Week 3 vs. S.C. State

The Trip to Athens - We headed down after work on Friday and actually got a late start on the evening, so we didn't arrive at the Holiday Inn on East Broad Street until 10:00 p.m. ... It didn't help matters that there was a pretty serious car accident on I-20 just outside of Augusta that held us up for 10 minutes ... We listened to the Strom Thurmond at Laney high school football game most of the way and found out the next day that LHS won the game, 13-7 ... Painful game to listen to with all of the penalties and turnovers and it must have been just as painful to watch as the announcers had very little good to say about either team for most of the night ... Upon arrival at the HI, we ran into an old Gamecock buddy, Will Fowles of Columbia, who had just returned from The Last Resort restaurant ... Deeming it "the best dinner in town", we made our way over there only to find the place absolutely jam packed ... We were starving, so we hit a place called Little Italy up for an excellent pizza (pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, and feta cheese) and pitcher of beer ... By the time midnight rolled around it was lights out to a long day.

Tailgating Condo Style - Now I know what it's like to own a condominium at Williams-Brice Stadium ... We woke up and wandered up the street to the historic Mayflower Restaurant, which has been around since the late 1940s ... The streets were really lively as people began rolling into town for the day's event and he place was full of Bulldog fans at 9:00 a.m. ... We spotted several other Gamecock fans, including the Caulk's of West Columbia ... If you like a good breakfast, then this is the place for you and despite some good-natured ribbing from the UGA fans (at least I took it as good-natured), it was a very good meal ... We went out and got some ice for the cooler and made it back to the HI where we lounged around watching college football for most of the day -- in air conditioning ... Talking about making a difference -- it left us much fresher for the actual game! ... The tailgating fare of chopped chicken BBQ and hamburgers were on sale at the HI and you literally didn't have to leave the place until game time -- first rate! ... The patio and parking lots immediately around the area were complete with Red & Black clad fans with specs of Garnet & Black sprinkled about ... For those of you that don't get on the road that often, tailgating at SEC venues other than Columbia really does leave you in awe ... These fans make an entire weekend of the event and it is really a neat sight -- lots of fun, too! ... The Georgia fans that we encountered seemed to be really confident of a Dawgs win, but were not jerks about it in any way -- we were treated very nicely -- though on the way to the game we witnessed a Carolina fan get nailed with a beer can across the back of the neck that was thrown from a Georgia students area tailgate ... While waiting to get in the game at the ticket line there was some verbal jawing going on between some USC and UGA fans, but I had my headphones on and just looked ahead.

Have you kicked your Dawg today? - I said last week that Steve Spurrier would change that 0-2 record vs. the Bulldogs to 1-2 and predicted South Carolina to win 23-20 in a tight ballgame, but Saturday's contest didn't have that "pressure feel" to it until the final five minutes ... The Gamecocks really controlled the tempo of the game and the folks at Sanford Stadium seemed to be absolutely stunned when the final whistle blew.

USC is as good as Georgia - I agree with Coach Spurrier's comment, "This wasn't shocking," Spurrier said. "This was not a shock to us that we won this game. This was two even teams, I thought." ... I expected to win this game and USC came through with a stingy defense, an excellent night from Ryan Succop, and and efficient offense ... The only parts of the game I was disappointed in was midway through the 4th quarter when the Gamecocks had a chance to run off some clock, but USC threw three incompletions in a row to Freddie Brown, Jared Cook, and Kenny McKinley ... I am also concerned about the special teams return units -- that simply has to improve and S.C. State seems to be a good time to get some practice ... I got tired of watching Captain Munnerlyn backtrack on kickoffs and his punt fielding leaves a lot to be desired.

UGA QB - Matthew Stafford might be a good quarterback in the future, but he wasn't good last year and he isn't good right now ... Talk about a scatter-arm, who seems to be cement-footed as well ... It doesn't help that the sophomore has a less than SEC caliber wide receiving corps -- those wideouts look like the unit USC fielded with the likes of Taqiy Muhammad -- yikes!

Game MVP - Ryan Succop gets my vote for Player of the Week as he accounted for 10 of the Gamecocks' 16 points and was true on all three field goal attempts (41, 35, 34) ... He also averaged 40.7 yards on seven punts and downed two Inside the 20 ... Plus, he had one touchback and averaged 69.8 yards per kickoff -- that's 0.2 from hitting the end zone every time ... I know Georgia's Brandon Coutu was the First Team selection on the Preseason All-SEC Football Team at place kicker, but Succop beat him head to head on Saturday, so hopefully the junior from Hickory, N.C., will continue to boom the ball with accuracy.

Dominating "D" - I've been wary of Coach Tyrone Nix's ability to matchup with the best play callers, but supportive at the same time ... By that I mean I've applied the same measure as I give all defensive coordinators -- hold the opponent to 20 points or less -- USC has done that twice this year, both victories, and eight times in 2006 (6-2) ... My thoughts are that over the course of 60 minutes a team should find the way to generate 21 points ... Ever since I saw Brad Smith churn through the Gamecocks defense at the Independence Bowl, I've quietly wondered if he could get the job done in the SEC and it appears he has the tools in place to do so ... The "D" is going to have to generate some turnovers in the upcoming games -- Jasper Brinkley's interception is the lone take away this year ... Best of luck the rest of the way!

Bash Brothers - How good are the Brinkley brothers? ... If there is a better middle linebacker in the SEC, I haven't seen him yet, because Jasper is the best MLB at South Carolina since James Seawright ... Casper had a great game as well and their presence really symbolizes USC's new style of defense -- guys that are big and who can run! ... Super job by Eric Norwood (six tackles, one tackle for loss, and a sack -- what a play on that 4th down) ... I thought Rodney Paulk had a great first half despite playing with two bum shoulders.

Secondary Depth - Hello Darian Stewart and thanks for suiting up in the Garnet & Black ... Outstanding game at Georgia! ... I heard last year that Coach Ron Cooper was really high on this young man and now I see why ... With Brandon Isaac, Emanuel Cook, Captain Munnerlyn, Carlos Thomas, Stoney Woodson, Chris Hampton, and Addison Williams in the rotation, that's a pretty solid nucleus ... Coach Cooper deserves a pat on the back for getting this unit together ... Now if he can only get Thomas and Munnerlyn to catch the ball.

Big Uglies - Kudos to South Carolina's offensive line! ... 5.6 yards per rush and the underrated duo of Cory Boyd (14 CAR, 78 YDS, 1 TD) and Mike Davis (9 CAR, 57 YDS) combined for 23 carries and 135 yards and tallied eight catches between them for 32 yards that kept the chains moving ... Nice job by Jamon Meredith, Justin Sorensen, Gurminder Thind, Lem Jeanpierre, Garrett Anderson, and Web Brown (stay dry).

Welcome Back - Let me get this straight ... Blake Mitchell is a fifth year senior at USC and has now beaten Tennessee, Florida, Clemson, and Georgia as a starter and is 1-1 in bowl games -- not too shabby! ... The LaGrange, Ga., native managed an efficient and effective offense Saturday night and was really charged up during the game ... For his career, Mitchell is 12-6 as a starter with a full season to play -- he could put up some big numbers the next several months.

Yellow Flags - Who was the sideline official on Georgia's side that threw the flags on USC? ... One was overturned and one could not even be described by Loran Smith of the UGA radio crew down on the field, because no one saw the penalty ... This was the officiating crew -- Referee: Matt Austin; Umpire: W. Hackett, Jr.; Linesman: Johnny Crawford; Line judge: Mickey Haddock; Back judge: Steven Patrick; Field judge: C. Showalter; Side judge: Bobby Moreau; and Scorer: Joe Sturniolo ... I'm guessing it was Moreau, but would love an explanation of the calls.

Sanford Stadium - Saturday marked my 11th USC/UGA game in Athens -- I've seen every contest between the Gamecocks and Bulldogs since 1984 ... The stadium itself is very nice -- one of the best around ... It was a lot more quiet than in the past due to the Gamecocks controlling the tempo for most of the night ... We tried to stand on the stairwell ramp just above the USC Band prior to kickoff and through the first series of the game, but the local UGA Campus Police made us move ... We sat in Section 608 on the top row of the triple deck -- not bad at all ... It's a long haul up there, but the view is great and nowhere near as bad as I had feared ... It really didn't seem that steep either, considering you are basically going straight up from the second level ... I know at Clemson you basically need a sherpa guide to reach the top of Memorial Stadium, but that's not necessary at Sanford Stadium ... It got loud in spurts, but nothing like it has before when the Dawgs are rolling ... The video board is crystal clear and the strip boards are nice and the UGA staff knows what and when to put messages on the boards ... However, who was the idiot that turned off the scoreboard immediately after the ball game? ... That's totally bush-league! ... The trip downstairs after the game was a lot of fun with shouts of "Game - Cocks" ringing throughout the area while UGA fans just stared on in disbelief ... A line of 100 or so people had their hands hoisted in the air for "high fives" amongst the Gamecocks faithful -- it doesn't get much better than that feeling!

HI Bound & Saturday Night - We left the stadium and headed back to the HI and most of the Georgia fans were pretty gracious in defeat ... Several congratulated us on the victory and others just seemed relegated that this Georgia team is going to struggle to find its identity offensively ... Several times during the UGA radio broadcast the crew couldn't understand the play calling or the reasoning behind their sets -- always glad to hear that's a universal conversation amongst sports fans -- and it resonated on the postgame show ... After some quick showers we headed downtown and tried to get into The Last Resort once again only to find it even more crowded than the night before ... We made our way to Wild Wings (or Buffalo Wings, whatever they call it) and it made us wonder why we even took showers, because that place was unbelievably hot and we lasted the duration of one beer ... Heading back to the hotel to drink our own beer we stopped in at Molly O'Shea's Irish Pub and settled up at the bar for the next couple of hours -- great decision! ... The Blue Moon and Bass Ale's went down smoothly and quickly while watching LSU totally dismantle Virginia Tech on one TV and witnessing South Florida's upset of Auburn.

Best Yet? - As good as the feeling was Saturday night, it was one that I expected and maybe that's why I wasn't high as a kite after the ball game ... In reality, USC had a chance to win four of the previous five games in the series, but lost them all and that really frustrated me ... I said before the season that the two wins I wanted most this year were against Georgia (to break the five game losing streak and to give Spurrier a win vs. everyone in the SEC East) and Clemson (because we've never beaten them in consecutive seasons in my lifetime) ... That being said, beating the 11th-ranked team on the road is special, but I guess when you expect to win that type of contest it doesn't stick with you as long as something totally out of the blue.

Sunday Drive - We departed Athens around 9 o'clock Sunday morning and it's a great feeling to win on the road ... Buzzing down Hwy. 78 through Crawford, Rayle, and Washington before hitting I-20 at Thomson and making the easy trip east with Gamecock flags flying high makes for a super ride ... We were home by 12 noon -- mission accomplished!

SEC East - It will be interesting to see how the SEC East Division shakes out this fall ... When Georgia meets Tennessee and Florida next month those games will be for 3rd and 4th place, because the winner of this week's game (Vols @ Gators) will be in the driver's seat along with the Gamecocks for a trip to Atlanta! ... SEC East will meet SEC West with #1 in the league on the line on September 22 in Baton Rouge between the Gamecocks and Tigers, who should both be 3-0.

SEC Least - Did you know that Georgia has now lost five-straight games to SEC East Division foes and three consecutive in Athens? ... A Bulldogs fan at the Holiday Inn stopped me Sunday morning and couldn't believe the speed that South Carolina has on defense and that Steve Spurrier was the difference maker at USC -- duh! ... He later said that his traveling party was tired of going to home games at Sanford Stadium only to see the Dawgs get beat by teams "they are better than" ... LOL!

9/8/07, SOUTH CAROLINA, 12-16 L
11/4/06, @ Kentucky, 20-24 L
10/28/06, vs. Florida, 14-21 L
10/14/06, VANDERBILT, 22-24 L
10/7/06, TENNESSEE, 33-51 L

High 5 - USC has now reeled off five consecutive victories twice during the Steve Spurrier era ... In his first year in Columbia, Spurrier guided the Gamecocks from a 2-3 start to five wins in a row vs. Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Florida ... The current streak -- spanning two seasons -- includes wins vs. Middle Tennessee State, Clemson, Houston, Louisiana Tech, and Georgia ... To put those numbers into perspective, only twice in the past 20 seasons has a South Carolina team been able (1988 and 2001) to accomplish this type of streak ... USC won the 2000 Outback Bowl vs. Ohio State and actually stretched that mark to six games as the 2001 unit opened the season 5-0 (Boise State, Georgia, Miss. State, Alabama, and Kentucky) ... The 1988 squad opened the year with wins vs. North Carolina, Western Carolina, East Carolina, Georgia, Appalachian State, and Virginia Tech ... S.C. State should be #6 in a row for the Gamecocks in 2007.

Under Armour - Congratulations to UA for "getting it right" ... The garnet color is just that -- garnet ... It's not red, crimson, maroon, or scarlet -- it's garnet and looks great! ... The South Carolina uniforms look outstanding and I appreciate the detail and concern from the parent company, the coaching staff, the athletics department, and whoever else is involved for taking pride in the colors of the University of South Carolina.

Top 25 - The Gamecocks are 11-20 vs. ranked teams since 2000, including two consecutive road victories:

2007 (1-0)
@ #11 Georgia, 16-12 W

2006 (1-5)
@ #24 Clemson, 31-28 W
@ #6 Florida, 16-17 L
#12 ARKANSAS, 20-26 L
#8 TENNESSEE, 24-31 L
#2 AUBURN, 17-24 L
#12 GEORGIA, 0-18 L

2005 (2-1)
#12 FLORIDA, 30-22 W
@ #23 Tennessee, 16-15 W
@ #9 Georgia, 15-17 L

2004 (0-2)
@ #11 Tennessee, 29-43 L
#3 GEORGIA, 16-20 L

2003 (1-4)
#15 FLORIDA, 22-24 L
#10 LSU, 7-33 L
@ #8 Tennessee, 20-23 ot L
@ #8 Georgia, 7-31 L
#15 VIRGINIA, 31-7 W

2002 (0-4)
@ #20 Florida, 7-28 L
#25 TENNESSEE, 10-18 L
@ #14 Louisiana State, 14-38 L
#9 GEORGIA, 7-13 L

2001 (3-2)
vs. #22 Ohio State, 31-28 W
#4 FLORIDA, 17-54 L
@ #9 Tennessee, 10-17 L
@ #17 Miss. State, 16-14 W
@ #25 Georgia, 14-9 W

2000 (3-2)
vs. #19 Ohio State, 24-7 W
@ #16 Clemson, 14-16 L
@ #5 Florida, 21-41 L
#25 MISS. STATE, 23-19 W
#9 GEORGIA, 21-10 W

My ACC/SEC Rankings
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1. Louisiana State, 2-0
2. Florida, 2-0
3. Georgia Tech, 2-0
4. SOUTH CAROLINA, 2-0
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5. Boston College, 2-0
6. Arkansas, 1-0
7. Clemson, 2-0
8. Tennessee, 1-1
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9. Georgia, 1-1
10. Alabama, 2-0
11. Kentucky, 2-0
12. Virginia Tech, 1-1
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13. Auburn, 1-1
14. Florida State, 1-1
15, Miami, 1-1
16. Maryland, 2-0
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17. Wake Forest, 0-2
18. Mississippi, 1-1
19. Vanderbilt, 1-1
20. Virginia, 1-1
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21. North Carolina, 1-1
22. Mississippi State, 1-1
23. North Carolina State, 0-2
24. Duke, 0-2
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Auburn Upset - Congratulations to Wally Burnham and South Florida on the upset at Auburn ... Too bad he couldn't display any of those coaching talents here in Columbia -- all-time worst defensive coordinator at USC.

This is Vanderbilt Football - I'm sick and tired of hearing people talk and write about how good of a coach Bobby Johnson is -- there is a reason that Furman endured their only two losing seasons since 1980 with BJ at the helm of the Paladins program ... Some guy was clamoring last week that Johnson would be a great replacement for Tommy Bowden at Clemson -- why would the Tigers want to hire someone used to losing? ... His performance in Nashville is about par for the course for the Commodores -- no better/no worse ... Since 1975, these are the coaching records at Vandy: Fred Pancoast (13-31, .295); George MacIntyre (25-52-1, .327); Watson Brown (10-45, .182); Gerry DiNardo (19-25, .432); Rod Dowhower (4-18, .182); Woody Widenhofer (15-40, .273); Bobby Johnson (16-44, .267) ... Alabama, with very little offensive firepower, dominated the hapless Vandy team just like the rest of the SEC will do this season.

History Lesson - When is the last time that South Carolina and Clemson were ranked and Alabama and Auburn were not? ... How about no Michigan or Notre Dame in the national polls? ... My how times have changed.

ACC Lite - How weak is the ACC? Take a look at these losses by ACC teams in the first two weeks of the season:
Oklahoma 51-13 Miami
LSU 48-7 Virginia Tech
Connecticut 45-14 Duke
East Carolina 34-31 North Carolina
Central Florida 25-23 N.C. State
Wyoming 23-3 Virginia

When the league's highest ranked team is 15th, then it's not a very good conference ... ACC Massey Ratings Top 40: #11 Georgia Tech; #18 Boston College; #19 Clemson; #22 Virginia Tech; #33 Florida State; #35 Miami ... SEC Massey Ratings Top 40: #1 LSU; #3 Florida; #16 South Carolina; #17 Arkansas; #20 Tennessee; #23 Georgia; #24 Alabama; #28 Auburn.

Up Next - USC will face off with South Carolina State for the first time ever this Saturday ... I like this game from the standpoint that with a 12 game schedule it allows South Carolina to play a I-AA, excuse me, Division I Championship Subdivision, type team ... USC and SCSU are only 40 miles a part and I think it's great that the Gamecocks are going to play the Palmetto State's largest historically black college ... I really like Coach Buddy Pough and look forward to seeing the Bulldogs and the Marching 101 in the Capital City.