South Carolina Football: Stephen Garcia Dismissed from Team by Steve Spurrier

This should get mixed reviews, as the South Carolina Gamecocks have just dismissed senior quarterback Stephen Garcia from the team.

Garcia was a highly-recruited player, but he has had more than his fare share of struggles this season. This season, he is only completing 51 percent of his passes for 844 yards. He has only thrown four touchdowns to his nine interceptions.

Those nine interceptions lead the SEC and are the third most in the country this season.

Because of his struggles this season, Garcia was benched last week for sophomore quarterback Connor Shaw, who led the Gamecocks to a 54-3 victory.

“Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right,” said athletics director Eric Hyman, “and we remind all of our student-athletes that there are consequences for their actions. For Stephen to return to and remain with the football squad this fall, we agreed on several established guidelines. Unfortunately, he has not been able to abide by those guidelines and has therefore forfeited his position on the roster. We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in life.”

Garcia has had several problems since he joined South Carolina and has been suspended a total of five times. He was arrested twice during his first month on campus. He was later suspended again earlier this year for unknown reasons.

“We are all saddened that this has occurred,” said head coach Steve Spurrier. “We all feel like we’ve given Stephen numerous opportunities to be a student-athlete here at South Carolina. Obviously, he has chosen not to follow the guidelines of his reinstatement contract. We wish him the best.”

It looks like the Gamecocks will move on with the youngster Connor Shaw as they prepare for a game this weekend against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Shaw did well in his first career start last week, completing 66 percent of his passes for 311 yards and four touchdowns.

Garcia is a talented quarterback, but it appears that his troubled history has finally caught up with him.