TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (3-4, 0-4)

genius: something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight

There's no debating that Steve Spurrier has been a good thing for the South Carolina Gamecocks. His name alone has helped bring attention to Carolina. He's certainly done more than just bring his name, as well. However, after nearly seven seasons of doing little impressing with his offense, it can certainly be argued that the terms "offensive genius" and "offensive guru" should be put to rest. Geniuses adapt and evolve. They see new ways to accomplish great results. Or, they get passed by and people remember that they had once been genius, but aren't anymore. Steve Spurrier falls in the latter category.

At Duke, where Spurrier brought the "Fun 'n' Gun" to college football, he turned around what had been a dismal era of Blue Devils football and, in just three years, led them to back-to-back winning seasons and a share of the 1989 ACC Championship. How'd he do so much with less talent than his opponents? He had an innovative offense that defensive coaches were baffled by and he made excellent adjustments to what he saw from them. After 1989, Spurrier left Durham to head to his alma mater in Gainesville to take over a Florida Gators team that hadn't seen long strings of success. In 12 seasons at Florida, Spurrier won 6 SEC Championships and 9 of 12 SEC Eastern Division Championships. His overall record was 122-27-1 and his Gators teams never once lost more than four games in a season. Throughout the 90's, the "Fun 'n' Gun" was a dominant force on collegiate football fields. Steve Spurrier's offense was creative and it was exciting. It was genius. 

Fast forward to 2005.  After leaving Florida at the end of the 2001 season to test his coaching abilities in the NFL with the Washington Redskins and then sitting out of football for a year, Steve Spurrier becomes the head coach of South Carolina. He's back in the SEC where he'd reigned supreme for over a decade. Will the offense that vanished in the NFL make a return to college football? Nope.

South Carolina has averaged a total offense rank of 69 (of 120 FBS schools) since Steve Spurrier arrived in Columbia, good for 7th in the SEC. Comparably, the Lou Holtz-led teams averaged a total offense rank of 81 (9th in the SEC). Holtz certainly wasn't known as an offensive specialist and he led us out of a much darker hole than Spurrier. We were 6-5 in Holtz's last season, whereas as Lou inherited a 1-10 team with very little to excite an incoming coach. The talent level at Carolina under Spurrier has been higher than the Gamecocks have ever seen, yet Spurrier hasn't been able to consistently produce offense. In fact, only twice has South Carolina finished among the top 50 FBS teams in total offense. Listed below are the past and current finishes by the Gamecocks in total offense and scoring offense since Spurrier took the job:

Total Offense Scoring Offense

2005 - 100 (9*) 75 (7)
2006 - 20 (3)    44 (6)
2007 - 77 (8) 70 (8)
2008 - 97 (7) 96 (8)
2009 - 82 (9) 102 (11)
2010 -  47 (7) 38 (6)
2011 - 57 (4) 35 (4)
Avg.  - 69 (7) 66 (7)

*SEC rank listed in parentheses

Continue reading this post »

The South Carolina Gamecocks are a quarter of the way through the regular season and the team's record is where we fans want it to be: 3-0. However, it's been a frustrating three wins. A terribly frustrating three wins. 

Without Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina would be on its way to another mediocre season. Thankfully, Lattimore is a manchild with the football in his hands. His field vision is exceptional. His patience running the ball is impressive. His work ethic is inspiring. And, by all accounts and impressions, he's a fantastic young man. Like the rest of Gamecock Nation, I'm proud that he wears garnet and black. Statistically, Lattimore leads the FBS in rushing with 87 carries for 534 yards and 7 TDs. He's averaging over 6 yards per carry and 178 yards per game. A lot of those yards are earned on sheer will and effort. 

As a 23-year-old, 5th-year-senior, Stephen Garcia is disappointing. Where Lattimore is ranked first in rushing, Garcia is ranked 98th in passing. He's thrown 3 picks to his 2 TD passes and has only thrown for 456 yards through 3 games. Last night against Navy, Garcia's stat line looked pretty good. However, what that stat line doesn't show is that somewhere around 80+% of those passes were thrown within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. After five seasons in the program, he still struggles massively with long passes and, after showing signs of improvement regarding getting rid of the football when pressured, it's a sad day when the stadium erupts in cheer when its QB throws the ball out of bounds. WR Alshon Jeffery was visibly frustrated yesterday. Garcia's inability to get the ball down field is handicapping Jeffery's ability to do what he's capable of. The big WR can't help but wonder what kind of statistics he'd put up in an offense with a QB capable of helping him stretch the field. Garcia has had some impressive games in a Gamecocks uniform, but his career has been a rollercoaster of emotions. I admire his toughness on the field, but can't help but think that his off-the-field attitude over the course of his time in Columbia has hampered his own progression as a QB, thus doing the same for South Carolina. I'm not there and don't know what he does every day to get better, but it appears his improvement has been minimal over the past few years. The Gamecocks currently sit at 9th place in the SEC in passing offense and 11th in passing efficiency. 

Past the front four on defense, South Carolina is in trouble. Our LB corps is too slow and our secondary continues to unimpress. I really don't know what more to say here. We've struggled to recruit high quality LBs and we're thin on depth and talent in the secondary. Antonio Allen, at Spur, has been fantastic, though. He shows up and makes big plays. Falling down after intercepting Navy's QB late in the fourth quarter showed a high football IQ. No sense in risking a fumble after the pick.   

The fact that "this is our year" is making our struggles tough to bear. I am an admittedly harsh critic of the Gamecocks' play. I am a harsh critic of my own choices and actions, and, naturally, that extends to most things in my life. So, I'm not picking on our guys. I want them to excel. I want an SEC Championship. I'm scared, though. If we do not accomplish that feat this season, I fear we're years away from another shot. Coming into the season, the consensus was that this is the most talented team South Carolina has ever had. We have a fifth-year QB, a Heisman candidate at RB, one of the best WRs in the country, a (we thought) pretty good defense. Perhaps our/my hopes are too high. I didn't realize how far from a first tier defense Carolina was going to put on the field. I also expected Stephen Garcia to have his best year ever. Though that's still possible, his play to this point is certainly not evidence to that end. We'll likely lose Alshon Jeffery after this year. Possibly Devin Taylor and Stephon Gilmore as well. We'll be breaking in a new QB next season. Melvin Ingram and Travian Robertson will be gone. The time is now. We're 7-6, 7-6, 9-5 over the past three years. Because of the exceptional ability of Marcus Lattimore, we're likely to exceed those records, but should we be expecting to win the SEC? Not based on what I've seen so far. I don't see us winning it any time soon. Though the Gamecocks may be more talented than ever before, we're still behind the big powers and, in my opinion, we need outstanding and innovative coaching to win a championship. We're not getting that. The fact that the Gamecocks have improved since the arrival of Steve Spurrier is not in question. Whether or not we've jumped to the elite level, however, is just as factual. We're just not there. What you do is your choice, but I'm tempering my expectations until I've been given a reason to think we can clear the next hurdle.   

When the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night in Athens, it was a big deal. South Carolina won without being close to putting together a complete game. Yet, the Gamecocks were the team with the most talent this time around, and able to be on the other side of what had become familiar to Carolina fans for too long. The Bulldogs, though young, are a capable football team and could realistically win the rest of their games. What!? Get this: Georgia does not have to play Alabama, LSU, or Arkansas this season. That's right, the Bulldogs' draw doesn't include any of the SEC Western Division's most vaunted teams in 2011. Their toughest in-conference games look to be at home against #25 Mississippi State (10/1), on the road against Tennessee (10/8), in Jacksonville against #16 Florida (10/29), and back "between the hedges" against #21 Auburn (11/12). I don't think Georgia will run the table, but it's not completely out of the question since they escaped having to play three of the SEC's top four football teams. Because of this, South Carolina's victory over the Bulldogs could prove to be the difference in the Gamecocks' winning of the Eastern Division. South Carolina also only has to play one of the Southeastern Conference's top four teams (@ Arkansas on 11/5) during the regular season. It helps when you're one of those top four, though.    

SOUTH CAROLINA 34  GEORGIA 17

David Pollack just predicted the Gamecocks to win on ESPN's College Football Live. David Pollack just predicted the Gamecocks to win on ESPN's College Football Live. That felt so good I needed to write it twice. I think he made a good selection, as I see Marcus Lattimore rushing for over 100 yards, Alshon Jeffery surpassing 100 yards receiving, and Stephen Garcia going for around 220 yards through the air. The Georgia Bulldogs defense is depleted and proved vulnerable against Boise State last weekend. Offensively, QB Aaron Murray no longer has A.J. Green to throw to, and, though talented, RB Isaiah Crowell will be playing in his first SEC football game and doesn't look like he'll explode onto the scene the way Lattimore did in this game last season. He was held in check by the Boise State defense and I expect South Carolina to do the same. Crowell will have to wait for his first collegiate 100 yard rushing game. Playing against defensive lineman of the quality of the Broncos' and Gamecocks' is no help to an unimpressive Georgia offensive line and the statistics of the backfield behind it. Despite legitimate concerns about the big men up front, Murray will be a good test for the secondary. Running a more typical offense than what ECU runs, the Bulldogs will give fans a better chance to see the Carolina defense's strengths and weaknesses. Georgia will have some success on offense and score some points, but South Carolina dominates this one for the better part of the game and wins soundly. Look for some "Wow!" plays by members of the Gamecocks' defensive line.  

The Good: The "Big 3" on Offense, Rok Watkins, the D-Line, and Bruce Ellington
Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery, and Stephen Garcia all performed admirably against the East Carolina Pirates on Saturday night. Lattimore had 23 carries for 112 yards and 3 TDs on the ground, while also catching 3 passes for 33 yards. Alshon Jeffery was, well, Alshon Jeffery. He caught 5 balls for a total of 92 yards. Once Stephen Garcia was allowed onto the football field, he immediately proved why he's our unquestionable number one QB. Garcia threw for 110 yards and a TD, and also ran for 56 yards and 2 TDs.  He looked quicker running the football and did a great job of simply throwing the ball away when pressured behind the line of scrimmage. Why he didn't start remains a guess to everyone but Steve Spurrier.

South Carolina Gamecocks OT Rokevious Watkins was awarded with SEC Lineman of the Week honors by the league office. In addition to Watkins, the offensive line as a whole performed well. Shawn Elliott has done a tremendous job of improving a unit that has plagued the Gamecocks' offense for years.

The defensive line appears to be as good as advertised. It's a fear-instilling unit of size and speed that helped the defense hold ECU to just 85 yards on the ground. No sacks were recorded, but that did not come as a surprise considering the Pirates' short passing game requires QB Dominique Davis to get rid of the ball much quicker than most opponents the Gamecocks will face.  

A big thank you to Bruce Ellington for joining the ranks of the football squad. He had an immediate impact at KR and as the Wildcock QB. His athleticism and ability on the football field is apparent and I expect him to come up with some big plays for South Carolina during his tenure.

The Bad: Spurrier's Starting QB Decision and Stephon Gilmore
The former has been beaten to death since Thursday, so I'll be brief. Originally, I thought it was no big deal that Connor Shaw was getting the nod. It's attributable to Garcia's suspension, I suspected. To avoid calling Steve Spurrier a liar, however, it was because Shaw beat Garcia out in the offseason. His words. Sure, Shaw's numbers may have been better in practice and scrimmages, but there's no excepting Garcia's game experience and time in the program. For a true sophomore to beat out a fifth-year senior at the most important position on the field, the sophomore's ability must be far and above the fifth-year senior's. To no one in the stadium's surprise, Connor Shaw is not a better QB than Stephen Garcia. Not even a little bit. No offense to Shaw, as he was put in the awkward scenario of having a spotlight put on him by his head coach. He may have some great performances in his future, but that future is not now. At least Spurrier gave Garcia some credit after the game, saying he played well and that he shaved up and looked like a QB. Being clean shaven is an attribute I look for in my QBs, as well. God only knows how good Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers could've been and would be if they didn't have facial hair.  

CB Stephon Gilmore played poorly on Saturday. He's far too talented to not have turned and given face to the early passing TD to his man. He's got too much ability to not have done a better job of fighting for the two jump balls he failed to pick or knock down, one of which the WR caught and the other the WR knocked away from him. Some may say I'm too hard on Gilmore. In my opinion, he was given honors last season that he did not earn, and his addition to numerous award lists, etc. for this season mean he's got to stand out above most CBs in America. He wasn't even the best CB on the field for South Carolina on Saturday. Spurrier himself said that C.C. Whitlock earned that honor, and Whitlock only saw the playing time he did because Akeem Auguste wasn't able to participate. All-everything players don't fumble punts and give the opposition great field position. They also average more than 4 total yards on 3 punt returns. Ace Sanders got his shot after Gilmore's gaffe, and he took it to the house for the Gamecocks' first punt return for a TD since Chavez Donnings in 2003. Folks have pointed out Kadetrix Marcus blocking an ECU defender in the back on Sanders' return, but go back and look, Gilmore also grabbed an ECU player's jersey for a hold deep in the return. Thankfully, neither was called by the referee crew. Stephon Gilmore is capable of better and he needs to show it if he wants to be successful at the next level. To this point, his best play as a Gamecock is a pass to Alshon Jeffery against Clemson in his freshman campaign. Next best: breaking up a pass in the end zone to seal the game against N.C. State in his very first collegiate contest.  

The Ugly: Turnovers and the 10-yard Cushion
Four fumbles is inexcusable. Yet, we exited the ballgame with a +1 turnover margin thanks to 5 ECU turnovers. We've got other capable return men than Gilmore and he needs to be done back there. That's not the first time he's coughed up a punt and he's not as crafty with the football in his hands as Ace Sanders or Bruce Ellington. I'm not sure Kenny Miles is going to be opposite Ellington all season on the kickoff return team, as he certainly seems a less viable option than other, more elusive and explosive, team members; especially if Saturday night's fumble is an indication of things to come. I did hear that many consider Lattimore's fumble to have not actually been a fumble. I haven't seen the replay, but considering how well he protects the ball, I believe it. Shaw hopefully learned what an impact red zone fumbles have on a game.

I woke up hoarse on Sunday from yelling at Lorenzo Ward and his apparently instituted 10-yard cushion in the first half. It was shortened some in the second half, but not enough for a team that anyone who knew anything about them knew they were going to be throwing two to five yard passes all night long. Not playing more up close and personal coverage against a team that threw 40+ short passes was silly. Was he afraid of allowing the short pass to turn into a big gain, thus putting his crew in an essential short passing game prevent D? If so, I'd hate to be in his gut when we face his former employer, Arkansas, who ate our secondary alive last year.  

Read the wrap-up after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Marcus Lattimore is the most important player on the Gamecocks' roster. For South Carolina to have the kind of year the fans have been craving for decades, Lattimore must remain healthy throughout the season. I'm not suggesting that an injury to Stephen Garcia or Alshon Jeffery, or, say, Devin Taylor, wouldn't have its own impact, but no player is more critical to the success of the South Carolina Gamecocks than Marcus Lattimore. 

Take last season, for instance. The Gamecocks finished 9-5. I firmly believe that had Lattimore been healthy for the entirety of the Kentucky and Florida State games, South Carolina would be coming off of an 11-3 season. Now, had we beaten Kentucky, we may have gone to a more prestigious bowl game and not have been playing against the Seminoles in Atlanta. Regardless, the latter illustrates how critical each game is and how important it is for Lattimore to escape injury and be healthy against legitimate competition for "the big year" to occur. There is no replacing his ability to gain yards on the ground. The good news is that he's added about fifteen pounds or more since last season in order to help him withstand the beating taken over the course of the season. It doesn't make him invincible, but it helps. The other pieces are in place. The Gamecocks are deep at WR, have a fifth-year senior QB and a serviceable backup, and possess one of the best defensive lines in the country to go along with a strong corps of guys behind them.

I've heard multiple fans express feelings of nerves about the approaching season. It's in our blood to worry that our hopes will be smashed, but, the truth is, we've never had this much talent accumulated at one time before. Don't be concerned about the team choking. The coaches have recruited well. Talent produces confidence. The team's worked hard in the offseason and knows what it's capable of. The only thing that can stop South Carolina from doing something special this year is something no one in this world can control - an injury bug. Perhaps I'm bringing up the obvious concern with this article, but it's a great boat to be in. Every title contending team that's ever won a championship has had this worry. It may have come in different terms, but it's been there, nonetheless. I worry much more when we've got to hope and pray for magic to happen against a couple of teams in order to get to a good bowl game. I'll take knowing we've got the talent to do something great and merely hope we stay healthy to wishing on a prayer that a less talented group of players can pull a rabbit out of a hat a few times in a given season. We're finally good, folks. We just need a healthy Lattimore to be great.

The South Carolina Gamecocks currently possess the nation's 10th best recruiting class according to Rivals.com, good for 5th in the SEC. South Carolina trails Florida (4), Alabama (6), Auburn (7), and LSU (9) within the conference. Texas holds college football recruiting's top spot at the moment, boasting one five-star recruit and twelve four-star recruits. The Gamecocks have seven four-star players committed.

Coaches and fans were more than pleased when in-state WR Shaq Roland**** (Lexington) committed to South Carolina over Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Roland is the 8th ranked WR in America and rated 1st and 63rd, regardless of position, in the state and country. OL Brock Stadnik**** of Greensboro, NC (Western Guilford) is another tremendous pick up for the Gamecocks. Stadnik is the 19th ranked offensive tackle in the class of 2012. He stands at 6'5" and 285 pounds. Both of these players highlight the bright spots of the recruiting class thus far - WR and OL. In addition to Roland at WR, South Carolina has commitments from Jody Fuller**** (Sun Valley/Monroe, NC) and Kwinton Smith*** (Dillon/SC). Along the offensive line, the Gamecocks also landed verbals from heavily recruited guards Cody Waldrop**** (Armwood/Seffner, FL) and Joe Harris**** (Lithonia/GA).

See the entire list of current commits after the jump. 

Continue reading this post »