re: A lot of positives on one side, bunch of negatives on the other

Shaw
Petty
Ellis
Taneyhill
Grantz

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Shaw
Petty
Ellis
Taneyhill
Grantz

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See ... everyone would pretty much agree on those five if we took a mass poll.

But here's the thing ...

If I'm not mistaken, Petty threw more INTs than TDs in his career and finished with only something like 5,000 yards through the air in his entire career. I'm on my phone so I'll have to wait and look it up but I think he only threw for something like 25 TDs to 29 INTs ... yet everyone loved him. And lemme tell ya, he threw some picks at the absolute worst times. BUT, he won two Outback Bowls against OSU ... so perception is reality.

Dylan Thompson is a far better QB than Petty ever was. And I remember standing on the field after the Shrine Bowl and hearing Spurrier walk up to Petty and ask him if they (Florida) had recruited him. I think Petty was also out of Boiling Springs HS as well ... but don't quote me on that.

Then there is Steve Taneyhill. He had swagger but Thompson and he were/are exact opposites personality-wise. Taneyhill put-up a lot of numbers but he was notorious for throwing INTs at the worst times. Ironically, it had to be in '95 maybe, he threw a couple of back breaking INTs against KY at Williams-Brice ... just crushing mistakes. But he won our first bowl game that year if I remember correctly plus he beat Clemson twice at their place and signed his name on the Tiger Paw ... so fans loved him.

IMHO Thompson is definitely better than Petty and compares very favorably to Taneyhill in terms of ability. Taneyhill may have been slightly slicker in the pocket, he could glide around a bit and had the most natural feel for pressure I've ever seen, but Thompson faces much tougher pressure these days, week to week.

Ellis was an INT machine ... he holds the school record even though he played against weaker competition and had incredible WRs like Sharpe and Brooks, et al.

We're under-valuing Thompson. We were spoiled by Shaw.

Newton is the one who changed Spurrier's mind about mobile QBs. He loved Newton, I know that for a fact.

Garcia was supposed to be tbr ideal QB for Spurrier. He was very mobile, had decent size and a strong arm ... but he will forever be known as the Art Schleister of Gamecock football. He was spectacular at times, and equally horrible at other times.

Garcia had a great supporting cast. So did Shaw.

Thompson does not have the supporting cast either of them had.

Grantz was just amazing to behold. Shaw has surpassed him on the all-time list, but Grantz was very very very special.

Bobby Fuller was a special talent but he suffered the scar of the Citadel loss because he played on two teams with horrible defenses that couldn't stop the run. Fuller's offenses put up big numbers but teams just ran all over us those two years which meant they usually controlled ToP ... and it hurt Fuller's legacy through no fault of his own. Plus King Dixon forbid us from going to a bowl one year, 1990 I think it was, and that hurt Fuller's legacy as well not to mention he was sort of sandwiched in between Ellis and Petty.

Then there was our greatest pure QB talent of all-time. Threw the prettiest spiral of any QB I've ever seen play in person. And he could run ... a legit speedster when he wanted to be. Should have been the next Charlie Ward ... hell, he was more talented than Ward. Bit he was cursed with having had to play for the shittiest coach in our history. I'm referring to Anthony Wright of course ... who had a long and lucrative NFL career as a journeyman QB. He's now got several million in the bank and is a huge Gamecock fan and a good guy these days.

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I guess what I'm saying is if our defense was even half as good as it was last year we'd likely be a 1 loss team this season with Dylan at the helm, and then we'd all be singing his praises.

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The one game the defense showed up Thompson still choked in the clutch.

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The one game the defense showed up Thompson still choked in the clutch.

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So 1 game does it for you? Despite his clutch throw in the Outback bowl a couple of years ago? Despite an unexpected start and win @ a ranked Clemson team?

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Go back and watch that 2012 Clemson game. They dropped at least 3 easy picks

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That's because Thompson put a special anti-interception reverse spin on the ball. It was by design.

Are you seriously now faulting him for some balls that could have, might have, should have maybe who knows, been intercepted by Clemson a couple of years ago?

That's why I hate Lattimore. I can remember some runs where he should have been tackled and stopped in his tracks rather than scoring or picking-up first downs.

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That's because Thompson put a special anti-interception reverse spin on the ball. It was by design.

Are you seriously now faulting him for some balls that could have, might have, should have maybe who knows, been intercepted by Clemson a couple of years ago?

That's why I hate Lattimore. I can remember some runs where he should have been tackled and stopped in his tracks rather than scoring or picking-up first downs.

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This is well crafted, subtle sarcasm. Kudos...

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I guess it was ... but Cockapotamous is one of my favorite posters. I just don't understand the strong dislike of Thompson.

Thompson ain't perfect, but he ain't bad either.

I've got a friend that feels the same way about Thompson though. Says he is boycotting SC games until Thompson is benched or gone.

I just don't get it.

If we only had a defense ....

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To me, one of the reasons that Thompson is so divisive is the same reason that Garcia was. Every time he drops back and lets the ball fly you hold your breath. It's either going to go spectacularly right or spectacularly wrong. He has definitely put up some gaudy numbers this year (and I would even say he's substantially more consistent that Garcia) but he will also make you scratch your head on a couple plays a game. His almost preternatural inability to throw the ball away has had me pulling my hair out on several occasions. He's the Anit-Garcia off the field though, so some people give the similar miscues a pass (which is just as asinine as ignoring Garcia's miraculous plays because he was a douche nozzle when not on the field).

I'm in the camp that we need to be easing Mitch into more and more game time as the season continues to plummet, though. He's, in all likelihood, going to be our starter next year. Get him some reps this year to get ready...