5 Things We Learned From The USC-LSU Game
posted by Scott Hood on Monday, September 24, 2007
Here are the five things we learned from Saturday’s USC-LSU game in Baton Rouge:
1. USC Will Miss Jasper Brinkley:
The USC defense wasn’t the same when Jasper Brinkley went out of the game with a knee injury on LSU’s initial possession of the game.
He returned midway through the second quarter after the Tigers had put together a pair of touchdown drives during his absence, one of them a four-play, 69-yard romp immediately after the Gamecocks had taken the lead.
Marvin Sapp, Dustin Lindsey and Melvin Ingram are all good football players. But let’s face it; none of them are as good as Brinkley. Collectively, they should be able to partly make up for Brinkley’s inability to play. But 100%? No.
There’s a good reason Brinkley had over twice as many tackles as anybody else in 2006. He’s pretty darn good. If there’s a silver lining, USC has received strong contributions from defenders like Eric Norwood, Rodney Paulk and Casper Brinkley through the first four games of this season.
With Jasper Brinkley now out for the season with torn knee ligaments, they’ll have to take another step up the performance ladder.
2. Experience Counts For Something:
The most telling statistic from Saturday’s loss was this: Five of LSU’s top six tacklers were seniors. USC’s top three tacklers were sophomores.
Here’s another: seven of LSU’s 11 starters on defense were seniors.
That says a lot about where the two programs are currently situated. LSU is, thanks to Nick Saban’s incredible recruiting job three or four years ago, a national championship contender. USC is trying to build a program that will contend for the SEC title on an annual basis.
If you read my game preview, you know that what happened Saturday at Tiger Stadium wasn’t a surprise to me. I figured LSU’s size, speed, and, most importantly, experience would pay dividends for the Tigers.
USC will get there. The talented young players they have just need time to grow up and mature. When they do, the Gamecocks might become as good as LSU.
3. Chris Smelley Deserves To Start At QB:
Steve Spurrier has a true meritocracy when it comes to who plays and who doesn’t. It’s especially true for his quarterbacks.
By the time halftime arrived Saturday, it was obvious a change had to be made. Remember, Mitchell’s struggles didn’t start against LSU. He threw three interceptions against S.C. State the previous week, so he entered this past week’s game on a short lease.
Mitchell led a beautiful 12-play, 67-yard drive on USC’s third possession of the game but the remainder of the half was a nightmare. USC did nothing offensively.
In my opinion, the offense simply responded better to Smelley’s presence. His numbers (12-of-26 for 174 yards, 1 TD) certainly reflected that. Was it a perfect performance? No. But it was decent, as Spurrier is fond of saying.
Bottom line, Smelley outplayed Mitchell on the national stage. Spurrier has always had the philosophy that the hot quarterback will play. Playing time is earned, not given.
Right now, the quarterback who deserves to play is Chris Smelley.
4. Gambling On College Sports Is Stupid:
LSU came into Saturday’s game as 17-1/2 point favorites. I’m sure the folks who put their money down on the Tigers were feeling pretty good about themselves when LSU scored a touchdown with about six minutes left in the third quarter to take a 28-7 lead.
With USC reeling, and a redshirt freshman quarterback calling signals against one of the best defenses in the nation, it looked certain the Tigers would roll to a crushing victory and easily cover the spread.
But then a funny thing happened. The USC defense tightened up and Chris Smelley began completing some passes. USC scored nine consecutive points to close out the game. They didn’t win, but they lost by fewer points than many predicted.
That’s why you don’t bet on college sports. When you’re dealing with 18 and 19-year old young men, it’s tough to predict what’s going to happen.
5. Chris Culliver Will Bring Excitement:
Chris Culliver’s 44-yard kickoff return in the third quarter was, hopefully, a glimpse of things to come from the true freshman. In fact, he came pretty darn close to breaking it the whole way. I was listening to the LSU radio broadcast and the announcer screamed, “Somebody tackle that guy” as Culliver streaked past midfield.
USC has already utilized him on end-around plays, hoping he’ll be able to beat defenders on the perimeter.
Culliver has touched the ball four times this season. He’s rushed three times for 32 yards in addition to the kickoff. That’s 76 yards on four touches. That’s pretty good in my book.
But, frankly, that’s what we expected when Culliver was recruited. He was the top prospect in North Carolina for a reason. Here’s hoping for more carries and more returns for Culliver.
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Is it possible to learn anything from a loss? Yes. If fact, it’s possible to learn more from an adversarial situation than one in which everything goes right.
Here are the five things we learned from Saturday’s USC-LSU game in Baton Rouge:
1. USC Will Miss Jasper Brinkley:
The USC defense wasn’t the same when Jasper Brinkley went out of the game with a knee injury on LSU’s initial possession of the game.
He returned midway through the second quarter after the Tigers had put together a pair of touchdown drives during his absence, one of them a four-play, 69-yard romp immediately after the Gamecocks had taken the lead.
Marvin Sapp, Dustin Lindsey and Melvin Ingram are all good football players. But let’s face it; none of them are as good as Brinkley. Collectively, they should be able to partly make up for Brinkley’s inability to play. But 100%? No.
There’s a good reason Brinkley had over twice as many tackles as anybody else in 2006. He’s pretty darn good. If there’s a silver lining, USC has received strong contributions from defenders like Eric Norwood, Rodney Paulk and Casper Brinkley through the first four games of this season.
With Jasper Brinkley now out for the season with torn knee ligaments, they’ll have to take another step up the performance ladder.
2. Experience Counts For Something:
The most telling statistic from Saturday’s loss was this: Five of LSU’s top six tacklers were seniors. USC’s top three tacklers were sophomores.
Here’s another: seven of LSU’s 11 starters on defense were seniors.
That says a lot about where the two programs are currently situated. LSU is, thanks to Nick Saban’s incredible recruiting job three or four years ago, a national championship contender. USC is trying to build a program that will contend for the SEC title on an annual basis.
If you read my game preview, you know that what happened Saturday at Tiger Stadium wasn’t a surprise to me. I figured LSU’s size, speed, and, most importantly, experience would pay dividends for the Tigers.
USC will get there. The talented young players they have just need time to grow up and mature. When they do, the Gamecocks might become as good as LSU.
3. Chris Smelley Deserves To Start At QB:
Steve Spurrier has a true meritocracy when it comes to who plays and who doesn’t. It’s especially true for his quarterbacks.
By the time halftime arrived Saturday, it was obvious a change had to be made. Remember, Mitchell’s struggles didn’t start against LSU. He threw three interceptions against S.C. State the previous week, so he entered this past week’s game on a short lease.
Mitchell led a beautiful 12-play, 67-yard drive on USC’s third possession of the game but the remainder of the half was a nightmare. USC did nothing offensively.
In my opinion, the offense simply responded better to Smelley’s presence. His numbers (12-of-26 for 174 yards, 1 TD) certainly reflected that. Was it a perfect performance? No. But it was decent, as Spurrier is fond of saying.
Bottom line, Smelley outplayed Mitchell on the national stage. Spurrier has always had the philosophy that the hot quarterback will play. Playing time is earned, not given.
Right now, the quarterback who deserves to play is Chris Smelley.
4. Gambling On College Sports Is Stupid:
LSU came into Saturday’s game as 17-1/2 point favorites. I’m sure the folks who put their money down on the Tigers were feeling pretty good about themselves when LSU scored a touchdown with about six minutes left in the third quarter to take a 28-7 lead.
With USC reeling, and a redshirt freshman quarterback calling signals against one of the best defenses in the nation, it looked certain the Tigers would roll to a crushing victory and easily cover the spread.
But then a funny thing happened. The USC defense tightened up and Chris Smelley began completing some passes. USC scored nine consecutive points to close out the game. They didn’t win, but they lost by fewer points than many predicted.
That’s why you don’t bet on college sports. When you’re dealing with 18 and 19-year old young men, it’s tough to predict what’s going to happen.
5. Chris Culliver Will Bring Excitement:
Chris Culliver’s 44-yard kickoff return in the third quarter was, hopefully, a glimpse of things to come from the true freshman. In fact, he came pretty darn close to breaking it the whole way. I was listening to the LSU radio broadcast and the announcer screamed, “Somebody tackle that guy” as Culliver streaked past midfield.
USC has already utilized him on end-around plays, hoping he’ll be able to beat defenders on the perimeter.
Culliver has touched the ball four times this season. He’s rushed three times for 32 yards in addition to the kickoff. That’s 76 yards on four touches. That’s pretty good in my book.
But, frankly, that’s what we expected when Culliver was recruited. He was the top prospect in North Carolina for a reason. Here’s hoping for more carries and more returns for Culliver.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.