Stephen Garcia Benched: Did Steve Spurrier Just Kill South Carolina's Season?

Steve Spurrier called a press conference late Monday to announce that Connor Show would replace Stephen Garcia as starting quarterback.

Garcia has been particularly poor this season, completing just 51 percent of his passes with nine interceptions to four touchdowns. He also has had a string of run-ins with the law involving alcohol.

Many fans are ready to move on from him, and Connor Shaw is certainly a capable quarterback. But are those fans and Spurrier right in ending Garcia’s time midway through the season?

Absolutely.

South Carolina has a boatload of talent returning, especially on offense, but they have never come close to looking as good as they could be this season. Marcus Lattimore is far and away the source of yards and points on offense and now teams are starting to key to him and forcing the Gamecocks to beat them through the air.

Garcia is very hit or miss. He flashes true brilliance at the position, but the next play he does not look like he can make a simple read.

Shaw, on the other hand, has been pretty consistent but is not as experienced or calm under pressure. But what he lacks in experience he makes up for with his legs. So far this season he has rushed for 40 yards on nine carries.

Last season he completed just under 70 percent of his passes and nearly guided his team to a victory over Auburn, but he threw two interceptions in just eight attempts, which ultimately sealed the game on the road.

South Carolina’s next game will be Kentucky at home, and that should be an easy win. But Shaw and company will have to go on the road three straight games after that at Mississippi State, Tennessee and Arkansas.

An in-conference loss hurts, but it puts the Gamecocks right back on equal footing with everyone else in the SEC East. Plus Auburn is in the West, so should it come down to it, South Carolina may get the upper hand in the conference.

The season is far from lost, and the coaches are making sure to do everything they can to turn their talent into wins this year. They got a taste of the SEC Championship Game, and now they want more.

Spurrier clearly saw the writing on the wall with Stephen Garcia and he apparently knew it as well. “I think he sort of anticipated it,” Spurrier said of Garcia.

Something needed to be shaken up on offense, and when you have a quarterback as talented as Shaw waiting in the wings and a quarterback as troubled as Garcia starting, switching the two is an obvious choice.