Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010

Morris: It’s official - ‘The Chicken Curse’ is dead

LISTEN CLOSELY. That music wafting across Columbia and the state of South Carolina today is a resounding rendition of TAPS. It accompanies the final rites for The Chicken Curse.

The curse that has supposedly haunted USC athletics for more than a century was buried Saturday night as the Gamecocks captured the SEC East Division championship in football after beating Florida, 36-14.

The title, which sends USC to the SEC championship game in Atlanta, caps the grandest year in Gamecocks history. It started with the men’s basketball team’s victory against No. 1-ranked Kentucky, peaked with USC’s stroll to the College World Series title, continued with the football team’s victory against No. 1-ranked Alabama and culminated with Saturday’s dominating performance.

“It’s for all the ages, for the fans who have been long suffering and really wanted a championship,” said USC president Harris Pastides. “I think the baseball program taught us that we can go all the way. This is one the fans will never forget, ever.”

Never again will the naysayers be able to proclaim USC cannot make big plays, win crucial games and capture championships. Never again will they be able to blame strange coincidences, unlikely happenings or bad luck on USC’s lack of success.

USC put it all to rest against a Florida team that had it all going for it entering this game. Florida had history on its side with nine previous SEC East titles. It had a raucous crowd of 90,885 at The Swamp, one of the nation’s most intimidating home fields. It had a bevy of talented players, the result of years of top-level recruiting classes.

None of that mattered because on USC had Steve Spurrier. He put on the kind of coaching clinic that Florida fans became accustomed to when he wore a blue visor instead of the black one he wore Saturday.

This Spurrier game plan looked different than any he unleashed as Florida coach. On defense, USC bottled up a Florida offense that looked inept. On offense, USC played a brand of smash-mouth football not seen since the Lou Holtz days.

The combination was lethal to Florida, which managed a paltry 226 yards of offense and never figured out how to stop sensational USC running back Marcus Lattimore, who carried the ball a school-record 40 times for 212 yards and three touchdowns.

“That was about right, running it about 50 and passing it about 20,” said Spurrier in speaking words likely never before from his mouth. “That’s a pretty good formula for us.”

USC played about as good a game of keepaway from Florida as any Gamecock team in memory. The Gamecocks dominated both lines of scrimmage and held possession of the ball for 41 of the game’s 60 minutes.

By game’s end, USC turned these Gators into a bunch of lethargic lizards. Florida fans saw their coach, Urban Meyer, display rare emotions on the sideline. Meyer, not Spurrier, was the one throwing the headset after USC stopped Florida on a fourth-down play late in the third quarter.

Finally, in the rarest of sights, USC cleared a good portion of The Swamp. Florida fans began heading to the exits at the end of the third quarter with USC leading 22-7. They did not care to stick around to witness such history on USC’s part.

Spurrier has now accomplished what Sparky Woods, Brad Scott and Holtz could not as USC head coach. Stephen Garcia, Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery, Travian Robertson, Cliff Matthews and Stephon Gilmore have accomplished what all the USC greats over the past three decades could not, including Ernest Dixon, Brandon Bennett, Steve Taneyhill, Travelle Wharton, Fred Bennett and Eric Norwood.

“This is for South Carolina. This is for South Carolina,” Spurrier said. “I’ve been lucky to win a bunch of Eastern Divisions, but this is a special one, certainly since it’s our first there.”

There was no doubting this win and this championship. USC was the vastly superior team. It was the team that wanted this championship more than Florida, and that was never more apparent than when USC took a 29-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Garcia would not be denied the end zone on a quarterback draw from the Florida 8-yard line. Garcia could easily have fallen to the ground and left USC with an easy field goal. Instead, he bowled over a Florida defender and reached the ball past the goal line.

Then Garcia sprinted toward the USC band and three sections full of deliriously happy garnet-clad fans. He waved his hands, signaling to the crowd to salute him and his teammates for the job well down.

He might as well have been waving goodbye forever to The Chicken Curse.

RIP.

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