Run Defense Holds The Key
posted by Scott Hood, Thursday, September 06, 2007
The outcome of the game should be decided by one thing – USC’s ability to stop Georgia’s run. If the Gamecocks have some success, they have a good shot at winning the game.
But if they don’t, Georgia will celebrate its sixth straight win in the series.
The numbers show how successful the Bulldogs have been running the ball against USC. Last year, Georgia had 198 rushing yards on 39 attempts, an average of 5.1 yards per carry.
In comparison, USC had 35 yards on 22 carries, an average of 1.6 yards per carry.
Based on those numbers, it’s not too difficult to figure out which team won the game.
Georgia’s aptitude for smash-mouth football against the USC defensive front seven has, in fact, been the dominant storyline of the border rivalry in recent years.
Two years ago, the Bulldogs rumbled through the USC defense for 238 yards. The Gamecock defense was led at that time by co-defensive coordinator John Thompson, whose “standup” defense proved to be a miserable failure against a powerful running team like Georgia.
Here are Georgia’s rushing totals (USC’s totals in parentheses) during the current five-game winning streak over USC:
2006 – 198 (35)
2005 – 238 (43)
2004 – 154 (73)
2003 – 165 (111)
2002 – 128 (158)
Except for the 2002 game, Georgia has outgained USC every year by a wide margin in the running game. The last two years have been especially troubling for the Gamecocks, with the Bulldogs possessing a 436-78 advantage in rushing yards.
One UGA running back in particular has been a thorn in USC’s side over the last few years – Thomas Brown, a 5-foot-8, 200-pound scat back with good speed and power. His career high of 144 yards came in Georgia’s 17-15 victory two years ago.
So, one of the things I plan to watch very closely Saturday is whether USC’s defensive front seven is finally going to say enough is enough and stand toe-to-toe with Georgia’s offensive line.
They must, if USC has any chance to win this game.
Does that put a lot of pressure on those players? Yes. But games like this is why many of these guys came to USC.
Now's the time for them to stand up and show us what they're made of. Do they want to be embarrassed again? I hope not.
There’s no question USC is a lot bigger and stronger along the defensive line this year with all of the recent additions such as Travian Robertson, Ladi Ajiboye and Clifton Geathers.
USC must also hope defensive tackle Marque Hall stays healthy this year. He left last season’s game against Georgia with torn knee ligaments and missed the rest of the season.
I’ve maintained the loss of Hall was a major reason USC finished ninth last season in the SEC in rushing defense. If he plays the entire game Saturday, his presence will go a long ways toward limiting Georgia’s running game.
Spurrier made it a point of emphasis in the off-season to say that USC’s run defense had to improve. Obviously, we didn’t see that in the first game as Louisiana-Lafayette accumulated 252 yards rushing due, in part, to poor tackling by USC’s defenders.
It could also help USC’s cause that Georgia had to rebuild its offensive line. The left side features true freshman left tackle Trinton Sturdivant and redshirt freshman Chris Davis. That’s a lot of inexperience guarding Matthew Stafford’s blind side.
Besides the defensive line, USC also intends to get a little bigger at linebacker. Dustin Lindsey, set to play his first game in 20 months, is about 20 to 25 pounds heavier than sophomore Rodney Paulk, who, by all accounts, struggled in last week’s win over the Ragin Cajuns.
Paulk is still a good player, and should do great things at USC before he's done. But right now the Gamecocks need Lindsey's muscle.
If Lindsey starts, that would give USC a linebacker corp that weighs 245 pounds, 262 pounds (Jasper Brinkley) and 255 pounds (Casper Brinkley) across the board.
That’s the kind of size you need to prevail on a consistent basis in the SEC.
In the end, size does matter.
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Analyzing Saturday’s South Carolina-Georgia SEC East battle in Athens is ridiculously easy.
The outcome of the game should be decided by one thing – USC’s ability to stop Georgia’s run. If the Gamecocks have some success, they have a good shot at winning the game.
But if they don’t, Georgia will celebrate its sixth straight win in the series.
The numbers show how successful the Bulldogs have been running the ball against USC. Last year, Georgia had 198 rushing yards on 39 attempts, an average of 5.1 yards per carry.
In comparison, USC had 35 yards on 22 carries, an average of 1.6 yards per carry.
Based on those numbers, it’s not too difficult to figure out which team won the game.
Georgia’s aptitude for smash-mouth football against the USC defensive front seven has, in fact, been the dominant storyline of the border rivalry in recent years.
Two years ago, the Bulldogs rumbled through the USC defense for 238 yards. The Gamecock defense was led at that time by co-defensive coordinator John Thompson, whose “standup” defense proved to be a miserable failure against a powerful running team like Georgia.
Here are Georgia’s rushing totals (USC’s totals in parentheses) during the current five-game winning streak over USC:
2006 – 198 (35)
2005 – 238 (43)
2004 – 154 (73)
2003 – 165 (111)
2002 – 128 (158)
Except for the 2002 game, Georgia has outgained USC every year by a wide margin in the running game. The last two years have been especially troubling for the Gamecocks, with the Bulldogs possessing a 436-78 advantage in rushing yards.
One UGA running back in particular has been a thorn in USC’s side over the last few years – Thomas Brown, a 5-foot-8, 200-pound scat back with good speed and power. His career high of 144 yards came in Georgia’s 17-15 victory two years ago.
So, one of the things I plan to watch very closely Saturday is whether USC’s defensive front seven is finally going to say enough is enough and stand toe-to-toe with Georgia’s offensive line.
They must, if USC has any chance to win this game.
Does that put a lot of pressure on those players? Yes. But games like this is why many of these guys came to USC.
Now's the time for them to stand up and show us what they're made of. Do they want to be embarrassed again? I hope not.
There’s no question USC is a lot bigger and stronger along the defensive line this year with all of the recent additions such as Travian Robertson, Ladi Ajiboye and Clifton Geathers.
USC must also hope defensive tackle Marque Hall stays healthy this year. He left last season’s game against Georgia with torn knee ligaments and missed the rest of the season.
I’ve maintained the loss of Hall was a major reason USC finished ninth last season in the SEC in rushing defense. If he plays the entire game Saturday, his presence will go a long ways toward limiting Georgia’s running game.
Spurrier made it a point of emphasis in the off-season to say that USC’s run defense had to improve. Obviously, we didn’t see that in the first game as Louisiana-Lafayette accumulated 252 yards rushing due, in part, to poor tackling by USC’s defenders.
It could also help USC’s cause that Georgia had to rebuild its offensive line. The left side features true freshman left tackle Trinton Sturdivant and redshirt freshman Chris Davis. That’s a lot of inexperience guarding Matthew Stafford’s blind side.
Besides the defensive line, USC also intends to get a little bigger at linebacker. Dustin Lindsey, set to play his first game in 20 months, is about 20 to 25 pounds heavier than sophomore Rodney Paulk, who, by all accounts, struggled in last week’s win over the Ragin Cajuns.
Paulk is still a good player, and should do great things at USC before he's done. But right now the Gamecocks need Lindsey's muscle.
If Lindsey starts, that would give USC a linebacker corp that weighs 245 pounds, 262 pounds (Jasper Brinkley) and 255 pounds (Casper Brinkley) across the board.
That’s the kind of size you need to prevail on a consistent basis in the SEC.
In the end, size does matter.
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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 @.