Best Offense Ever?

[MANAFOLD]

Some on this board are saying last year was the best offense ever. Not true bay a long shot. I'll take any of the Connor Shaw led teams based on 11 wins and the degree of difficulty of schedule . Last year the Thompson led offense constantly broke down under pressure and many times could not sustain drives when needed. Yes, Thompson set the record for passing yards but in many cases he was forced to because of many other offense weaknesses. I fully expect this year the offense will be much more balanced and improved. Thompson played too soft and sometimes Davis looked less than 100%. Maybe we can get some fire in the belly from Mitch and the other Qb's.O line will be better with more depth and experience and tandem of Wilds and Williams will more than spell Davis. Look for Cooper to get the help he did not have last year.

 

[TheRoosterGuru]

Stat wise, yes. When the game was on the line, no. Probably worst offense in Spurrier's tenure as far as clutch situations.

 

[alston]

Stat wise, yes. When the game was on the line, no. Probably worst offense in Spurrier's tenure as far as clutch situations.

OL was not as good as it should have been. A case of the parts being better individually than the the sum of the parts..

 

[mistad3]

OL was not as good as it should have been. A case of the parts being better individually than the the sum of the parts..

Alston, I'm not talking trash, but asking a serious question. Do you expect the Offensive line to be better? Why/Why not?

 

[Bongsummers]

There are a couple of guys on the o line that have no business in the sec and were abused by every defensive coordinator last year. The rest of them have a history of injuries or no experience. Plus, I never expect much from Elliott's lines as far as effort or discipline. SOS better be ready to dial up some plays, cause it could be rough early on.

 

[gamecock_07]

Alston, I'm not talking trash, but asking a serious question. Do you expect the Offensive line to be better? Why/Why not?

You're not going to believe a word he says anyways, why even ask the question?

 

[mistad3]

There are a couple of guys on the o line that have no business in the sec and were abused by every defensive coordinator last year. The rest of them have a history of injuries or no experience. Plus, I never expect much from Elliott's lines as far as effort or discipline. SOS better be ready to dial up some plays, cause it could be rough early on.

I don't want to be called a tater, but this is what I've been trying to say. The line could play lights out this

You're not going to believe a word he says anyways, why even ask the question?

That's why I had the why/why not. Someone already explained my view, up above. I didn't even think to bring in the Elliott factor.

 

[ReadR00ster]

Stat wise, yes. When the game was on the line, no. Probably worst offense in Spurrier's tenure as far as clutch situations.

That is the problem. The defense was so bad the game was always on the line when it shouldn't have been. If we don't a couple of late touchdowns up 42 - 14 in the forth quarter, no one complains about the offense.

 

[ReadR00ster]

Alston, I'm not talking trash, but asking a serious question. Do you expect the Offensive line to be better? Why/Why not?

I expected the offensive line to be better for like 7 straight years. A couple times I was actually right.

 

[mistad3]

I expected the offensive line to be better for like 7 straight years. A couple times I was actually right.

I said in another thread that they've regressed. They're replacing last year's line with inexperienced, often injured player's. Someone else disagreed. I didn't even mention the fact that Elliott's lines rarely ever live up to expectation.

 

[alston]

Alston, I'm not talking trash, but asking a serious question. Do you expect the Offensive line to be better? Why/Why not?

No I don't. I think Elliott is a pretty good recruiter of talent but not as good of a coach as many believe. I don't think the talent this year is as good as last. Not convinced Elliott can coach them up. My humble opinion. And didn't take that as trash talk so you are good.

 

[Laziness]

Hard to judge a "best offense ever" to start with. But the 87 team with Ellis, Sharpe, Bethea, and Harold Grreen was pretty strong. Some of the Taneyhill teams had high octane offenses, sadly they also had Wally Burnham's defenses. But for me the '10 team had the best offense. Lattimore was a beast his freshmen year. Garcia to Alshon was unstoppable. Tori Gurley and Ace Sanders were other good options at WR, with Kenny Miles and Brian Maddox at RB.

 

[gamecockjosh]

Look at yards per play is a better indication of offensive ability. With our defense letting other teams score so quickly, our offense had more possessions. Naturally with more possessions we racked up more yards, but that doesn't mean our offense was better. In 2013 we averaged 6.4 yards per play and in 2014 we averaged 6.1 yards per play....thus I would argue that the 2013 offense was more efficicent than the 2014. Interestingly, that 2010 team averaged 6.0 yards per play...very similar to 2014.

Of course you can't look at stats in a vacuum. Relatively speaking, you would rather have a more explosive rushing attack because running the ball runs more time off the clock.....which in turn gives the opposing team less opportunities to score. We averaged 4.4 ypc in 2014 but 4.8 ypc in 2013.

Thus, I would argue that while we had a great offense in 2014, the 2013 offense was even better.

 

[Quisp]

If we can run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense I'll take my chances. That's the prescription that always wins. The worst defense to win a title in recent years was Auburn in 2010 bu t even they were top 15 in run defense.

 

[mcbear30]

Looked up some stats comparing the 2013 offense to 2014.

To my surprise the 3rd D conversion numbers were almost identical. 2013: 180 atts, 79 successful, 43.89% conversion rate. 2014: 176 atts, 76 successful, 43.18% conversion rate.

*4th* down favored 2013 in a way I expected, though. 2013: 30 atts, 21 successful, 70% conversion rate. 2014: 23 atts, 12 successful, 52% conversion rate.

 

[Laziness]

If our 2014 offense had been the best ever maybe they could have gotten a couple first downs when it counted, and kept us from losing the Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee games. Barely got an inch for a first down against Georgia or we probably lose that game. Can't really be our best offense ever when you can't get a first down when the game is on the line in my opinion.

 

[cockynSC66]

In Thompsons defense, well, no pun intended but he didn't gave one. Shaw had a great D that gave him the luxury of not having to score a lot. We were putting up 30+ nearly every game last year. With the 2013 D, we may have been undefeated. Certainly would have been a 10 win team at the least.

 

[chucktowncock]

CS14

the most productive (best) QB in the history of Gamecock football

period

 

[Conway Gamecock]

Top 10 USC offenses, all time (purely statistically speaking):

1) 1995: 36.4 ppg, 428.8 ypg (4-6-1)

2) 2013: 34.2 ppg, 452.3 ypg (11-2)

3) 2014: 32.6 ppg, 442.6 ypg (7-6)

4) 1973: 31.5 ppg, 400.7 ypg (7-4)

5) 2012: 31.5 ppg, 376.5 ypg (11-2)

6) 1984: 30.9 ppg, 424.6 ypg (10-4)

7) 2010: 30.9 ppg, 392.8 ypg (9-5)

8) 2011: 30.1 ppg, 373.5 ypg (11-2)

9) 1980: 29.0 ppg, 404.3 ypg (8-4)

10) 1987: 28.4 ppg, 403.7 ypg (8-4)