College GameDay announced that they would be headed to Columbia, South Carolina for the Week 3 matchup between South Carolina and LSU, and Paul Finebaum wasn't happy.
The plan originally was for ESPN to bring College GameDay to Lexington for the game between Kentucky and No. 1 ranked Georgia, Finebaum revealed on The Matt Barrie Show on ESPN's College Football YouTube channel. Finebaum went on to describe the choice as ‘bizarre' and relayed the excitement that people in Lexington had at the possibility of getting the show.
“I was in Lexington on Saturday,” Finebaum said, according to Sam Neumann of Awful Announcing. “You could go to Auburn, you could go to a lot of places where good football…In Lexington, all the students were asking me yesterday, because Georgia comes there next week, ‘You think GameDay will be here?’ GameDay was going to Lexington…For GameDay to go to Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, they go every year, sometimes twice; they don’t go to Lexington, but once every 20 years or so.”
“I had callers this week from Columbia say, ‘Hey, when do you think we’re gonna get rid of Shane Beamer?’ They were as down on him as they could be; now they have College GameDay?” Finebaum added. “Which — I don’t know where that bus was going. Listen, GameDay is great, but the idea that GameDay would go to LSU at South Carolina? I mean, that is one of the more bizarre GameDay choices in its history.”
The switch was made after South Carolina throttled Kentucky 31-6 in Lexington on Saturday, a game that saw Wildcats starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff complete just three passes and get benched in the fourth quarter.
How real was South Carolina's blowout of Kentucky?
As Finebaum alluded to, South Carolina was underwhelming in Week 1, barely squeaking by Old Dominion at home in a game where their offense was hapless and their defense had to carry the load. The offense was still up-and-down in Lexington, but it was certainly an improve performance even while quarterback LaNorris Sellers was dealing with a minor injury.
However, it is more clear than ever that the defense will be the strong suit of these Gamecocks. Kentucky mustered just 183 total yards on Saturday, and finished with just 44 passing yards despite trailing for most of the day. Nick Emmanwori had a pick-six in the fourth quarter that was the final nail in the coffin of Vandagriff's day and sealed a South Carolina victory.
The South Carolina pass rush is fearsome, and looks like they will be able to hold up and be disruptive even against better SEC teams. Freshman phenom Dylan Stewart added another sack on Saturday to bring his total to 2.5 (with two forced fumbles) through two games.
The offense may not hold up against the SEC's elite, but the early returns on this defense are extremely positive. They have a chance to keep the Gamecocks in a lot of games this fall, and can prove it this Saturday in what should be a fascinating matchup, no matter what Paul Finebaum says.
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