Week 10 @ Arkansas ...
Quick Comments – No use brooding over the past two weeks ... The Gamecocks looked like they were going to let the Vanderbilt game beat them twice through the first 30 minutes at UT ... But, the offense livened up after Blake Mitchell was inserted at quarterback and the defense turned in another solid outing ... I'm over it now, especially in light of what has come about the past 24 hours with the tragedy at Ocean Isle, N.C., involving the six University of South Carolina students and the one Clemson student that perished in the Sunday morning fire ... My prayers are with those persons, families, friends, etc. -- it truly puts things into perspective.
Early Weekend – My Mother celebrated her 59th birthday on Saturday, so we took her out to the new Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in
Friday Drive – After running by Green’s on Assembly Street to pick up our tailgating beer (saw Coach Brad Lawing getting some spirits for the trip as well), we departed Cayce around 11:15 a.m., in a pouring rainstorm that pretty much stayed with us until we reached the Asheville, N.C., area … We made a lunch detour in Waynesville to search out a place called Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ … After making about three loops around the city we finally found the place after running into a guy that was actually wearing a T-Shirt with the company’s name on it … He informed us that they closed for the afternoon at 2:30 p.m., and the dashboard clock revealed it being 2:20, so we made haste and hurried to the parking lot down the road … Great stop! … The décor of the place would make a NASCAR fan stand up and cheer as there is racing paraphernalia everywhere – all the way down to the light fixtures, which are actual wheels … We ordered the chopped BBQ Pork sandwiches with sides of french fries and creamed corn and it was super … Their regular BBQ sauce was a dark and sweet mixture that was good, but they have a hot/spicy sauce called the “Firehouse” that was excellent … The wait staff was great to us and after the ½ hour stop we were back on the road rolling through the mountains and enjoying clear blue skies while listening to Pat Green on CD and some various oldies country stations along the way.
Night Out – We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in
Saturday A.M. – A late morning awakening of nearly
Tailgating - We were parked by the CSUMC youth group members for $25, which raises money for mission trips and youth ministries … One block on the other side of the church were the infamous “Ultimate Tailgaters” and it was nice to see a good many of them already in a game time mood … The parking spot required vehicles already established to hoist up their tailgating tents, chairs, etc., and finally we made it to the top spot on the bridge side of the lot … The parking attendant handed us a yellow slip of paper to display in the dashboard and all was set for an afternoon of blue skies, sunshine, a cool breeze, snacks, and cold Natural Light beer – perfect! … We met a number of Gamecock fans and chatted with some Volunteers as well and it was a very enjoyable afternoon.
Offensive Stars - What more can be said about the efforts of Cory Boyd (20 rushes, 160 yards, 1 TD), Kenny McKinley (school record 14 receptions in a game for 151 yards and 1 TD), and Blake Mitchell (31 of 45 for 290 yards and 1 TD in one half of action) ... Throw in Jared Cook's solid night (5 catches, 55 yards) along with a pair of wide receivers with multiple catches -- Freddie Brown (4 receptions, 41 yards) and Dion Lecorn (3 catches, 37 yards) -- and it was a welcome sight for the receiving corps ... Tight ends Weslye Saunders (1-14) and Andy Boyd (1-7) chipped in a pair of catches for 21 yards to go along with Boyd's five receptions for 25 yards ... The entire offensive line, except for the left guard position, looked like a competitive unit and really took it to UT in the second stanza ... I loved seeing the misdirection play with Mike Davis (12 rushes, 30 yards) going in motion on the first series … Good job by line coach John Hunt and superb play calling in the second half by Coach Spurrier.
Defensive Studs - Might as well call this the "Captain Cook Award", because every week South Carolina could nominate secondary stalwarts Captain Munnerlyn (11 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 fumble forced, 1 interception) and Emanuel Cook (10 tackles, 1 for loss) ... Darian Stewart tallied seven tackles and had two pass break-ups ... Carlos Thomas registered five tackles and it appears the much maligned cornerback has kind of settled into that spot ... Casper Brinkley notched two tackles behind the line and five on the evening and also recorded a sack of Erik Ainge that at the time pushed the Vols back to the 26-yard line on UT's last possession of regulation … Another well played game by Tyrone Nix’s defensive troops.
Special Teams Sizzle & Fizzle - Ryan Succop has been outstanding at USC, but Saturday he went from "Hero" to "Goat" in a matter of minutes ... After blasting a 49-yard field goal that appeared to give South Carolina the victory with just 1:24 remaining in the game, he had a poor kickoff on the "angle play" (just kick the dadgum ball) and it was returned all the way up to the UT 47-yard line -- so much for holding out a scoring drive! ... Then, a UT freshman placekicker knocks in a game-tying 48 yard field goal with five seconds remaining after having to back up five yards due to an illegal procedure ... Of course, UT hits a chip-shot 27 yarder in the first overtime period and Succop drives his right hash mark setting straight down that line to miss wide right to end the game ... Ugh! ... Anyone else sick and tired of the roughing the punter penalties? ... Why rush the punter in a scoreless game when you have the opponent pinned down at their own 14-yard line? ... Just a senseless act and one that Coaches Shane Beamer and Fred Chatham need to get a hold on, because taking the ball over at midfield would have been a super starting position on the next possession instead of fielding a punt at the USC 7-yard line (the roughing the punter/kicker issues is becoming an epidemic) ... Terrible kickoff team play as well -- in clutch time USC stunk it up and that cost Carolina the game.
Postgame - Ever been mad enough to spit nails? ... Well, KC93 and I were after the game and it had nothing to do with the scoreboard ... While meandering through the postgame foot traffic, we walked along the river and made our way up the hill to our parking spot ... After climbing an incline of 45-degrees KC93 started hitting his vehicle clicker so that we could "hear our way" through the black parking lot ... Unfortunately a sound never responded and it was to our amazement that the faithful Ford Explorer SportTrac had either been stolen or towed ... You know that old saying, "misery loves company", well it certainly did Saturday night after 12
Same Old, Same Old on Rocky Top - I knew that this would go down to the wire and the overtime encounter improved that notion ... I had predicted last week in my Blog at "Kubby's Korner" that Tennessee would squeeze out a 20-16 victory (I was a point off), but had changed that outlook to a 18-17 victory by USC at week's end based on the radio interviews I heard during the week ... Bill King of Knoxville and RivalsRadio/Volquest.com was on "Prime Time Sports" last week and basically stated that the pitchforks were out for Coach Phil Fulmer ... Well, he wasn't far off with his comments as it sure seemed that way at Neyland Stadium after the game ... The UT faithful were certainly glad that the Big Orange had pulled one off vs. South Carolina, but also disappointed that at this point it staved off any dismissal of the 16-year Rocky Top veteran ... Had eastern Tennessee's Steve Spurrier returned "home" to defeat the Volunteers after trailing 21-0 at halftime, you may have seen the UT Administration drop the guillotine on Fulmer's neck by Monday -- that's not going to happen now and he may have pulled off the best Houdini act of his coaching career:
Officials - I'm not one to place blame on the officiating, but anyone that watched the game had to have comments about this crew ... Referee: Thomas Ritter; Umpire: Rick Lowe; Linesman: Gus Morris III; Side judge: Chris Conley ... If those guys (and the poor calls throughout the evening) looked familiar, then that's because most of that crew was at the LSU game back in September (three were not at LSU -- Line judge: Julian Mapp; Back judge: Jimmy Buchanan; Field judge: Bobby Aillet Jr) ... UT's Arian Foster scores with 1:14 left in the 1st Quarter after it looked like his knee was down that should have setup a 4th and goal situation ... A called pass interference on Captain Munnerlyn early in the 2nd Quarter should not have been called, but if it is going to be called that tight, then another instance should have resulted in the same penalty (see below) … Though I disagreed with the decision by Coach Spurrier to go for the touchdown on the Gamecocks' first drive of the second half (I adhere to the theory of "getting points" whenever you can and two straight incompletions inside the 5-yard line told me to get the three points (especially when the offense had not scored a touchdown in 8+ quarters ... However, the strike from Mitchell to Jared Cook should have resulted in a first down as that was blatant pass interference by Tennessee ... How in the heck did the officials review Mike Davis' fumble with 6:52 left at the UT 17-yard line and not come to the conclusion that his forward progress had been stopped and even with that fact decided that the "simultaneous possession" was turned over to the defense? ... Asinine!
Best League – We all know that the Southeastern Conference is the best football league in the country, but how about the SEC East Division? … Geesh! … It’s a flip of the coin each week and makes for an exciting and entertaining drama every Saturday … The best record is owned by Georgia at 6-2 and the worst marks are held by Florida, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt at 5-3 – Kentucky and South Carolina are sandwiched in between at 6-3, so with nine weeks played one game separates first place and last place!
On to Fayetteville - It's time for the last regular season road trip - this time to Arkansas ... The Razorbacks lead the series with USC, 9-6, and the two teams have met every year since joining the SEC in 1992 ... The Hogs open as five point favorites, but something tells me a steady alignment of nine guys near the line of scrimmage will get the job done for the Gamecocks ... Everyone knows about the "Dynamic Backfield Duo" of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, but be wary of wide receiver Marcus Monk, who notched two touchdown catches last week in his debut after a knee injury back in August and has more than 2,000 reception yards in his career ... I think Coach Spurrier gets through to the Cocks this weekend for a final push in the SEC and USC leaves Fayette-Nam with a much needed 23-17 victory.
Gamecocks @
posted by Kubby @ 2:05 PM
0 comments
