SB Nation - C.C. Whitlock

Reviewing South Carolina at Alabama: What Do We Make Of This Game?

Gamecock Man — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:29:30 -0000

Well, that wasn't pretty. In a game in which the norm for both offenses was off-kilter offensive play, defense ruled the day, and Alabama's big interception return on the first drive and their ability to run the ball fairly consistently helped the Tide to a 20-6 win. The game was a close one, and you really have to give our defense credit for keeping us in this thing. I was impressed with how Ellis Johnson's group didn't crack after numerous aborted offensive series. They kept 'Bama out of the end zone until the very end of the game, and they came up with several turnovers. That's the recipe for success in a game like this.

Unfortunately, our offense failed to capitalize on the numerous opportunities to score that the defense produced, and you have to recognize that both our coaches and players simply didn't do a great job in this game. The play calling was questionable for most of the night. Why continue to run draw plays that 'Bama has held in check all night? Why run a play three straight times on first and goal at the five? For his part, Stephen Garcia, although he made a noble effort, played very poorly. A lot of his throws were a little off and he didn't do a good job of avoiding sacks. The interception looked like the receivers fault for running the wrong route, but it goes on the books nonetheless. It was possibly the difference in the game. Finally, some of our receivers suffered from the dropsies. Just an all-around poor offensive showing.

The question now becomes what to make of this one. You can, of course, call it yet another missed opportunity and worry that the wheels are about to come off. And that's a valid response; we've been there before, and while I expect to beat Vandy this week, nothing will come easy after that. Some of our problems, such as the offensive line play, will probably continue to haunt us. Depth will only become more of an issue on both sides of the ball as the season progresses.

However, this loss doesn't have to mean that the season is falling apart. This wasn't a game that many people expected us to win or even to keep close. We were playing what's possibly the best team in the nation in their house. Despite having an off night offensively, though, we kept it closer than most folks expected us to. If I'm Steve Spurrier and his staff, I'm telling this team that they're right there, so close to being able to win the big one. I'm also telling them that this team is still in position to achieve its goals for the season, and while the schedule is daunting, all of our remaining games are winnable. That includes Florida, who looks vulnerable right now and won't have the luxury of playing us at home. (Although they might enjoy other luxuries, such as biased officiating and broadcasting commentary. Yeesh to that game yesterday.)

In the end, I still think we're where we were this time last week. We're searching for that game when it all comes together. This week, it was the offense that was off. We've seen Garcia bounce back from off nights before, and I think we'll see him do it again, hopefully next week against Vandy. If he can do that and the rest of the team can come to play, as well, then maybe we can get a little retribution against the 'Dores and gain some steam as we head on the road to take on Tennessee and Arkansas.

A few more thoughts on the game.

As I expected, Ellis Johnson played the run aggresively all night, and it worked for most of the game. Kudos to our staff for their gameplan and to the players for executing it.
Even with Akeem Auguste coming back, I think C.C. Whitlock has earned a place in the starting lineup. He played another good game and is finally showing us why he was considered such a good prospect.
If I'm Vandy's coaching staff, I'm thinking the only way my generally incompetent offense is going to move the ball is to get in the wildcat and run it up the gut. Our defensive coaches need to be prepared for that next week, as it's given us fits now for two straight weeks.
After running the ball well against Kentucky last week, we looked like 2008 Carolina this week. At some point, I think Spurrier is going to have to diversify his offense a little bit to incorporate more power formations. Everyone can see that draw play coming from a mile away, and unless the rest of our offense is clicking on all cylinders, good defenses can shut the play down pretty easily.
On that note, not having Jarvis Giles hurt us more than I thought it would. Having a good outside runner like Giles would have given us another option in the running game.
Jason Barnes finally had a good game. Hope he can keep it up. (After today, please don't remind that Barnes could have been the hero if not for a bad Garcia throw.)
Kentucky beat Auburn at Auburn last night. Perhaps the 'Cats are a pretty good football team and a nice scalp for our team.
On the other hand, N.C. State certainly isn't making our victory over them look like it means anything.
Finally, all my best to Moe Brown. Get well soon, buddy.

Reviewing S. C. State at South Carolina: The Positives and Negatives

Gamecock Man — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:12:31 -0000

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

2 months ago: South Carolina's Steve Spurrier, left, hugs South Carolina State's Oliver "Buddy" Pough after an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina defeated South Carolina State 38-14. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

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First of all, I'd like to recognize the effort and skill displayed by the S. C. State Bulldogs last night. Buddy Pough's team came ready to play. Despite being outmatched in size and athletic ability at most positions, the Bulldogs hung with our Gamecocks through the first half. That's an impressive accomplishment. I wish S. C. State luck as they make their push for MEAC and FCS championships.

Now, on to our own performance. It's difficult to take too much away from these games. Play calling is typically vanilla, as coaches don't want to show too much of their hand and don't want to put important players in harm's way. The ultimate goal is to get out with a respectable win while managing to avoid injuries. In that sense, we were successful, and trying to say much more about our performance is likely an exercise in futility, as what you see in these games isn't really representative.

That said, I'm a sports blogger, and my reason for being is finding something to say about all things USC athletics, even when I know that what I end up saying may be invalid. So, here goes.

Negatives

Our overall offensive numbers--especially the 6.8 ypp and 6.1 ypc--betray a sub par performance considering the opponent. Typically, you just expect more sustained drives and more big plays against an FCS opponent. We didn't get that consistently last night until the third quarter.
S. C. State was able to generate more pressure up front than I would have liked to see, logging two sacks and a couple of hurries. Considering that our offensive line likely had an average of 50 pounds on the guys lining up across from them, you would like to see a more or less flawless performance in the trenches. However, the facts that (1) S. C. State was fairly aggressive defensively, (2) we were without Quentin Richardson, and (3) Garcia appeared to be trying to avoid scrambling probably helps account for the poor performance somewhat.
Our defense played well against an team that, at the very least, was talented at the skills positions. (I should say that I was fairly impressed with Bulldogs' QB Malcolm Long.) However, we allowed the Bulldogs to convert some third-and-longs when we should have gotten stops. I guess we can chalk this up to the team being less focused, which is understandable in a breather game. I know we can do better than this, so I'm not too worried on this front.
Jason Barnes continues to be a non-presence in the passing game, and Tori Gurley was fairly absent, as well. These two are our most physically imposing receivers, but they continue to underperform. I'm willing to give Gurley a pass, as he's new to the position. Moreover, he's had some bad luck in having some of his best plays negated by penalties. Barnes, on the other hand, should be further along by now. I'm afraid you might see him begin to lose playing time as Alshon Jeffery matures.
This last point isn't directly related to last night's performance, but it's definitely a negative. Akeem Auguste has been suspended for at least three games due to a violation of team rules. Auguste has really let his team down when they needed him most, with big SEC games coming up against Kentucky and Alabama. I have confidence that C.C. Whitlock and DeVonte Holloman will step in and perform in Auguste's stead, but we really needed to be full speed for these games. A depleted secondary running against Randall Cobb and especially Julio Jones is not ideal.

Continue reading after the jump.

Positives

Moe Brown has really asserted himself in the past couple of games. The fumble in the first half wasn't exactly highlight reel. However, that touchdown catch in the second half was probably the best offensive play we've run all season, and Brown made some other nice plays on the night. I like that we're using him so much on the reverses and end-arounds. It's great to see Brown, who has garnered a fair bit of criticism over the years, take a leadership role in his senior season.
Stephen Garcia wasn't exactly overwhelming last night. However, he was fairly efficient, which is more than Blake Mitchell can say about his performance against S. C. State. He also threw a nice ball on the long touchdown pass to Brown. Garcia still isn't playing great, but he's certainly adequate, which, again, is an improvement from what we've seen in the past under Spurrier.
Eric Norwood didn't get any sacks, but he did pad his awards resume with an interception and a blocked field goal. I like the idea of using him more on special teams. The guy obviously has a knack for getting past blockers, and he's put that to good use with two blocked kicks in the past two games. That punt block against Ole Miss was very close to being a touchdown for us, and it's only a matter of time until he makes a huge play on a punt.
The run game wasn't as overwhelming as it was against FAU, but it was solid. The line got us a nice push, and all three of our main backs had nice runs. Kenny Miles's touchdown run was a thing of beauty.

Next week brings the Kentucky Wildcats to Columbia. The 'Cats actually played OK against 'Bama yesterday, but they killed themselves with turnovers. If they can play a more mistake-free game against us, they could challenge for the upset. I'll have much more to say about them over the course of the week, so stay tuned.

Saturday News and Notes: Joe Hills Off the Team

Gamecock Man — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:34:27 -0000

The big news today is that Joe Hills has left the team of his own accord. Hills was moved to safety earlier this week, presumably because he was struggling with dropped passes and because we could have used his athleticism on the defensive depth chart. Hills apparently didn't take well to the position change and wants to move on to play receiver somewhere else.

First of all, I don't think losing Hills is going to hurt us too much. The kid is a remarkable athlete and has shown promise at times, but let's face it: he's a junior now and has yet to prove he's capable of locking down a spot in the receivers rotation. The problems with dropped passes have been notable and consistent with him. With the depth chart quickly crowding as Tori Gurley, Alshon Jeffery, and DeMario Bennett continue to impress, Hills was probably not going to be a major contributor over the next couple of years, at least not as a receiver.

Second of all, I frankly think that if Hills couldn't cope with what the coaches think of him, then we don't want him on the team anyways. What we need are guys like Dion LeCorn and C.C. Whitlock that are guys that want to be on the team and that are willing to work hard to get into the coaches good graces. I hear Joe is a great kid and I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes, but if his reaction to being in the doghouse is not to fight to get back into the rotation and to instead just cut ties and leave, then he's not the kind of presence we want.

Thursday News and Notes: Scrimmage Notes

Gamecock Man — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:40:49 -0000

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

4 months ago: South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia runs onto the practice field Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina opens its NCAA college football season Sept. 3 at North Carolina State. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

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The team scrimmaged today at the WB. The story is that the offense played quite well. Of course, Eric Norwood was out and the coaching staff limited the reps seen by top defensive players like Cliff Matthews. Still, you can't complain about how the offense played today. Stephen Garcia was particularly effective; he went 14-16-1-0, with the two incompletions being drops by Joe Hills, and ran in a touchdown. Spurrier claimed that Garcia made more or less good throws everytime he had the ball. Every day that Garcia plays well makes me believe more and more that this is going finally going to be the year that we have a good offense. Let's just hope the defense can keep up.

A few more notes about today's scrimmage:

Bryce Sherman saw lots of action today, as Brian Maddox sat out with a minor injury. Sherman averaged around seven yards per carry. We've been dropped a gift from heaven if this guy ends up being anywhere near as good on Saturdays as he's been this August. Kenny Miles and Jarvis Giles also had serviceable practices.
C.C. Whitlock played well for the defense. His highlight was a long TD return on an interception thrown by Reid McCollum. I hope he keeps it up, both because we need his help in the secondary and because I want to see him put his past behind him and succeed.

Keys to Success in 2009: Number One, Secondary Play

Gamecock Man — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:09:41 -0000

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

The next star at DB U?

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That's right. The biggest key to a successful season in 2009 may be something that we haven't had to worry about in quite a while: secondary play. We've been blessed with a bevy of talented athletes in the secondary over the past several seasons. Many of them are now in the pros. However, after losing four competent corners and safeties to the NFL this past off-season, we're now as thin in the defensive backfield as we've been in quite some time.

This isn't to say that we don't have talent at corner and safety. Chris Culliver will likely be one of the conference's better safeties, and whether he's at safety, corner, or spur, Darian Stewart will also vie for all-conference honors. Highly recruited corner Stephon Gilmore and safety DeVonte Holloman will make big contributions. Guys like Akeem Auguste, Addison Williams, and C. C. Whitlock all have the potential for breakout years.

Continue reading after the jump.

However, other than Culliver, Stewart, and, to a much lesser degree, Auguste, none of these players are proven quantities. Gilmore and Holloman are freshmen. Williams is the most experienced of the group but has been inconsistent throughout his career. Whitlock played some receiver last year but has yet to see game time at corner.

And the lack of proven experience among the main guys in the rotation isn't the only problem. Perhaps even more worrying, this is group is razor thin; it's these guys, a few other even more unknown quantities, and after that there's not much of anything. If many guys go down with injuries--and Auguste and Williams are nursing minor injuries already--things could get really ugly. Unfortunately, in the high-speed, hard-hitting world of the secondary, injuries happen all the time.

This isn't to say that all is lost. We do have some talent, and if we can escape injury, that talent could carry us through the season. Moreover, we also have lots of talent on the sidelines in the form of Ellis Johnson and Lorenzo Ward. If these guys can't get a good year out of our secondary, no one can.

That said, I'm still thinking secondary is the biggest variable in whether or not this team has a big year. We'll need the secondary to perform against top passing teams like Ole Miss and Arkansas. If they fold, those possible wins could become blowout losses, and we could be looking at another six- or seven-win season, if not worse. If the secondary comes together, it will make our goals possible to achieve.

Poll

How much does the secondary worry you?

A lot. What will we do if we suffer lots of injuries?

15 votes

Not at all. We have the best defensive coaching staff in the game. They'll figure it out.

13 votes

I don't know. I'm waiting to see how they do against Russell Wilson.

25 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

Wednesday News and Notes: Preseason Practice Begins and Other News

Gamecock Man — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:16:18 -0000

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

Clean shaven!

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Today is the day. The beginning of preseason practice. Not much happened of note today, of course; it was the usual first-day warm-ups and fundamentals drills. Spurrier didn't unveil the new master plan or anything. But it was the first day of practice, and the season now truly feels like it's upon us. Let's hope it's a good one.

The State and other outlets didn't have much to report about the afternoon. One promising tidbit was that Dion LeCorn was up and running during individual drills and appears close to being recovered from his injury in the Garnet and Black Game. However, Akeem Auguste worked out lightly today due to a groin injury. Hopefully he'll be 100% when it's time. Having most guys healthy on opening night and throughout the season is going to be key; Ellis Johnson has said that we can have another great defense this year if we can stay healthy, but we might crash quickly if we have to go too deep on the depth chart.

C. C. Whitlock and Ladi Ajiboye were also there and on the field. We now know that Whitlock will be suspended for a couple of games; I'm guessing cupcakes. Ladi Ajiboye may be suspended the first three games. I'm frankly a little worried about Ajiboye missing the N. C. State and UGA games; he would have been especially helpful against UGA's ground attack. We'll have to do without him, though, and hope that he's ready to play when his suspension is over.

Last but not least, if you haven't done so yet, check out Leftover Hot Dog's thoughts on practice.

A few other tidbits:

USC hoops will open against LaSalle in the Charleston Classic. LaSalle projects to have a good mid-major team this year, so this will be far from a cake walk. That's good, though; a win will do nice things for our RPI. Davidson (albeit Stephen Curry-less) looms as another possible quality opponent if we beat LaSalle.

Is Lou Holtz running for Congress? I like Lou and think he's a great football coach, but forgive me if I think that someone with such a cavalier attitude towards NCAA regulations might not be, you know, the best politician in a world that could probably use a little more answerability.

Kwame Geathers (brother of Clifton) is having trouble qualifying at UGA.

Thursday News and Notes: Eric Mack Commits and other News

Gamecock Man — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:38:08 -0000

The big news this morning is that Eric Mack of St. Matthews Calhoun County gave his verbal commitment last night to stay home and play for the Gamecocks. This is a HUGE coup for us. Mack is Scout.com's 5th rated guard and Rivals.com's 6th. He chose us over a long list of suitors that includes some of the heavy hitters. A quick look at this ESPN evaluation will give you a taste of what this guy brings to the table. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Miami; the list goes on and on. Tide fans are disappointed at not getting him, which tells you how good he is. The fact that a number of recent signees, including A. J. Cann and Brandon Golson of this year's class, that are Mack's buddies chose the Gamecocks undoubtedly influenced his decision. Our staff has done a good job of creating a pipeline at St. Matthews, which is a bigtime producer of talent. They deserve lots of credit for the job they're doing right now.

As Scout.com Jonathan Jolley says, Mack is part of what could come

to form what could be one of the best line classes in America this recruiting cycle

That's high praise. Go 'Cocks.

Other news for today:

C. C. Whitlock has been formally reinstated. This was only a matter of time after Whitlock was cleared of charges a few weeks ago, but it's now official. Good news.

Check out Sidney Rice's new blog.

Wednesday News and Notes: Multiple UGA-nality and other News

Gamecock Man — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:13:08 -0000

Over at Dr. Saturday, Doug Gillet (of Hey Jenny Slater fame) has this to say on why rival fans like to speculate on when Steve Spurrier will leave Carolina:

OK, maybe that last question is mostly the curiosity of rival SEC fans who would very much like to see Spurrier depart Columbia before he has the chance to turn South Carolina into a powerhouse.

What? Did I just read an UGA fan express fear that South Carolina could become a powerhouse? I need a dose of UGA normalcy...

Well, I got it from the UGA Sports Blog. While these folks are good source for info on the 'Dawgs, they've been spewing the same inane UGA homerism, well, since the first time I read the blog. While I wouldn't disagree with Paul that we have serious questions in the secondary, I do disagree about Stephen Garcia, I definitely disagree that this will be the least talented team we've had since 1999, and I guess I should have known he would call for a blowout UGA win when we travel to Athens. If I remember correctly, this is the same guy that said Georgia would win by four TDs last year because he had decided that we had a slow defense after watching us hold NC State to 138 yards. Very perceptive.

A few other tidbits:

CC Whitlock is ready to go. This is great news; with our depth issues at secondary, we may need CC's help more and more as the season wears on. Let's just hope he's now got his head screwed on straight.

Tackle Cody Gibson signs. This is turning out to be the mother load of OL classes. At 265, Gibson will obviously have to put on quite a bit of weight to get ready for playing tackle in the SEC, but that's pretty normal. Here are some things that his high school coach had to say about him, as reported on Gamecock Anthem:

"He doesn't take any plays off. He comes out and plays hard, and that's how he practices. What you see on film, he's the same way everyday in practice."

"I think he's going to do great at South Carolina. He has a great frame that everybody is looking for. He has quick feet, and he's just going to grow. Cody is just a natural, prototypical lineman that everybody is looking for," he said. "Coach Graham thinks he has a great physical demeanor about him in the trenches, and he also likes his long arms, his build, and his quick feet. He protects well as either a right or left tackle, and I see him doing very well at South Carolina."

Gibson had offers from Maryland, Illinois, South Florida, Indiana, and East Carolina. All in all, he looks like a nice prospect, although I'll have to admit that I'd like to see us steal a recruit or two from the Floridas and UGAs of the world.

Jared Cook signs with the Titans. Congrats, Jared.

We're on Tru's hitlist at A Sea of Blue. I'd say our basketball team has made some strides when we have Kentucky fans drooling at the chance for a little payback.

Saturday News and Notes: Tramell Williams Commits and other News

Gamecock Man — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:09:52 -0000

The Gamecocks picked up a commitment from another offensive lineman, guard Tramell Williams out of Robert E. Lee (FL). Williams has offers from Vandy, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, and Southern Miss. Like most linemen, Williams will need to beef up a bit before he's ready to contribute, but the other elements of a good SEC lineman are there.

Williams played under head coach Myrick Anderson, a former Gator under Steve Spurrier in the early 90s; apparently Anderson's respect for Spurrier played a role in Williams's decision to come play for us. I like that; it shows that Williams knows what he's getting into here and what he'll have to do to succeed. Anderson also points out that Williams is something of a late bloomer, which could mean he still has some undiscovered upside, although Anderson appears to believe he's already fairly ready:

"Maybe his pass protection, that might be the only thing he needs to work on," Anderson says. "And we’re focusing on that this summer. But he doesn’t lack too much. I mean he can run block; he’s very aggressive. But that pass protection, I think he can work on that just a little bit. He really doesn’t have a whole lot to work on. He’s going to go in and they can teach him some other [technical] things."

Sounds like a good kid. Welcome aboard.

A few other tidbits:

Update on C. C. Whitlock. Although he was cleared of charges last week, Whitlock has yet to be reinstated on the team.Eric Hyman is apparently a little worried about Whitlock's academic status and wants to wait that out before reinstating the troubled player.

Summer workouts.

Thursday News and Notes: Whitlock Cleared, Cann Commits

Gamecock Man — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:55:19 -0000

A few news bites for today:

C. C. Whitlock cleared of charges. Hopefully C. C. can put this behind him, rejoin the team, and become a contributor.

A. J. Cann commits. Cann is a four-star in-state offensive lineman. He was one of our biggest early targets, so this is an important pickup.

Seth Emerson projects the basketball team to be fourth in the SEC East. Emerson obviously isn't as high on us as Andy Katz was. I'd imagine The State pays him not to be. Emerson has his points, though. While I'm not sure I'd have Vandy as high as he does, the fact is that the SEC East will be loaded next year. Even with the talent and experience we have, it will be very hard to finish in the top two. Moreover, it's conceivable that a fourth-place finish in the division could get us into the Big Dance. For one thing, we'll have a stronger SOS than we had last year. We'll also likely dominate the West, which has a huge drop off after Mississippi State. That would bring our overall profile up.