South Carolina Gamecocks

2005 Season Summary

Florida's hiring of head coach Urban Meyer was not the only high-profile coaching news to come out of the SEC East. South Carolina made a splash that was every bit as big in the headlines when they hired "The Old Ball Coach," Steve Spurrier, as the head Gamecock. Spurrier built a powerhouse-dynasty at Florida, which included a national championship, and he was tabbed as the man who would finally lead South Carolina to the Promised Land.

Bleeding red ink

After a highly successful 2001 season in which they went 9-3 straight up and 6-5 against the spread which included a 31-28 Outback Bowl win over Ohio State, South Carolina slipped in the next three seasons, bleeding red ink, starting in 2002 with a mark of 5-7 straight up and 3-9 against the spread. This was followed in 2003 with a mark of 5-7 both straight up and against the spread and ended with a record of 6-5 straight up and 4-7 against the spread in 2004 as Lou Holtz retired as coach afterwards.

Expectations through the roof

The hiring of Spurrier sent expectations through the roof for the Gamecocks as many fans and bettors forgot about South Carolina's history of football futility, despite their large and rabid fan base. Also briefly forgotten was that South Carolina played in the brutally tough SEC East with perennial national powers Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. But all many could see was that Spurrier was the coach.

These high expectations reached a crescendo in Spurrier's debut, a Thursday Night ESPN national TV home game against Central Florida, who was winless in the prior season. All of this sent the line through the roof as South Carolina was installed as a whopping 21-point chalk, despite the fact that they had scored more than 21 points in just 5 games in all of 2004. The Gamecocks won 24-15 as many a bankroll was burned.

Mixed signals

In their next game at Georgia, as 18.5-point dogs, South Carolina reclaimed some of their value and easily covered in a 15-17 loss. The Gamecocks seemed to leave everything on the field at Athens as they had nothing left for their next game against Alabama, losing 14-37 as 2-point home dogs.

Troy visited next and as a 20-point chalk, South Carolina got back on track with a 45-20 blowout win. The mixed signals continued, however, as in the next game at Auburn the Gamecocks were blown out 7-48 as 15.5-point dogs.

Quiet value

Having won and covered just 2 out of their first 5 games, the initial hype regarding Spurrier had cooled off and the Gamecocks became something of a quiet value as the more notable traditional powers of the SEC garnered the attention of gamblers. There was even talk that Spurrier had lost his touch and that he might not be able to win at USC. All of this served to transform South Carolina a bargain.

As an 11-point home chalk against hapless Kentucky, the Gamecocks scored a 44-16 win. Next at home against upstart Vanderbilt, South Carolina scored a 35-28 win/push as 7-point chalks. As 14-point dogs at Tennessee, the Gamecocks proved to be a phenomenal value scoring a 16-15 "upset" win. The value continued the next week at struggling Arkansas, where South Carolina scored a 14-10 "upset" win as 5.5-point dogs. Then, in the much anticipated game against Urban Meyer and Spurrier's old team, Florida, the Gamecocks scored a 30-22 win as 4.5-point dogs to reach a peak against the sportsbooks for 2005.

Gamblers noticed

The three consecutive upset wins, including the high profile triumph over Florida, meant that gamblers noticed USC again, which drove their value down. Hosting intrastate archrival Clemson as a 3-point chalk, South Carolina fell 9-13 for their first loss against the spread in 6 games. In the Independence Bowl against Missouri, the Gamecocks blew a large early lead and lost 31-38 as 4-point chalks to close out 2005 with two consecutive losses both straight up and against the spread.