COLUMBIA -- Wants: A well-played game, good weather, a quick resolution.
Needs: A South Carolina-LSU game where the officials don't play a starring role.
It was going to be a subplot for this season ever since the curtain fell on last season's game. Now, the Gamecocks lost the game. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say they blew the game, squandering a 17-0 lead, committing 14 penalties -- seven in the fourth quarter (four pre-snap movements) -- and somehow only running six plays in the entire third quarter.
But of course when two defensive touchdowns get called back, and a few other penalties glare as, "Was that really a flag?," and it's a three-point loss ...
Yes, it sticks. Not that Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks are thinking of that when about to go play the No. 11 Tigers in Baton Rouge this weekend. They got way more on their mind.
"I haven't brought it up. We didn't do enough things to win the football game," Beamer said. "I don't think I need to bring it up. There's enough guys on our team who remember last year."
SEC coaches are informed of the next game's officiating crew by the Sunday night or Monday morning of game week. They can contact the league office if they feel there's an issue to address.
Beamer said he's done it once, 2-3 years ago, talking to the head of officials when he saw the call sheet.
"'What's your thinking here, are you sure about this?,' because of whatever may have happened in the past," he described. "I didn't do it last year and I haven't done it this year. And I didn't do it this week."
That right there seems to rule out Jason Autrey, the referee of last year's game, and his crew from doing this week's game. Yet that doesn't rule out something else happening.
In 2008, USC hosted LSU and had a first-and-goal on the Tigers' 8-yard line after a Carlos Thomas interception return. Quarterback Stephen Garcia scrambled, reversing field after starting to his right.
He ran to his left and was belted. Umpire Wilbur Hackett, a linebacker at Kentucky from 1967-70, couldn't get out of the way.
Replay looked like Hackett lowered his shoulder into Garcia. The SEC office said that Hackett was in the right position and only raised his arm to defend himself. Even then-USC coach Steve Spurrier said that Hackett did nothing wrong.
That one wasn't chirped over because USC scored on that drive, took the lead and then lost. The play didn't factor into the result.
That wasn't the case last year. The result this year will hopefully only be talked about due to the plays made by the men in uniform.
Smith transfers
Sophomore tight end Michael Smith, considered one of the most promising talents on the roster, has left the team and plans to transfer.
He played in four games, catching two balls for 20 yards, and will use the rest of the season as a redshirt to preserve a year of eligibility. Smith started seven of 12 games last year and caught 10 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.