Saturday, September 08, 2007

Gamecocks beat Jawga....

South Carolina beat the No. 11 Georgia on Saturday night....16-12, signaling the Gamecocks as a possible title contender in the Southeastern Conference. Thank God for the defense and for the leg of Ryan Succop. The run game of USC did wonders lead by Boyd and Davis. On defense, everyone played great especially Stewart and the Brinkley boys (combined for 11.0 tackles on the night, Jasper had a INT and Casper added one sack for the Gamecocks). Great Job!!!!!!

Georgia was the highest-ranked team that South Carolina has beaten in Spurrier's three years as coach.

Grading the Keys that LOHD posted earlier:
1. Stop the run - I give the defense a A in this category for a overall wonderful game plan. South Carolina held the Bulldogs to 128 on the ground.
2. Mitchell has to play great - Mitchell had a solid night, completing 20-of-31 for 174 yards. I give him a A.
3. Ball Control - I give the gamecocks a A here too. They kept Jawga in check the entire game and used the clock to their advantage.
4. Mistake Free Play - Besides some dumb penalites there were no turnovers for Carolina. A- here.
5. Special Teams play must be good - Succop was wonderful and he did really well tonight. 3 FGS (Succop connected from 41, 35 and 34 yards, the last of those giving the Gamecocks at 16-6 lead with 9:25 remaining) the only bad point was UGA had two good punt returns but overall the special teams did okay eventhough Captain almost gave UGA the ball on a punt return fumble but thank goodness it was called back on a UGA penalty. I give USC a B here.

Who cares...we beat Jawga for the first time since 2001 by the score of 16-12!!! South Carolina is now 2-0, 1-0 SEC.
  • LOHD Offensive Player of the Game - With his 19-yard reception in Carolina's first quarter touchdown scoring drive against Georgia, junior wide receiver, and Mableton, Ga., native, Kenny McKinley extended his streak to 23 straight games with at least one catch. Entering Saturday's contest against Georgia, his streak (22 games) ranked as the eighth-longest in the nation. McKinley also recorded a season best with seven receptions for 102 yards, including a season-long catch of 31 yards in the opening quarter. This is McKinley's third career 100-yard reception game.
  • LOHD Defensive Player of the Game - Looking past the roughing the kicker call on him the play of Sophomore free safety Darian Stewart was great for his first start. He recorded 9.0 tackles on the night, including 6.0 in the second half. The mark was a team best for the night and career high for the Hunstville, Ala., native.

Final Game Stats HERE.

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