Who QB-ed the two greatest wins in school history? I think you all know the answer. Who is currently ranked third on most of the all-time leader lists?
It’s the same answer. I’m not going to defend his wrongful actions, but I will say this: We will miss Garcia being on this team and should be grateful for the contributions and sacrifices he made on the field.
That’s all people need to remember, but I fear his achievements will be lost to time and the media circus.
— Kaleb Williams, Fourth-year Chemical Engineering Student
Stephen Garcia, the four-star recruit from Tampa, Fla., the quarterback who lead Carolina to our first SEC Championship game, has been dismissed from the football team. To an outsider, this statement would come across as shocking or irrational, but to the fans of the Gamecock football team, this comes as no surprise.
Even with all his accomplishments, I feel there is no way that he can be thought of as one of Carolina’s top players. All he has done is bring shame to the University.
No proud leader of an SEC football team should be suspended twice in his first semester for public intoxication and for keying a professor’s car. No star player should be removed from the squad for violating team rules the week of a huge bowl game, or for arriving to a team function drunk.
As much as it might seem like the end of the “Garcia era,” we are actually taking a big step in the positive direction by putting our faith in Connor Shaw. I know that I, along with the entire university, am excited to see what Shaw can do the rest of the 2011-2012 season.
Instead of reading on ESPN about, “Garcia suspended for 5th time,” I am ready to see headlines including Connor Shaw, Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffrey and Melvin Ingram leading the Gamecocks to another SEC East title and beyond.
To Shaw and the rest of the team, the Carolina nation is behind you.
— Joshua Knauer, Second-year mechanical engineering student