Reviewing the 2011 South Carolina Gamecocks
by Husker Mike on Dec 29, 2011 6:00 AM CST
in 2011 Nebraska Huskers Football
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PrintNobody was really surprised when senior quarterback Stephen Garcia finally was kicked off the squad in October. What was surprising was that Garcia had been demoted to backup status in favor of sophomore Connor Shaw. Put away any expectations that Shaw is another Danny Wuerffel; he's a dual threat quarterback who's had double-digit carries in each game since October. He's rushed 116 times for 483 yards and seven touchdowns this season, including a 107 yard performance to close out the season against Clemson. Spurrier's "fun-and-gun" is history; in fact, the Gamecocks look more like 2011 Nebraska than 1995 Florida on offense. It's a run-first offense with the option in the mix, and that's caused major problems for the Blackshirts all season.
Shaw is also a decent passer as well, completing over 65% of his passes this season for 1,218 yards and 12 touchdowns with only six interceptions in 171 attempts. Shaw's backups haven't played much this season; sophomore Andrew Clifford and freshman Dylan Thompson are each 2 for 2 passing this season, and have a combined four rushing attempts.
Star running back Marcus Lattimore's season ended in the seventh game with a knee injury; he was having a stellar season, rushing for 818 yards and 10 touchdowns. His replacement, Brandon Wilds has rushed for 486 yards and three touchdowns this season. In his five starts, he's averaged 82 yards a game with three games over 100 yards. But against Clemson, Wilds was pulled in favor of Kenny Miles, who rushed for 71 yards and did a better job on pass protection. Miles is expected to start the Capital One Bowl, as Wilds pulled a hamstring last week.
Junior Alson Jeffrey was an all-American last season, catching 88 passes for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns last season. This season, Jeffrey has "only" caught 45 passes for 614 yards and seven touchdowns. Jeffrey's still considered to be headed to the NFL after this season, and is projected to be a first round draft pick. Jeffrey broke a bone in his left hand in the Clemson game, but is still expected to play in the Capital One Bowl. He's been adept at making one-handed catches, which could become even more important now. Sophomore Ace Sanders caught 26 passes for 338 yards, which is second on the team this season. He's also the Gamecocks leading punt returner. A 68 yard punt return in the season opener skewed his statistics; he's averaged only five yards a return since.
The South Carolina offensive line has had some issues with pass protection since senior left tackle Kyle Nunn's season ended after just four games due to blood clots in his leg. With Nunn on the field, opposing defenses had four sacks in those four games; since then, 22 sacks in eight games. The lack of pass protection has been a key reason why the Gamecocks haven't been able to get the ball to Jeffrey more this season. Last week, Spurrier indicated that Nunn might be able to play in the bowl game, which would be a huge boost to the Gamecocks offensive line.
South Carolina's strength in the latter parts of the season has been defense. The Gamecocks rank fourth nationally in total defense at 269 yards per game, and thirteenth in scoring defense with 18.83 points per game. Those statistics are even more impressive when you consider that the Gamecocks weren't very good in the first three games. They gave up 37 points to East Carolina, 42 to Georgia, and 21 to Navy. After that, only Arkansas scored more than 20 points against the Gamecocks, with Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Tennessee being limited to just a field goal.
It all starts up front for the Gamecocks with defensive ends Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney. Ingram, a senior, earned all-American honors with 13 tackles for loss, two interceptions, and fumble recovery. He scored three touchdowns this season, including a 68 yard touchdown run on a fake punt against Georgia. Clowney, a true freshman all-American, only started one game, but tallied 10 tackles for loss and forced five fumbles. The combination of senior Travian Robertson and freshman Kelcy Quarles has been imposing on the interior. With this defensive line, the Husker offensive line has their work cut out for them. If there is a sign of optimism, the Gamecocks only rank 44th in the nation in rush defense, giving up 136 yards a game. It's in pass defense where the Gamecocks really shine, ranking second in pass defense and pass efficiency defense.
The Gamecocks base defense is a 4-2-5, and linebackers Rodney Paulk and Shaq Wilson rank third and fourth on the team with 52 and 50 tackles this season respectively. The secondary is led by second team all-American Antonio Allen, who led the Gamecocks with 81 tackles (8.5 for a loss). He also forced four fumbles and intercepted three passes this season. Safety D.J. Swearinger added 73 tackles, while cornerback C.C. Whitlock added three interceptions.
Last week, assistant head coach for defense Ellis Johnson left the Gamecocks to take over as the head coach of Southern Miss. Taking over the defensive game planning will be defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward. Don't expect much of a change in philosophy from the Gamecocks on defense.
Looking over South Carolina, it'll be important to see how Nebraska's perimeter run game can do against South Carolina. If Ben Cotton is ready to play, that's a huge boost that might be Nebraska's key to victory. And a victory over South Carolina would make an important statement for both the Huskers and the Big Ten, which had a horrible bowl season last year.
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so
what’s everybody feeling about this game???
or has anyone started paying attention yet?
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and btw
if you’re a Gamecock, please feel free to join and give us any insight you might have to your team. We’ll be sure and do the same, of course.
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Tough to predict
Bowl games are always hard to make a prediction on. I think it’s obvious that this will be one of the best teams we’ve played all year, especially defensively. It’s also obvious that our guys are a lot more motivated and excited to be in this year’s bowl game than last year’s. Let’s not forget that Bo Pelini is 3-1 in bowl games at Nebraska, and I don’t know if any coach could have found a way to motivate his team to play their best under last year’s circumstances.
There are a few things that I expect to see, however, that should give us an advantage. First, I expect to see our defense play their best game of the season. Bo’s teams have a proven record of playing great defense in bowl games. Even last year they held Washington to under 20 points and Jake Locker to another statistically attrocious game. That loss was mostly due to epic failures on the other side of the ball, not the defensive game plan.
From everything we’ve heard, we can expect Rex to be fully healed and ready to go. As we all know, the more he gets the ball the better. If Taylor Martinez is forced into 3rd and long passing situations repeatedly, we could see a lot of sacks and turnovers because South Carolina’s pass rush is likely to be the toughest we’ve seen in a long time.
Prediction? Obviously I want the Huskers to win and I think that they are capable of winning. They are motivated, but so is South Carolina. I like being the underdog, and Pelini has always seemed to thrive in that position. I think our guys come out and play really well and earn a victory in a defensive struggle. NU 20, SC 17.
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Gamecock fan here
Obviously our past couple of bowl games (or bowl games in general) haven’t worked out all that well for us. However, I think this team is coming in with the goal of getting that 11th win for the first time ever and are pretty focused.
Another thing to keep in mind: while our defense has been good this year, option attacks have proven difficult for us (Navy, Citadel).
Another USC Fan here
I really like the matchup here. I think the keys to winning the game are:
- containing Martinez
- stopping Burkhead (that guy is a beast)
- gaining some consistency on offense.
If at first you don't succeed... I'd not take up skydiving.
I Just Don't See Out O Line
Pulling it out against such a fast and dominating defense. Out offensive line has been roughly 50% poor, 40% average, and 10% above average. I just have not seen anything all year that would suggest Barney has any awesome sauce to sprinkle on the line to suddenly make them stand up to one of the better defenses in college football. I think we’ll see Taylor running for his life, blown option plays, panic passing, and lots of Gamecocks in the backfield saying “hello” to Rex and Taylor after running right through Barneys line.
"Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?"
by UltimaRatioRegum on Dec 29, 2011 3:05 PM CST reply actions
I go back to the perimeter running game...
This season, Nebraska has had more success running offtackle than up the middle. And I get the feeling that’s a matchup Nebraska could win.
Note I said “could” win…
by Husker Mike on Dec 29, 2011 4:34 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Gamecock fan here
Just want to wish Nebraska the best of luck in the game and hope it’s a good one. I think it will be a fun game to watch. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year.
by pchappel on Dec 30, 2011 12:36 AM CST via iPhone app reply actions
thank you!
and a Happy New Year to you and yours too!
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by Jon Johnston on Dec 30, 2011 1:45 PM CST up reply actions
Clemson fan here; trying to objective
SC’s defensive line is very good; albeit not as good as we probably made them look in our game, but they are talented up front. Melvin Ingram was a big surprise to me; glad this is his senior year. LB’s are average but solid. I don’t think their offense is very good, again, we played one of our worst games of the year on both sides of the ball against them and made Connor Shaw look like Johnny Unitas. However, Spurrier’s team knows what it’s doing, they are physical and fast, and Alshon Jeffery is a matchup nightmare with his size and hands. Shaw’s not a good passer but he is very mobile and makes a lot of plays with his feet. Their OL is suspect.
Hate to say it Huskers, but I think it’s gonna be an uphill battle to win this one. I think it’s a bad match up for you guys because I think a team with a really fast, explosive passing game gives them more trouble than a team that tries to pound it on the ground (despite what the stats say). It will be interesting to see how Lorenzo Ward calls this game versus former DC Ellis Johnson, but if the Husker OL is iffy then their DL may have a field day.
Go Huskers, but congrats to the Gamecocks for having an excellent year.
by judge jeff davis on Dec 30, 2011 5:17 PM CST reply actions
Let me rephrase something
My post above reeks of sour grapes since we lost this year, so let me put it this way: SC’s defense is good. Their offense is very average. I’d imagine they’d like to keep this game a somewhat ugly contest, with scores in the low 20s at most. They don’t have much of a passing game but can run the ball well with Shaw, Wilds and Giles. Navy gave them fits with the option, so Nebraska may be able to use that to their advantage. However, you guys are going to need to keep SC honest by having some sort of passing game to keep them from just peeling their ears back.
by judge jeff davis on Dec 30, 2011 6:12 PM CST up reply actions
To Clemson Fan from Gamecock Fan
You guys had a great year great win in the ACC championship game. Hope you have a great game in the Orange Bowl. I do like to see both of our teams doing well. Have a safe a Happy New Year to all Clemson Nation.
by pchappel on Dec 31, 2011 6:04 AM CST via iPhone app reply actions
wtf
I thought you Clemson – South Carolina people hated each other with a passion…. yet here you are being reasonable.
Keep this up and you’ll break the internet.
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by Jon Johnston on Dec 31, 2011 8:14 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Nope don't hate Clemson at all
I think that it’s great for the our home state that both programs do good it brings better money to both programs and the state when both teams are winning. Their are some Gamecock fans that want Clemson to loose every game but I’m not one of them. I respect their team their coaches and their fans. I’m just glad Carolina has made the rivalry a little more interesting of the past couple of years. So I wish them the best in their bowl game and their 2012 season.
by pchappel on Dec 31, 2011 9:01 PM CST via iPhone app reply actions
Kudos to you
I have not met Clemson or South Carolina fans that have this mentality. Very mature. I hope Lattimore can get back to 100%; he’s a good guy who has gone about his business the right way and is a great talent.
by judge jeff davis on Jan 1, 2012 8:18 AM CST reply actions
Yep I sure do hope
Marcus comes back stronger than he was before and his knee heals 110%. He is a good kid and seems to me to have his head on the right way. Seems to me sometimes that the kids that do things the correct way their the ones who end up hurt or can’t play anymore, which is sad when you really think about it.
by pchappel on Jan 1, 2012 9:20 PM CST via iPhone app reply actions
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