Each week this football season we will bring you some photos for you to caption for us.  Here is the first one of the 2010 season below.   Look for some others before and after each Gamecocks football game.

In the pic below, USC qb Garcia congratulates USC tailback Marcus Lattimore after Marcus scores his first touchdown as a Gamecock....

So what kind of talk took place between them......fill it in by posting a comment..... 

Photo credit goes to new GamecockAnthem.com photographer Ryan Bethea.

Here is your Gamecocks News and links for today to make sure you get a full recap of the first win of 2010.

Gamecocks Football

• Garcia, Gamecocks make strong statement in win
• Gamecocks overpower Golden Eagles
• These Gamecocks find a way to persevere
• Byrnes' Lattimore well ahead of George Rogers' pace
• South Carolina rolls past Southern Miss
• Freshman Lattimore makes the difference
• Scoring drives from South Carolina vs. Southern Miss
• Culliver, King held out of USC opener
• Breaking down the pregame chaos
• Gamecocks report card: Southern Miss
• Post-Game Topics for Discussion: Southern Miss. at South Carolina – GABattack
• 2 players suspended prior to game

LOHD staff hopes you enjoyed our "live blogging" as this will be a feature each game so please make sure to tune-in as it will be a great resource to use while watching a game.  We here at LOHD, had some twitter issues while trying to update from the stadium but again if you tuned in the "live blogging" then you did not miss a beat while watching ESPN.

We here at LOHD will be at the game tonight but you can keep up with everything that is being said before, during and after the game here.  We have several twitter handles loaded and hashtags.  So follow along, put your own thoughts in there and cheer on the Gamecocks... go cocks!

South Carolina opens its 76^th season of football at Williams-Brice Stadium when the Southern Miss Golden Eagles come to town as a two touchdown underdog.  Make no mistake, the Gamecocks must be ready to play as the Golden Eagles could fly in and steal a win if the Gamecocks don’t “protect this house.”

I feel that this will be a great measuring stick for USC fans to see what the 2010 Gamecocks are all about as USM will bring everything, including the kitchen sink, to try to win this game on ESPN.  The Gamecocks can expect all kinds of blitz packages coming from the USM defense and on offense Carolina will see various schemes to try to catch the ‘Cocks sleeping.  As stated many times about this game, USM will come ready to shock the world and USC must take of business Thursday.

By taking care of business, they need to execute these 5 keys to win the game:

South Carolina kicks off its season tonight at 7:30 at home against Southern Miss.  If you are planning to attend the game, and if you're within reasonable driving distance you should, there is a traffic issue you should be aware of.

There will be a parade in downtown Columbia around 4 pm today.  It will leave from the Marriott on Hampton Street, turn on Sumter and head to Gervais.  The parade will continue down Gervais to Assembly and will end at the Fairgounds.  The State mentions it in a side box here.

Here is the official traffic flow when there isn't a parade.

It should be a nice night for football; the forecast:

High: 93

Low: 69

Chance of Rain: 0%

Wind: NW at 5 mph

Southern Mississippi University

Location: Hattiesburg, MS

Students: 16,050

Head Coach: Larry Fedora (14-12, 2 years at Southern Miss)

2009 Record: 7-6 overall, C-USA 5-3

Returning Starters: Offense 3 Defense 9, returning 1 kicker from last season

Famous Alumni: Brett Farve, Ray Guy and Jimmy Buffett, yes that Jimmy Buffett

USC Offense Vs. Southern Miss Defense: The strength of the Golden Eagles team this season will be their front 7 on defense.  Ranked 80th nationally last season in total defense, allowing over 390 yards per game, and giving up on average 26 points per game.  Players to watch out for on Thursday that could have an impact on the outcome of the game are LB Korey Williams, LB Martez Smith, NT Anthony Gray and Cordarro Law.  Korey Williams might be the top linebacker in C-USA, and will be a handful for the Gamecock O-line.

USC offense ranked 82 overall last season averaging 347 yards per game, and scoring an average of 20 points per game.  USC returns a solid foundation of receivers and running back this season that should help in improving their offense stats.  Stephen Garica and true freshman Connor Shaw will both play QB on Thursday night.  I expect Garcia to play the majority of the game, as he has the experience to lead the offense.  Another player to watch out for is highly touted freshman running back Marcus Lattimore.  As of now Kenny Miles will probably get the start but look for Lattimore to get his chance early and often.

Best Match Up:  USC Offensive Line vs. Southern Miss Front 7: The offensive line gave up 37 sacks last season, so Southern Miss will be looking to blitz and exploit any weakness they can find on the o-line.  Spurrier has seemed to be pleased with first year O-Line coach Shawn Elliot, and I expect an improved line this season.

USC Defense vs. Southern Miss Offense: Southern Miss is returning 3 starters on the offensive side of the ball that ranked 31 overall last season in total offense.  The Golden Eagles averaged 416 yards per game and averaged a 33 points per game last season.  Players to watch on the offensive side of the ball for the Golden Eagles are QB Austin Davis and WR DeAndre Brown.  Davis is a mobile QB that threw for 1165 yards and 10 TD last season.

Eric Norwood might be in the NFL, but the Gamecock's return the majority of their defense from last season.  Ranked 15 nationally in overall defense, allowing on average 300 yards per game, and 20 points.  Some national experts are saying, that USC might have one of the best secondaries in the Nation.  I might have to agree with them, as Culliver, Gilmore, Holloman and Augusta have the talent and ability to shut down opponents passing games.  Another strong spot for the Gamecocks defense will be Senior Defensive End Cliff Matthews, who started 33 games in the past 3 seasons and accounted for 105 career tackles including 17.5 for loss and 10 sacks.

Best Match Up: Brown Vs. Gilmore- This is a NFL scouts dream match up, as both Brown and Gilmore have next level talent.  Brown a 6'"6 Jr has the hands and speed to change a game on his own.  He will be handful for the Gamecock secondary, but Gilmore has the intangible to shut him down.  Look for Coach Johnson to play a safety over top just in case Brown does get a break down field.

What might happen: South Carolina has had trouble scoring points in their season openers the past few season, so it could be another defensive battle. I think USC has the ability to move the ball and score points against Southern Miss, but it will come down to USC turning the ball over.  If the Gamecock's can play a turnover free game, it could get ugly quickly.  As the size of USC's receivers could come into play against Southern Miss's smaller defensive backs.  Look for Gurley, Moore and Jeffrey to each have big games.

Prediction: Golden Eagles 17 Gamecocks 27

Carolina will not cover the opening spread of 14 points.

Much has been made of the new offensive line coach Shawn Elliot as he inherits a line that has given up 30+ sacks each of the last three years so as you can see there is work to do. Successful line play at Carolina is the missing ingredient for a successful offensive strategy for the Gamecocks in my view.

In 2010, Carolina is blessed with a battle tested returning quarterback, a deep running back stable and options at receiver. What is needed now is an improved offensive line to allow the Spurrier offense to truly click as intended.

By now if you follow USC football and have read this blog. You know that USC has a new OL Coach, the 3rd in 3 years. The new guy, Coach Elliot, is bringing a new scheme for the offensive linemen that is called “zone blocking” and is known to use the “inside zone read” (more on that in another post) as his choice for running the ball as he did at Appalachian State University.

For today, I am going to give you a brief overview of “zone blocking,” just sticking to the basics as it can get complex but I feel Coach Elliot wants to keep this simple in 2010.

{More after the jump....}

This should get ya in the mood for some USC Gamecocks Football....1 day kids...

Here we go again, another year of the SEC Power Poll.  Leftover Hot Dog is honored to be part of this endeavor.  As you know, hopefully by now, SEC bloggers from around the web participate in an SEC Power Poll that ranks the SEC's teams throughout the season.

The start of college football is upon us...duh...so here is a uniform poll to get you started.  What you may say...well some that are part of the group don’t like preseason polls so we instead are doing a uniform poll.  My thoughts below in my rankings center around tradition and simple looks.

So do you agree with how I rank the uniforms in the SEC from best to worst?

Yes it is another Heisman Poll, but what is special about this one for 2010 is it is being conducted through our network, Bloguin, so it is a bunch of bloggers sharing input each week on who is the best college football player.

To get it started this is kinda like a preseason / week 1 Heisman ballot.  This is our picks going into the start of 2010 as we see it leading the Heisman race.

Hat’s off to the organizer of this – Matt – over at http://www.randallsimonssausages.com .  At his blog, you will be the final results each week.  Check his blog on Wednesday afternoon to see how right or wrong we are.  Each blog gets 3 votes.  3 points for top choice, 2 for second and 1 for third.  Enough of the rules…

Here is our leading Heisman Candidates, ranked in order:

Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State
He is the man under center leading a likely team to acquire BCS glory.  He will get the ESPN love so he will become a household name early which helps.

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
He has the arm and the abilities.  What is not for certain is will he and his team have the respect in 2010?  Earn the respect and he could earn the trophy.

Ryan Williams, RB, Virginia Tech
If VT can win the ACC, it will be because of him and for that fact he will pop up on many votes for Heisman.  Kind of a sleeper but look for him to be in play if “Beamer Ball” is successful in 2010.
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So there you have it.  My leading candidates entering the new season.  I know, no Ingram.  I think Richardson will steal too many carries for him to have the impact like last year.

Check back each week as we will be doing this until the very end…..