Too many Gamecock fans underrate Connor Shaw.

[Mick Chicken]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

We have talent around him to win games, but they have to get the football, no? It goes hand in hand. He has got to give guys a chance to make a play for him.

Spurrier said it best "you have to throw it somewhere, Connor"

This is what absolutely drives me up the wall. We have too many play makers on this team to put out the kind of offensive performances we have at times. I'll take a w anyway the team can get it...but they should be blowing teams out of the water.

[lake-cityCOCK89]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

We have talent around him to win games, but they have to get the football, no? It goes hand in hand. He has got to give guys a chance to make a play for him.

Spurrier said it best "you have to throw it somewhere, Connor"

absolutely true. how about the times when we wiff the d ends? dropped passes? bad routes?

its not always connor's fault, like you said, it goes hand in hand

[cockfight21]

Originally Posted by lake-cityCOCK89

agreed, spot on. As long as we get the win i dont care what he does to get it.

I cant beleive people continuously bash him when he is 16-3. I guess thats "average" for sec Qb's though.

If you remember, people bashed Mitchell, Smelley, Beecher (well, that one was...nevermind), and Garcia. It is the nature of the position. The 2nd string QB is always the favorite player.

[CoverTwo]

Originally Posted by lake-cityCOCK89

yeah i know he didnt play in 2010. The point is we are better than average sec teams, so who would he like for us to beat every week? we beat the best almost every time we've taken the field the last 2 years. Makes the point the he only beats "average" sec teams a mute one at best.

And how many folding chairs wont break when a 400 pound ass sits in it? (LSU and bama win almost every game they play)

2011:

W. UK - Awful.
W. MSU - Average
W. UT - Awful.
L. Ark - hey, very good.
W. UF - Average/awful

2012:

W. Vandy - Average
W. Missouri - Awful.
W. Kentucky - Awful.
W. Georgia - hey, very good.
L. LSU - hey, very good.
L. UF - hey, very good.
UT - Awful.
Ark - Awful.


This is my point. We beat the teams we are suppose to, but if we are talking CHAMPIONSHIPS .. A certain someone is going to have to play better in the 'measuring stick' games to get us into a championship.

[cockfight21]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

We have talent around him to win games, but they have to get the football, no? It goes hand in hand. He has got to give guys a chance to make a play for him.

Spurrier said it best "you have to throw it somewhere, Connor"

I don't think anyone disagrees with you. He needs to do a better job of pulling the trigger. But, I will take it. Prior to Shaw, we had a guy that had no problem pulling the trigger, and he turned it over a bunch. We will never be an offensive power with Shaw, but we will also not have bone headed plays that result in L's. Until we get an elite talent, I'd much rather have a manager than a gun slinger.

[lake-cityCOCK89]

Originally Posted by Emery

Because last year the highest ranked team was a 22nd ranked Clemson and this year the only ranked team we beat is UGA who, and if anyone besides UGA fans really think they are the number 3 team I'm shocked, is clearly ranked so high based on schedule. Plus he completed 6 passes that game.

well georgia is 10-1, playing for the sec championship and a shot at the national championship so yeah, i'd say theyre pretty darn good.

So what if he only completed 6 passes? we blew them out.

he's 16-3. we've had our most successful 2 year run in program history. guy has lost 3 times on the road at top 5 teams. Get over yourself. we're beating good teams.

[CoverTwo]

Originally Posted by cockfight21

I don't think anyone disagrees with you. He needs to do a better job of pulling the trigger. But, I will take it. Prior to Shaw, we had a guy that had no problem pulling the trigger, and he turned it over a bunch. We will never be an offensive power with Shaw, but we will also not have bone headed plays that result in L's. Until we get an elite talent, I'd much rather have a manager than a gun slinger.

USC getting elite talent (and I'm assuming you mean like Alabama/LSU) isn't going to happen. So maybe we need to scale back our expectations of what our teams should do year in and year out? Which I am cool with.

[cockfight21]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

2011:

W. UK - Awful.
W. MSU - Average
W. UT - Awful.
L. Ark - hey, very good.
W. UF - Average/awful

2012:

W. Vandy - Average
W. Missouri - Awful.
W. Kentucky - Awful.
W. Georgia - hey, very good.
L. LSU - hey, very good.
L. UF - hey, very good.
UT - Awful.
Ark - Awful.


This is my point. We beat the teams we are suppose to, but if we are talking CHAMPIONSHIPS .. A certain someone is going to have to play better in the 'measuring stick' games to get us into a championship.

I see a bunch of W's and not many L's. Would you rather have Aaron Murray? Tyler Bray? Shaw has a better record than both. We also beat Clemson and Nebraska

[lake-cityCOCK89]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

2011:

W. UK - Awful.
W. MSU - Average
W. UT - Awful.
L. Ark - hey, very good.
W. UF - Average/awful

2012:

W. Vandy - Average
W. Missouri - Awful.
W. Kentucky - Awful.
W. Georgia - hey, very good.
L. LSU - hey, very good.
L. UF - hey, very good.
UT - Awful.
Ark - Awful.


This is my point. We beat the teams we are suppose to, but if we are talking CHAMPIONSHIPS .. A certain someone is going to have to play better in the 'measuring stick' games to get us into a championship.

those teams arent as bad as you make them out to be. cant you give any credit?

Yeah, to beat LSU on the road and win the SECCG Shaw, the oline and everybody on the team would need to step it up. But dont sit here and blame shaw for us not being in atlanta or not beating those 3 teams on the road. team loss. shaw didnt help in some cases but its not all his fault.

Does he need to be more consistant? hell yes. the entire team does. But the "he only beats average teams" crap is CRAP. totally unfair statement.

[lake-cityCOCK89]

Originally Posted by cockfight21

I see a bunch of W's and not many L's. Would you rather have Aaron Murray? Tyler Bray? Shaw has a better record than both. We also beat Clemson and Nebraska

My point exactly.

[cockfight21]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

USC getting elite talent (and I'm assuming you mean like Alabama/LSU) isn't going to happen. So maybe we need to scale back our expectations of what our teams should do year in and year out? Which I am cool with.

For USC to win over those teams it will always be an upset. Now, we have managed to get guys like Clowney and Lattimore, so we are going to have to win games with those guys, not on Shaws back. I realize it is somewhat contradictory to give Shaw credit for wins and then say we win with the talent around him. But eff it, I'm going to say it anyways.....it's the internet

[Take-a-Knee]

As the saying goes ... "You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip , But you can beat the damn salad off of it "

[GamecockInHell]

To be honest, I think we are asking Shaw to do more than he might be capable of. His arm strength is not the greatest in the world and he knows it. I think that may have a little to do with his hesitancy to throw the ball sometimes. On top of that having a bad shoulder and foot limits your throwing as well. As long as he can run efficiently and effectively, our RBs can run effectively, we can hit the wide open guys when they are available, AND our defense can play like they are capable of, we have a chance to beat anyone in the country. If we turn the ball over and give the other team three or four easy TDs we are in trouble.

[CoverTwo]

Originally Posted by lake-cityCOCK89

those teams arent as bad as you make them out to be. cant you give any credit?

Yeah, to beat LSU on the road and win the SECCG Shaw, the oline and everybody on the team would need to step it up. But dont sit here and blame shaw for us not being in atlanta or not beating those 3 teams on the road. team loss. shaw didnt help in some cases but its not all his fault.

Does he need to be more consistant? hell yes. the entire team does. But the "he only beats average teams" crap is CRAP. totally unfair statement.

Uh, UT/UF/UK were AWFUL last season. AWFUL. AWFUL

This year .. Missouri is awful. Kentucky is awful. Tennessee and Arkansas are awful.

Arkansas last year and Florida this year were team losses. I can agree with that especially with the way the defense didn't cover anyone against Arky, and the turnovers against UF this year. But that LSU game, do not sit there and say that INT to Reid wasn't a momentum changer. That led to an LSU field goal that gave them the lead with about 6 minutes to play and gave them all of the momentum which fired up the crowd and the LSU d-line.

Not only that, the Florida game this year, would've been a completely different story had he hit Bruce and Ace each down the sideline for scores. As well as Ace in the back of the endzone (by himself) after DL had another case of the drops. There were ample opportunities to swing that game early and the offense couldn't do it.

Yes, every QB makes mistakes like that but it is called being clutch. We need more clutch throws from the guy but actually getting the ball of would be a hell of a start.

Anyway, I'm done arguing. We can all agree that the guy has room for improvement. Hopefully we start to see it this weekend. Like I said, I like him and think he has the tools to be really good. Just pull the trigger man.

[GamecockUltimate]

i will tell you this, it reminds me of when Garcia went downhill with the cheers to bring in the back up after every incompletion or sack (regardless of the protections or whatnot) and Connor is not underperforming that bad. Connor has his moments but they are not as bad as past Qb's moments

[Kazak]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

So you think Connor Shaw can win a championship here playing conservative?

If we have the ball with 3 mins to play in a tie game, do you think Connor Shaw can make the clutch throws to lead us for the win (a la AJ McCarron @ LSU)? On the road (or at home), in a pressure situation, against the blitz. Given everything we know about his style of play.

He was in a similar situation against LSU and made his worse throw of the season.

This is what I question.

I have no doubt that he can win games against the middle pack and bottom tier of the SEC (his record shows that). What I do doubt is games against the top half, and lets be real, we all know championship years are hard to come by and USC has pissed away 2 of them in back to back years. Next years team will be built for ANOTHER run.

Cover Two, I respect you as a poster...particularly your terrific research into our recruiting efforts...but I'm a bit surprised by your post here.

First of all, I'm sure you understand that Connor wasn't responsible for us "pissing away" our championship hopes last year. That boiled down to the home loss to Auburn, period. (Garcia's last game at QB.)

Connor has only been starting for a season and a half, and he's been banged up this entire season. Many people here mistakenly believe that he redshirted for a season, but as you know, he never did - he would be just a redshirt sophomore right now, if he'd redshirted like most QBs do, and then far less people would be questioning his potential to develop further as a QB. You know better.

He's a tough-as-nails competitor, and he's constantly striving to learn and improve. He's lost a grand total of 3 games as a starter, all to top 10 teams on the road. Those losses still burn in his gut, and they are valuable experiences to learn from.

I agree that we'll be built for another run next season. And there is no quarterback I'd rather have leading us, as a battle-honed senior, than Connor Shaw. I absolutely believe that he can and will lead us in the clutch when the time comes, and I believe he'll silence ALL of the naysayers in 2013.

[Emery]

Originally Posted by lake-cityCOCK89

well georgia is 10-1, playing for the sec championship and a shot at the national championship so yeah, i'd say theyre pretty darn good.

So what if he only completed 6 passes? we blew them out.

he's 16-3. we've had our most successful 2 year run in program history. guy has lost 3 times on the road at top 5 teams. Get over yourself. we're beating good teams.

The only team of any note that UGA beat is Florida which was a cluster of a game.

The point about 6 pass completions is we blew them out, but it wasn't a game we needed a stellar quarterback performance.

I don't know why you take Connor's performance so personally that I 'need to get over myself' and I would say we beat a good team or two the past two years and lost to a few too.

[bcgibson75]

Like it or not, after this weekend's Carolina/Clemson game--

Connor will either add to his reputation as Winner who makes big plays...

OR...

he will be labeled as another Carolina QB who couldn't get it done during BIG road games.

Hope he's healthy and has his best game as a Gamecock come Saturday night!

GO COCKS!!

[gripitandripit2007]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

If he gets rid of it, I actually applaud. In fact, when he does actually does get rid of it, usually it is a good read. He knows the offense and where he is suppose to go to with the ball, that I have no doubt. Turning it loose is the issue and I don't think there is anything Spurrier can do about it except hope and pray that the light comes on instead of flicker every now and then.

So I guess you would rather have Garcia bc he sure "let go of it" against Auburn last year! Lol. And ummm...at least Connor beats the teams he is "supposed to" bc we lost to Auburn MAINLY bc of Garcia & that was a team we were not supposed to lose to to cost us the division last year

[Kazak]

To the ass-hats harping on the fact that Connor "only" completed 6 out of 10 passes against Georgia, you're ignoring the fact that he also RAN for 78 yards and a touchdown in the damn game!


The guy goes 6 for 10 for 162 yards passing with 2 touchdowns and no picks, along with 78 yards rushing and a rushing TD...and some windbags here try to figure out a way to spin his stats in a selectively negative way. AMAZING.