5 Things We Learned From The Kentucky Game
posted by Scott Hood, Sunday, October 11, 2009
1. USC’s Best Play Comes Straight From The Sandlots: At some point in Saturday’s game, USC head coach Steve Spurrier told QB Stephen Garcia just to throw the ball up in the air and let USC’s taller receivers go get it. You can imagine the huddle on those play calls. Garcia may have literally drawn the play in the sand and told freshman Alshon Jeffery to run down the field, get open and he would get him the ball. That’s what happened on the TD play when Garcia beat the corner blitz by just getting the ball away. Jeffery adjusted to the ball while it was in the air and made a tumbling catch in the end zone.
2. It’s Death, Taxes And USC Beating Kentucky: By this point, USC is to Kentucky what Georgia is to USC – that rival you just can’t seem to beat no matter how hard you try. UK head coach Rich Brooks said it best after the game – the Wildcats had plenty of opportunities to win the game. But two potential touchdown passes were dropped, a fake field goal attempt was stopped short of the first down, a false start penalty negated a first down and killed a fourth-quarter drive, the failed two-point conversion and, finally, allowing USC to convert a pair of third downs on the final drive that killed the clock. In short, it looked a lot like the USC-Georgia games over the year with UK wearing the garnet and black, so to speak.
3. Great Players Make Great Plays: Is anyone truly surprised that Cliff Matthews was the guy who batted down the pass on the fourth down conversion attempt by the Wildcats with 4:34 left? Not really. Matthews has been one of the best defensive players all season and has made plenty of plays along with OLB Eric Norwood. Matthews finished with five tackles, one for loss, so it was a relatively quiet afternoon for the Cheraw native. But he came up big when the game was on the line, a characteristic shared by all great players. But Matthews wasn’t the only one. Chris Culliver’s two long kickoff returns in the first half led directly to touchdowns for the Gamecocks. Then, of course, there’s Alshon Jeffery, who introduced himself to Gamecock Nation with three splashy TD receptions, including a spectacular one-handed grab in the end zone. Jeffery, still a raw talent, came into the game with five receptions in the first five games, but more than doubled his season output with seven catches.
4. Kenny Miles Is Creating Separation: There is an old saying in sports that it’s not important who starts the game but who finishes. If that’s true, then it’s evident from Saturday’s game that the coaching staff’s confidence in Kenny Miles is growing by leaps and bounds. With the game on the line in the final four minutes and USC needing to generate at least a couple of first downs to kill the clock, the coaches called on Miles to get the job done. The redshirt freshman carried six times for 28 yards, including 14 yards on a crucial third-and-6 from the USC 35 that effectively allowed the Gamecocks to kill the clock. Without question, Miles is creating separation between himself and other USC running backs. Over the last three games, Miles has 40 carries, while Jarvis Giles has 16 and Brian Maddox 14.
5. Stephen Garcia Is Developing Into The Leader Spurrier Wants: If you want to become a leader at this level, you have to make plays. And Garcia made plenty of those on Saturday. Besides the career-high three TD passes to Jeffery, the most important play was his scramble and dive for a first down on a third-and-4 play that kept the final drive alive. These words from Steve Spurrier during his post-game press conference spoke volumes: “It was good for Stephen to leap in there and make that first down. He earned the respect of his teammates more when he did that.” Over the last two games, Garcia is 29-of-42 passing (69.0 percent) for 365 yards and five touchdowns. His interception on Saturday was the first in 16 quarters. Nevertheless, he had a 189.01 quarterback rating against the Wildcats, his highest of the season.
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South Carolina pulled out a 28-26 victory over Kentucky Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium, improving to 5-1 on the season, 2-1 in the SEC, at the halfway point of the 2009 regular season. Here’s what we learned from USC’s 10th straight win over the Wildcats:
1. USC’s Best Play Comes Straight From The Sandlots: At some point in Saturday’s game, USC head coach Steve Spurrier told QB Stephen Garcia just to throw the ball up in the air and let USC’s taller receivers go get it. You can imagine the huddle on those play calls. Garcia may have literally drawn the play in the sand and told freshman Alshon Jeffery to run down the field, get open and he would get him the ball. That’s what happened on the TD play when Garcia beat the corner blitz by just getting the ball away. Jeffery adjusted to the ball while it was in the air and made a tumbling catch in the end zone.
2. It’s Death, Taxes And USC Beating Kentucky: By this point, USC is to Kentucky what Georgia is to USC – that rival you just can’t seem to beat no matter how hard you try. UK head coach Rich Brooks said it best after the game – the Wildcats had plenty of opportunities to win the game. But two potential touchdown passes were dropped, a fake field goal attempt was stopped short of the first down, a false start penalty negated a first down and killed a fourth-quarter drive, the failed two-point conversion and, finally, allowing USC to convert a pair of third downs on the final drive that killed the clock. In short, it looked a lot like the USC-Georgia games over the year with UK wearing the garnet and black, so to speak.
3. Great Players Make Great Plays: Is anyone truly surprised that Cliff Matthews was the guy who batted down the pass on the fourth down conversion attempt by the Wildcats with 4:34 left? Not really. Matthews has been one of the best defensive players all season and has made plenty of plays along with OLB Eric Norwood. Matthews finished with five tackles, one for loss, so it was a relatively quiet afternoon for the Cheraw native. But he came up big when the game was on the line, a characteristic shared by all great players. But Matthews wasn’t the only one. Chris Culliver’s two long kickoff returns in the first half led directly to touchdowns for the Gamecocks. Then, of course, there’s Alshon Jeffery, who introduced himself to Gamecock Nation with three splashy TD receptions, including a spectacular one-handed grab in the end zone. Jeffery, still a raw talent, came into the game with five receptions in the first five games, but more than doubled his season output with seven catches.
4. Kenny Miles Is Creating Separation: There is an old saying in sports that it’s not important who starts the game but who finishes. If that’s true, then it’s evident from Saturday’s game that the coaching staff’s confidence in Kenny Miles is growing by leaps and bounds. With the game on the line in the final four minutes and USC needing to generate at least a couple of first downs to kill the clock, the coaches called on Miles to get the job done. The redshirt freshman carried six times for 28 yards, including 14 yards on a crucial third-and-6 from the USC 35 that effectively allowed the Gamecocks to kill the clock. Without question, Miles is creating separation between himself and other USC running backs. Over the last three games, Miles has 40 carries, while Jarvis Giles has 16 and Brian Maddox 14.
5. Stephen Garcia Is Developing Into The Leader Spurrier Wants: If you want to become a leader at this level, you have to make plays. And Garcia made plenty of those on Saturday. Besides the career-high three TD passes to Jeffery, the most important play was his scramble and dive for a first down on a third-and-4 play that kept the final drive alive. These words from Steve Spurrier during his post-game press conference spoke volumes: “It was good for Stephen to leap in there and make that first down. He earned the respect of his teammates more when he did that.” Over the last two games, Garcia is 29-of-42 passing (69.0 percent) for 365 yards and five touchdowns. His interception on Saturday was the first in 16 quarters. Nevertheless, he had a 189.01 quarterback rating against the Wildcats, his highest of the season.
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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 @.