You know the cliché about being stuck between a rock and a hard place? Welcome to Will Muschamp’s world. ($$)
… The man whose opinion on that subject matters most, athletics director Ray Tanner, is a fan of Muschamp’s — a big fan.
“I think he’s outstanding. I think he’s done a great job here,” Tanner told The Athletic earlier this month. “I’ve been very impressed with the way he manages his program, his staff, his student-athletes, the fan base, our donors. He’s a tireless worker. He’s genuine and sincere, and he is a tremendous communicator.”
He’s also 0-6 against Clemson and Georgia.
Muschamp inherited a program that was 3-9 in 2015 and needed a top-to-bottom overhaul. He has overseen significant infrastructure improvements and modernization efforts while posting a 22-17 record. Considered in a vacuum, he has done an excellent job, but Muschamp doesn’t live in a vacuum. He lives, literally and figuratively, between the Tigers and Bulldogs, his program’s two most-hated rivals. They are among the best programs in the nation, and they have beaten him by an average score of 40-16 in the last three years.
I’ve said it before. The ‘Cocks have a decent team this year, but if turnover margin doesn’t swing their way, 2019 is shaping up to be one brutal season in Columbia.
Get The Picture 
Regression to the mean is a bitch. When you play the quality of schedule USCjr is playing this year, the opportunities for turnovers drop significantly. You better make the most of them, Agent Muschump, or it’s going to be a long season.
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Sigh.. I just don’t see the attraction for Boom. He has always been overrated, even as a DC. Plus, he’s such a horse’s ass to boot. YMMV, though.
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I was unaware that the Cocks were a “hated rival” of Georgia. South Carolina is a team in the SEC East that Georgia plays every year but in order to be a hated rival they would actually have to be a threat to win games. I have heard a lot of BS come out of Columbia in recent years but they haven’t won any games.
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I think it’s more correct to say Georgia is a hated rival of SC. The chickens have always looked to the west with a mixture of hate, envy and fear. Hiring Spurrier and now Muschamp as coach made them more of a team to be hated than they were before. Those coaching hires combined with Richt’s 6-5 record against them the last 11 years of his tenure at Georgia an argument could be made that the game is something of a rivalry but the rivalry feeling is heavily weighted toward the SC side.
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Clemson is a bigger rival than USCjr, and we barely play them anymore. The Gamecocks are above Kentucky, Vandy and Missouri on the hate meter for me.
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Move to Augusta and they will move up on your hate list. They are the true embodiment of “Alabama’s arrogance with Vandy’s trophy case” when it comes to football. You will also gain a new, much stronger hatred for Clemson.
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Clemson is still above 10rc to me. They are a touch below the Big 3.
I get why you grow to hate USCjr if you live close to the border. The Gamecocks I know in Columbia have always been pretty reasonable, but I can understand the delusional crowd.
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I hate to be that guy, but Columbia is not “literally” between Athens and Clemson. It’s not even close, actually. Author should have looked at a map.
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Same people that said South Georgia towns were as close to Tuscaloosa as Athens. Idiots.
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Some towns in SoWeGa near the Alabama state line are as close to Tuscaloosa as they are to Athens.
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I’d enjoy seeing them knock off Tennessee or UF or Clemson or all three.
Yeah, fat chance with Clemson, but that schedule is going to either kill them or make them tough.
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… Tigers and Bulldogs, his program’s two most-hated rivals.
Live footage of Dawgnation:
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