34-0 Cocks; Wilson goes out with a concussion

I had a root canal performed about a month ago.

It felt a TON better than watching the South Carolina game, that's for sure.

(Continues)

I hate, hate, hate to go down this road...but damn if it didn't seem like the South Carolina defensive linemen were headhunting on Wilson. They took two questionable shots on Wilson early in the game, making helmet-to-helmet contact. Even Chris Fowler had to wonder at least once if the 'Cocks should've been flagged for leading with the helmet.

But after it looked like Wilson was getting comfortable leading the offense, with Andre Brown making headway on the ground, Wilson would take yet another blow to the helmet that left the quarterback lying on the turf for what seemed like an eternity.

As his teammates prayed in silence, Wilson was carted off the field in what we would later find out was a grade 2 or grade 3 concussion.

After that, there was just no life left in the Pack.

Evans came in and absolutely stunk. There's no other way to put it. I thought he was better than what he showed tonight; perhaps Wilson's injury rattled him quite a bit.

Ugh. I just can't even seem to process how quickly things went from a 0-0 defensive grudgematch to a 34-0 bloodletting.

The defensive line looked solid holding the SC offense in check up front, winning battles along the line early, pressuring the quarterback enough to lead to four interceptions.

But again, Wilson's injury just completely devastated this team, mentally. Credit SC for taking the game from that point; Spurrier knows when blood's in the water, and he got after it when State was clearly shaken.

So now it's time to regroup, prepare for William and Mary and pray that Wilson can return and bring some life back to a team that was lifeless without him.

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Pack downs Gamecocks twice to advance to Super Regional

Old adages stay in circulation for a reason: More often than not, they're true.

That was the case this weekend in Raleigh. Good pitching truly did beat good hitting on Saturday (5-4) and Sunday (2-1) as the Pack downed South Carolina in both games to advance to the Super Regionals.

South Carolina came into the games against the Pack swinging some ridiculously prolific bats, and had beaten UNC Charlotte 15-8 in their first game of the Regionals.

But Clayton Shunick's pitching performance on Saturday, Erik Surkamp's masterful four innings of two-hit ball on Sunday and a lockdown job both nights from the bullpen were too much for USC's hitters.

Now State awaits the results of tonight's 7:00 game between Ga. Tech and Georgia. A win by the Yellow Jackets would advance them into the Super Regionals, but more importantly grant State hosting rights to the second round by virtue of their higher seed. A win by the Bulldogs would mean a trip to Athens.

It's the first time State has advanced to the Super Regionals since 2003, and with pitching this strong, the Pack looks like one of the teams to beat in the second round.

I suppose there's some irony that State does so in defeating Ray Tanner's Gamecocks in newly-renovated Doak Field. It's widely rumored that the reason he left was lack of support from the State athletic administration and a refusal to upgrade the facilities while he was here. To see his understudy (Avent was an assistant under Tanner that assumed the team when Tanner left) advance in a sold-out Doak must've been bittersweet, to a degree.

Here are some recaps, and a nice piece from Baseball America:

• GoPack.com
• PackPride.com
• Heather Dinich, espn.com
• Aaron Fitt, Baseball America.com
  

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