This post continues our series previewing the Capital One Bowl. Today, we're talking about Nebraska's offense.

The current iteration of Nebraska is not known for its offensive prowess. Bo Pelini is a defense-minded coach, and his Nebraska teams have generally featured amazing defenses, while his offenses have featured conservative approaches designed to make sure the defense wasn't placed in a bad position more so than to put big numbers up on the scoreboard. Nebraska has generally liked to run, run, run, with the passing game only making intermittent appearances each game. That has remained true this year, despite a change in offensive coordinators after Pelini replaced the former offensive coordinator with former positions assistant Tim Beck. You can expect Nebraska to give us some different option looks as its base set. Accordingly, the Huskers have one of the nation's best rushing attacks, but it lacks a passing game and, overall, is a fairly average, good-but-not-great unit that ranks 59th in total offense and 43rd in scoring offense.

The key player to watch is QB Taylor Martinez. The sophomore QB has had an up-and-down young career. He was one of the nation's most prolific QBs early in the 2010 season, gaining lots of yards on the ground and throwing the ball efficiently. However, an ankle injury slowed him down towards the end of the year, and he's had trouble returning to that form. However, he proved again this year that when he's at his best, he can be very good. For instance, against Ohio St., he racked up a 160+ passer rating while also running for over 100 yards. The guy is nasty when he's on his game, but that doesn't happen every game, and at times his throwing can be very erratic. The other key piece is RB Rex Burkhead. A stocky, tough runner, Burkhead has rushed for over 1200 yards on the year and has often been counted upon to carry the team in tough situations.

How will the Gamecocks match up against this team? Of our 2011 SEC opponents, I'd say that Nebraska most resembles Miss. St. in terms of offensive approach. Both teams feature mobile QBs, good power runners, and option-minded offenses. Of course, Nebraska does its thing better than Miss. St. did this year, which is part of the reason the Huskers are 9-3 and the Bulldogs are 6-6. However, the Gamecocks matched up well against Miss. St., giving up some good runs to Vic Ballard but, generally, slowing down the Bulldogs fairly well. Since that game, our defensive play has generally improved, particularly in the linebacking corps. We'll come into the bowl game healthy, moreover. That should all equal a fairly positive defensive performance from the Gamecocks.

After South Carolina defeated Georgia in Athens and compiled a better MOV over the rest of the East only to see the Dawgs back into a division championship thanks to an easier West schedule, many Carolina fans have been paying almost as much attention to the Dawgs' new schedule as our own. Details have begun to leak out that are apparently favorable for the Athenians.

There are rumors that, despite protest out of Columbia, the SEC has complied with Georgia's request to move the Carolina game back towards the middle of the SEC schedule. Gentry Estes of Dawgs247 is now reporting that Georgia will likely lose their previously scheduled 2012 trip to Alabama (premium content), while keeping their return trip from Ole Miss. In contrast, there are rumors floating around that Carolina will lose our scheduled return trip from Mississippi State, while picking up a game in Baton Rouge at LSU.

South Carolina fans are understandably incensed that the Dawgs, fresh off the easiest SEC schedule in modern memory, somehow managed to twist the expansion process to produce an even easier schedule in 2012.

However, it is important to remember that 2012 represents merely a stopgap schedule. Everyone involved in expansion concedes that the SEC is likely to further alter the schedules to a more permanent solution in 2013. What has not been widely reported is that this process is further along than anyone at the SEC office has previously acknowledged. While the conference tries to accommodate the concerns of all schools, there have been inevitable conflicts. Understandably, the founding members often have a bit more pull and favors to call upon in those situations. Though this is subject to minor tweaks as circumstances warrant*, Garnet & Black Attack is pleased to offer an exclusive sneak peak at the University of Georgia's 2013 schedule.

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I probably should begin this post on a positive note. After all, the Gamecocks won. And won convincingly. They played smothering defense, both under the rim and full-court - once even forcing Southeast Louisiana into a rare 10 second back-court violation. The Cocks also forced the Lions into 25 turnovers and were successful in drawing charges over and over against SELA.

The Gamecocks also owned the glass through most of the game- pulling down 30 rebounds, including 14 offensive boards (in fairness, SELA had 28 total rebounds and 10 offensive boards, but (a) they are a good rebounding club to begin with and (b) most of those were in the second half when the game was no longer in doubt).

As Coach Horn said, rebounding and strong defense were "focus goals" - so we should be happy with that. But I still cannot escape my unease about the problem areas we do not seem to be fixing.

First and foremost, is poor shooting. Last night it was 20 for 55 from the floor (36.4%) and 6-18 (33.3%) from three point range. We seem to do well on rollers and short jumpers, but we constantly force poor three-pointers, or - more puzzling - miss wide open shots from the arc. At the beginning of the second half, we hit about three tres in a row - a sign of progress you might ask? An opportunity to force SELA to pay more attention to perimeter defense, so we can feed the ball inside to our post men? Nope - neither. We went back to form - launching long clangers from the arc. Even worse, we cannot seem to buy an offensive put-back when we need it. Possession after possession you would see a Gamecock grab a strong offensive rebound, then flail on what would look like an easy lay-in or jumper. It's really inexplicable. It's like we're leaving 20 points on the floor - literally - every game. We're 11th in the SEC in scoring percentage for a reason.

Second, is the mystifying way we we never seem to get transition buckets. For a team that plays such stout D and prides itself on elongating the floor, we never seem to get two-on-ones or three-on-ones. Is it inexperienced guard play? Do we lack a killer instinct? Why does it seem like our opponents always get numbers? I cannot figure it out.

Third, we really need to be developing Carlton Geathers. Besides Malik Cooke, he is the only guy with the big body to play the low post and he seems clutch at the stripe. But he only got 11 minutes last night. Cooke is an excellent F, but you don't see many teams feeling it necessary to doubleteam him, either. We have to be able to get big when SEC play starts, and I don't see this happening.

Sorry to be so negative. There are definite bright spots. Though he didn't have a strong game last night (1-7 in 21 minutes, 1 assist, 2 rebounds, 2 points), we can see from the Ohio State game Bruce Ellington is regaining his form as a team leader and play creator. Anthony Gill continues to show flashes of brilliance - a slashing drive to the bucket early in the second half was a portent of things to come. Last night's SportsSouth color commentator Mike Gminski was highlighting Gill's upside and good play all night, and correctly pointed out that Gill was learning to avoid early foul trouble so he could play more assertive defense in the late first and second halves. High praise indeed from a guy like Gminski. Gill had 14 points. So did Malik Cooke who continues to be the workhorse of the team. Damien Leonard has a nice game with 8 points and 3-6 from the floor in 14 minutes. That being said, it seemed like Damontre Harris and R.J. Slawson would disappear when it came time to shoot - both had more boards than points. That has to change (see point number 1 above).

Not to be a broken record, but the Athletic Department and Coach Horn must do something to drive up attendance. It's a shame that we can't get 10,000 fans in the seats to watch an exciting, young USC team win, lose or draw - but we're not. I know it's Christmas time, but this is more than just about students. Something has to be done about attendance immediately.

Good morning Gamecock Nation!

Clowney-Whitlock Promotion Poster

Post & Courier: USC taking look at potential problem poster. Darryl Slater's article.

GoGamecocks.com: Photos of Clowney, Whitlock on party poster. Josh Kendall's article. Free content.

Sports Talk Radio Network: More on the party promotion flier business.

Rock Hill Herald: Here is the report from the hometown paper.

LOHD: Flounder's take. .

Gamecock Basketball

Post & Courier: Gamecocks cruise heading into break. Darryl Slater reports on USC 62 SELA 43.

The State: Chris Dearing writes Gamecocks start fast, cruise to win against Lions.

Gamecock Central: Some photos from last night's game for your viewing pleasure. . Free content.

Check out Football Links after The Break!

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The Gamecocks' 2011 season has been a remarkable one for myriad reasons, one of which may have been - in the humble opinion of this stats nerd - a bit overlooked: Steve Spurrier has attempted 28 fourth down conversions and has successfully converted those opportunities 71% of the time.

When the team's offensive production reached its nadir in early October, the fan base was thoroughly confused as to why an offense returning multiple All-America selections from an unprecedentedly successful 2010 season was among the worst in the SEC. A popular phrase being bandied about by many was that "the SEC has caught up to Spurrier's offense." There seemed to be a commonly held view of Spurrier as a stubborn, egomaniacal coach who was unwilling to admit that his offense no longer worked.

But ever since the Head Ball Coach came to Columbia there have been several indications that the "Spurrier offense" is very much a moving target. His increasing reliance upon the read option rushing attack that Shawn Elliot brought from Appalachian State is dramatic evidence of this fact. Heck, we've even seen Spurrier call a handful of traditional option pitches in critical situations this season - a notion at which I would have laughed hysterically a decade or so ago.

I can't go too deeply into the details of how his offensive scheme has adapted to remain competitive in the modern college football landscape (largely because my own playing career ended when I realized that trying out for the team at Northside Middle School was a thought that consumed me with crippling anxiety). But as it turns out, I love making graphs and spreadsheets and stuff, so look at this one:

In 2011, Steve Spurrier not only went for it on fourth down at an extremely high clip (only 6 teams tried it more often), but he also enjoyed his greatest conversion rate (9th among teams who went for it on 4th ten or more times). I don't know if this is random confluence events or an intentional strategy intended to maximize his offense's production, but it is an encouraging sign that he's willing to find creative ways to help his team win ball games.

It is interesting to note that Spurrier was going for it just as frequently before Marcus Lattimore went down for the season as after. So I'm not really sure what it was that brought this on, especially considering the steep drop-off in 2010. My secret hope is that he's been exposed to the research that definitively shows that coaches should be going for it more often on fourth and short.

Whatever the impetus, I hope he keeps doing it. Spurrier's willingness to be aggressive on fourth down is one of my favorite things about having him as our head coach.

Congratulations to head coach Dawn Staley and the Lady Gamecocks, who romped over MEAC opponent Savannah State 65-39 - holding their seventh opponent under 50. The Lady Gamecocks broke the game open on a 17-5 first half run. Gamecocksonline, the University's official athletic website, has a game summary with video interviews.

USC freshman sensation Aleighsa Welsh led all scorers for her second game - coming off the bench to score 15 points in 13 minutes, and shooting a torrid 5-6 from the floor and 5-6 from the charity stripe, not to mention her five rebounds (2 offensive). Senior guard La'Keisha Sutton didn't have her best day (2 pts, 1-6, 3 rebounds), but junior guards Ieasia Walker and Sancheon White poured in 11 and 10, respectively.

The Lady Gamecocks are 10-2 on the season. Right now, we're in the "others receiving votes" pool in both the AP Top 25 and ESPN / USA Today polls, but if we keep this up we should crack the top 25 soon.

Not much in the pail today, folks. Got to get that last-minute shopping done!

Gamecock Football

Gogamecocks.com: No bowl for Ellis Johnson. Maybe it's just me but I don't see this as a big deal - let Whammy get his shot. Free content.

Darryl Slater: Johnson takes Southern Miss job.

Bleacher Report: South Carolina Football: 10 Gifts the Gamecocks Hope to Find Under the Tree.

Kornblut: On the recruiting front - Diggs hears from USC Tuesday. Shoring up one of the most important guys left on our recruiting board.

Gamecock Basketball

Gamecocksonline.com: Gamecocks Host Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday.

Gogamecocks.com: Men's pregame: USC vs. SE Louisiana. Free article.

Lady Gamecock Basketball

The Trentonian: Great story on La’Keisha Sutton from her hometown paper.

Loose Feed

Cocky Country: Gamecocks Gift Giving Guide .

As you've probably seen, the NCAA did not accept Ohio St.'s self-imposed penalties and, instead, gave the Buckeyes a one-year bowl ban and increased scholarship penalties. Will that happen to USC?

IMO, it won't. You're going to hear some people say that USC may get worse penalties than OSU because the dollar-value of USC's indiscretions are greater than those of OSU. However, in addition to being a somewhat faulty consideration because USC's players paid back much of the money owed, this is probably not the factor to focus on here. It's widely thought that what got OSU it's penalties is the fact that, as the above-referenced ESPN article and other sources suggest, it was the intentional coverup staged by the school's head coach. Despite its many inconsistencies, the NCAA has been fairly on point about one thing: schools that commit infractions and knowingly cover them up without sitting ineligible players are going to get hammered. That's exactly what happened with OSU.

South Carolina, on the other hand, has been extremely cooperative with NCAA investigators. Unless there's a paper trail we don't know about, USC has done the right thing ever since it learned about the potential infractions, sitting players like Weslye Saunders, Chris Culliver, and Damiere Byrd. This isn't to say that we're absolutely out of the woods. We do have the dreaded repeat-offender tag, which is oftentimes also motivation for increased sanctions. That said, I really think South Carolina fans should feel relatively safe here.

The Gamecocks meet the Southeast Louisiana Lions of Hammond Louisiana tonight at the Colonial Life Arena at 7:00 p.m. The game should be carried on television by SportsSouth, and also streaming on ESPN3 (subject to blackout).

The Lions of the Southland Conference are coached by Jim Yarborough, who is currently in his sixth season. Yarborough - a former College of Charleston assistant - has had a decent run in Hammond in replacement of Billy Kennedy (who took the head coaching job at Texas A&M in 2005 after the Lions made the NCAA's). SELA is currently 5-4 on the year. They dropped their opener to Tulsa but have played tough in their other early season match-ups, including a five point loss at Western Kentucky after Thanksgiving, and three back-to-back OT games against Louisiana Tech, Southeast Missouri and Southern at the beginning of the month (going 2-1 in that stretch). Most recently, they played Arkansas at the Bud Walton Arena, losing by only seven - 62-55.

Lion's guard and team leader Brandon Fortenberry, a preseason all-league first team selection, hurt his foot during practice earlier this month, and it's unclear if that injury will limit him. We can expect strong play from senior 6'4" G/F DeShawn Patterson and junior 6'6" F Roosevelt Johnson . Sophomore guard Jeremy Campbell can also score, and the Lions can count on upper-classmen depth from senior F Elgin Bailey and junior Guard Darrin Populist - both of whom scored double-digits against the Hogs.

It's going to be a good match-up tonight. The Cocks were in the game against Ohio State until the waning minutes - a couple of key three-point misses late against OSU could have tipped the balance in favor of South Carolina - this is definitely a much better squad than the one that dropped to Elon and Tennessee State. The Cocks' aggressive defense should create turn-overs, but the Lions are also known for their strong perimeter defense and they have more upperclassmen veterans on their roster - which can pay big dividends. The Lions have also played their share of close games, but I look forward to big performances from USC's Malik Cooke, Bruce Ellington and Anthony Gill to carry Carolina to victory.

We can hope for decent crowd support, but I'm not holding my breath either. The lack of fan turn-out continues to be our biggest Achilles Heel.

Prediction - USC 71, SELA 61.

The out-of-conference regular season has not been kind to the SEC. In the fall, there had been chatter that the league might be the second most powerful basketball conference, but outside the top three squads, there really hasn't been much to crow about.

Upper Division

1. Kentucky. The Wildcats are 10-1 and currently number 3 in both polls. After the last second loss to Indiana in Bloomington, the 'Cats have come back to maul UT Chattanooga and Samford by scores of 87-62 and 82-50. They next play Loyola-Maryland and Lamar before facing their in-state, arch-rival Louisville Cardinals (#4) on New Year's Eve. Expect the fur and feathers to fly when Rick Pitino and John Calipari clash.

2. Florida. The Gators (8-3) find themselves number 11 in both polls and riding a four game winning streak since they dropped to Syracuse back on December 2. Not only did they crush future SEC member Texas A&M 84-64 on Saturday, they also mauled Mississippi Valley State yesterday 82-54 (yeah - the same ones we beat by four points 61-57). Billy Donovan's squad next meets the FSU Seminoles on Thursday.

3. Mississippi State. Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs (11-1) earned their tenth straight victory on Saturday over Detroit and are currently ranked 18th in the AP and 17th in the ESPN / USA Today Poll. They will likely notch their eleventh consecutive win tomorrow when they host cupcake Northwestern State - but the Dogs' biggest test comes right after Christmas (12.28.11) against current # 7 Baylor in a must-win game for SEC pride.

4. Vanderbilt. The Commodores (7-4) haven't played well enough to deserve a # 4 power-ranking, but then no other SEC squad below them has stepped up to take their place, either; they still would likely beat Ole Miss and Bama. ESPN's Andy Katz says Vandy has the talent to be a top three team, which is debatable, but the 'Dores have lost three home games so far - which was something no one could have foreseen. True, two were heart-breaking OT losses to Big East powers # 11 Xavier and # 6 Louisville (made worse by having held second-half leads on both), but dropping to Indiana State at Memorial is inexcusable. A 99-71 thrashing of Longwood was a tonic, but the prognosis on this team depends on whether 6'11" C Festus Ezeli can heal from his nagging knee injury and return to the hardwood. Stat.

5. Mississippi. The Rebels dropped a close one to in-state Southern Miss at Hattiesburg (86-82), but with solid front court play and a respectable 9-2 record, Ole Miss is still an upper division team, and slightly more deserving than slumping Bama. Irmo, South Carolina native and ersatz-Gamecock Murphy Holloway continues to play well, averaging almost a double-double per game - 10.5 ppg and 9.3 rbg on the season, so far. I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach at the moment.

6. Alabama. December has been a cruel month to the 8-3 Tide - beginning with a buzzer-beater loss to Georgetown at home, followed by home drubbings by Dayton and Kansas State, with only a victory over lowly Detroit in between. It looks like this young Bama squad has lost its early shooting confidence, but the Crimson Tide are still 8-3 and can find their stroke again against a Big 6 opponent Oklahoma State tonight at a "neutral" site in Birmingham. Bama really needs this win to keep their RPI up for March consideration

Lower division rankings after The Jump. Yes - that includes USC.

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