September 10, 2011; Athens, GA, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks running back Marcus Lattimore (21) runs with the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs during the fourth quarter at Sanford Stadium. South Carolina defeated Georgia 45-42. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE
Another week in the books means there’s a new set of tidbits the Gamecocks learned about their opponents. Here’s what that set is:
Georgia has a problem on defense. Teams, including Buffalo and FAU are scoring on them. The only reason the Bulldogs are undefeated is the scary fact that their offense is as good as their defense is bad (and the fact that Tyler Bray washes his hands with butter before every offensive series). Also, it looks like the Gamecocks finally have the special teams edge (illegal blocked punt in the UK game aside).
Each week it looks like LSU is getting worse.
They have another week before they get South Carolina at home, but the past two weeks have been adventures for LSU. They’ve fallen in the polls from second to fourth, because they almost lost to Auburn on the road, and barely got by Towson at home. If South Carolina’s defense goes into Death Valley ready to play, that game is winnable for SC.
For now, Florida is a top ten team. That means on Saturday, the Gamecocks will begin a stretch of three straight games against teams ranked in the top 25. If you combine UGA, LSU, and UF’s AP rankings (5,4, and 10), the sum of the three numbers is still low enough to be top 20 (I know the correct way to create a stat like that would be to average their rankings and say “the average ranking of the three teams is top eight,” or whatever, but I thought my stat was more fun).
Tennessee can score. Sure, some of the Vol’s offensive firepower came at the expense of a weak Georgia defense, but Tyler Bray and Justin Hunter are one of the best quarterback/receiver combos in the nation. South Carolina’s secondary has looked far better than advertised this season, and they’ll have to be on their game if they don’t want UT to sniff a win at Williams Brice the weekend before Halloween.
Arkansas is really, really, really bad. Forget they just got blown out by Texas A&M. Forget their coach’s wild press conferences and money problems. Forget the loss to ULM. Forget Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle accident. If we could restart the season with Petrino as head coach, this team is a national championship contender, right? Now, they’re going to need somewhat of a miracle to make a bowl game. If Carolina can’t beat them this year, they deserve to forfeit the rest of their games against Arkansas for all of football eternity.
Wofford will be a tougher opponent than ECU or UAB.They just ran for 300+ yards and their running back set an FCS record in the process. The Gamecocks shouldn’t lose this game, but don’t be surprised if it’s close through the middle of the third quarter. We all know how well SC defends the triple-option.
Clemson has no defense whatsoever. Everyone in the press talks about their explosive offense, Heisman caliber quarterback/receiver combo and Dabo Swinney’s cheerleading prowess. What the media fails to mention, is that Coastal Carolina could probably score three touchdowns on that Tiger defense. The Gamecocks should have this one in the bag for the fourth straight year.
What did SC’s opponents learn about the Gamecocks this week?
If they’re going to beat Carolina, opposing teams have to get a big lead, early. Kentucky almost did it, but their lack of defensive fortitude, and SC’s 36.6 points per game scoring offense ran crazy on the Wildcats in the second half. If Georgia, LSU, Florida, Arkansas or Clemson get up 17-7 or more on SC in the first half, don’t expect as easy of a comeback.