Yet Again, South Carolina Gamecocks Prove They Have No Quarterback

There's an old adage, if you use mutiple quarterbacks, chances are you don't have one. That is what the problem for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

South Carolina has five quarterbacks (Stephen Garcia, Chris Smelley, Tommy Beecher, Amos Hillary, and Reid McCollum), three of whom have started, and neither of them is completely effective.

This was no more clear than today in the Outback Bowl, as the Gamecocks were taken to the woodshed by Iowa.

South Carolina decided to start Stephen Garcia, a highly touted redshirt freshman in today's game. Bad decision.

Garcia, the local boy from nearby Jefferson High School, looked lethargic as he threw three interceptions, fumbled, and completed only half his passes for a mere 78 yards.

Garcia considered the best of the three, who received high praise from Jon Gruden before the game, was easily the worst player out there on the field.

Garcia, who has a reputation as a partier, looked like he hit the Tampa Bay nightlife hard the night before. He didn't move around well, over and under threw his  and well you get the idea.

Garcia has the most upside of the three, but he needs to improve on his TD-to-Interception ratio (6:8).

Somehow, the only time Chris Smelley seems to play well is in garbage time or replacing another ineffective QB for the Gamecocks.

Smelley, the junior who started nine of the 13 games for the Gamecocks this year was the whipping boy for the Gamecocks' mediocrity.

Smelley played a little better than Garcia, but the game was meaningless by the time he got in, as Iowa was up 21-0. He completed 49 percent of his passes for 179 yards and 1 TD. These stats basically represented his season.

56 percent completions, 14 TDs, 15 INT, a big reason why the Gamecocks couldn't stay in games.

None more prevalent than in the final two games against Clemson and Florida. Smelley threw six picks, taking the Gamecocks out of the game early.

Now a lot of love goes out to the QB's of the Big XII, but still the SEC has some quarterbacks who can play.

Tim Tebow, Jevan Snead, John Parker Wilson, Matt Stafford, if you're going to play quarterback in the SEC or any other conference in America, you need to limit your interceptions, and Smelley and Garcia prove that they are not ready to be the quarterback.

And Tommy Beecher, come on, man! Four interceptions and 0 points against NC State? Pathetic!

When you go back to Steve Spurrier's career at South Carolina, he has never had a consistent quarterback.

Blake Mitchell never developed and was the on-again, off-again starter, Syvelle Newton was a two-game miracle, and then we have Smelley, Garcia, and Beecher. Seriously, who else do the Gamecocks have?

Reid McCollum most likely got to play college football because he got to throw to AJ Green in High School, and Amos Hillary will probably switch to Wide Reciever.

Even in recruiting, the Ol' Ball Coach has failed to land a big time, consistent QB like Jimmy Clausen, Tyrod Taylor, John Brantley, Willy Korn, and Morgan Newton.

Even worse, he's let them go to rivals (Brantley to UF, Newton to UK, and Korn to Clemson).

Bottom line: the Gamecocks need to find consistency at QB. For Steve Spurrier who has such a good reputation at developing QB's, he has failed miserably at USC. They can't keep going on like this.

They will look good when playing against Wofford and The Citadel, but once they get into the SEC play against teams like Florida, Alabama, and LSU, Smelley, Garcia, Beecher, and the other QB's who will play at Carolina must put in more preparation.

Put in more work in the film room, study the playbook, and for god sakes don't pull a Stephen Garcia and get busted for DUI twice!

Also, maybe the Ball Coach can do more work with his QB's. Make sure they are putting in their work, and ride them hard. And when you pick a QB, STICK WITH HIM.

Don't play musical quarterbacks, you're not going to win stability at the position by having your starter not know whether he will start the next week.

They begin to press and think they must be perfect and that causes mistakes, poor play, and most of the time a loss.

The fact is, South Carolina expects a lot from it's Gamecocks, and Gamecock nation is beginning to grow tired of these late-season collapses and Clemson dominance. The only guys who can change that are Spurrier, Garcia, and Smelley.