No more questions remain after second-half comeback
CHARLOTTE –So he did it.
Because of that, he is South Carolina's starting quarterback again and what USC hopes will be a dream season can still become reality.
When Garcia entered in the second quarter, his accomplishments and contributions as a fifth-year senior thrown out the window after Steve Spurrier elected to start Connor Shaw on the strength of summer scrimmage stats, the Gamecocks trailed 17-0. They were teetering on the brink, their lofty aspirations and expectations about to digress into more heartbreak and agony.
The fans chanted Garcia's name, desperate for a hero. Garcia's teammates looked at him, wanting a leader.
Garcia delivered both by lowering his head and finishing off a 5-yard run with emphasis, ruggedly thrusting his helmet into a Pirate defender. Garcia knows he'll hear it about putting his head down. He said he is "going to get chewed out pretty hard" about the run during film study. But, he knows that's a necessary price he had to pay.
"I just felt like we needed a little spark," Garcia said. "I felt like I needed to do that."
The run was the spark, and away he and the Gamecocks went after it. Save a few Bruce Ellington wildcat snaps and the last series of the game, Garcia didn't leave the field as the Gamecocks came all the way back for a rousing-if-ugly 56-37 triumph that ended with Garcia being reinstated (a verb he's familiar with) to his starting job after throwing for a touchdown and rushing for two more.
"Stephen will start next week," Spurrier said. "He has every opportunity to be our quarterback and we'll go from there."
Spurrier said he has no second guesses about starting Shaw, who struggled with a 21 passing yards on 3-of-9 passing, over Garcia.
"I said we were going to have competition," Spurrier said. "Connor outplayed him ... he deserved to start."
But if he wasn't able to admit he was wrong – and he was very much so – in words, at least Spurrier did so in actions. Spurrier said the musical quarterbacks are over. Garcia is the quarterback. Next week's second period won't be Shaw's real estate.
"We're not doing the second quarter bit anymore," Spurrier said. "This was the quarter game."
Even if Shaw had played well, there was no way Spurrier could have extended the charade another week. It was obvious Garcia is a source of strength for the USC offense; the player from which it draws its strength and performs at its highest level behind.
"It seemed as if the offense responded to Stephen better, I guess since [we've] been playing with him and he's the quarterback [we're] used to," said receiver Ace Sanders.
Even Shaw recognizes such. When asked after the game if he felt he had "missed" a chance, the sophomore said he didn't. While Shaw didn't come out and say it, you could tell he didn't feel as if he had lost anything because deep down, he knew Garcia always should've been the starter.
"Stephen, he's our guy. You could tell when he went in, momentum switched over. He's a fifth-year guy; guys rally around him," Shaw said.
"He's been here, done that. He took us to the SEC championship last year. That's things that you can just tell."
Now, it isn't as if the Garcia-Spurrier dynamic has once and for all been changed. There is still a lingering tension, a part of Spurrier who is determined to jab at Garcia whenever he can with not-so-subtle glee. Two examples arose of such after the game.
One, Spurrier said he wouldn't be giving Garcia a game ball to acknowledge his performance. Spurrier said he would give Garcia a game ball when he threw for "300 yards" in a game.
Two, media members, and not Spurrier, informed Garcia he will start against the Bulldogs.
"OK," said Garcia, semi-surprised. "I'm very thankful."
As should be Spurrier, his teammates and every man, woman and child that pulls for the Gamecocks. A lot could've been lost here, figuratively and literally.
The decision to start Shaw over Garcia was a dumb one, made for no other reason than Spurrier could do it and flaunt the assumed wisdom of his coaching years as a defiant-yet-flimsy justification.
It did not provide a strategic advantage. ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said the defensive game plan never changed once Shaw was named the starter, so there goes that theory.
It could have been the final nail in the coffin of what is been a rocky relationship between coach and player. Many players would have walked out on Spurrier if put in Garcia's shoes, or at least tuned him out.
It could have divided the locker room. Garcia is beloved, and players want to play with him. They know if they are to win like they are capable of, he must be on the field.
It also very well could have meant a loss. East Carolina had no business competing with USC, much less being up 17-0. Garcia was the only thing that changed the game. If Shaw had been left in the game, Carolina leaves with a loss. It's as simple as that.
But it wasn't any of those things, because Garcia took it like a man. He showed maturity. He was finally the consummate teammate off the field that he has been for so long on it. He supported Shaw without causing a stink. He waited on the sideline while the Pirates were spotted 17 points.