South Carolina

[gregp17]

As much as I respect SC, 'Bama is still my team. Its going to be a good season for the Gamecocks, even though I see no reason as to why Garcia is still on the team. Here's to a 'Bama vs. South Carolina SECCG!

[slingstone]

Obviously, in game Garcia has heard of my displeasure, because he's thrown no picks in the last two games against Auburn and Kentucky. The new tequila must have worked...

'Course, he has started doing his crappy scramble routine...OMG, nobody's open...gotta run...oh wait, I'm sacked. Lattimore has been a beast, with over 200 all-purpose yards against Kentucky alone, but I'm missing Alshon something fierce. I just wish Garcia could get the ball in his hands with regularity.

As for 'Bama...we matched up really well against them last year, so I imagine it'll be a win for us if we meet this year. Of course, that's only if Garcia can get his head on straight for the season. God knows I've always tried to defend the boy, but he's gotta cut the off-field crap out. At this point, I'd be perfectly happy if Spurrier benched his behind and let us see how far Connor Shaw has developed.

Terror moment of the day: Lattimore got injured against Kentucky. Fortunately, it was one of those "back spasm" sort of things, and Kenny Miles did a good job while he was out, but still...

[jonesha2000]

I have not played with any other team since I've had the game. I had no idea Gurley opted for the NFL so I was disappointed I couldn't beast with him and Jeffery. But Lattimore is rough and Jeffery is good when he can get seperation on the super D on this game. Yesterday I was down 21-0 with a little over a minute left in an online game against Oklahoma...I ended up winning 27-21 in OT...I know that guy never wants to see Carolina again. LOL

[slingstone]

D.L. Moore (#82) and Ace Sanders (#9) are pretty good at WR, as well. They're not Alshon-level guys, but they're decent options when the real thing is double-covered. The TE, Justice Cunningham (#87), is also decent.

Oh, and Lattimore is a monster if you get a screen set up right for him. He's also a passable QB...apparently the game has him in the Wildcat (or Wild Rooster or whatever) instead of former QB Stephan Gilmore (who's the one you'd see as the Wildcat QB in the real world). He's thrown one touchdown this year for me!

Garcia remains a douche as controlled by the AI. He just keeps finding ways to screw up. In my last game (versus Tennessee), we were like 5 for 13 on first downs with 90 yards passing. I had to score two defensive touchdowns (one with Stephan Gilmore (#5) and Quin Smith (#24)) to end the game 27 to 10. Oh, and the TD by the Volunteers was not allowed by the defense. Garcia threw it right to a DB, who bowled over the WR and ran it in for six.

It's tough being at defensive coordinator for Carolina. Let's just say I respect Ellis Johnson more with every game I play.

[JWR3232]

I have not played with them yet but in year 2 of my dynasty they won the national championship

[slingstone]

AI Garcia does it again!

So my last game was #1 Carolina at #19 Arkansas...and it's snowing--seriously hard to see the Gamecocks in their all-whites. So I'm thinking, hey, it's time for the Marcus Lattimore Show...pound, pound, pound until they break. Well, AI Spurrier decides it's time to go Air Coryell. Apparently, AI Petrino felt exactly the same way. So instead of the grinding game I expected, it's an air raid.

'Course, I didn't get the memo, so after the Carolina offense drove down for a FG, I started defending based on the idea that Arkansas might actually run the ball in the blizzard that was passing through town. They didn't. Long story short, I zigged, they zagged, it's 7-3 Arkansas after an embarrassing drive.

Well, I'm not perfect, so I don't panic. I figure I'll adjust my playcalling to AI Petrino's unexpected love of throwing the ball in the middle of a snow storm. Of course, AI Garcia chooses the first snap after my failure to throw a pick six. I mean, he threw it like he meant to do it, too.

Okay, disaster for the player DC. I've got to be PERFECT from here on out, to help my mentally challenged offense recoup a two-score deficit. No prob. I've held most of my opponents to 14 or less all season, so I should be able to do this.

Next series for Carolina offense, all is going well when, you guessed it, AI Garcia throws it right to Arkansas DB #15, who promptly bowls over D.L. Moore or Ace Sanders (forget who), and takes down to like the three yardline (Lattimore stops him...reminding me there are heads up players on my team). Whatever the case, something funky happens with CC Whitlock where he doesn't cover the Arkansas #2 receiver on the ensuing possession (my fault, 'cause I was futzing around before the snap--but still Garcia gave us the short field, all three yards of it, doggone it). 21-3 Arkansas.

So, I figure, we're done in the first quarter. I have no control over the offense, and they have just handed the Razorbacks 14 points on top of the 7 that my normally stingy defense allowed them. No way they're gonna man up and come back, and since I haven't touched the ball but for one down in the past few minutes, I'm at an utter loss.

Well, Garcia turns around, throws three TD's in the second quarter and scrambles for another. 31-21 at the half. Alshon Jeffrey is running wild like he hasn't all season. I mean, he shows up like he's the amazing gamechanger he is. It's a Festivus miracle.

Nobody scores in the second half except for Stephan Gilmore (#5), who takes a pick to the house. After the initial panic, the offense showed up...and how. Alshon won Player of the Game honors for three touches and 165 yards. All in all, the whole thing reminded me of Auburn's turnaround against 'Bama last year in the real world.

Anyways, I'm thinking this Carolina DC needs to visit the team doctor for a Valium prescription.

[jd@os]

I ran with my Tar Heels last year and I'm going with the Gamecocks this year. They remind me of the Buffalo Bills on Madden 93 with a good QB, really good WR, an even better HB, and a solid defensive player. It makes a team like that fun to use because talent is spread around, but they're not a bandwagon team.

And slingstone, I can't agree with you more. Even though S.Car's entrance is not shown on tv a lot, they have consistently been televised on ESPN (ESPN has picked up their Thursday night openers a lot, too). Add that to the fact that they are a top 20 team in THE preeminent conference in college football and you will see that EA Sports should have at least had them correctly come out in the (Miami) smoke.

[slingstone]

So now I'm depressed. I was worried all year that someone would beat the AI offense and my defense. Well it finally happened. Florida came in an beat the absolute living...stuff out of us. 41-14. I had something like six takeaways, but THEY, on the other hand, destroyed my offense with three or four. Then they stonewalled us on like the one yard line like four times. The only Carolina touchdown was a pick six. The only thing the offense could do was two FG's and a two-point conversion.

I couldn't stop their RB, who kept running through straight up run blitzes, right through the middle of them, and then nobody could catch him. When I got the pick six in the fourth, it was 28-14, and that's when we had two goal line opportunities stonewalled. I blame myself for giving up the 28, but the offense was in a position to score so many times it made me physically ill. The AI OC playcalling was just plain stupid on the goal line. For whatever reason, the AI just cannot, from one yard out, line up in a heavy formation and use what is arguably one of the best power backs in college football to pound it home. To add insult to injury, in the last minute, the AI spikes it on like the fifty and then, on second down, punts it. The punter got a coffin corner on them, but even a FG BLOCK couldn't stop a straight run up the middle. They didn't even try to pass...my defense had battered their QB so bad I guess they were afraid to. They got the last two TD's as I tried anything, even the special teams blocking plays or goal line all blitz plays, to stop their run.

All I can say is I wish I had chosen HC. At least I would have had a chance in situations like this.

I dunno. I think I'm putting the game down for tonight. I am in no shape to face my roommates' Clemson team. I realize it's just a video game, but...(INSERT CURSE HERE). And to lose to the (INSERT CURSE HERE) Gators, too. I wanna know just what the speed rating is on that Florida RB, along with his elusiveness rating. He just ran through my front seven like they weren't there.

BTW, thanks for the awesome vid, jd@os. There's nothing like being in the Brice at game time.

Of course, conference play is over, and Florida (and the rest of the SEC East) all have two to three losses in conference, so I was champion of the East by default even before this debacle. Maybe the AI decided my guys were past caring...