Webster's Dictionary defines 'perseverance' as:
1: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition
2: the action or condition or an instance of persevering
You can now add a third definition to that list:
3: The University of South Carolina football team
USC sputtered out of the gate for the second straight game, but kept plugging away despite setbacks, poor decisions, a couple of great performances by UGA players, and a very hostile crowd.
Don't be fooled, folks. Not too many teams walk out of Sanford Stadium with a 'W' in their back pocket, no matter how 'down' Georgia is. Georgia has some talent on their team. The last 5 years, their recruiting classes have been ranked 9, 6, 7, 15, 20. Yes, they have injuries. Yes they have a team in a bit of 'flux'. But don't be fooled into thinking that we beat a bunch of scrubs between the hedges.
Like I said last week, I woke up on Sunday, smiled, and said 'It's good to be a Gamecock.' This will happen a maximum of 14 times this season. We've already used up 2 of them, so get 'em while the gettin's good. They are in short supply and running out quickly.
There are certainly plenty of things for the team to work on in the coming weeks. The good thing is that we are finding out about them out now, and winning while we're doing it. There is a lot of season left, and luckily we have two weeks to work on them while we play teams we should beat comfortably.
I'm of the opinion that sometimes in the SEC, it's not so much about looking great on the road as much as it is just surviving. We survived, and have a chance to fix the things that went wrong and improve over the next couple of weeks.
On to the Random Thoughts...
- Here's your first official 'Shawn Elliot: Madman' photo of the year. I forgot to grab one last week. I won't let it happen again.
- After the offense finally got going and put the first TD on the board to take a 7-6 lead, Kelcy Quarles and Byron Jerideau both walked over to the bench and proceeded to high-five and pat every single offensive lineman on the head in congratulations. It's clear that this team is close, and it was great seeing a little leadership and team unity on display.
Judging by the looks on the offensive linemens' faces, they very much appreciated the gesture.
- After having a up and down opening game, I thought Dalton Wilson played much better against Georgia, and threw some nice blocks for Lattimore. Wilson did miss a block on the corner blitz that flattened Garcia, but I thought he was pretty solid otherwise.
- The late 4th quarter drive to answer Georgia's score, and retake the lead, putting USC up 38-35 was a championship drive if I've ever seen one. Late in a game full of setbacks, offense not looking particularly sharp, and a very loud Sanford Stadium in full throat, USC marched down the field and coldly punched the ball into the end zone.
It had to be a confidence-building moment for this team, and will be something for the offense to draw on in a future game.
- I had a buddy call me today and talk football with me. He's Mississippi State fan, and knows college football backwards and forwards. He had a chance to watch our entire game Saturday, and I asked him what he thought. He said, 'Well, to be truthful, you guys were'nt all that impressive. That having been said, on the road, in Athens, it's sometimes difficult to be impressive. You guys didn't play all that well, UGA did, and you still won on their turf. You have a better roster than UGA and that speaks volumes about where your program is now, and is headed in the future.'
- Lots of folks here have been noting how frequently UGA players held and committed illegal hands to the face penalties that weren't called. Here's a shot of one such no-call. Think Terrence Campbell appreciated this?
- Wanna have some fun? Below is a photo of Melvin Ingram crossing the goalline after his long fake punt. If you click on the photo, it'll take you to the full-size photo. Spend a few moments checking out the reaction of the UGA fans. It's so much fun to see that pain on Georgia fan's faces for once.
- Speaking of Melvin's fake punt, when it happened, I had been talking to a UGA guy on the sidelines for about 5 minutes. He was a nice guy and was very complimentary of our team, and very candid about what he thought the problems with UGA's team are. As Melvin crossed the goalline, he just hung his head for a moment. When he raised his head, he looked over to me and said, 'Who was that?' I said, 'That's our starting DE/DT.'
He just shook his head and said, 'Unreal. You guys are really athletic.'
- Ok, I can't help it. Here are some more sad Georgia faces. These were shot just after Melvin's fumble return to put us up by 10.
At the End of the Day...
At the end of the day, it was a road win against a traditional SEC power, and one in which we didn't play well.
I was talking to my buddy dj_chickenskratc before the season began, and we were discussing how many USC fans predicted a 11-1 or 12-0 season for USC. We surmised that most people went down the schedule and looked at each team we played, compared rosters, decided we had the better of the two, and chalked that game up as a win.
People don't want to think of the inevitable bad game or two that every team is going to have in a season, or when an inferior team is going to play the game of the decade and beat someone heavily favored.
In this case, we had a not-so-great game, and really picked a bad time to do it; on the road between the hedges. The good thing is that our game-changers decided they weren't going to let us lose, and stepped up and made plays to ensure that we went home with a 'W'.
There's a reason that essentially every team in the nation was after Clowney, Lattimore, Jeffery (except for Clemson, of course. He's too slow to play there), etc. As SOS says, 'Big time players make big time plays in big time situations.'
We have a few big time players on our team, and don't let it make you feel bad that we have to rely on those guys to win sometimes. That's why you go out and get those type guys.
There won't be a Random Thoughts thread next week. I'll have to miss the Navy game due to a business trip. I'll be back for Vandy, though and I'm looking forward to watching a team ranked inside the top 10 get another SEC victory.
Let's go get them Midshipmen. Go 'Cocks!
This post was edited on 9/12 11:54 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:54 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:56 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:56 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:58 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/13 12:06 AM by Chris Clark
1: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition
2: the action or condition or an instance of persevering
You can now add a third definition to that list:
3: The University of South Carolina football team
USC sputtered out of the gate for the second straight game, but kept plugging away despite setbacks, poor decisions, a couple of great performances by UGA players, and a very hostile crowd.
Don't be fooled, folks. Not too many teams walk out of Sanford Stadium with a 'W' in their back pocket, no matter how 'down' Georgia is. Georgia has some talent on their team. The last 5 years, their recruiting classes have been ranked 9, 6, 7, 15, 20. Yes, they have injuries. Yes they have a team in a bit of 'flux'. But don't be fooled into thinking that we beat a bunch of scrubs between the hedges.
Like I said last week, I woke up on Sunday, smiled, and said 'It's good to be a Gamecock.' This will happen a maximum of 14 times this season. We've already used up 2 of them, so get 'em while the gettin's good. They are in short supply and running out quickly.
There are certainly plenty of things for the team to work on in the coming weeks. The good thing is that we are finding out about them out now, and winning while we're doing it. There is a lot of season left, and luckily we have two weeks to work on them while we play teams we should beat comfortably.
I'm of the opinion that sometimes in the SEC, it's not so much about looking great on the road as much as it is just surviving. We survived, and have a chance to fix the things that went wrong and improve over the next couple of weeks.
On to the Random Thoughts...
- Here's your first official 'Shawn Elliot: Madman' photo of the year. I forgot to grab one last week. I won't let it happen again.
- After the offense finally got going and put the first TD on the board to take a 7-6 lead, Kelcy Quarles and Byron Jerideau both walked over to the bench and proceeded to high-five and pat every single offensive lineman on the head in congratulations. It's clear that this team is close, and it was great seeing a little leadership and team unity on display.
Judging by the looks on the offensive linemens' faces, they very much appreciated the gesture.
- After having a up and down opening game, I thought Dalton Wilson played much better against Georgia, and threw some nice blocks for Lattimore. Wilson did miss a block on the corner blitz that flattened Garcia, but I thought he was pretty solid otherwise.
- The late 4th quarter drive to answer Georgia's score, and retake the lead, putting USC up 38-35 was a championship drive if I've ever seen one. Late in a game full of setbacks, offense not looking particularly sharp, and a very loud Sanford Stadium in full throat, USC marched down the field and coldly punched the ball into the end zone.
It had to be a confidence-building moment for this team, and will be something for the offense to draw on in a future game.
- I had a buddy call me today and talk football with me. He's Mississippi State fan, and knows college football backwards and forwards. He had a chance to watch our entire game Saturday, and I asked him what he thought. He said, 'Well, to be truthful, you guys were'nt all that impressive. That having been said, on the road, in Athens, it's sometimes difficult to be impressive. You guys didn't play all that well, UGA did, and you still won on their turf. You have a better roster than UGA and that speaks volumes about where your program is now, and is headed in the future.'
- Lots of folks here have been noting how frequently UGA players held and committed illegal hands to the face penalties that weren't called. Here's a shot of one such no-call. Think Terrence Campbell appreciated this?
- Wanna have some fun? Below is a photo of Melvin Ingram crossing the goalline after his long fake punt. If you click on the photo, it'll take you to the full-size photo. Spend a few moments checking out the reaction of the UGA fans. It's so much fun to see that pain on Georgia fan's faces for once.
- Speaking of Melvin's fake punt, when it happened, I had been talking to a UGA guy on the sidelines for about 5 minutes. He was a nice guy and was very complimentary of our team, and very candid about what he thought the problems with UGA's team are. As Melvin crossed the goalline, he just hung his head for a moment. When he raised his head, he looked over to me and said, 'Who was that?' I said, 'That's our starting DE/DT.'
He just shook his head and said, 'Unreal. You guys are really athletic.'
- Ok, I can't help it. Here are some more sad Georgia faces. These were shot just after Melvin's fumble return to put us up by 10.
At the End of the Day...
At the end of the day, it was a road win against a traditional SEC power, and one in which we didn't play well.
I was talking to my buddy dj_chickenskratc before the season began, and we were discussing how many USC fans predicted a 11-1 or 12-0 season for USC. We surmised that most people went down the schedule and looked at each team we played, compared rosters, decided we had the better of the two, and chalked that game up as a win.
People don't want to think of the inevitable bad game or two that every team is going to have in a season, or when an inferior team is going to play the game of the decade and beat someone heavily favored.
In this case, we had a not-so-great game, and really picked a bad time to do it; on the road between the hedges. The good thing is that our game-changers decided they weren't going to let us lose, and stepped up and made plays to ensure that we went home with a 'W'.
There's a reason that essentially every team in the nation was after Clowney, Lattimore, Jeffery (except for Clemson, of course. He's too slow to play there), etc. As SOS says, 'Big time players make big time plays in big time situations.'
We have a few big time players on our team, and don't let it make you feel bad that we have to rely on those guys to win sometimes. That's why you go out and get those type guys.
There won't be a Random Thoughts thread next week. I'll have to miss the Navy game due to a business trip. I'll be back for Vandy, though and I'm looking forward to watching a team ranked inside the top 10 get another SEC victory.
Let's go get them Midshipmen. Go 'Cocks!
This post was edited on 9/12 11:54 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:54 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:56 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:56 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/12 11:58 PM by Impala_SS_Cock
This post was edited on 9/13 12:06 AM by Chris Clark
