South Carolina Vs. Auburn: A New Era Of Gamecock Prominence?

SB Nation’s Garnet and Black Attack and track ‘Em Tigers discuss the changing state of South Carolina football -- namely, that they’re getting good:

This weekend is a chance for South Carolina to send a message to the nation that it’s ready to challenge Florida. What’s the mood like in Carolina this week with the fans and coaches? How important is this game to the program?
GM: I’m not going to lie - a lot of Carolina fans view this as a very, very important game. Although the Georgia win was huge and we’re happy with the team’s performance so far, the truth is that we know that beating the Dawgs is only a small step towards our goals for the year. We remember having beaten Georgia before but, eventually, being disappointed in our quest for a spot in Atlanta. Think back to 2007. Carolina beat Georgia and went on the road to face what I believe was a second-ranked LSU team. We were exposed in Baton Rouge and ended up floundering later in the season. Auburn isn’t ranked as highly as LSU was that year, but a lot of us view this game like we viewed that one--as a chance to prove that the Georgia win wasn’t a fluke and that we’re capable of sustaining our early-season momentum throughout the year. In that sense, we think we’re going to learn a lot about our team this weekend.