What seems to have escaped attention is that Misbah, and his team, are far

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolinas offense finally opened things up this season. Freshman quarterback Jake Bentley was a big reason why.Bentley threw for two touchdowns and 201 yards Saturday in his first college game to lead the Gamecocks to a 34-28 victory over Massachusetts. The victory matched the Gamecocks total from their dysfunctional 2015 season and was the most points they had scored this fall.We just really opened up the playbook when Jake was back there, because we know he can throw it very well, said receiver Deebo Samuel, who had eight catches for 106 yards.South Carolina coach Will Muschamp was expecting to redshirt Bentley this season before the teams mounting offensive problems -- they entered dead last in points per game in the Football Bowl Subdivision -- left the first-year coach open to any solution.Bentley proved the right answer against the Minutemen (1-7). He led the Gamecocks (3-4) to touchdowns on their first two series, and then threw a pair of pretty fade passes for TD, the first from 16 yards out to K.C. Crosby and later a 24-yarder to Bryan Edwards to lead 27-7.When UMass cut things to 34-28 with less than 5 minutes left, Bentley accounted for 30 yards to help the Gamecocks run out the clock.Muschamp said he and quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper decided Bentley had improved enough from August until now to be a positive change for the teams attack. Bentley had waited for his shot behind senior Perry Orth and fellow freshman Brandon McIlwain, who had each started three games this season.At the end of the day, we felt like he had progressed very well, he said.Bentley was not available to the media per Muschamps rules against letting freshman do interviews.Running back David Williams ran for two 1-yard TDs for South Carolina, but said he was excited about Bentleys debut.Ive just been impressed since I met, his IQ, how comfortable he is, leading the Gamecocks, Williams said.Muschamp was frustrated with his defense, especially in the second half when the Minutemen rallied.It was an excited locker room because we won, he said. But its also a locker room that knows it made mistakes and corrections have to be made.UMass did its share to help with three turnovers in the opening half, two which led to two South Carolina scores.Tight end Adam Breneman had two TD catches for Massachusetts, which fell to 0-3 against Southeastern Conference teams this fall.THE TAKEAWAYMASSACHUSETTS: UMass has been outscored 131-77 in its four games this season against teams from the Power 5 conferences.SOUTH CAROLINA: Its future -- and offensive recovery -- may have started with Bentley behind center. The freshman, wholl turn 19 next month, is sure to have some bumps ahead, maybe as soon as next weeks home game against No. 18 Tennessee. But there was little benefit keeping the strong-armed Bentley on the bench if he could spark up the offense this season.SOUTH CAROLINAS RUN GAMEAfter gaining only 30 yards in a 28-14 loss to Georgia two weeks ago, Gamecock runners put up 194 yards against the Minutemen. Freshman Rico Dowdle led the way with 87 yards and Williams had 69 yards.NEAR MISSESBreneman said UMass knows how close it has come in its games with the SEC this season -- losing 24-7 to Florida and 47-35 to Mississippi State before the South Carolina game.Is it impressive that weve played with three SEC teams so far and you look back on it and see that we couldve won all three of those games if we wouldve made one less mistake, Breneman said. At the same time, at some point, being close isnt good enough. I think thats the feeling in the locker room.UP NEXTMASSACHUSETTS: The Minutemen return home to play Football Championship Subdivision opponent Wagner. The game ends the UMass home season as it finishes with games at Troy, BYU and Hawaii.SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks go back to the Southeastern Conference grinder against No. 18 Tennessee. The Gamecocks have only won two SEC games the past two seasons and will face a difficult challenge against the Vols, who are in the thick of the Eastern Division chase. Cheap Air Max For Sale . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Air Max Outlet . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. http://www.cheapairmaxchinadiscount.com/cheap-vapormax-china-discount-83z.html . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Discount Air Max Shoes . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Cheap Air Max Free Shipping . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Stupid as it sounds, Pakistan hasnt had a census in 18 years. Thus, everything from federal and local policy to the understanding of urban planning is built on estimates and calculations based on what little data can be gathered. A cursory search for the population of Karachi reveals numbers ranging from 17 to 24 million, a range that makes the pre-Brexit polls look like the Oracle of Delphi. That seems appropriate for a country that would rather go with the flow than have anything to do with numbers. What we can gather, though, is that over two-thirds of Pakistans population is under the age of 35 - or to put it another way, has no memory of the last time Pakistan toured England without any real controversies.Thats not to say that Englands tours to Asia have been comradely sojourns. From Idrees Baig to Shakoor Rana, Pakistani umpires have rarely seen eye to eye with visiting English players, although neither party could ever claim to be mankinds angels. And from Moin Khans time-wasting tactics (in Karachi in 2000) to Misbah-ul-Haqs time-wasting tactics, the mythical spirit of cricket hasnt exactly been observed.Not that the Pakistanis are the lone culprits in this - names like Bill Athey, David Constant and Ian Botham are remembered differently in Pakistan (for those who care to remember them) than they are elsewhere. But 1987, with its incidents of crowd trouble and player confrontations, was the true beginning of the modern cricketing relationship between the two countries. In that year they played eight Tests against each other, and fulfilled the dictionary definition of familiarity breeding contempt.Javed Miandad maintained that the friction had to do with cultural differences, but in his time there usually were more than half a dozen Pakistani players playing county cricket. The lack of such interaction since has only exacerbated the problems. The 90s brought accusations of ball-tampering and a libel case that would be a far bigger deal if it happened elsewhere, but is a mere footnote in the larger Pakistan-England saga.In the 2000s, the era of the clash of civilisations properly took root. In 2006 the confused English were introduced to the concept of honour, and how much it means to Pakistani men of a certain ilk. And 2010 showed them that even honourable Pakistanis are quite capable of dishonourable acts.During the 2006 and 2010 tours there was a plethora of writing on, respectively, a) Pakistani thinking, and b) the financial situation and hierarchy in the Pakistani dressing room. And throughout, Pakistans cricketers felt like they were being conspired against, as is customary for them. Miandad was right all along, and his legacy lives on.But what Pakistan face in 2016 is far different to what theyve faced over the previous few decades. For one thing, the English establishment - the bête noire of players like Miandad, who are always looking for any perceived slight, particularly pertaining to race - is in a better place. SSince Miandads playing days, the MCC, the personification of that establishment, has even inducted actual human females into their ranks.ddddddddddddnd the team Pakistan will face is a far cry from the ones they used to dominate. England have lost only four out of their last 29 home series, compared to 13 out of the 29 before that, an era in which they lost more than they won at home - including three out of four series against Pakistan. The one constant that Pakistan have faced, one that some cricketers from the 90s have argued is their only real opponent on an England tour, still survives, though. It says much about past series, and the state of Pakistani fandom, that as important as the hope that the series be competitive is the hope that the Pakistani players return without ruining their reputations at the hands of the English tabloids. For their cricketers, every tour to England has the potential to be their Ides of March. The least one should expect is a phone-hacking scandal; anything less will be a let down.The coverage of the team so far on tour has been predictable. The focus has been on Mohammad Amir (the prodigal son, the crown prince of Pakistani fast bowling, and prime clickbait right now) and his return. Never mind that he has been playing international cricket for over six months now. As weve learnt over the decades, if its not happening in England or Australia, does it really count as cricket?Otherwise the focus has been on Misbah as a lion tamer, a cool, calm head who has been able to control the savages, only with political correctness thrown in. What seems to have escaped attention is that Misbah, and his team, are far more English than stereotypically Pakistani. Of course, Pakistan dont rely on pure numbers, but on estimates and calculations based on whatever little data they can gather; but their methodology, of playing the percentages, of competence over combustion, of substance over style, is much closer to Andy Flowers England than what would generally be considered Pakistani.And this tour is the difference between the world realising that and Pakistan falling by the wayside unable to shake off their rust, unable to acclimatise to alien conditions, forever to be known as mercurial and unpredictable. They come into this series with the longest unbeaten series streak in international cricket right now, and the second-best win-loss ratio since that 2010 tour, and yet all could come to nought in the popular imagination if they dont overcome an English team that has won 12 of its last 15 home series, and a tabloid press that loves Pakistan like no other. The hounds back home too will be out, to tear everything down, or whatever little is left by the time the team returns home. But they can always comfort themselves knowing that whatever happens, at least itll be better than last time. ' ' '