogged into the locker room at halftime, a glum, seemingly despondent Smart told an ESPN sideline reporter that his defense “wasn’t playing very well.” Maybe that’s how this guy wins national championships. And the Oscar goes to…
Biggest Comeback for an Advertising Sponsor – Wendy’s. Roughly two of every three commercials that I’ve seen during every college football television broadcast this season has been from fast food chain Wendy’s, which I wasn’t even sure still existed until the 2023 season kicked off. I’ve been so saturated by Wendy’s commercials that it’s had the odd effect of making me not want to dine there. If I hear that guy mutter “Cuppa Dubba Java” one more time, I’m throwing a Frosty at somebody.
Best South Carolina Gamecock Fan of All-Time – Darius Rucker. Country music hitmaker, former Hootie and Blowfish lead singer, Charleston native, and South Carolina graduate Darius Rucker just keeps on keeping on. Rucker appeared as the celebrity guest picker for the inaugural ESPN College GameDay broadcast of the 2023 season, and his obvious love for his school and his team literally vibrated through my television set. Every Gamecock fan I know cherishes Darius Rucker, and yet somehow I almost feel like we don’t appreciate him enough. He’s the very definition of an ambassador for South Carolina.
Best Hope for a Turnaround to South Carolina’s ’23 Season – Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks lost to North Carolina in Charlotte, and faltered in true road contests at Georgia and Tennessee. If this season is going to be ripped away from the abyss, it will need to happen inside Williams-Brice Stadium. The good news? South Carolina starts the second half at home against Florida. They’ll get Kentucky and Clemson there, too. We saw Williams-Brice single-handedly defeat Texas A&M last year, as a psychotic home crowd swallowed the Aggies alive before ultimately spitting them back out. That same environment must greet the Florida Gators this weekend.
Williams-Brice Stadium: It’s our last, best hope.
Let the turnaround commence.
Give me your Halfway Hurrah Award choices by writing me at [email protected].
