The Five Most Important Players For USC In The Outback Bowl
posted by Scott Hood, Saturday, December 27, 2008
1. Garrett Anderson: As the center, Anderson always plays a key role. But in this game he will have the primary obligation to keep Iowa’s defensive tackle duo of Mitchell King and Matt Kroul in check. They’re not particularly big as defensive tackles go compared to some of the monsters in the SEC, but they are strong, exceptionally experienced (combined 93 career starts) and more than capable of wreaking havoc in the offensive backfield if they’re given a chance. Together, they might be the best pair of defensive tackles the Gamecocks have encountered all season. Without question, Anderson will have his work cut out for him. He will also require lots of help from the USC guards. Anderson must constantly make sure they are in the correct blocking alignment. If Anderson struggles and King and Kroul are allowed to have their way, it’s doubtful the USC offense will get anything goping.
2. The USC Linebackers: The matchup between Iowa running back Shonn Greene and USC linebackers Jasper Brinkley, Eric Norwood and Marvin Sapp might be the best one in this game. Brinkley’s best trait is his skill defending the run. Greene is the most decorated Hawkeye player on the roster with numerous awards already on his plate, including the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back and the Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year. He will likely be Iowa’s first consensus All-America running back since Nile Kinnick in 1939. USC defended the run much better during the 2008 regular season than the previous season, though they were gashed a couple of times. Iowa is a team that runs the ball over 60 percent of the time, so the USC linebackers must have solid days for the Gamecocks to prevail.
3. Stephen Garcia: Duh. The redshirt freshman quarterback will face as much pressure to perform well as anybody on the field. How many local fans bought tickets to the Outback Bowl to see a former local legend call the signals for the Gamecocks? How many USC fans purchased tickets just to see Garcia in action for the final time this season? Garcia may be personally responsible for the most tickets sold to the 2009 Outback Bowl than any other player. Talking with him on Thursday, he appears ready for the challenge. But he must complete more than 54 percent – his season average – of his passes in order for USC to win. Spurrier has been harping all season on Garcia’s tendency to run out of the pocket too quickly without giving his receivers a chance to get open. Will Garcia show everyone that he’s been paying attention. As Spurrier said Saturday, we won’t know about Garcia until he takes a snap and shows us if the lessons learned from Spurrier have registered.
4. Mike Davis: The best way to provide Stephen Garcia sufficient time to throw the ball? Get the running game going. Of course, that might prove difficult considering USC has the worst rushing attack (98.3 ypg) in the SEC and Iowa has a respectable run defense. But, make no mistake, USC must find a way to run the ball against the Hawkeyes, or it could be a long afternoon for the Gamecocks. That’s where Davis comes in. With little experienced depth behind him on the depth chart, it will be largely up to the Columbia High graduate to probe the Iowa defense for openings. Granted, it won’t be easy since Iowa is ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense, second in the Big 10 less than three yards behind conference leader Penn State.
5. Darian Stewart: Stewart is a productive player in his own right (60 tackles), but when you’re asked to fill the spot vacated by the team’s leading tackler, the spotlight will quickly find you. Stewart has played the spur linebacker spot for most of the season, so he’ll move back deeper into the secondary. But Cook’s greatest strength was coming up and defending the run with a vengeance. With Iowa so run-oriented, this game was tailor made for Cook’s skills. But now it’s up to Stewart to fill the gap. Is he up to the challenge? He had a career high 11 tackles against Clemson, so he appears to be in top form. Cook had 10 or more tackles four times this season, but averaged 5.0 tackles over the final four games. Stewart had 23 tackles over the same stretch, three more than Cook. Statistically, Stewart is more than capable.
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When South Carolina takes the field on New Year’s Day at Raymond James Stadium to square off with Iowa, more than 100 players will be in uniform for the Gamecocks. Yet, only a handful of players will truly affect the outcome of the game. In my opinion, these five players will have the most significant impact on the game:
1. Garrett Anderson: As the center, Anderson always plays a key role. But in this game he will have the primary obligation to keep Iowa’s defensive tackle duo of Mitchell King and Matt Kroul in check. They’re not particularly big as defensive tackles go compared to some of the monsters in the SEC, but they are strong, exceptionally experienced (combined 93 career starts) and more than capable of wreaking havoc in the offensive backfield if they’re given a chance. Together, they might be the best pair of defensive tackles the Gamecocks have encountered all season. Without question, Anderson will have his work cut out for him. He will also require lots of help from the USC guards. Anderson must constantly make sure they are in the correct blocking alignment. If Anderson struggles and King and Kroul are allowed to have their way, it’s doubtful the USC offense will get anything goping.
2. The USC Linebackers: The matchup between Iowa running back Shonn Greene and USC linebackers Jasper Brinkley, Eric Norwood and Marvin Sapp might be the best one in this game. Brinkley’s best trait is his skill defending the run. Greene is the most decorated Hawkeye player on the roster with numerous awards already on his plate, including the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back and the Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year. He will likely be Iowa’s first consensus All-America running back since Nile Kinnick in 1939. USC defended the run much better during the 2008 regular season than the previous season, though they were gashed a couple of times. Iowa is a team that runs the ball over 60 percent of the time, so the USC linebackers must have solid days for the Gamecocks to prevail.
3. Stephen Garcia: Duh. The redshirt freshman quarterback will face as much pressure to perform well as anybody on the field. How many local fans bought tickets to the Outback Bowl to see a former local legend call the signals for the Gamecocks? How many USC fans purchased tickets just to see Garcia in action for the final time this season? Garcia may be personally responsible for the most tickets sold to the 2009 Outback Bowl than any other player. Talking with him on Thursday, he appears ready for the challenge. But he must complete more than 54 percent – his season average – of his passes in order for USC to win. Spurrier has been harping all season on Garcia’s tendency to run out of the pocket too quickly without giving his receivers a chance to get open. Will Garcia show everyone that he’s been paying attention. As Spurrier said Saturday, we won’t know about Garcia until he takes a snap and shows us if the lessons learned from Spurrier have registered.
4. Mike Davis: The best way to provide Stephen Garcia sufficient time to throw the ball? Get the running game going. Of course, that might prove difficult considering USC has the worst rushing attack (98.3 ypg) in the SEC and Iowa has a respectable run defense. But, make no mistake, USC must find a way to run the ball against the Hawkeyes, or it could be a long afternoon for the Gamecocks. That’s where Davis comes in. With little experienced depth behind him on the depth chart, it will be largely up to the Columbia High graduate to probe the Iowa defense for openings. Granted, it won’t be easy since Iowa is ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense, second in the Big 10 less than three yards behind conference leader Penn State.
5. Darian Stewart: Stewart is a productive player in his own right (60 tackles), but when you’re asked to fill the spot vacated by the team’s leading tackler, the spotlight will quickly find you. Stewart has played the spur linebacker spot for most of the season, so he’ll move back deeper into the secondary. But Cook’s greatest strength was coming up and defending the run with a vengeance. With Iowa so run-oriented, this game was tailor made for Cook’s skills. But now it’s up to Stewart to fill the gap. Is he up to the challenge? He had a career high 11 tackles against Clemson, so he appears to be in top form. Cook had 10 or more tackles four times this season, but averaged 5.0 tackles over the final four games. Stewart had 23 tackles over the same stretch, three more than Cook. Statistically, Stewart is more than capable.
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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 @.