Close Isn't Good Enough
posted by Scott Hood, Wednesday, September 05, 2007
It’s absolutely, positively a must-win situation for the Gamecocks.
Just don’t tell the USC players I said that.
Without question, this weekend’s encounter with the Bulldogs is the most important game of the Steve Spurrier era at USC. The Gamecocks must win it on a number of different levels.
First, unless they want to risk starting the season with a 2-2 mark heading into the middle one-third of the schedule, a win over Georgia is a must. Two weeks from now, USC will be preparing for its first trip to Baton Rouge, La. since 2002. Right now, LSU is one of the top teams in the country and nearly unbeatable at home, especially at night.
At the outset of the season, I predicted USC would split the pair of road games at Georgia and LSU. The odds of winning at Sanford Stadium are, in my opinion, much greater than Tiger Stadium, where one of the best defenses in the country calls home.
In other words, USC must take care of business against the Bulldogs.
It’s also a barometer game for the entire USC program, and for Spurrier himself. Spurrier has said over and over this is the year the Gamecocks should contend for the SEC championship.
The national media, taking Spurrier at his word, have bought into it. Heck, even notorious USC-basher Lee Corso has predicted the Gamecocks will compete for first-place in the SEC East.
Two years ago, he proclaimed on national TV that Spurrier wouldn’t win the conference title if he coached USC for ‘400 years.’
USC often talks about taking on the “Big Three” in their division – Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. The Gamecocks won two of three in 2005, and should have made it a clean sweep in Athens but fell short in 17-15 loss.
But they lost all three games to the so-called “big boys” last year. That can’t happen again if the Gamecocks want to be taken seriously by fans and the skeptics in the media.
With games against LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida remaining within the conference – the first three on the road - a loss to Georgia would make the goal of winning the conference title far more difficult.
In a sense, this is also a critical game for Spurrier too. He put his reputation as one of the greatest college coaches ever on the line by coming to Columbia. He knew what he was getting into. Spurrier hasn’t beaten Georgia in his first two tries with USC after dominating the Bulldogs for 12 years with the Gators.
I can assure you, nobody wants to beat Georgia more than Spurrier.
Corso, along with most of the national media hacks, are searching for signs of progress from South Carolina and Spurrier. A victory over Georgia would be the sign they’re looking for. Another loss, and its back to where USC started – ahead of Kentucky and Vanderbilt and behind the Big Three.
Some people were hoping USC would be further along than that in Year Three of Spurrier's reign.
Spurrier won’t say it, but he desperately wants to make up for last year’s offensive debacle at Williams-Brice when USC was blanked by Georgia in the home opener. As Spurrier pointed out on Tuesday, the Gamecocks had plenty of opportunities to score points but failed.
Since beating Georgia in 2001, USC has lost five straight games to the Bulldogs. Some of the losses have come in excruciating fashion.
Andrew Pinnock dropped am option pitch on the final play of the game in 2002 after earlier fumbling at the 2-yard line. Two years later, USC jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the second quarter before Lou Holtz shut down the offense and tried to win the game with defense. The strategy blew up in his face as Georgia rallied for a 20-16 victory.
A missed extra point and an illegal procedure penalty on a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice cost the Gamecocks dearly in the two-point loss in 2005. Last year, USC kept knocking on the door but couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.
USC has proven over the last five years they can throw a good scare into Georgia. But “scares” mean nothing except provide the losing team with a feeling they were close.
But Division I college football is a cold, bottom-line business. You have to finish the job. It’s a win or lose proposition. Being close isn't good enough.
We’ll find out Saturday how well USC has learned that lesson.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
How big is South Carolina’s Saturday Showdown in Sanford Stadium against Georgia?
It’s absolutely, positively a must-win situation for the Gamecocks.
Just don’t tell the USC players I said that.
Without question, this weekend’s encounter with the Bulldogs is the most important game of the Steve Spurrier era at USC. The Gamecocks must win it on a number of different levels.
First, unless they want to risk starting the season with a 2-2 mark heading into the middle one-third of the schedule, a win over Georgia is a must. Two weeks from now, USC will be preparing for its first trip to Baton Rouge, La. since 2002. Right now, LSU is one of the top teams in the country and nearly unbeatable at home, especially at night.
At the outset of the season, I predicted USC would split the pair of road games at Georgia and LSU. The odds of winning at Sanford Stadium are, in my opinion, much greater than Tiger Stadium, where one of the best defenses in the country calls home.
In other words, USC must take care of business against the Bulldogs.
It’s also a barometer game for the entire USC program, and for Spurrier himself. Spurrier has said over and over this is the year the Gamecocks should contend for the SEC championship.
The national media, taking Spurrier at his word, have bought into it. Heck, even notorious USC-basher Lee Corso has predicted the Gamecocks will compete for first-place in the SEC East.
Two years ago, he proclaimed on national TV that Spurrier wouldn’t win the conference title if he coached USC for ‘400 years.’
USC often talks about taking on the “Big Three” in their division – Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. The Gamecocks won two of three in 2005, and should have made it a clean sweep in Athens but fell short in 17-15 loss.
But they lost all three games to the so-called “big boys” last year. That can’t happen again if the Gamecocks want to be taken seriously by fans and the skeptics in the media.
With games against LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida remaining within the conference – the first three on the road - a loss to Georgia would make the goal of winning the conference title far more difficult.
In a sense, this is also a critical game for Spurrier too. He put his reputation as one of the greatest college coaches ever on the line by coming to Columbia. He knew what he was getting into. Spurrier hasn’t beaten Georgia in his first two tries with USC after dominating the Bulldogs for 12 years with the Gators.
I can assure you, nobody wants to beat Georgia more than Spurrier.
Corso, along with most of the national media hacks, are searching for signs of progress from South Carolina and Spurrier. A victory over Georgia would be the sign they’re looking for. Another loss, and its back to where USC started – ahead of Kentucky and Vanderbilt and behind the Big Three.
Some people were hoping USC would be further along than that in Year Three of Spurrier's reign.
Spurrier won’t say it, but he desperately wants to make up for last year’s offensive debacle at Williams-Brice when USC was blanked by Georgia in the home opener. As Spurrier pointed out on Tuesday, the Gamecocks had plenty of opportunities to score points but failed.
Since beating Georgia in 2001, USC has lost five straight games to the Bulldogs. Some of the losses have come in excruciating fashion.
Andrew Pinnock dropped am option pitch on the final play of the game in 2002 after earlier fumbling at the 2-yard line. Two years later, USC jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the second quarter before Lou Holtz shut down the offense and tried to win the game with defense. The strategy blew up in his face as Georgia rallied for a 20-16 victory.
A missed extra point and an illegal procedure penalty on a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice cost the Gamecocks dearly in the two-point loss in 2005. Last year, USC kept knocking on the door but couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.
USC has proven over the last five years they can throw a good scare into Georgia. But “scares” mean nothing except provide the losing team with a feeling they were close.
But Division I college football is a cold, bottom-line business. You have to finish the job. It’s a win or lose proposition. Being close isn't good enough.
We’ll find out Saturday how well USC has learned that lesson.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Previous Blog Entries
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 @.