5 keys to a South Carolina Gamecocks win vs. FAU Owls

Just look at those nice palmetto trees on the field such a good touch.  Oh...this is suppose to be about my five keys to a Carolina win versus FAU today.  I will be leaving here soon to head to the stadium and as my PREDICTION says watch for SC to win today by a score of 34-10.

I feel this week is pretty simple and basic - just win and avoid a letdown.

5 keys Today

1. Strike first and early --- USC must get out the gates strong today even if it is raining.  SC needs to get some points on the board and build a nice lead so it can cruise to a win today.  Garcia is a key as he must lead this team and move the ball around.

2.  Mistake Free Football ---USC can not allow a letdown to occur today and look past FAU even if they are without their go to guy today.  Garcia has to play smart, be a leader and throw to the right team.  The defense has to tackle and remember X's and O's today.  No "shooting ourselves" today.

3.  Don't let Special Teams hurt twice ---UGa made USC's special teamers look silly last week with 252 yards in kickoff returns against USC — including three runbacks of at least 48 yards — Gamecocks special teams coordinator Shane Beamer put several starters on the kick coverage team.  Fill the running lanes and wrap up.  Learn from the issues and do better b/c Ole Miss is watching.

4.  USC's Interior D --- The Owls will try to establish a running game and I am sure made notes of UGa going up the gut.  So the 3 man front for SC has to be ready to get off blocks and stuff the run.  Also the LB's and Secondary can not miss tackles today.

5.  Avoiding more injuries --- The injury bug has gotten around at USC - LB Rodney Paulk (knee), DT Nathan Pepper (ankle), LB Reggie Bowens (knee) and OL Kevin Young (knee) are out; SS Darian Stewart (neck) is questionable; DT Melvin Ingram (ankle) and DE Cliff Matthews (neck) are probable.  We do not need anymore with a key match up next week vs. Ole Miss.  I think this goes back to point #1 to get out to a early lead, play some new guys, control the tempo of the game and leave today with a Win.

thoughts? 

Gamecocks Clippings / News from the week that was

Gamecocks Football

• Curran breaks up pass at goal line, preserves Georgia win
• Davis: The Reason We Do This
• Gamecocks' goal: A snazzier stadium
• USC O-line in need of a push
• Injuries come at bad time for defense
• Southern Miss is next Thursday night live guest
• Special Orders
• Garcia, offense still have a few kinks to work out
• DT Pepper eyeing return
• USC takes another hit in secondary with Darian Stewart injury
• Gamecocks stirred up for home opener

Former Gamecocks

• Panthers' Munnerlyn puts chip on shoulder to use
• Where are they now: Steve Taneyhill

Garnet and Black Attack Blog Posts

• Previewing Florida Atlantic at South Carolina: Three Keys, Fun Fact, and Prediction
• Previewing Florida Atlantic at South Carolina: FAU's Offense
• Previewing Florida Atlantic at South Carolina: FAU's Defense

News out of FAU Camp / Gamecocks Week 3 Opponent

FAU News
FAU football team works to clean up mistakes
FAU's young reserve receivers must improve with Cortez Gent's absence
FAU wide receiver Cortez Gent suspended indefinitely
Owls Complete Preparation for Gamecocks

Gamecocks Depth Chart vs FAU Owls

Offense

QB
5 Stephen Garcia R-So. 6-2 219
14 Reid McCollum R-Fr. 6-3 218

FB
47 Patrick DiMarco Jr. 6-0 243
46 Dalton Wilson R-Fr. 6-0 223

RB
10 Brian Maddox Jr. 5-11 224
3 Jarvis Giles Fr. 5-11 183
31 Kenny Miles R-Fr 5-9 190

WR
81 Tori Gurley R-Fr. 6-5 227
1 Alshon Jeffery Fr. 6-3 217

WR
9 Moe Brown Sr. 6-0 183
18 Dion LeCorn Jr. 5-11 220

WR
4 Jason Barnes R-Soph. 6-4 199
82 D.L. Moore R-Fr. 6-3 202

LT
76 Jarriel King Jr. 6-5 312
73 Rokevious Watkins Jr. 6-4 340

LG
74 Heath Batchelor R-Jr. 6-7 315
62 Pierre Andrews R-Jr. 6-2 285

C
70 Garrett Anderson Sr. 6-4 315
57 Lem Jeanpierre R- Sr. 6-4 300

RG
55 T.J. Johnson R-Fr. 6-4 300
60 Terrence Campbell R-Jr. 6-3 290

RT
72 Quintin Richardson R-Soph. 6-3 296
66 Hutch Eckerson R-Jr. 6-6 290

TE
88 Weslye Saunders Jr. 6-5 280
87 Justice Cunningham Fr. 6-4 240

Defense

DE
98 Devin Taylor R-Fr. 6-7 232
96 Clifton Geathers Jr. 6-8 281

DT
6 Melvin Ingram R-So. 6-2 297
90 Chaz Sutton Fr. 6-3 243

DT
42 Travian Robertson Jr. 6-4 283
94 Kenny Davis R-Fr. 6-3 287

DE
83 Cliff Matthews Jr. 6-4 249
92 Byron McKnight R-So.. 6-4 229

WLB
40 Eric Norwood Sr. 6-1 252
44 Tony Straughter Jr. 6-0 209
33 Reggie Bowens R-Fr 6-2 233

MLB
16 Shaq Wilson So. 5-11 210
41 Josh Dickerson Jr. 6-1 221

SPUR
26 Antonio Allen Soph. 6-2 210
25 Alonzo Winfield R-So. 6-0 230

CB
5 Stephon Gilmore Fr. 6-1 188
36 D.J. Swearinger Fr. 5-11 196

FS
17 Chris Culliver Jr. 6-0 190
11 Jarrett Burns R-Fr. 6-2 180

SS
24 Darian Stewart Sr. 5-11 216
21 Devonte Holloman Fr. 6-2 211

CB
3 Akeem Auguste Soph. 5-10 180
12 C.C. Whitlock Soph. 5-10 173

FAU WR Cortez Gent suspended indefinitely

Little late to pick this up but this is huge for South Carolina on Saturday.  Cortez was the "go-to" guy for FAU and the one wideout that presented some "danger" issues for the young gamecocks secondary.  But no more is this the case as it seems Gent made a 'boo-boo.'

Senior wideout Cortez Gent, Florida Atlantic's all-time leading receiver, has been suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team....FULL STORY HERE.

Lester Jean will start for Cortez Gent,  at 6-3, 195 pounds Jean provides a slightly bigger and stronger target for Smith but he lacks the experience that Gent had.

I still say the gamecocks win 34-10 but losing Gent makes FAU scoring options interesting.

South Carolina Gamecocks vs FAU Owls Preview/Prediction

This coming weekend the Owls travel to Columbia to take on the Gamecocks. The Florida Atlantic Owls enjoyed a weekend without football last week and had time to regroup after traveling to Nebraska on September 5, losing 49-3 to the Cornhuskers.

This game is Columbia will feature two of the 12 active coaches who own national championship rings (Spurrier & Howard Schnellenberger). The last time these two teams played was on September 23, 2006 when the Gamecocks defeated the Owls 45-6 in Williams-Brice Stadium.

These Owls aren't quite Howard Schnellenberger's 1983 Miami team, but the FAU coach will be looking for another upset victory versus the Spurrier lead gamecocks. And this is not a team to overlook with an Ole Miss game starring you in the face next week. The Nebraska score may seem like this way be a cake walk but if mistakes are made then it could result in a heartbreaking loss. And Gamecocks do not need that after “what should have been” versus Georgia last week.

I feel Spurrier will try out some new guys at positions, try a few new plays and keep it simple versus the Owls because the Ole Miss game is huge coming up. So look for USC to try to jump out to a quick lead then start changing personnel. If things go as plan this should allow USC not to stress too much and cruise to a win. But again – no overlooking this game.

FAU on Defense – Very strong in the secondary with 3 veterans but weak in most other areas. Linebacking corp was hit hard by graduations but have speed. Josh Savidge is a good tackle up front that will make running up the middle tough for USC but I feel the big nasty’s for Carolina will figure out how to open some holes. Defense as a whole has lots of questions and USC will be looking to take full advantage of come Saturday night.

FAU on Offense – Rusty Smith will try to do better versus the gamecocks than he did versus the cornhuskers. In that game he was 15-31, 164 yds, 2 INT. There run game was bleak but did have Alfred Morris rack up 85 yds rushing. Go to guy is Cortez Gent and USC will try to stuff the run and shut down Gent.

USC on Offense – Look for Spurrier to do much of the same that he did versus Georgia with a variety of play-calling. Look for a nice balance between passing and rushing early but then to be more rushing as the game wears on. Spurrier wants to get a strong lead early so he can be a bit more conservative down the stretch so Ole Miss doesn’t have much to review in tape. Expecting a healthy dose of rushing blended in with some timely throws to keep the clock moving. Garcia will put up over 200 yds passing and Carolina rushing attack will have over 175 yds.

USC on Defense – The Ellis Johnson coached boys are looking to prove why they are considered one of the best defenses in the SEC. Georgia did not go as planned so look for this group to be fired up and get after it. FAU is a little suspect up front so look for USC to attack thus to disrupt the FAU QB. Look for at least 2 TO’s forced and a possible score.

What to watch for….improved play from Carolina with less penalties and better tackling on special teams. FAU will try to throw the ball on Carolina but that will not prove too successful. USC’s D will be too much for FAU and FAU will not have enough in the tank to shut down USC’s offense.

In Closing…Carolina wants to get some playing time for some new guys this game and leave this home opener with good things to talk about so I expect a good showing from the Cocks and a 34-10 win!

thoughts? is my prediction too low or too high?

Favorite Clemson fan

Check this guy out, you just lost to GT and this is what you do on national TV.


Way to go

Former Gamecocks in trouble with the law again.

Two of my favorite gamecocks of all time are at it again, this time with there father. Some stuff even I can't even make up. Please read this story and let me know what you think.

Former Gamecocks Player Dunta Robinson Fined by NFL

Former Gamecocks Cornerback and current Texan DB Dunta Robinson was fined $25,000 yesterday for wearing customized Nike cleats with the words "Pay Me Rick" written on the heel during the team's season opener Sunday. The message was intended for Texans GM Rick Smith who placed a franchise tag on him

No worries with paying that fine as this guy will make a cool 9 mil in '09.

Dunta was a 1st round selection out of THE University of South Carolina in 2004.

Full Story HERE

Gamecocks 2010 Football Schedule - Revised

Here is the complete revised 2010 Gamecock football schedule:

Thursday, September 2 vs Southern Miss

Saturday, September 11 vs Georgia

Saturday, September 18 vs Furman

Saturday, September 24 at Auburn

Saturday, October 2 Bye

Saturday, October 9 vs Alabama

Saturday, October 16 at Kentucky

Saturday, October 23 at Vanderbilt

Saturday, October 30 vs Tennessee

Saturday, November 6 vs Arkansas

Saturday, November 13 at Florida

Saturday, November 20 vs Troy

Saturday, November 27 at Clemson


Thoughts or early 2010 predictions anyone??

SEC Week 3 match-ups: who ya pickn'?

Here is the SEC slate for Week 3....So you ya picking out of this mixed bag of peanuts?

South Carolina v Florida Atlantic
Alabama v North Texas
LSU v Louisiana-Lafayette
Ole Miss v Southeastern Louisiana
Kentucky v Louisville
Vanderbilt v Mississippi State
Auburn v West Virginia
Arkansas v Georgia
Florida v Tennessee

Some Gamecocks DYK

Here may be some "DYKs" going into the weekend game...

• USC begin their 75th year of competition at Willy B this Saturday.  It is the 2nd all-time meeting between the schools; SC won the '06 meeting 45-6.
• Only 6 times in school history has the home opener been the 3rd game of the season.  In those previous years, the Gamecocks are 2-1-3 in their 1st game in Columbia.
• The Gamecocks are 6-0 all-time vs opponents from the Sun Belt Conference.
• South Carolina lists 22 players from the state of Florida, more than any other state outside SC.

WTF Southern Miss

I thought that ESPN was suppose to provide us with a game that people will want to watch. We are trading an opening game with UNC for Southern Miss, and we are going to pay them 900,000 bucks. I was hoping for at least another ACC school.

Any thoughts on this gamecock nation?

SEC Power Poll - Week 2 Ballot

1. Florida
Tebow this, Tebow that....next up UT which should be a good test or a good game to kick mud in the opponents face.

2. Alabama
Continue to get the job done with strong D and nice runs.

3. LSU
Could be scary if offense and defense show up for the same game.

4. Ole Miss
Didn't play yet still hype around this team.  Key match up vs USC around the corner and should tell us what this team is all about.

5. Georgia
Win vs USC hushed the UGa faithful and Joe Cox looked comfortable leading the team.  More tests coming though.

6. Auburn
Gene has this team eating their wheaties or something because this can not be the same Auburn we have watched over the years.

7. South Carolina
Tune up coming vs FAU that should allow more experience for this young team.

8. Arkansas
Gets to see what this team is all about versus Georgia.

9. Tennessee
A ugly loss shut Lane and UT fans up quick.  Will there be more?

10. Kentucky
Didn't play which means UK fans had thoughts about basketball.

11. Vanderbilt
Have a "stay out of the SEC cellar" game coming up vs MSU.

12. Mississippi State
Dan just needs time and most likely wants to get this season over with.
So, did I get anything wrong?

LOHD Early Heisman Watch List

Here is the early list of favorites going into week 3 of the college football season for the Heisman , in no particular order ----

Tim Tebow, Florida quarterback
Season: 25 of 39 passing for 425 yards, 5 touchdowns and no interceptions. He also has two rushing touchdowns.

Colt McCoy, Texas quarterback
Season: 51 of 76 passing for 654 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Jahvid Best, California running back
Season: 27 rushes for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns

Max Hall, BYU quarterback
Season: 50 of 70 passing for 638 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

Case Keenum, Houston quarterback
Season: 55 of 76 passing for 725 yards, 7 touchdowns and an interception. He has also rushed for two touchdowns.  He is our darkhorse.

Anybody I am missing?

Former Gamecock Succop scores from 53 yards out

Rookie kicker Ryan Succop made a 53-yard field goal look basic as he as he tried to help his KC Chiefs win this past Sunday.  The Chiefs ended up losing to the Ravens 24-38 but it was a nice debut for Ryan.  This former gamecocks football player is now 8 of 10 field goals (preseason included), but Sunday’s was his longest thus far of his NFL career.

Congrats Ryan.

Volunteers grab two of South Carolina's top players

Tennessee made one of the recruiting coups of the year when two Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes standouts, defensive linemen Brandon Willis and Corey Miller, committed to the Volunteers over the weekend.

How does this happen? How did Carolina fall out of favor? I understand they were a packaged deal, did that hurt USC's chances?

Willis is 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, and could bulk up further to play defensive tackle in college. As a junior, he had 144 tackles, including 13 sacks.

Miller, had been a long-time commitment to Florida State, but it seems the two best friends wanted to go to the same school. The DE is 6-4 and 230 pounds, with 4.69 speed in the 40. He had 105 tackles, with eight sacks and 34 QB hurries as a junior.

So again - how and why did we allow these two to escape us? I guess they did not want to be gamecocks as some kids feel that way - which is hard to believe.

Full Story

10 questions for this week

1.) Does Michigan deserve to be in the top 25 after beating ND?
2.) Who will Lane Kiffin blame the loss to UCLA on, Jonathan Crompton?
3.) Better coach Charlie Weis or Ty Willingham?
4.) After 2 weeks of football, the better conference is ACC or Mountain West?
5.) Rivals top 5 players coming out of high school in 2007 were Jimmy Clausen, Joe McKnight, Eric Berry, Ryan Mallett and Carlos Dunlap. After knowing how each of their careers have gone so far, which player would you take as your first pick to start a program.
6.) Do you consider the Big 12 to be overrated, especially after 2 of their top 3 teams have lost non-conference games in the first 2 weeks of the season.
7.) After watching Michigan beat ND last week, do you think they have a chance of beating OSU and winning the Big 10?
8.) If BYU/TCU/Utah, Boise State, or Cincinnati goes undefeated, do they deserve to play in the National Championship game?
9.) Will Colorado win a game this year?
10.) What would Tim Tebow do if he was Willy Korn?

Georgia - Gamecocks Post Game Comments

This is a video clip courtesy of Capital City Sports on blip.tv.



Garcia - "can't really talk right now, I'm so pissed."

Bad News out of Gamecocks Camp - Pepper Out

Former Greenville High standout Nathan Pepper left the game with 13:46 remaining in the 2nd quarter last night with a sprained ankle.  He is a 5th year senior and bad news is..... he could miss 2-3 weeks. 

This certainly is not good as the interior is already weak with Ladi Ajiboye already on suspension and must serve one more game plus LB Paulk was hurt in the NCSU and out for the year.  Going into the season the middle was not a question mark but now it seems it has become one (MINUS Eric Norwood in this conversation).

I hope Pepper uses a lot of ice and heat this week and gets back for the Ole Miss game.

Wise Words from Akeem Auguste

The gamecocks cornerback - Akeem Auguste - had this to say about losing to the Univeristy of Georgia...

"It hurts. But all we can do now is go back, study the tapes and learn from it."

I hope they do just that with FAU and Ole Miss heading to town very soon.

USC scores most points ever vs Bulldogs

The 37 points scored by the gamecocks were the most ever by a USC team vs Georgia, eclipsing the 34 points scored in a 52-34 loss in 1970.

As the Feather Warrior said on Garnet and Black Attack Blog comments section - if you told me that the gamecocks would score 37 points prior to Saturday night well I would pull a Joe Wilson moment and say "You lie!"

Too bad the 37 points were in a losing effort.

Gamecocks fall short in Athens

My trip to Athens was not a success as I witnessed a very strange game that resulted in a gamecock defeat.  I really thought going into this game that it was Carolina's to lose.  Well, it resulted in just that as the gamecocks drove from their 19 to the UGa 7, but after back to back incomplete passes from Garcia the 'dawgs were able to escape with a 41-37 SEC victory.  We had our chance.....

As I made my way around Athens doing some tailgating and visiting Cutters Pub to get caught up on some scores, most Georgia fans thought the game was going to be a cake walk for Carolina.  But I had to remind them that our team is young and still some lingering questions after a 7-3 win the week before.  Have to admit I thought that the gamecocks played well on offense and played at times good on defense.  The team fought hard after being down 15 points with 9 mins to go in the 3rd quarter.  But moral victories, close games and "almosts" don't count - if they did well Carolina would be national champs most years.  As I wrote in the closing seconds of the game last night via twitter - "being a gamecocks fan is not for those with a weak heart."  That is very true as the game took a few years off my life due to the back and forth plus penalities at the wrong times.

Lots of good things to talk about on offense from the game as moving the ball did not seem to be a problem.  We punted once....  The running game still needs work as it seemed they just could not string together some good plays nor break tackles.  Garcia is the QB of this team.  He showed heart and grew up during this game.  My hat goes off to him and I know he wanted it more than anyone.  He completed 31 of 53 passes with 1 INT, 2 TDs and 313 yds passing.  Oh and he had 10 rushes for 58 yards.  He had over 360 yards total offense compared to UGa with 308 total offense as a team.  Enough said but not enough.

USC Defense looked suspect at times, can not believe I said that.  The offensive coaching staff for UGa did their homework as they made the gamecocks look soft up the middle. At times the defense looked great then on other plays they looked normal.  I hope I don't see that ever again and hope Ellis can figure all thsi out very soon. Granted, they stepped up big (i.e. Norwood INT) but some moments they looked average with poor tackling and bad coverages.  I hope they learn from this and step up the rest of the season or should I say remain stepped up.

Not sure if Spurrier threw his visor but I almost threw my visor off the upper deck each dang time there was a stupid penalty called on USC that took away a good play.  USC had 11 penalties!  I hope to never bear witness to that crap.  Come on - we can and should do better than that.  But I also know the game from section 603 was poorly called by the Refs.  I say that but don't think I blame them for the loss.  I am just saying that there was a lot of yellow flags flying on both sides at bad times but then again there were lots of "no calls" which pissed me off more.

The game as a whole was good to watch and the gamecocks looked a lot better than they did to close out 2008 and last week vs NCSU.  But we lost.  Next up is FAU, who should be a good tune-up game but do not look past them.

Positives
---Spencer Lanning is a fine kicker as he went 5-5 for FGs but needs to work just a bit on getting more height on the extra points.
---Dion LeCorn made his '09 debut
---Garcia can lead this team
---Saunders, Gurley and Barnes are good targets for Garcia
--- D Stewart had 11 tackles
--- Eric Norwood is a beast

Negatives
---Special teams kickoff coverage needs to work a little harder on tackling and playing the lanes.  Giving up the 100yd kickoff TD hurt a bit and I know we can do better.
---USC in the 'Red Zone' - gotta get TDs in the future.
---Improve the O line
--- Stop with the penalties
--- On 3rd downs Carolina was 6 of 17

{photo credit - Gerry Melendez of thestate.com}