SB Nation - Eric Baker

Friday News and Notes: We're Talkin' 'Bout Practice

Gamecock Man — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:36:31 -0000

More photos » by Mary Ann Chastain - AP

4 months ago: South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier watches as his kickers practice Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina opens its NCAA college football season on Sept. 3 at North Carolina State. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

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Day Three of preseason practice is in the books. Here's what I'm hearing about how things are going:

Maybe it's the quarterback / receivers or maybe it's the secondary, but the down-field passing game has yet to take off. It appears to be a little of both; I hear that receivers are having trouble getting open sometimes, but other times Garcia and his targets just aren't connecting. Hopefully the latter is just rust, but after the last two years, I'll admit it's worrying. I do hear that Garcia has gotten better about throwing it away when he needs to. That's welcome news to me; if he can't measure up to Tim Tebow or Jevan Snead this year, I'll deal with it. However, if he persists in throwing it into traffic when no one is open like he and his cohorts have in the past, we could be in for another brutal year.
The running game is going to be much better. First of all, the line is getting movement and opening holes in the run-blocking schemes. The backs are also doing their job. Brian Maddox is apparently playing very well and looks to be ready for an 800-1000-yard season. Jarvis Giles has played well, but he's also dropped passes and fumbled some. My guess is that he will contribute this year, but I don't think he's ready to supplant Maddox or Eric Baker when Baker returns. Kenny Miles also appears ready to contribute a few carries a game.
Spencer Lanning has looked very good kicking the ball and will likely handle field goals and extra points. I hear he's got a powerful leg and is consistently knocking in 45+ field goals. Adam Yates may handle kickoffs. This is welcome news; if Lanning has improved this much, we may not miss Succop so much, after all.

The other news of note is that Addison Williams suffered a minor hamstring pull. Hopefully this won't keep him out when the season begins; Addy might have been about to lose his starting job to one of the younger guys, but he's still one of our most experienced defenders and is slated to play a major role in the CB rotation. Get well soon, buddy.

Keys to Success in 2009: Number 2, Establishing a Running Game

Gamecock Man — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:22:38 -0000

Without a doubt, one of our biggest problems last year was our inability to establish a running game. We ranked 112th in the country and dead last in the SEC in team rushing offense. While a lot of the talk right now is about how Stephen Garcia needs to step up for the Gamecocks to win in 2009, the truth is that, even at its worst, last year's passing game looked like a well-oiled machine compared to the running game. Even in Steve Spurrier's passing-oriented offense, we're not going to score many points with such a horrible ground game even if Garcia plays well. In fact, Spurrier's offenses rely on the run game more than many might think. Spurrier, like most coaches that run something like a pro-style offense, needs strong running to open keep defenses honest and thereby open up the opportunity to throw the ball down field. We haven't had that kind of running game since late 2006, and it's shown. Simply put, we have to improve in this as the first step to getting the offense as whole to come into its own.

I'll be honest: I'm not quite as confident in our ground game as I am in Garcia showing marked improvement. We've seen Garcia play well and therefore have an inkling as to what he's capable of when he's on. Moreover, most of his mistakes can be attributed to the kinds of decision-making difficulties that inexperienced quarterbacks often show when they're asked to do more than they're ready for. Those mistakes often disappear with experience. The problems with the running game, though, are multifaceted. For one thing, offensive line play has been a problem for most of Spurrier's time here, and it was a huge problem last year. You can mask a poor line in pass protection to some degree by running out of the shotgun and just asking the linemen to hold off defenders long enough for the quarterback to get a pass off. However, you can't mask poor run protection. Run protection requires not only holding defenders off but actually creating running lanes. Not even the best running backs can run well if that's not happening, and he certainly can't run well when defensive tackles are in his face as soon as he gets the ball in his hands, which was the case last year. Second of all, even when we've gotten relatively good run blocking, our backs haven't been the best since Cory Boyd graduated. Mike Davis was probably never destined to be anything more than a third-down back and a reliable receiver out of the backfield, and Brian Maddox and Eric Baker lacked experience last year. A lot of progress needs to be made in all of these areas for us to get to where we need to be.

Read the rest of the story after the jump.

Luckily, though, while there is still cause for concern, there is also reason to believe that we will have a better running game this year. For one thing, the offensive line played better in the spring and appears to be more talented than the lines we've had in the past, the departure of Jamon Meredith notwithstanding. Part of the spring improvement, perhaps, is attributable to new line coach Eric Wolford, who replaces the much-maligned John Hunt. Wolford and Steve Spurrier have pledged to get better, tougher line play in general and better run blocking in particular as one of their primary goals this year, and they made some strides in the spring.

We also now have a relatively deep backfield. Brian Maddox has been named the starter after a solid spring, and incoming freshman Jarvis Giles, Eric Baker, and redshirt freshman Kenny Miles are all going to contribute. While none of these guys look like the next coming of Herschel Walker, each is talented and, moreover, each is talented in different ways, making the prospect of using a rotation that takes advantage of the skills of each more plausible. Maddox and Giles are all-purpose backs (although Giles may need to put on a few pounds to survive taking his licks from SEC linebackers), Baker is a good receiver out of the backfield, Miles is a home-run threat, etc.

Will this be one of the SEC's best rushing offenses? Probably not, when you consider the kind of talent teams like Alabama and Georgia have. But I do think it will be better than what we've had in the past, and if it can do its job along with Garcia, we could actually have a decent offense around here for a change.

Post-Spring Preview: NC State Wolfpack

Gamecock Man — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:51:23 -0000

Carolina once again opens their season against NC State, this time traveling to Raleigh to take on the 'Pack. Last time around, we beat State 34-0. However, the score was deceiving: we only led 3-0 at the half and 13-0 at the beginning of the final quarter, and Chris Smelley came in to relieve the regrettable Tommy Beecher and played a deceptively good quarter in which we scored the final 21 points. As we all know, this game was a harbinger of many things we would experience throughout the season, among them a defense that saved the crazy bad offense, inconsistent QB play, absolutely no running game (don't let all the yards Mike Davis racked up at the end of this game deceive you).

This year, I expect this game to be much different. First of all, State is no longer the team they were at that point. Led by QB Russell Wilson, the "Pack emerged at the end of last season after a horrid start and eventually earned a bowl berth. State will look to continue their solid play this year. South Carolina, on the other hand, still has questions, this time on both sides of the ball. However, a more experienced Stephen Garcia, a new offensive line coach in Eric Wolford, and another stellar recruiting class have us believing we can play better this year.

Let's take a look at how the two teams match up against each other on offense. The defensive and head coaching comparisons are soon to come.

Offense

Quarterback

State comes in with the aforementioned Wilson, who played very well down the stretch last year. Wilson's most impressive stat is his 17-1 TD-INT ratio, a surprising stat considering that his completion percentage was good but not great at 54.5%. Wilson is also an effective scrambler. If Wilson gets hurt or doesn't live up to expectations, former star recruit Mike Glennon is waiting in the wings.

We of course have Stephen Garcia, who looked good in spurts last year but played poorly over the last few games. Garcia probably has more upside than Wilson, but he needs to prove that he can live up to expectations. Hopefully his good spring was an indication that he's on the way there, but he still haven't proven he can play well consistently, which Wilson has done to some degree.

Verdict: Push--Wilson is more proven but Garcia could be much better when all is said and done

Running Back

State loses Andre Brown, who went to the New York Giants in the fourth round. However, they do return Jamelle Eugene, a capable back that has played well in tandem with Brown over the past two years.

South Carolina loses starter Mike Davis, but returns talented back ups in Brian Maddox and Eric Baker and has new comers with star potential in true freshman Jarvis Giles and redshirt freshman Kenny Miles. While none of these players has yet played a major role in the offense, they are all talented and having a number of them gives us a lot of depth. While I hesitate to call anything about our running game superior, I think this will be a break out unit in 2009.

Verdict: Slight Advantage South Carolina--State will be productive, but one or more of the SC backs will emerge for a breakout 2009

Wide Receiver

With Jarvis Williams and Owen Spencer returning, State has a solid receiving core coming back. These two players were Wilson's main targets last year.

South Carolina lost one of its best players in recent history when Kenny McKinley graduated. Losing McKinley will hurt us, but hopefully Jason Barnes, Moe Brown, and Dion LeCorn will be able to step in and fill his shoes. Each, however, has failed to consistently perform well over the past couple of years. I think it's key that one of these guys emerges as the go-to guy. He doesn't have to be McKinley or Sidney Rice, but he does need to provide us with a viable target.

Verdict: Slight Advantage NC State--the fact that State has proven targets and that I think we have a group of players with a lot to prove gives State the slight advantage

Offensive Line

South Carolina loses Jamon Meredith but retains depth otherwise. This line has performed poorly over the past few years, but new coach Eric Wolford had them performing well in spring practice. I expect significant improvement here in 2009.

State loses two important linemen in John Bedics and Meares Green. Losing these two could be hell for a unit that will have to keep Eric Norwood out of their backfield.

Verdict: Slight Advantage South Carolina--as with the running game, I hesitate to make this call, but I really think we're going to see improvement here

Five Things I'd Like to See this Today During the Spring Game: Gameday Open Thread

Gamecock Man — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:43:04 -0000

UPDATE: Check out Leftover Hot Dog for more thoughts on the Spring Game.

These are the five things I really want to see when the Garnet and Black teams take the field today. I'd love to hear what the rest of you think in the open thread.

5. A Receiver Reaching 100 Yards

McKinley showed us how much of a class act he is today by taking out space in the paper today to thank Gamecock Nation for its support during his record-breaking career. While we here at Garnet and Black Attack wish Kenny luck in his future endeavors, the fact is that his departure leaves us with a glaring hole on the offense. While a number of our returning receivers--among them Jason Barnes, Moe Brown, and Dion LeCorn--have shown promise over the past couple of years, no one has cemented a spot as the go-to guy. Whether it be one of the returning guys, spring standout Tori Gurley, or TE Wesyle Saunders, someone needs to step up tomorrow.

4. Solid Play from the New Defensive Roster

While Eric Norwood, Darian Stewart, and much of the defensive line, return, the losses of Jasper Brinkley, Emanuel Cook, and Captain Munnerlyn leave major holes to fill from last year's stellar defensive unit. Who's going to step up and win these spots, and, perhaps more importantly, are the reserves going to be good enough to step in if the starters get injured? We need answers to these questions tomorrow.

3. Steve Spurrier Successfully Opening Up the Playbook

Last spring before Stephen Garcia was suspended, Spurrier promised that we would see more zone reads and designed QB runs. Garcia's suspension, though, left Spurrier with more traditional QBs Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher, and Spurrier stuck with his Cock'n'Fire playbook. This year with Garcia seemingly the certain starting QB, Spurrier is again talking about expanding his playbook to fit Garcia's skill set, and reports out of practice are that Spurrier is doing just that. Personally, I think it's a good sign that Spurrier is willing to set his pride aside and adapt to the times and his young QBs unique skills. However, we now need to see it work.

2. Big Performances from the Running Game

Spurrier has recently said that if the season began today, Brian Maddox would most likely be the starter. I liked Maddox's play in limited action last year, so I fully support Spurrier's confidence in the player. However, I believe that when we get into the season we will again to some degree see a tailback committee approach, with Maddox sharing time with Eric Baker, Jarvis Giles, and Kenny Miles. That's fine with me; we now have a decent stable of backs, and we should take advantage of the fresh legs that depth offers us. What I care most about is that these guys produce better than last year's abysmal unit. A lot of the burden, obviously, is also on the offensive line, which block the run atrociously last year. The backs and linemen need to produce this year for us to move forward offensively; reports are that they've played well in practice, and it would be good to see that continue tomorrow.

1. How Well Will Stephen Garcia Play?

I hate to steal The State's number-one spring storyline, but let's face it: is there anybody in Gamecock Nation who's thinking about anything more than Stephen Garcia right now? The story with last year's Spring Game was Garcia's absence due to suspension and the barrage of interceptions and general shoddy play by Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher. When autumn rolled around, we predictably had an awful offense.

This year, though, with Chris Smelley gone, the promising young Garica has a tight grip on the starting spot, and reports are that he's learning the offense, playing well, and, perhaps most importantly, keeping his nose clean. We've been talking about Garcia's promise for sometime around here, but the future is now for Stephen. We need him to step up and lead this team, starting today.

Sunday News Link Dump and NCAAs Finals Prediction

Gamecock Man — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:07:05 -0000

Football

Maddox, Others Impress in Saturday Srimmage. Steve Spurrier is now saying that Brian Maddox has a head up in the competition for starting tailback. I liked Maddox's play when he saw the field last year and honestly thought he should have gotten more of the touches that were going to Mike Davis and Eric Baker, so I think Maddox's fine play this spring is promising. Other news from Saturday includes Stephen Garcia's continued solid play (note that this spring so far is not featuring the extreme uncertainty at quarterback of years past--that's a goo thing), promising play from Jarvis Giles, and an overall good performance from the offense. I'd like to again say that, if the defense plays anything like it did last year, I think we might be pleasantly surprised with what this team can do with an improved offense.

Baseball

USC Takes Down Arkansas, 9-1. This was a big win against a highly ranked team. A win today to take the series would really get the conference's attention.

UNC-MSU

The Tar Heels and Spartans advanced last night to set up a Finals showdown tommorow night between two of the game's stalwart programs. North Carolina's dominant win over 'Nova wasn't a surprise, but MSU's relatively easy win over an athletic UConn team was probably something of a surprise to many, although one that I predicted. MSU, though, is going to have its hands full tonight against the Heels. The Spartans will have to try to somehow slow North Carolina down, and no one has been able to do that so far during the tournament. Granted, State was able to create a lot of turnovers against UConn last night, and they may be able to do so again tonight. If they can't, the game will become a shoot out, and State will have to shoot really well to have a chance. Although I think State has a better chance against UNC than anybody else has had, I really like the Tar Heels in this one.

Gamecock Man's Five Questions to Ponder Over Spring Practice

Gamecock Man — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:33:24 -0000

As many have heard, Coach Spurrier is relatively sanguine about this team's talent level and potential. Coach recognizes, however, that we've failed to meet expectations before. How can we avoid the same six-seven win result this year? For me, achievement in 2009 starts with finding answers to five questions over the course of Spring Practice.

1. Will the Offensive Line Improve?

The offense begins in the trenches, so, for a team that had no offense last year, this is where improvement needs to begin. Our line play can't get much worse, so the easy answer is that yes, it will improve. However, the line needs to show drastic improvement if we're going to have anything resembling a functional offense. I'd say we're halfway there already, as, based on recent recruiting, the talent appears to be in place. Maybe not Florida-level talent, mind you, but certainly decent.

However, having talent hasn't stopped our line from playing poorly before, though, so we're now forced to wonder: what can we do to get better? First of all, we have to hope that Eric Wolford gets these guys in line. The biggest issue for these guys seems to be toughness; they really have no excuse for getting beaten off the line by Vandy and other teams. Another thing to keep in mind: Coach Spurrier told potential 2010 recruit QB Connor Shaw that we may move to some zone read schemes, so Wolford will have the added challenge of teaching the guys new blocking schemes.

2. Who Will Be the Backup Quarterback?

Unless Stephen Garcia manages to get himself kicked off the team (not out of the realm of possibilities, but the guy seems to have learned his lessons), it's hard to imagine anyone winning his starting spot. Still, the quick-triggered Spurrier needs a good backup in case he decides Garcia isn't getting it done, so finding another capable signal caller is imperative.

The candidates? While Zac Brindise has the most experience, Reid McCollum and Aramis Hilary appear to be the front runners based on superior talent; incoming freshman Stephon Gilmore may also get a look, but I expect he'll be needed on defense. McCollum is more of a pocket passer, the prototypical guy in a Spurrier offense. Reports are that, out of Hilary and McCollum, McCollum possesses a bigger arm and better accuracy. However, with Spurrier claiming that he's considering a zone read offense with more designed runs to catch up with the times as well as adapt his offense to Garcia's multifaceted talents, Hilary's speed may make him a more viable choice. At any rate, this is a race to watch over the Spring.

3. Who Are Our Primary Running Backs?

Coach Spurrier has promised a better running game this season, and with running-game magician Wolford now working with our linemen and backs, we have reason to hope it might actually happen. However, with Mike Davis and Bobby Wallace gone and neither Baker or Brian Maddox a clear-cut favorite to replace Davis as the feature back, we have a lot of questions at the running back position.

Both Baker and Maddox have shown flashes of potential when they've gotten protection from our line, but speedster Kenny Miles and freshmen Ben Axon and Jarvis Giles will challenge for playing time. (Unfortunately, the highly-touted Giles has an injury and won't see much time this spring.) I like Miles's chances to get on the field in the fall. Miles is probably the fastest of the group, and although he's probably not an every-down back, he could provide the big play threat in the backfield that we've lacked for so long.

4. Can We Effectively Retool the Secondary?

Whatever your feelings about the duo may be, losing Captain Munnerlyn and especially Emanuel Cook leaves big shoes to fill in the secondary. Our pass protection has been a strength over the past two years, no small thanks to these two. We also lose secondary coach Ron Cooper, someone that has gotten results despite being a supposedly bad influence in the locker room.

These losses don't mean that we don't have the players and coaches we need to bring back the magic right away, though. Darian Stewart and Chris Culliver return as guys with major, successful experience this past year. Others, such as Akeem Auguste, have also proven that they have potential. While this trio doesn't fill up all five positions, we also have high-profile recruits like DeVonte Holloman and Stephon Gilmore on their way in. Top that off with new coach Lorenzo Ward, and this should remain a successful unit. The question remains, though: with so much change, can they be as successful as in years past?

5. Can Someone Replace Ryan Succop?

As the following Allstate commercial reminds us, you oftentimes forget about the kicker until you need him.

While some might principally remember Succop's well-documented struggles in the middle of last season, the fact remains that the guy was usually a top-notch kicker. It was easy to take him for granted while he was here, but now we can't anymore. Moreover, you really realize you need a kicker when, unlike in the Allstate commercial, you've got a guy like Jad Dean that costs you games that you should have or at least had a very good chance to win.

In line to replace Succop stand Adam Yates or Spencer Lanning. Lanning, as you'll remember, handled punting duties this past season, and will do so again this year. Yates appears to have the head up to win the starting job at placekicker. Can he, or Lanning if need be, ably replace Succop, though? Time will tell, but I certainly hope so.

To wrap up, wanna know one position that's not a question mark

This guy's going to hurt people this year. No question about that!

Rating the RBs Class

Gamecock Man — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:40:07 -0000

Whether or not this was a major area of need or not is up for debate. Obviously, we had a poor rushing offense, one of the worst in the country in fact. When there was room to run, our backs didn't always hit the holes like they could have. Mike Davis, particularly, showed a proclivity to run the wrong way. However, we also had a one of the worst offensive lines in the country, and in our running backs' defense, those holes were few and far between, as we typically had a couple of opposing defensive linemen in the backfield before the play even had time to develop. Moreover, our level of talent in the backfield should have produced more than it did. Davis was a senior that had produced in earlier years, and Brian Maddox and Eric Baker were underclassmen that had shown potential. We did and still do have experienced depth in the backfield, as well as younger players like Kenny Miles that the coaches have spoken highly of.

That said, considering that Davis has graduated and that, whatever the reason, we didn't run as well as we would have liked to, it was important for us to bring in some new blood in this class. We did that, signing two four-star RBs in Ben Axon and Jarvis Giles. Both were coups: we lured Axon away from Clemson during the Tommy Bowden mid-season drama, and we won a recruiting war against Tennessee and Nebraska for Giles. One of the things I like most about these pickups is that Axon and Giles are different types of runners: Axon gives us a bigger, more bruising type of back, while Giles is more of a breakaway-type guy. If the other pieces fall into place, these two could eventually become a better version of the Davis-Cory Boyd duo that was so effective late in 2006.

I'm giving this portion of our class an A. I really have nothing to complain about. These guys fill our needs and, along with Maddox, Baker, and Miles, will fill out a deep, talented RB core that will perhaps be the best we've ever had. If the rest of the offense shapes up, we've got the weapons in the backfield to move the ball efficiently. Spurrier has promised us a better running game next year, and there's reason to believe he can back that up.

Poll

Rate the RBs class.

A

13 votes

B

4 votes

C

2 votes

D

0 votes

F

2 votes

21 votes | Poll has closed

Iowa's Defense: What to Expect

Gamecock Man — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:14:16 -0000

The most important thing you need to know about Iowa's defense is that they don't have speed. These guys are from places like Illinois, South Dakota, and, yes, Iowa. Because they spend all their time as children in doors and out of the snow over the winter, it's difficult for them to get the exercise they need to develop legitimate athleticism as they grow up. Compared to our guys, who have the entire year to work out and develop their abilities, these Hawkeyes are going to look like they're moving in slow motion while we run past them into the endzone.

Well, maybe this isn't Iowa. And maybe we don't have Tim Tebow. Oh well; would've been nice.

Seriously, this time: these guys have a pretty good defense, certainly good enough to stop our offense unless Stephen Garcia suddenly wakes up with quadruple the QB smarts that he's displayed so far this year. They haven't given up more than 27 points this year and pitched a shutout in their last game to a decent Minnesota team. Let's take a look at them by position.

Defensive Line

The Hawkeyes start Adrian Clayborn and Christian Ballard on the ends and Matt Kroul and Mitch King in the middle. This group has done well against the run this year, having held several teams to under 100 total yards rushing, including Michigan State and Javon Ringer. That's pretty good, considering that most Big 10 teams run the ball quite a bit and feature solid offensive lines. These guys haven't combined for a lot of sacks (nor have the linebackers), although that could be because lots of their opponents like to run the ball and/or have mobile, scrambling QBs.

Of course, considering the King weighs around 260 pounds, I'm guessing he'll be unable to tackle Mike Davis.

Linebackers

From what I can gather, the Hawkeyes typically play three in the middle. Pat Angerer is the group's run stopper, leading the team with 101 tackles. Again, this group appears to be better against the run than the pass; they've been gashed a couple of times through the air by the likes of Northwestern and Illinois. They did, however, hold Penn State's Daryll Clark to less than 100 yards through the air, although bad weather may have had something to do with that.

Defensive Backfield

Not sure it's worth spending time on this. Everyone knows Big 10 defensive backs are slow. Illinois, which has a former SEC coach that knows how to recruit speed, will show you everything you need to know about the Iowa secondary at around the 1:20 mark of the following film.

Final Thoughts

All jokes aside, this is a talented, well-coached defense will come ready to play smart, tough football. I expect they won't have much trouble taking the run away from us unless we can get Eric Baker going on the edges. However, I do like our chances of gaining yardage against this team in the air. The fact that our lack of a running game will allow the Iowa linebackers to sit back in coverage worries me a bit, but Weslye Saunders and Jared Cook will give Iowa match-up problems that we should be able to exploit. Expect us to try to get the ball to these two on crossing and post patterns. I also expect that we'll try to get the ball to the receivers on screens and slant patterns to keep the Iowa defense honest if we indeed can't get the run going.

Countdown until Iowa fans hijack the comments thread with incoherent sarcasm about the SEC and innaccurrate statements about how we lost two straight Outback Bowls to Ohio State: 3... 2... 1...

FIVE POINTS: South Carolina 27, Tennessee 6

cocknfire — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:23:00 -0000

1. Not as good as you thought it was. Sorry to burst your bubble a bit, but South Carolina didn't outplay Tennessee nearly as badly as the score indicates, nor as badly as I thought while I was watching the game. First downs were even, at 11 apiece. Total yardage? South Carolina 255, Tennessee 207. Time of possession? South Carolina, 32:30 to 27:30. The story was one of turnovers (Vols 3, Gamecocks 1) and bad coaching decisions by Phil Fulmer and Co. This win was important emotionally and in terms of momentum, but it was not an indication that eight wins are assured.

2. The Eric Berry interception. You want to say "It could have been worse -- they could have scored," but that wouldn't be accurate. The game was almost out of reach when Berry grabbed the Garcia pass, so the score wouldn't have hurt that much. Losing as many as three offensive players could hurt worse. We're probably okay without Eric Baker, but losing Lemuel Jeanpierre (or any offensive lineman) isn't good -- maybe not fatal, but also not somethign to be shrugged off. Luckily, it seems that Stephen Garcia should be ready to play next week against Arkansas.

3. Stephen Garcia Watch. Better, though it might not really show up in a line that shows him completing less than 50 percent of his passes and not doing so well rushing.

vs Tennessee / 11.1.08	Passing					Rushing
	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Rush	Yds	Avg	TD
Stephen Garcia	9	19	47.4	139	2	6	11	1.8	0

But the encouraging thing I saw was that Garcia is beginning to use his mobility to do more than take off running when the play breaks down. He's using it to buy time for his receivers and backs to get open -- such as on the TD pass to Mike Davis to go up 7-0. This is where the combination of Steve Spurrier's offense and Garcia's legs could be most dangerous: If Garcia can escape the pocket and give Spurrier's plays more time to work.

4. Bowl eligible -- and likely going. Even if South Carolina wins no more games this year, the Gamecocks should end up in the postseason. Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi State and/or Arkansas are going to be hard-pressed to make a bowl game this year. So the question now is how high South Carolina will go. An 8-win season will almost assure a Peach Bowl berth and could put the Gamecocks in the Outback Bowl. (That scenario: Florida and Alabama both go to the BCS, Georgia heads to the Capitol One, LSU goes to Cotton and South Carolina heads to the Outback.) Obviously, a return to the Liberty or Independence bowls would not be ideal, so the Gamecocks need to put together a couple more wins.

5. Up next: Arkansas. Don't write off the Hogs. They've found a good running back, even if he can't "replace" Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, in Michael Smith.

		Rushing						Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD
2008 - Michael Smith	8	186	987	123.4	5.3	0	7	29	300	37.5	10.3	0	2

And, like any Petrino team, Arkansas is piling up the passing yards; their 249.7 ypg are 29th in the country and second in the SEC. Fortunately, that plays into the Gamecocks' strong suit. But this will be a game; the Hogs just won a big game against Tulsa and could have momentum on their side.

GRADE: B-
Sure, this was probably an inferior opponent, but South Carolina has lost to inferior Tennessee teams before. The Gamecocks capitalized on some mistakes by the Vols and made a hard-fought game a clear win. They will need better games to defeat Clemson and Arkansas and to keep things respectable against Florida.

Poll

Grade the Gamecocks.

A

4 votes

B

21 votes

C

10 votes

D

0 votes

F

2 votes

37 votes | Poll has closed

FIVE POINTS: South Carolina 23, Wofford 13 -- Not as bad as it looked

cocknfire — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:41:33 -0000

1. It's Wofford. We might need to resign ourselves to using that phrase the same way Georgia fans say, "It's South Carolina." We all remember the 27-20 near-miss of 2006; fewer of us will recall the unspectacular 38-14 win in 2001. (After which one of my friends said, "I was just at the stadium, seeing all of the reasons Florida is going to kill us next week." Which happened, but that's beside the point.) True, it's still an FCS team, but Wofford was ranked No. 12 in the FCS coming into this game. There's a reason some of the players who saw action in this game will sit next week against UAB; there FBS teams worse than Wofford, and the Blazers are probably one of them.

2. "Oh" is for offense. All of our worst fears about the offense returned this week, especially the turnover bug, which hit Chris Smelley hard. Aside from his the fumble and two interceptions, Smelley's numbers were good. And aside from the start of the Middle Ages and the onset of societal disintegration, the Fall of the Roman Empire wasn't all that bad.

vs Wofford / 9.20.08	Passing					Rushing
	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Rush	Yds	Avg	TD
Chris Smelley	23	33	69.7	204	1	7	17	2.4	0

Don't forget the two sacks that are mixed in there and actually detract some from his rushing numbers. For all the criticism Smelley takes on his mobility, he had a couple of good runs Saturday. He wasn't the only one. Brian Maddox, Mike Davis and Eric Baker all ran for around 50 yards as the Gamecocks rolled up 172 rushing yards.

But while the Gamecocks outgained Wofford in total offense, they still didn't do so by a substantial margin (91), and it didn't show up where you would most like it to -- on the scoreboard. And while Joseph Hills had a couple of nice catches, none of the would-be No. 2s for Kenny McKinley really played a big role. (Jared Cook 4-48 yards; Moe Brown 3-31; Dion LeCorn 3-22.) The most successful passes were short screens to Mike Davis; that won't work against SEC defenses, and didn't against Wofford after the Terriers adjusted.

3. Defending the option. The Gamecocks didn't do horribleterrible here, but weren't exactly All-Stars, either. They allowed 185 yards rushing by the Terriers; then again, Wofford ran for 290 yards in the 2006 game. So, the defense overall held up pretty well. There were two big plays: a 50-yard TD run by QB Ben Widmyer to give the Terriers a 7-3 lead in the second quarter and a 52-yard strike from Widmyer to WR Justice Joslin to set up the tying FG early in the third quarter. If the offense scores, say, 42 points, there aren't that many concerns about allowing 13.

4. The Garcia Era begins? It looks like that's where we're headed. It was surprising that Stephen Garcia didn't see the field against Wofford on Saturday, but UAB would be as good a time as any to see what the troubled redshirt freshman can actually be THE SAVIOR OF THE PROGRAM!!!! that many fans expect. Then take it game-by-game. As Spurrier said, we know what we're going to get with Chris Smelley. It's time to find out if we can get anything better.

5. What does it mean? In the larger scheme of things, the results Saturday just mean we won't have answers to any of our questions until at least October 4, when the Gamecocks go to Oxford to take on the Rebels. Unless South Carolina loses to UAB, in which case all bets are off. The team showed again this week why it's not going to win the SEC title this year -- but you already knew that.

It's Wofford. Nothing new here.

GRADE: C-
You can't completely discount a win -- but this was about as unimpressive a win as you can have. Of course, the offense could have been hiding something, playing it close to the vest before SEC play begins. But why bother after playing Vanderbilt and Georgia? More likely, it's just more of the same: Good defense, mediocre offense.

Poll

Grade the Gamecocks' win over Wofford

A

0 votes

B

2 votes

C

16 votes

D

14 votes

F

11 votes

43 votes | Poll has closed