Reviewing South Carolina at Georgia: Stepping Back from the Ledge and Trying to Find Some Positives
by Gamecock Man on Sep 13, 2009 12:51 PM EDT
in South Carolina Gamecocks Football
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PrintA little personal disclosure: I really don't think I've ever felt as dejected after a loss as I did last night. That's saying something, because we've lost a lot of games like this over the past few years. This one, though, really stung, probably because I was 100% positive that we were going to win when we got into the red zone on the final drive. UGA's defense was spent, Spurrier was dialing up some good plays, Garcia was making throws; everything seemed to be going well for us. Then the drive stalled and we lost. It was, needless to say, tough to stomach.
The fact that we not only could have but absolutely should have won this game made matters worse upon further reflection. In saying that, I'm not trying to take anything away from Georgia. The 'Dawgs played a good, gritty game and made the plays they needed to make to win. However, if we could have put the brakes on one of the handful of big plays they made, we win. If we could have scored a touchdown one of the several times we settled for a field goal, we win. If we don't commit stupid penalties and have touchdowns called back, we win. If we don't give up a blocked extra point, we win. In short, this game was there for the taking, and we didn't take it. It's tough to think about. A quick look at the box score will show you that we beat Georgia in every aspect of the game other than special teams and the one stat that counts, the scoreboard.
All of that said, this is young team, and we knew that there were going to be some losses this year. In this loss, though, we did see some positives develop. First of all and needless to say, Stephen Garcia played a very good game. I saw that he had improved from last year during the N. C. State game, but today we began to see what this guy is really capable of. Other than the interception, he made good decisions all night and, for the most part, he threw the ball well. His timing on deep balls is still a little off, but hopefully that will come around, especially if one of our receivers steps up. I came away from this game believing that Garcia is going to have a great career here.
Continue reading after the jump.
Second of all, this offensive line is night and day better than the last two years. If they continue to grow under Coach Wolford, the combination of great pass protection and Garcia's wheels are going to mean a lot less sacks and tunovers than we used to see. That should equal wins. You have to say, too, that Garcia seems confident in this line, even more so than he did last week against the Wolfpack. He didn't take off unless he had too. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much more of what this line can do for the run, as we abondoned the ground game while we were playing catch up in the second half. Expect to get a better glimpse of that next week against FAU.
As far as the defense goes, I'm not really sure what to think. On the one hand, I really thought we would be able to get some pressure on Cox and the big plays our secondary gave up hurt us. It was disappointing to see us fail in those regards. On the other hand, we were without two starting defensive tackles last night, both of whom should be back for Ole Miss. Having them will help us shore up the pass rush and run defense. Moreover, you have to give credit where credit is due on some of the long catches. A. J. Green is one of the best receivers in the country and made some highlight reel grabs last night. It's hard to stop a guy like that, especially for our young secondary. They'll be OK, I think, although they may need some time to grow.
All in all, it's hard to know what this game means in the grand scheme of things. I don't know how good Georgia really is, so it's hard to know how good the Gamecocks really are right now. However, I can say with confidence that if our offense continues to play like it did last night, this team will be dangerous. If that happens and the defense comes back around, this team can win any game on the schedule. We're now 1-1 after a tough pair of road games. Let's tune up this week against FAU and then take out Ole Miss the next week. If we do that, every reasonable goal for this season will be in reach.
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How good is Georgia's front seven?
I would put them definitely behind Florida and Alabama on our schedule, but that’s about it. Other than Julio Jones, we won’t see another WR like A.J. Green either.
I was sick last night too, and stayed up way too late thinking and talking about the game, but if we can outplay a desperate Georgia between the hedges, we can play with anybody left on the schedule. There are only two games that should be tougher than that one.
I also think we got the answer to, “Is it better for Georgia to win or lose at Oklahoma State?” They were desperate last night. They played with incredible intensity and all seemed to have worked hard to correct their Game 1 mistakes. I sure wish they would have come in fat and happy off a win.
by GwinnettGamecock on Sep 13, 2009 2:31 PM EDT reply actions
Agreed.
Playing at Athens is always tough, and I think we may have gotten this Georgia team’s best game last night. However, we stayed with them and almost pulled it out. Like you say, I think we beat all remaining opponents other than Alabama and Florida if we play like we did last night. And an upset over the Tide or Gators isn’t out of the question if a few things go our way. This team just seems to have a different feel about it than last year—we may have lost another close one to UGA, but we’re not coughing up turnover after turnover anymore, the team seems to be playing extremely hard, and Spurrier seems more fired up. I have a feeling that we will see this team do some good things this year.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Sep 13, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Positive play
I take away more positives than negatives from last night. This hasn’t always been the case with recent teams. The thing now is to take the same energy and drive from this game into the Florida Atlantic game.
I also have a better feeling about this years team. They should feel good about their chances and progress.
Y'all have nothing to hang your heads about
Stephen Garcia proved last night why Steve Spurrier was right to stick with him through all of his past shenanigans; had any other South Carolina quarterback of the Spurrier era been lining up in the Gamecock backfield last night, it wouldn’t have been close. Garcia extended plays, squirted out of danger when a sack seemed inevitable, and found the seams. He played great, and you ought to find that very encouraging.
In a podcast interview with cocknfire before the season started, I predicted that Georgia would start 1-1; either the Bulldogs would win in Stillwater, be jacked up over the big victory, and (much as Georgia did after beating Oklahoma State in 2007, or as Oklahoma State did in yesterday’s game against Houston) lose the next one, or Georgia would lose on the road, have its back against the wall, and get the win against South Carolina. The latter is what happened.
As I indicated in a comment over at Team Speed Kills, there are plenty of Georgia-South Carolina games that ought to cause a Gamecock fan to wonder, "What if?" This was not one of them.
This time, the "What if?"s more than balanced out for both teams. What if Rod Battle had not been hurt . . . what if Justin Houston had not been suspended . . . what if Branden Smith had downed the kickoff in the end zone instead of bringing it out . . . what if Joe Cox hadn’t telegraphed his throw by locking onto the receiver on the interception . . . what if Stephen Garcia hadn’t had the game of his life . . . what if Spencer Lanning hadn’t had the game of his life . . . what if the fake punt hadn’t worked . . . what if the long snapper hadn’t sent the ball over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone . . . what if Georgia had only turned the ball over twice as often as South Carolina . . . what if South Carolina had had only an eight-minute time of possession advantage . . . what if Georgia had had more rushing yards than penalty yards . . . what if Georgia’s offensive production had been even close to South Carolina’s?
Yes, you can list very nearly as many "What if?"s going the other way, but there were several points in this ball game where it easily could have gotten completely away from the Gamecocks. Without a couple or three unforced Georgia errors, this game wouldn’t have been close. If the stat sheet had been even close to balanced, it would have been a runaway for the home team. It is to South Carolina’s considerable credit that the Gamecocks hung around after it threatened to get away from them and, for once, took advantage of every bit as many Bulldog miscues as Georgia took advantage of South Carolina mistakes.
When you score (quite literally) more points on a longtime rival than you have ever before scored in your history, and you still lose, you have nothing to hang your head about or second-guess. The better team won and it reflects extremely well on Steve Spurrier’s squad that the visitors made a real game of it. You should feel proud of this game, not dejected. Good luck the rest of the season.
Go 'Dawgs!
A lot of good points...
Not sure if this is as sure a case of the better team winning as it often is in this series, but still, you’re right that it was a good performance that we should be able to build on. The key now is actually doing that.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Sep 14, 2009 9:30 AM EDT up reply actions
I made this comment at Kyle's site with a little venom there, but I'll lighten it here for the home crowd
I certainly appreciate how crushing it is to lose like that, and Kyle in the comments here makes the excellent “What if’s” point. Gamecock Man, we’ve discussed many times here about this rivalry and how big it is to me as I come from Augusta, but like Kyle says above:
Yes, you can list very nearly as many “What if?”s going the other way, but there were several points in this ball game where it easily could have gotten completely away from the Gamecocks. Without a couple or three unforced Georgia errors, this game wouldn’t have been close.
Garcia played the game of his life and I said as much to any Gamecock fan after the game. I was highly impressed with him, no doubt. And say what you will about Spurrier and the game passing him by or whatever, but he is still the single best playcaller I’ve ever seen and proved it again on Saturday.
I had one Gamecock fan that sat in my section refuse my handshake and well wishes after I made a similar comment about how great Garcia was and even stooped to saying the refs screwed Carolina and that Georgia was doomed to 6-6 without zebra assistance. It was at this point that I had to remind this man the orifice he represented and that if the Georgia special teams and offense don’t spot South Carolina 17 points early in the 1st half, Georgia is possibly up by 32 points in the 3rd quarter rather than 15. It is a testament to this Gamecock ballclub that they damn near won that game and it shouldn’t be cheapened by lessening the performance of the Dawgs (not impying that you’re doing that here, but that’s the gist I’m getting through the intertubes from other Gamecock fans). All in all, this was the best Georgia/Carolina game I’ve ever attended (I’ve been to every one since Quincy’s meltdown in Columbia in 2000) and was the 2nd best game I’ve ever attended in Sanford Stadium. I think from both sides we can appreciate what it was (a great hard-played game) and not lessen it with cheap comments about how the woulda’s, coulda’s, and shoulda’s impacted the game.
http://hobnailboot.wordpress.com/
I'm sorry that the Carolina fan was rude to you. He was an asshole.
However, I should say that I’m not trying to cheapen the game with the “what ifs.” I’m just saying it was hard to take the loss the way we did. Please don’t even begin to tell me that you and the rest of Bulldog Nation wouldn’t be doing the same thing if we score that final touchdown. Some of the comments I’ve seen from ‘Dawgs around the net are already complaining that you didn’t win by enough.
As you say, it was certainly a fantastic game and, moreover, I think there was a silver lining for Carolina in it. Garcia is emerging and that should only mean good things for Spurrier, who has been waiting for a competent quarterback since he got here. This post was as much about trying to find that silver lining as it was about bemoaning the outcome. Moreover, as I said in the post, Georgia gets credit for the win. You did what you had to do and that’s that. You were the better team that night. Good luck with the rest of your season.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Sep 14, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Fair points as well
I hope if there were any Georgia fans gloating to you afterwards you dispatched them with similar comments. I get what you’re saying and I should probably step back and think about how it would have felt if the shoe were on the other foot. Granted, when I say this,
All in all, this was the best Georgia/Carolina game I’ve ever attended (I’ve been to every one since Quincy’s meltdown in Columbia in 2000) and was the 2nd best game I’ve ever attended in Sanford Stadium.
, you’ve got to know that I consider the best game I’ve ever seen in Sanford Stadium the 2005 UGA/Auburn game which was a loss. Granted, it took a few years for me to come to that conclusion so I can sympathize with the post-game frustrations.
As you say, you’ve got Garcia to look forward to as he took a step forward that I don’t think anyone saw coming if they watched the Outback Bowl last year. Carolina is going to be a tough team to beat if they can get that kind of performance out of him the rest of the year. Now go out there and beat Florida since we won’t do it.
http://hobnailboot.wordpress.com/
Right now, the loss still hurts like hell, and that's got us playing the guessing game...
However, hopefully we’ll look back at this game at the end of the year and see that Garcia grew up and became our leader. There’s a lot to look forward to from here on out.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Sep 14, 2009 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions
I can certainly appreciate
your gracious attitude in victory. I’ll say that as I was leaving Sanford Stadium, not one UGA fan said a word to my friends or me (save for a about 3 or so snotty remarks from co-eds – I think Georgia may have the most ill-mannered female fans of any SEC school). I think anyone who knows anything about football knew that UGA was lucky to preserve that win.
However, I also must admit that I bristle a little bit when I hear a UGA fan claim that the “What if?”s for UGA clearly outnumbered those for USC. Your litany of “What if?”s ran thusly:
What if Rod Battle had not been hurt . . . what if Justin Houston had not been suspended . . . what if Branden Smith had downed the kickoff in the end zone instead of bringing it out . . . what if Joe Cox hadn’t telegraphed his throw by locking onto the receiver on the interception . . . what if Stephen Garcia hadn’t had the game of his life . . . what if Spencer Lanning hadn’t had the game of his life . . . what if the fake punt hadn’t worked . . . what if the long snapper hadn’t sent the ball over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone . . . what if Georgia had only turned the ball over twice as often as South Carolina . . . what if South Carolina had had only an eight-minute time of possession advantage . . . what if Georgia had had more rushing yards than penalty yards . . . what if Georgia’s offensive production had been even close to South Carolina’s?
These, with the possible exception of the long snapper sending the ball over the punter’s head, are not examples of the kind of scratch-your-head, rip-your-heart-out moments that characterize true “What if?”s. For every UGA “if” tit, there is a USC “if” tat. We had our share of suspensions, telegraphed passes and the like. For you to even suggest “What if South Carolina had only had an 8 minute time of possesion advantage,” illustrates that UGA fans are not true connoisseurs of the enigmatc “What if” as are Carolina fans. That’s almost akin to my saying, “What if South Carolina consistenly had a more talented team than UGA?” A true what if goes something like this: “What is Spencer Lanning had made his easiest kick of the nights?” Or perhaps,“What if Tori Gurley had not had two touchdowns called back?” Or better still, “What if our kick return unit hadn’t inexplicably taken the night off?” These are the type of “What if?”s that Carolina fans could list ad naseum from almost every UGA game going back from here to eternity. I don’t seem to recall ever hearing about the SEC commissioner calling UGA to apologize for ten missed holding calls in one game.
But I can’t fault you too much for your inexperience in what-ifery. UGA fans count their heart-breaking losses by the decade (“Remember that one time when we didn’t win 10 games in one season?”). South Carolina fans count our heart-breaking losses by the season – sometimes even on two hands. When the losing team leads the victor in first downs, total yards, passing yards, rushing yards, and turnovers, I’d say that at the absolute very least, it is debatable as to whether the better team truly won.
And please don’t mistake my remarks as disparaging in any way. There is a reason UGA won on Saturday night, having much to do with the great tradition, passion, and talent that surrounds that football program. I am sincere in saying that I appreciate your graciousness and your praise for my team. However, please do not insist that lady luck favored the Gamecocks over the Bulldogs on Saturday night. You got the victory, let me have my “What if?”s.
Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina
by The Feathered Warrior on Sep 14, 2009 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Exactly.
While a few plays could have gone the other way in UGA’s favor, let’s not downplay the fact that USC outperformed Georgia in most of the statistical categories that usually predict the outcome of a game. This isn’t to say that UGA didn’t deserve to win; they had clutch special teams and red-zone defense performances that helped them win. But let’s also not talk about this game as if it should have been an UGA blowout victory. The stats just don’t bear that out.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Sep 14, 2009 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions
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