South Carolina Gamecock Stephen Garcia and the Safety That May Have Beaten Bama

Stephen Garcia has been praised as the monster against Alabama who winged the ball around like an All-SEC caliber player, putting the ball into spots that only the sure handed Alshon Jeffery could grab and make critical runs for first downs.

Then, with 14:49 seconds left in the third quarter, he did the unthinkable.

He hand delivered points to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

With the snap rocketing over his head, instead of falling on the ball around the 2-yard line (where he picked it up), he made a choice to toss the ball between the goalposts.

This resulted in a safety bringing the score to 21-11. The crowd at Williams Brice couldn't believe it. The general consensus was "what was that IDIOT thinking?"

Hold up a minute folks. That might have been the play that saved the game.

Think about it for a second. You have Garcia, with his history of fumbling, scrambling to get a loose ball near the goal line, and an Alabama defense that's quick and strong behind him.

What happens if he tries to dive on the ball and it comes out from under him like we have seen so many times in the sport of football?  What happens if an Alabama defender falls on it in the end zone? What if he does pick up the ball, and tries to make a play, only to get sacked and fumble again?

Sure, he could have probably picked it up, scrambled out of the pocket and thrown it away. That probably would have been better.

However, he made a split second decision, with the understanding that a turnover could have led to a touchdown, and 21-11 is a whole lot better than 21-16. 

I am not trying to say that it was complete brilliance, but it shows the man is thinking.  Give him credit. South Carolina may look back on that and say, 'thank God he did that.'

He could have saved the team from himself.