Five Things We Learned From The USC-FAU Game
posted by Scott Hood, Monday, September 21, 2009
1. One Play Can Change Everything: Trailing 17-16, Florida Atlantic took the second half kickoff and had the football looking to drive down the field and take the lead. But Stephon Gilmore made the defensive play of the game by intercepting a pass along the right sideline on the first snap. Just over 10 minutes later, USC had scored 21 points to take a comfortable lead. Gilmore’s pick swung the momentum to USC’s side and the Gamecocks kept it for the entire second half. Obviously, Gilmore picked a good time for his first career interception. It showed that one play can swing the pendulum in favor of one team or the other. FAU QB Rusty Smith certainly wasn’t the same quarterback after Gilmore’s play.
2. Newcomers Rule The Roost: One look at the stat sheet shows the impact of the newcomers on USC’s 2009 team. The leading rusher was a true freshman (Jarvis Giles, 113 yards), the second leading rusher was a redshirt freshman (Kenny Miles, 56 yards), the leading receiver was a redshirt freshman (Tori Gurley, 4 receptions for 100 yards) and seven of the eight top tacklers were freshmen or sophomores or JUCO transfers. Granted, Eric Norwood didn’t play a whole lot of snaps (about 25), so the defensive numbers might be skewed a little bit. But there’s no questioning the impact the newcomers had defensively.
3. No Turnovers Equals Victory: The most encouraging statistic through three games is this one: USC is plus-four in turnover margin. That’s a neat change from 2008 when USC was minus-11 as a result of too many careless interceptions to mention. Stephen Garcia has two interceptions in 102 pass attempts, a reasonable number. Last season, USC averaged one interception every 16.7 passes. Through three games in 2009, Garcia has one interception for every 51 pass attempts. Projecting Garcia’s numbers out over the entire regular season, he would finish with eight interceptions.
4. Garcia Is Improving Every Game: Yes, he’s still vulnerable to the boneheaded play every now and then, but there’s no questioning Stephen Garcia’s talents. Yes, he still has a lot to learn and there’s plenty of room for improvement but the first three games of 2009 have been encouraging. His completion percentage (62.7 percent) is about nine points higher than last season, a significant change. And he’s one of the best scramblers around, a skill even Steve Spurrier recognizes as occasionally beneficial. Of course, a key test for Garcia will come Thursday night when the strong Ole Miss comes to Columbia. Even his teammates have appreciated the metamorphosis Garcia has undergone in the last ninth months since he was informed by Spurrier that he was “the guy” in the wake of the transfers by Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher.
5. The Defensive Coaches Will Welcome Back Ladi Ajiboye and Nathan Pepper With Open Arms: With its two top defensive tackles and its projected middle linebacker out of the lineup, Ellis Johnson was forced to employ a three-man front for most of the first half. Not surprisingly, the pass rush was, for all intents and purposes, practically non-existent and FAU quarterback Rusty Smith had his way with 14 completions in 18 attempts in the first half but become rattled in the second half when USC changed to the more familiar four-man front and turned up the heat on Smith, whose number of completions were reduced by fifty percent in the second half. Ajiboye’s three-game suspension is over, so he should be available for the Ole Miss game. Pepper might play, as well, if he has recovered enough from the high ankle sprain. If both come back, USC’s pass rush and run defense should be significantly improved.
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South Carolina Used a Strong Third Quarter To Beat Florida Atlantic, 38-16, Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. Here are five things we learned from the non-conference win:
1. One Play Can Change Everything: Trailing 17-16, Florida Atlantic took the second half kickoff and had the football looking to drive down the field and take the lead. But Stephon Gilmore made the defensive play of the game by intercepting a pass along the right sideline on the first snap. Just over 10 minutes later, USC had scored 21 points to take a comfortable lead. Gilmore’s pick swung the momentum to USC’s side and the Gamecocks kept it for the entire second half. Obviously, Gilmore picked a good time for his first career interception. It showed that one play can swing the pendulum in favor of one team or the other. FAU QB Rusty Smith certainly wasn’t the same quarterback after Gilmore’s play.
2. Newcomers Rule The Roost: One look at the stat sheet shows the impact of the newcomers on USC’s 2009 team. The leading rusher was a true freshman (Jarvis Giles, 113 yards), the second leading rusher was a redshirt freshman (Kenny Miles, 56 yards), the leading receiver was a redshirt freshman (Tori Gurley, 4 receptions for 100 yards) and seven of the eight top tacklers were freshmen or sophomores or JUCO transfers. Granted, Eric Norwood didn’t play a whole lot of snaps (about 25), so the defensive numbers might be skewed a little bit. But there’s no questioning the impact the newcomers had defensively.
3. No Turnovers Equals Victory: The most encouraging statistic through three games is this one: USC is plus-four in turnover margin. That’s a neat change from 2008 when USC was minus-11 as a result of too many careless interceptions to mention. Stephen Garcia has two interceptions in 102 pass attempts, a reasonable number. Last season, USC averaged one interception every 16.7 passes. Through three games in 2009, Garcia has one interception for every 51 pass attempts. Projecting Garcia’s numbers out over the entire regular season, he would finish with eight interceptions.
4. Garcia Is Improving Every Game: Yes, he’s still vulnerable to the boneheaded play every now and then, but there’s no questioning Stephen Garcia’s talents. Yes, he still has a lot to learn and there’s plenty of room for improvement but the first three games of 2009 have been encouraging. His completion percentage (62.7 percent) is about nine points higher than last season, a significant change. And he’s one of the best scramblers around, a skill even Steve Spurrier recognizes as occasionally beneficial. Of course, a key test for Garcia will come Thursday night when the strong Ole Miss comes to Columbia. Even his teammates have appreciated the metamorphosis Garcia has undergone in the last ninth months since he was informed by Spurrier that he was “the guy” in the wake of the transfers by Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher.
5. The Defensive Coaches Will Welcome Back Ladi Ajiboye and Nathan Pepper With Open Arms: With its two top defensive tackles and its projected middle linebacker out of the lineup, Ellis Johnson was forced to employ a three-man front for most of the first half. Not surprisingly, the pass rush was, for all intents and purposes, practically non-existent and FAU quarterback Rusty Smith had his way with 14 completions in 18 attempts in the first half but become rattled in the second half when USC changed to the more familiar four-man front and turned up the heat on Smith, whose number of completions were reduced by fifty percent in the second half. Ajiboye’s three-game suspension is over, so he should be available for the Ole Miss game. Pepper might play, as well, if he has recovered enough from the high ankle sprain. If both come back, USC’s pass rush and run defense should be significantly improved.
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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 @.