The State newspaper says the "Sky is falling"....

I noticed The State newspaper http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/182806.html was in full "Sky is falling" mode in its report on Jasper Brinkley's season-ending injury. But the coaches and players were in a mode full of optimism.

“The kids will rise to the challenge,” (DC Tyrone) Nix added. “The next guy will step up and, hopefully, he’ll compete enough at a high enough level for us to continue to compete to be the best defense we can be.”

And Marvin Sapp, who will replace JB took the same stance and pointed out that the D has already begun to adjust:

“Of course, we were hit when he wasn’t in there. But especially in the second half, we bounced back and stalemated them,” said Sapp, who started three games in 2006. “We just realized that we’ve got to step up. We are a team and the team is more than one person.”

But The State's Joe Person was not going to let these rascals get away with any optimism or hope that the loss of JB could be absorbed.

After transferring with his brother from Georgia Military College, Jasper Brinkley led USC with 107 tackles in ’06, more than twice as many as Sapp, the second-leading tackler. Brinkley’s 85 solo hits were the most among returning SEC players.

Brinkley is tied for second among USC defenders this year with 21 tackles. He leads the team with two interceptions and preserved a 16-12 win at Georgia by picking off a Matthew Stafford pass in the final minute.

Funny, in the usual pattern of The State, JB didn't seem to get this much love before he was lost.

And I love that Coach Spurrier only TRIED to remain upbeat. Denying that the loss of JB is DEVASTATING!!!!!...this is priceless, and so typical of The State.

Spurrier also tried to remain upbeat despite the potentially devastating news.

And Spurrier's refusal to get down likely just ticked Person off, to no end.

“Next year at this time we might be saying, ‘We’re glad he got hurt,’” Spurrier said. “We all plan to be here next year and we should definitely have a stronger team next year. So in a way having Jasper here next year is a positive.”

Bottom line: Never has SC been able to lose a player like JB and still do well. This year this team will take it in stride and improve each week. That is the pattern with SS. When we lost Marque Hall last year, others like Eric Norwood stepped up.

As Nix said: We have a team. and never has that been more the case than it is now.