Perfect Games Are For Baseball
posted by Scott Hood on Monday, September 03, 2007
Are there reasons for some concern? Yes. Just like every other Division I team in the country. I can assure you, nobody played a perfect game during the opening weekend.
If you want to see a perfect game this time of the year, go to your closest major league ballpark.
But even if a team did play perfectly, the head coach would never admit it.
Coaches being coaches, they always believe there’s something that needs tinkering. If there wasn’t, there wouldn’t be any need for coaches.
I’ve always thought some fans tend to hyper-analyze opening games, and fall into the trap of thinking that how a team plays in its first game is the way it’s going to go for the duration of the season.
But that’s a fallacy.
Opening games in college football are sort of like the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Survive and move on.
Michigan’s stunning loss to Appalachian State and the near-disaster in Austin for the Texas Longhorns against Arkansas State demonstrate how perilous open games can be, even for the so-called national powers.
Do you really think the Wolverine will go 0-11 this year? No, they’ll still win eight or nine games and go to a nice bowl game in a warm weather climate. Along the way, I’m sure they’ll put together some pretty impressive performances.
The same thing goes for Tennessee. The Volunteers will not surrender 45 points every week like they did Saturday night in Berkeley. Somewhere along the line, the talent will kick in.
In a way, that’s what makes college football exciting, although I’m still an advocate of allowing schools to play one ‘pre-season’ game against another school.
The good news for the USC defense is that it won’t have to face the option offense again this season. Hopefully not, anyways. The only team that could have it as part of their offensive package is South Carolina State. Louisiana-Lafayette’s success running the ball was a product of two things: 1) poor tackling; and 2) unfamiliarity on how to defend the option.
It takes great discipline and a willingness to stick to your assignment by an entire defense to stop the option. Unfortunately, I’m not sure the South Carolina defense possesses that level of discipline right now.
But the Gamecocks are hardly the first SEC team to struggle stopping the option. Tennessee barely survived Air Force and its triple option offense last year in Knoxville, surrendering 281 yards in a 31-30 victory. In fact, it took a stop on a two-point conversion late in the game to preserve the win.
So, it doesn’t just happen to USC.
In my opinion, because they spent the whole game trying to defend the option, I’m not sure we learned much about the South Carolina defense Saturday night, especially the secondary.
There were times when the tackling was poor. But that can be fixed with good coaching.
The Gamecocks face a more traditional offense this Saturday at Georgia. The Bulldogs played well in its opener, beating Oklahoma State, 35-14 at Sanford Stadium.
USC has done a fairly good job defensively against the Bulldogs in recent seasons, holding them to 18, 17 and 20 points in the last three meetings. Steve Spurrier has always believed that if you give up that few points, you should win the game.
Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford has a powerful right arm and some good receivers to throw to. Georgia’s running game is pretty good, too.
In five days, we’ll see what happens.
In the meantime, USC’s opening game win over the Ragin’ Cajuns wasn’t the only positive development for the USC athletic department over the weekend.
No, we’re not talking about the new marketing initiative that takes on ESPN’s Lee Corso.
This past weekend may have been one of the best ever for the two soccer programs at USC. The men’s team toppled arch-rival Clemson, 1-0, in double overtime Friday night on the Tiger’s home field. It was the first win for the Gamecocks in Clemson since 1994.
Saturday, the women’s team shocked defending national champion North Carolina, 1-0, on its home field in Chapel Hill. It was the first time in 29 years the Tar Heels had lost its home opener. The loss also ended UNC’s 27-match winning streak.
It's important to note both wins came on the road.
If you're a USC fan, you're hoping the football team noticed.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
Steve Spurrier’s mood in the post-game interview room following Saturday night’s 28-14 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette told the tale – he was happy to get the win.
Are there reasons for some concern? Yes. Just like every other Division I team in the country. I can assure you, nobody played a perfect game during the opening weekend.
If you want to see a perfect game this time of the year, go to your closest major league ballpark.
But even if a team did play perfectly, the head coach would never admit it.
Coaches being coaches, they always believe there’s something that needs tinkering. If there wasn’t, there wouldn’t be any need for coaches.
I’ve always thought some fans tend to hyper-analyze opening games, and fall into the trap of thinking that how a team plays in its first game is the way it’s going to go for the duration of the season.
But that’s a fallacy.
Opening games in college football are sort of like the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Survive and move on.
Michigan’s stunning loss to Appalachian State and the near-disaster in Austin for the Texas Longhorns against Arkansas State demonstrate how perilous open games can be, even for the so-called national powers.
Do you really think the Wolverine will go 0-11 this year? No, they’ll still win eight or nine games and go to a nice bowl game in a warm weather climate. Along the way, I’m sure they’ll put together some pretty impressive performances.
The same thing goes for Tennessee. The Volunteers will not surrender 45 points every week like they did Saturday night in Berkeley. Somewhere along the line, the talent will kick in.
In a way, that’s what makes college football exciting, although I’m still an advocate of allowing schools to play one ‘pre-season’ game against another school.
The good news for the USC defense is that it won’t have to face the option offense again this season. Hopefully not, anyways. The only team that could have it as part of their offensive package is South Carolina State. Louisiana-Lafayette’s success running the ball was a product of two things: 1) poor tackling; and 2) unfamiliarity on how to defend the option.
It takes great discipline and a willingness to stick to your assignment by an entire defense to stop the option. Unfortunately, I’m not sure the South Carolina defense possesses that level of discipline right now.
But the Gamecocks are hardly the first SEC team to struggle stopping the option. Tennessee barely survived Air Force and its triple option offense last year in Knoxville, surrendering 281 yards in a 31-30 victory. In fact, it took a stop on a two-point conversion late in the game to preserve the win.
So, it doesn’t just happen to USC.
In my opinion, because they spent the whole game trying to defend the option, I’m not sure we learned much about the South Carolina defense Saturday night, especially the secondary.
There were times when the tackling was poor. But that can be fixed with good coaching.
The Gamecocks face a more traditional offense this Saturday at Georgia. The Bulldogs played well in its opener, beating Oklahoma State, 35-14 at Sanford Stadium.
USC has done a fairly good job defensively against the Bulldogs in recent seasons, holding them to 18, 17 and 20 points in the last three meetings. Steve Spurrier has always believed that if you give up that few points, you should win the game.
Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford has a powerful right arm and some good receivers to throw to. Georgia’s running game is pretty good, too.
In five days, we’ll see what happens.
In the meantime, USC’s opening game win over the Ragin’ Cajuns wasn’t the only positive development for the USC athletic department over the weekend.
No, we’re not talking about the new marketing initiative that takes on ESPN’s Lee Corso.
This past weekend may have been one of the best ever for the two soccer programs at USC. The men’s team toppled arch-rival Clemson, 1-0, in double overtime Friday night on the Tiger’s home field. It was the first win for the Gamecocks in Clemson since 1994.
Saturday, the women’s team shocked defending national champion North Carolina, 1-0, on its home field in Chapel Hill. It was the first time in 29 years the Tar Heels had lost its home opener. The loss also ended UNC’s 27-match winning streak.
It's important to note both wins came on the road.
If you're a USC fan, you're hoping the football team noticed.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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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 @.