I’M NOT EVEN GOING TO COMMENT THIS TIME

This one is a biggy. Highly touted redshirt freshman quarterback/savior Stephen Garcia was one of three University of South Carolina football players arrested Saturday for underage drinking. Offensive lineman Heath Batchelor and walk-on quarterback Zac Brindise were also charged when campus police caught them drinking near a campus dormitory.

“He doesn’t make any excuses and did not want to put the fans and the university through this and have more negative attention brought towards him or the school,” Garcia’s attorney Neal Lourie said Monday.

Garcia’s brother was charged with giving beer to a minor.

Garcia enrolled early at South Carolina to get a jump start on spring practice but was suspended from the team a year ago after two arrests. In February 2007, he was charged with drunkenness and failure to stop for a police officer. About a month later, he was charged with malicious injury to personal property after a professor reported that Garcia had used a key to scratch the man’s car.

Garcia has previously successfully completed a pretrial intervention program to clear his record of misdemeanor charges.

An athletic department spokesman did not immediately know Garcia’s status with the team and said coach Steve Spurrier will be available Monday night after practice. [AP]

The arrests came exactly a week after walk-on safety Michael Newton was charged with disorderly conduct during the St. Patrick’s Day festival. Prior to that, lineman Kevin Young was picked up for fighting in Five Points, and wide receiver Dion Lecorn was busted for smoking pot in an unrelated incident.

But what is very much related is my renewed interest in putting a “Gamecocks Arrested” counter in the sidebar. Seriously, don’t steal it.

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UPDATE: It looks like there will be a very real possibility that Garcia will be out after his third strike. Coach Steve Spurrier said Garcia’s fate is “is in the hands of the University of South Carolina.” If Garcia is kicked off the team, that would mean Chris Smelley would be back at the helm.