It seems that throughout his short college career South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia could not seem to stay out of trouble. After so many second chances, the University finally drew the line with the senior quarterback on Tuesday as he was officially dismissed from the team, which seemed to come as a shock the SEC world.
"We are all saddened that this has occurred," said head coach Steve Spurrier, who seemed the most disappointed of anyone after receiving news of Garcia's dismissal. "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."
Spurrier has been the one that has come to Garcia's rescue every time he seemed to get in more trouble or come under scrutiny from Gamecock fans after his inconsistent, roller coaster career filled with suspensions and misbehavior that has kept the nation guessing for how long he would remain on the team. Even in the preseason when the media and coaches clearly agreed that sophomore quarterback Connor Shaw clearly outplayed Garcia in every category, Spurrier still defended him and made him the starter.
The Head Ball Coach couldn't save him this time, however, as the Tampa, Fla. native failed the required drug and alcohol screening test for both marijuana and alcohol, forcing the school to dismiss him from the team for good.
"Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right," said South Carolina Athletics Director Eric Hyman on Tuesday. "And we remind all of our student-athletes that there are consequences for their actions. For Stephen to return and remain with the football squad this fall, we agreed on several established guidelines. Unfortunately, he has not been able to abide by these guidelines and has therefore forfeited his position on the roster. We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in his life."
Things didn't seem to bode well for Garcia beginning with his performance on the field through the first half of this season in a year in which the Gamecocks began the season ranked #10 in the AP poll and looked to rise to their lofty expectations by the media.
So far this season, Garcia completed 61-of-118 (51.7 percent) passes for 844 yards with four touchdowns and nine interceptions in five games against mediocre competition, his nine interceptions being the most of any quarterback in the nation. His final start as a Gamecock on October 1st was his final downfall before news of his screening, as South Carolina lost 16-13 to a non-impressive, unranked Auburn team in front of the home crowd in Columbia. In this game, Garcia completed a mere 9-for-23 passes for 160 yards with two interceptions, leading the Gamecock offense to a dismal 289 total yards on only 52 plays.
After Garcia's disappointing performance, sophomore Connor Shaw was named the starter for last week's Kentucky game to see if he could get the struggling offense to put up some numbers. Although it was against a very bad Kentucky team, Shaw proved he was the man for the job as he completed 26-0f-39 passes for a career-high 311 yards with 42 rushing yards and four touchdowns, leading the Gamecock offense to 639 total yards, their most offensive yardage in a game since October 21st, 2001 against Vanderbilt (656), and their largest win over an SEC opponent since joining the conference in 1992.
With Garcia no longer a distraction for the team, the Gamecocks can finally commit to a quarterback and move on with their season, forever rid of the player that has taken a fanbase hungry for success on his roller coaster ride of a college career.
No comments:
Post a Comment