USC controls its own destiny for division title
A few moments after Steve Spurrier had announced Marcus Lattimore would miss the remainder of the season with ligament and cartilage damage in his left knee, he was asked about if he had spoken with Lattimore since the tailback learned the news. Spurrier said he had, going on to say Lattimore was taking the injury "OK," and offering a synopsis of what he had told Lattimore.
"You've got to try to be as positive as you possibly can," Spurrier said. "You can't sit around feeling sorry for yourself. That doesn't help."
Spurrier was talking about Lattimore. But he could've easily been speaking about Gamecock fans.
Injuries are part of the game, as Spurrier and several USC players have said since Lattimore got rolled up in the fourth quarter of the Gamecocks' 14-12 win at Mississippi State. An unsavory part, sure, but a part nonetheless.
Losing Lattimore is a tough blow. But it is not necessarily one USC can't overcome. With a lot of resiliency and a little luck, the Gamecocks can still win the SEC East and return to Atlanta.
"We all realize life's got to go on," Spurrier said. "Somebody's got to try and fill his shoes, and some other positions really need to pick it up ... we all need to step it up a little bit if we're going to have an opportunity at a big season."
Florida is out of the race. Even if the Gators somehow put it all together and beat both Georgia and USC down the stretch, either the Bulldogs or Gamecocks would likely still finish with only two SEC losses and win the East Division.
It's a two-horse race now between UGA and USC – "a good little battle to see who's going to win the East," as Spurrier called it – and the Gamecocks still control their own destiny in it, with or without Lattimore.
Spurrier said Sunday it doesn't look like Georgia will lose again, given its favorable schedule. So let's give the Bulldogs the benefit of the doubt and say they do indeed finish 7-1 in the SEC. There's no reason the Gamecocks can't do the same exact thing and, on the strength of their 45-42 win in Athens on Sept. 10, head back to the Georgia Dome.
USC has three more conference games left. All are winnable. Tennessee and Florida have quarterback issues and USC is the more talented squad in both instances. The Arkansas game will be tough – it's been considered tough for months now – but given the revitalized Gamecock defense, the outlook is a bit sunnier now for that trip to the Ozarks. Playing the Razorbacks isn't necessarily the pass defense nightmare is has been in the past anymore. Even without Lattimore, the Gamecocks have a puncher's chance.
And if USC falls to Arkansas and finishes 6-2 in the league? The Gamecocks then have to hope for a little luck. Georgia will be favored against UF and Auburn. But that doesn't mean it's not capable of being tripped up. The Bulldogs haven't been world-beaters during their current five-game win streak. It could happen.
A lot of people have alluded to the motto USC's two-time defending national champion baseball team operates by: "Win anyway."
Ray Tanner's program has thrived on that mantra. And the parallel of Jackie Bradley Jr. being lost to a wrist injury in Starkville, Miss., while Lattimore's injury came on the same campus are ironic.
With Lattimore out for the season, it's time for USC to win anyway. And the Gamecocks are very capable of doing just that.