Garnet Report

For those of you hoping to read a rapid reaction to South Carolina’s narrow victory over the Volunteers of Tennessee, I’m sorry to tell you I just didn’t have the heart to write about what, in the grand scheme of life, is a silly game.  I do, however, hope you will bear with me as I attempt to capture the emotions I, along with every member of Gamecock Nation, have been feeling.

Dear Marcus Lattimore,

You don’t know me, but I have been watching Gamecock football since I was only 4 years old. I have watched great players come and go. I have watched every week with the same awe I felt at my first home game in 1994. Even in college, seeing the football players around campus caused that boyhood excitement to well up inside of me. These players were celebrities to me.

Marcus, you have become so much more than that to everyone not only just in Columbia but around the nation. You have become a legend and a hero. Your drive and determination on the football field could have been enough to win the hearts of all Gamecock faithful, but what separates you from so many other athletes is who you are off of the field. I’m sure you are told this often, but I have never seen someone with so much God-given talent also have the humility that you show every day.

Knowing who you are now, I wish I could go back and watch you shun the Auburn hat for the garnet and black. I wish I could go back and see your coming out party against Georgia later that same year. I wish I could see you thrash Florida in the Swamp. I wish I could see you break our all time TD record. I wish I could see all these things and so many others for the first time again, but with the emotions I have now. What I did see was two football teams coming together in an extremely moving moment. I saw a stadium cheer as loud as they would for a big score. I saw people around the nation, be they athletes, analysts, or average joes, take to the airwaves in a unified cause I have not seen happen for many things. This was all in support of you.

For the first time ever in my life, I saw a football player injured on the field and didn’t just see an unfortunate accident and a missing piece of the puzzle. As I said, you don’t know me, but I saw my brother in pain. I can’t speak for every Gamecock, but the ones I have spoken to have described very similar experiences. Some in tears, some in prayer, some in complete shock.

I tell you this to show you how much you have inspired not just me or my friends or my fellow fan, but the entire country. To me, a hero is someone that, despite adversity, demonstrates to the world his best qualities. Forgive the silly comparison, but Batman in his latest film is my quintessential hero. Despite being beaten and broken, he fought through all pain and suffering and rose.  This insatiable drive is what made Batman my hero when I was growing up. Marcus, you are my hero now. Keep strong in your faith and in who you are.

Marcus, this off-season you rose for us. I’m sure I speak for every Gamecock, be it coach, player, or fan, that this season, we rise for you.

Forever to thee,

Nick Estes and every Gamecock

Photo Credits: GamecockCentral.com, FITSNews

Update: Come support Lattimore and the whole team at a rally on the horseshoe tomorrow! (even better, it’s his birthday).

1. Game Ball: Connor Shaw… for Florida

The entire offense was putrid yesterday, but the fumble on the first play from scrimmage by Connor Shaw seemed to take all offensive life out of the team.  If the cornerback coming on the sack was at his blind side, I would be willing to let this slide, but either he saw the guy and thought incorrectly he could side step him, or he somehow had no pocket awareness and just didn’t see him.  When he did see him, he should have tucked the ball away.  After that play, Connor continuously missed open receivers downfield.  I’d like to think that his mental process went something like this:  ”My first option is covered by three people, but my second option is wide open! First option it is!”  Unfortunately, I don’t think he ever even looked at his second option.  I’m not saying we would have won the game if not for Connor Shaw or that Dylan Thompson was a better option.  I just think maybe people should hop off the Connor Shaw bandwagon, at least on the road.

2. What the hell was that?

I have never seen an offense look so confused.  Whether it was Connor throwing the ball to empty space or Mike Davis and Ace Sanders running into each other just past the line of scrimmage.  It didn’t seem to be that Florida was doing anything to stop us.  The few times we were able to not be totally oblivious to what was supposed to be going on, the Gamecocks were able to move the football fairly well.  The offensive line continued to give the quarterback enough time to at least throw the ball away.  The run blocking was as good as you could expect against a stout Florida run defense.  The skill positions just seemed lost the whole way through.

3. 23 yards for 21 points

Defensively, South Carolina seemed back to its old ways, especially in the first half.  At halftime, the Gators had been held to only 23 yards.  Unfortunately due to turnovers, Florida’s offense only needed a few yards for each of those touchdowns.  In the second half, the defense only gave up another 160 yards.  If you had told me our defense would hold Florida to only 183 yards for the game, I would have predicted a score of at least 21-3 in favor of the Gamecocks.  If only the effort shown on defense had sparked something in the offense.

4. Final Thoughts

These past two weeks, the same Gamecocks that man-handled the then-#5 Georgia Bulldogs at Williams-Brice have simply looked lackluster.   At best.  There is no fire under this team, no drive to win.  Playing in Death Valley and the Swamp in back to back weeks is an extremely difficult task, but I truly believed we would have at least split the games.  I don’t think this 2012 team deserves a comparison to the 2007 collapse, but if these South Carolina Gamecocks continue to play without a sense of urgency, they could find themselves on the business end of a third consecutive loss by the hands of Tennessee.  If that happens, who knows where this season could end up.

1. Game Ball:  Steve Spurrier

For the first time, the View from the Upper Deck Game Ball Award is going to a coach. The Head Ball Coach has taken the University of South Carolina’s football program to unfathomable heights. In a game like this, where no one player clearly outshone his teammates, and not for any reason but the fact that every Gamecock played to the best of their abilities, credit needs to go to the man who made it all happen. Steve Spurrier took over this program on when it was in shambles and has recruited and coached the Gamecocks to its first Top 5 national ranking in almost 30 years. So maybe this award is going to Spurrier not just because of what he did in this one game, but also because of what he has done for this great university during his career here.

2. Run, Marcus, Run!

Marcus Lattimore ran for 109 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown. Connor Shaw ran for 78 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown.  Overall, Carolina ran the ball 51 times (including scramble plays). After the first drive, it was clear the offensive game plan was to run the football right at Georgia’s vulnerable run defense and make them stop us. The 230 rushing yards, coupled with the fact that Connor Shaw only attempted 10 passes, just go to show that Georgia once again could not stop the Gamecocks’ rushing attack. Many fans around me were questioning the conservative play calling, but at the end of the game, it was clear the conservative approach was the right one.

3. Defense set the tone early

After Carolina’s opening scoring drive, Georgia had a big kickoff return close to midfield. The ensuing drive at first seemed to show how close the game was going to be, with Georgia effectively moving the ball. Everything changed when the big D-Lineman Kelcey Quarles batted Aaron Murray’s pass into the air at the line of scrimmage. The game seemed to hang in the balance as the ball began to fall. DeVonte Holloman made an incredible diving catch for the interception, giving South Carolina the ball back with a chance to take an early two score lead. From then on, it was sheer domination.  The Gamecock defensive line simply demolished Georgia’s O-Line, regularly putting Aaron Murray on his back. The Freshman Phenom duo of Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall were held to a measly 76 yards on 25 carries. Keep in mind, Georgia was leading the SEC in total offense and scoring offense. This really puts in to perspective how dominant the South Carolina defense was.

4. Smokin’ Aces:  The New Quick Hits Title

• For the first time in the history of the rivalry, South Carolina has won three consecutive games against Georgia.
• South Carolina has won 10 consecutive games.  This breaks the record of 9 set in the 1984 Black Magic season and is currently the longest active win streak in the nation.
• The attendance record at Williams-Brice Stadium was broken last night, with a crowd of 85,119 people. Williams-Brice’s capacity is 80,250.
• Ace Sanders continues to impress, with a huge punt return for a TD that seemed to be the breaking point for Georgia.
• For the first time ever, South Carolina won when Lee Corso put on a Cocky head.  

Photo Credit: Mail.com, FITSNews

1. Game Ball:  Connor Shaw

“Connor … got off to a slow start; he missed his first one, I think.”  These were Coach Spurrier’s words, spoken through a huge grin, about Connor Shaw’s performance in yesterday’s 31-10 drubbing of Mizzou. Connor did miss his first pass of the game.  He then proceeded to connect on his next 20 passes, spreading the ball around to nine different receivers. On the day, Connor was 20-21 for 249 yards and two touchdowns with another 45 yards coming on 12 carries. His day could have been even bigger had his 80 yard touchdown run in the first quarter not been called back due to a questionable clipping call. There is no doubt the Flowery Branch, GA native put all possibilities of a quarterback controversies to rest, turning in a near perfect performance despite a hairline fracture in his throwing shoulder.

2. O-Line shakeup effective; Offense continues to flourish

Shawn Elliot made some moves in the offensive line before the game Saturday,and boy, did they pay off. Pass protection was much better all day with only one sack allowed. The run blocking still doesn’t seem to be where the coaches want it, as Carolina averaged only 3.7 yards per carry, but there was definitely a lot more space than previous weeks.

Offensively, South Carolina racked up 396 yards of total offense with a very balanced attack. That number probably would have been higher had the special teams not played so well (more on that later). After the slow first quarter, the Gamecocks seemed to move the ball at will against a Missouri defense that was determined to not give up a deep pass, running a cover-2 scheme most of the day. Keep in mind, if not for two fumbles inside Missouri’s 30-yard line, a penalty nullifying an 80-yard TD run, and a failed fourth down at the goal line, Carolina could have potentially dropped over 50 points on Missouri.

3.  No Jungle Boi, no problem

Gamecock fans were worried how our defense would fare against a potent Missouri attack, especially without D.J. Swearinger (Jungle Boi) patrolling the boundary. T.J. Gurley got the start and proved defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward right in his prediction that there would be little to no drop off. South Carolina gave up only 255 yards of offense to the Tigers of Missouri.  The area of concern all year has been the secondary, which gave up far too many yards against ECU and UAB. Mizzou only managed 146 yards through the air. That stat gets even better when you take into account that the starters only gave up 92 yards to James Franklin. Without a doubt, the Gamecocks delivered their most complete performance of the season so far.

4. Bonus Special Teams Section!

I was so excited when I realized I would be able to dedicate an entire section of my recap to special teams.  Longtime Gamecock fans will remember how much of a sore spot special teams has been in the past.  That was not the case yesterday, as the Gamecocks had 106 yards on six punt returns and 58 yards on two kick returns.  Ace Sanders simply lit it up today, finding the holes in the punt coverage and regularly giving his offense fantastic field position all day.  I will contend that his 49 yard return, which included five broken tackles and one of the most incredible jukes I have had the privilege of witnessing, was the most exciting special teams play in Gamecock history, perhaps even eclipsing Raynard Brown’s 99-yard kickoff return against Florida State in 1984.

5. Quick Hits

• Marcus Lattimore became South Carolina’s all time rushing touchdown leader with his 32nd and 33rd rushing touchdowns, breaking George Rogers’ and Harold Green’s previous record of 31.  This feat becomes even more incredible when remembering Marcus hasn’t played in two full seasons worth of games yet.  Expect him to push his records to nearly unreachable levels.  
• Connor Shaw said he and the team felt disrespected by some pundits who were picking Missouri to pull of the upset.  The Gamecocks sure made a statement to the nation that they deserve their top 10 ranking.  
• South Carolina has moved up to the number 6 spot in the AP poll, their highest ranking since the 2007 season.  
• I might rename this section in honor of Ace Sanders.  After my first article in which I called out his weak performances in the Quick Hits, he has stepped up and become a big play maker for our Gamecocks.  I’m open to suggestions for new names involving the word Ace.

Game Ball: Jadeveon Clowney

I would have loved to give another game ball to Dylan Thompson after last week’s game, but his first drive of the second half was poor, narrowly avoiding two sure interceptions.  Therefore the player that gets the prestigious View from the Upper Deck game ball then is Jadeveon Clowney.

He finally appeared to be the one-man wrecking crew we all expected him to be this season.  He had flashes of brilliance against Vandy and ECU, but tonight Clowney seemed virtually unblockable, disrupting a number of plays in the backfield with 3.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.  If not for a few missed holding calls, he could have potentially doubled both of those totals.

Quarterback controversy?  How about a little running back controversy?

Connor Shaw simply did not look sharp tonight.  I don’t know if his shoulder injury was hindering his strength and accuracy, but it definitely had nothing to do with his decision making.  I love Connor’s toughness, but if he is going to be the guy to lead us to the promised land of the SEC, he needs to be better in just about every facet of his game. I’m starting to wonder if Dylan Thompson may get another look from Spurrier.  If Connor can’t go next week, Dylan will be our man.

So where are we if he plays well and leads us to a win over Mizzou? Steve Spurrier has the makings of another quarterback battle on his hands.  The offense looked awful with Shaw and explosive with Dylan Thompson under center.

Now to the running back controversy.  Obviously Lattimore is our lead man, but what about the second string.  Mike Davis looks like he is going to be a star, and Kenny Miles should be relegated to special teams and garbage time duty.  None of that matters though if the O-Line continues to be ineffective in run blocking.  It got better as the game went on, but in the first two quarters they looked terrible.

The Numbers On Defense: 0.6 and 240

South Carolina’s defense gave up 27 yards rushing on 42 attempts which equates to 0.6 yards per carry.  That’s astounding.  I’ll give you two chances to guess which SEC defenses have given up 0 touchdowns in the red zone so far this season.  The answer?  South Carolina.  Stout run defense is the reason.

On the other side, the secondary once again gave up some pretty big plays, allowing 240 yards through the air, despite a ferocious pass rush.  A lot of those yards came on third-and-long.  This is going to hurt us this season if we can’t fix the hole.  The Gamecocks seem to be playing “bend don’t break” style football, giving up field goals and not touchdowns, but a field goal can still beat you.  I think once our guys in the secondary get comfortable playing with each other, we will see a pretty significant improvement.  Keep in mind Lorenzo Ward has several first and second-year starters in the secondary.

 Quick Hits

• With his second quarter TD, Marcus Lattimore broke the all time touchdown record at USC with 34 total touchdowns, previously held by Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers and Harold Green.  
• Tonight’s victory over UAB marks Steve Spurrier’s 200th win as a head coach.  
• Congratulations to Shaq Roland and Mike Davis for recording their first touchdowns as Gamecocks.  These two guys are the future of South Carolina football, and the future is bright.
• Ace Sanders took his game to a new level, hauling in 4 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.  A lot of those yards came after the catch, juking, stiff arming, and just plain running through tackles.
• Cocky’s costume is actually garnet now, and he looks better than ever.
• The band’s new uniforms look fantastic, and I’m loving their new style musically.

1. Game Ball: Dylan Thompson

Dylan Thompson came out throwing from the beginning and looked pretty darn good. For the first time since 2009, a quarterback not named Garcia or Shaw started for South Carolina and Gamecock nation could not have asked for more. Thompson completed 21 of 37 passes for 330 and three TDs. He made a number of great plays getting away from pressure, extending the play, and hitting receivers down field. He tended to throw the ball a little high, likely a result of first-start jitters.

I have spoken highly about Dylan for a few years now and was excited to see him play well. Don’t expect him to take over as our new starter, but it is comforting knowing we have a backup who is capable of leading the team. Continue Reading…