Sometimes we lose football games. It happens every year. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but the fact is, almost every season we find our tired team maimed by the some of the least likely opponents imaginable.
If the Kentucky game told us anything, it's that Gamecock football may have reached the end of its golden age.
No question: it's been a fun time these last couple years, penning in win after win on our paper schedules. The Missouri game last year will stick in the collective memory for a while at least. Shaw and Clowney, names easy to revere, were two cement fixtures of a team that put us fourth in the nation.
So, earlier this year, when we found ourselves in a position where we could lose to Texas A&M, we weren’t sure what happened. It could have been a fluke — the shaky defense, the impotent offense, everything. It could get better as the season went on.
That thought buoyed us to back-to-back victories over East Carolina and Georgia.
But this last game was different. Kentucky broke us. Simply and cleanly like a Mr. Universe contestant fighting a freshman English student. The last few minutes of the fourth quarter testified to the fact that we are now, at best, a third-rate football club with second-rate pretentions.
So, what are we to do now? How is the student body to react?
First, spreading blame isn’t helpful. While our resident sports wizards tell us Spurrier has been making some objectively bad calls when it comes to playmaking, that probably isn’t the whole picture.
The most important thought here is that we need to stand by our Gamecocks. A college sports team wants, more than anything else, dedicated fans that are willing to see them no matter what their record might be.
And it’s good for the student body as fans, too. If you didn’t want to see any of the Gamecocks after the Texas A&M loss, then you probably missed the Georgia game, which was well worth going to.
Abandoning Gamecock football now also makes you one of the most despicable figures in sports history: the fair-weather fan.
Our football team needs us more than ever. It’s our job not to let them walk out to an quiet field surrounded by an empty stadium, devoid of cheers and beers, playing in a deep silence.