Stephen Garcia has been suspended for the balance of the spring semester at the University of South Carolina, or “USC,” as nobody from outside the Palmetto State calls them. The school did not specify the reasoning behind the suspension, but one report claims that Garcia reprised his public drunkeness from 2007. You can’t go wrong with the classics.

Sources told ESPN.com‘s Chris Low that Garcia was disruptive and loud at a mandatory leadership seminar Tuesday night. According to the sources, alcohol could be detected on Garcia’s breath and he was asked to leave the event.

Garcia later admitted to Spurrier that he had been drinking prior to the event while celebrating teammate Kyle Nunn’s birthday, the sources said.

Keep in mind that this is less than a month after Garcia committed himself to staying out of trouble. Garcia led the Gamecocks to the SEC title game last year, so as long as he doesn’t fight any dogs or bargian-hunt at Dillards, he should be fine. Hey, alcoholism is just like a gambling addiction: it’s only a problem if you lose.

As you’ve no doubt seen by now, Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia (this guy) was stopped on a quarterback draw in the red zone by umpire Wilbur Hackett Jr during LSU’s 24-17 victory on Saturday.  While it certainly looks like Hackett leans into Garcia with a shoulder to drop him after a four-yard gain, SEC officials claim otherwise:

“The umpire’s most vulnerable position on the field is right behind the line of scrimmage and sometimes gets right into the play. In this case, the umpire is there, he tries to defend himself by putting his arms up. The quarterback shifts direction a little bit and he puts his arms up.

“He makes an attempt to defend himself. I know it may look different on video, but what we see is that he makes an effort to protect himself.”

That’s a good call. I like the way he steps into it and initiates contact to protect himself. Why, if he tried to sidestep Garcia and get out of the way, he couldn’t have defended himself while he wasn’t getting in the way of the play.