Five Things We Learned From The USC-UAB Game
posted by Scott Hood, Monday, September 29, 2008
1. USC Is Not Unlike A Typical NFL Team: How do you win in the NFL? A solid, physical defense, excellent special teams and an offense that doesn’t turn it over and is capable of cranking out enough points to win. Well, that’s exactly what USC has become. In terms of the national rankings, the defense is No. 1 in total defense, so it can’t climb any higher. Special teams have been good all season and Ryan Succop is automatic inside 40 yards. The offense? Without Kenny McKinley, the wide receivers lack a burner who knows how to get behind defensive backs and get open downfield. That’s why Spurrier is frustrated right now. He always had multiple speed burners at Florida, but he’s hasn’t been able to recruit to that level here at USC. The offense is still a work in progress when it comes to avoiding turnovers. They had three Saturday night against UAB, pushing their total to 15 in five games. That’s too many.
2. Stephen Garcia Gives USC The Best Chance To Win: How good is Garcia? We may find out this Saturday in Oxford. The Ole Miss defense he encounters will be a lot tougher, meaner and physically imposing than the one he dispatched on Saturday night. As long as the offensive line continues to struggle, Garcia’s mobility will allow him to escape trouble and grab most of the playing time. Chris Smelley is the No. 4 passer in the SEC, but Garcia’s quick feet means the redshirt sophomore will likely spend most of Saturday afternoon on the bench. Spurrier isn’t looking for anything spectacular from Garcia. A performance similar to Saturday night (13 of 20 passing for 131 yards and 86 yards rushing) will do just fine. I’m sure Spurrier would rather not put so much pressure on Garcia in his first career start, but he may have no choice.
3. Bobby Wallace Will Contribute If He Gets The Chance: For the first time in nearly two years, we had a Wallace sighting Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. Wallace ended up as USC’s second-leading rusher with 51 yards on six carries and looked good doing it. Why hasn’t Wallace been playing? Injuries and academics are mostly to blame. He suffered a shoulder injury in pre-season camp in 2007 and took several weeks to recover. By the time he did, Cory Boyd and Mike Davis were established as the top two running backs. A bigger issue, though, has been Wallace’s academic woes. As Spurrier noted several times on the Gamecock Club tour this past spring, Wallace has been battling to remain academically eligible for a couple of years. Coaches are not going to give players who may flunk out of school a lot of reps in practice. Robert Gillespie sent that strong message in spring practice when Wallace was forced to miss several workouts to focus on academics. While Wallace played well, will he get another chance? Davis returns to active duty this week and the coaches are committed to giving Brian Maddox and Eric Baker as many snaps as possible. Is there room for Wallace?
4. Youth Will Be Served, Part II: If you believe Steve Spurrier, USC’s best two wide receivers Saturday night were redshirt freshmen Jason Barnes (three receptions) and Matt Clements (two receptions). He suggested on Sunday that both of them could start this Saturday in Oxford. If they do, that could possibly give USC three redshirt freshman starters at quarterback and wide receiver. Spurrier should just go ahead and add RB Eric Baker into the mix and make it a quartet. Now that would be interesting. Four freshman offensive starters at the key skill positions on the road in an opposing,a nd very loud, SEC stadium? If you’re a Gamecock fan, you’re hoping these young players grow up quickly. They have to.
5. Style Points Count With Spurrier: Unlike some coaches, the end does not justify the means. Steve Spurrier wants to win just as badly as any other Div. I head coach, but he demands more from his players, especially those on the offensive side of the ball. He wants the offense to run his system, meaning he wants to see completions down the field rather than just dump off passes, middle screens and swing passes to running backs. And he certainly wants to see his team put away early a vastly inferior team. Problem is, Spurrier currently lacks the players to run his system the way he wants to see it run. There are no wide receivers remotely close to some of the guys he had at Florida, and certainly no QB with the proven experience like Wuerffel, Grossman or Matthews.
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South Carolina dominated UAB physically in a 26-13 victory on Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. The victory gave USC a 3-2 record heading into a six-game stretch against SEC opponents. Here are five things we learned:
1. USC Is Not Unlike A Typical NFL Team: How do you win in the NFL? A solid, physical defense, excellent special teams and an offense that doesn’t turn it over and is capable of cranking out enough points to win. Well, that’s exactly what USC has become. In terms of the national rankings, the defense is No. 1 in total defense, so it can’t climb any higher. Special teams have been good all season and Ryan Succop is automatic inside 40 yards. The offense? Without Kenny McKinley, the wide receivers lack a burner who knows how to get behind defensive backs and get open downfield. That’s why Spurrier is frustrated right now. He always had multiple speed burners at Florida, but he’s hasn’t been able to recruit to that level here at USC. The offense is still a work in progress when it comes to avoiding turnovers. They had three Saturday night against UAB, pushing their total to 15 in five games. That’s too many.
2. Stephen Garcia Gives USC The Best Chance To Win: How good is Garcia? We may find out this Saturday in Oxford. The Ole Miss defense he encounters will be a lot tougher, meaner and physically imposing than the one he dispatched on Saturday night. As long as the offensive line continues to struggle, Garcia’s mobility will allow him to escape trouble and grab most of the playing time. Chris Smelley is the No. 4 passer in the SEC, but Garcia’s quick feet means the redshirt sophomore will likely spend most of Saturday afternoon on the bench. Spurrier isn’t looking for anything spectacular from Garcia. A performance similar to Saturday night (13 of 20 passing for 131 yards and 86 yards rushing) will do just fine. I’m sure Spurrier would rather not put so much pressure on Garcia in his first career start, but he may have no choice.
3. Bobby Wallace Will Contribute If He Gets The Chance: For the first time in nearly two years, we had a Wallace sighting Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. Wallace ended up as USC’s second-leading rusher with 51 yards on six carries and looked good doing it. Why hasn’t Wallace been playing? Injuries and academics are mostly to blame. He suffered a shoulder injury in pre-season camp in 2007 and took several weeks to recover. By the time he did, Cory Boyd and Mike Davis were established as the top two running backs. A bigger issue, though, has been Wallace’s academic woes. As Spurrier noted several times on the Gamecock Club tour this past spring, Wallace has been battling to remain academically eligible for a couple of years. Coaches are not going to give players who may flunk out of school a lot of reps in practice. Robert Gillespie sent that strong message in spring practice when Wallace was forced to miss several workouts to focus on academics. While Wallace played well, will he get another chance? Davis returns to active duty this week and the coaches are committed to giving Brian Maddox and Eric Baker as many snaps as possible. Is there room for Wallace?
4. Youth Will Be Served, Part II: If you believe Steve Spurrier, USC’s best two wide receivers Saturday night were redshirt freshmen Jason Barnes (three receptions) and Matt Clements (two receptions). He suggested on Sunday that both of them could start this Saturday in Oxford. If they do, that could possibly give USC three redshirt freshman starters at quarterback and wide receiver. Spurrier should just go ahead and add RB Eric Baker into the mix and make it a quartet. Now that would be interesting. Four freshman offensive starters at the key skill positions on the road in an opposing,a nd very loud, SEC stadium? If you’re a Gamecock fan, you’re hoping these young players grow up quickly. They have to.
5. Style Points Count With Spurrier: Unlike some coaches, the end does not justify the means. Steve Spurrier wants to win just as badly as any other Div. I head coach, but he demands more from his players, especially those on the offensive side of the ball. He wants the offense to run his system, meaning he wants to see completions down the field rather than just dump off passes, middle screens and swing passes to running backs. And he certainly wants to see his team put away early a vastly inferior team. Problem is, Spurrier currently lacks the players to run his system the way he wants to see it run. There are no wide receivers remotely close to some of the guys he had at Florida, and certainly no QB with the proven experience like Wuerffel, Grossman or Matthews.
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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 @.