Insider Report, November 10th
With the start of a new football season, GamecockCentral.com is happy to announce a new feature: The Insider Report. Check back each weekday during the season for a new edition.
For continuity reasons, if you have question regarding this report, please use today’s “Ask Tony" thread on The Insiders Forum.
Five Keys To Victory
Ignite the offense - It was quite an interesting game on offense for the Gamecocks with Spurrier deciding to alternate quarterbacks on every play and breaking out the “Emory & Henry” formation for several plays. In the end Carolina racked up a respectable 351 yards of total offense. Had they gotten better play from the receiving corp, it would have been well over 400 yards. Grade ? B-
Protect the football - Carolina won the turnover battle by forcing three turnovers on defense while only turning it over once on offense. The lone miscue on offense came on a bad decision by quarterback Stephen Garcia, who forced the ball into double coverage while rolling out to the right. Three different players on defense grabbed interceptions, including defensive end Jordin Lindsey, whose play shifted the momentum back in the Gamecocks’ favor. Grade ? B+
Pressure Casey Dick - For the second straight week, the defense for Carolina racked up six sacks and harassed quarterback Casey Dick for most of the game. There were some drives where they did not generate enough pass rush, particularly in the third quarter, but it was still impressive performance overall. Grade ? B
Limit Michael Smith’s impact - Arkansas running back Michael Smith came into this contest leading the SEC in rushing at over 120 yards per game, but he was a non-factor in this one. He rushed for 27 yards on seven carries and really never made his presence felt. Grade ? A
Continued strong special teams play - Kicker Ryan Succop boomed a career long 54-yard field goal that would have been good from 60+ yards and also did a great job on kickoffs by only allowing the Razorbacks to return two of the seven on the day. Punter Spencer Lanning averaged almost 41 yards per punt, with a long of 53 yards. The coverage units were solid as well. Grade ? B
Recruiting Tidbits
Carolina can count two players back to the class of 2008, meaning they can enroll as many as 27 between January and August 2009. I could see easily see the staff deciding to sign 30 or more players when all is said and done.
I will be following up today with both Jarvis Giles and Jonathan Scott for follow up interviews with each on how their respective official visits went. I talked to a source last night on Giles who said he believe the visit was going “as well as it could go.” It’s setting up perfectly for Carolina to land him, but Tennessee is going to scratch and claw and do everything they can to hold on to him.
I should have an update on Giles on the front page late this morning or early afternoon.
Jonathan Scott actually ended up leaving late last night to head home because his mom had to work today. Assuming Scott goes to school today, I may not be able to reach him until this afternoon for a follow up interview.
While this should come as no shock to anyone who has read the Insider Report with regularity, Greenwood (S.C.) safety D.J. Swearinger has officially de-committed from Tennessee and has named Carolina as his leader. The Gamecocks are in on a lot of good safeties, so it’s going to come down to which ones commit first since they can’t take them all.
Game Observations
Spurrier’s decision to alternate quarterbacks every play was a curious one but not unprecedented, as he did the same thing multiple times at Florida. Neither Chris Smelley nor Stephen Garcia ever seemed to get in a rhythm, but of the two, Smelley made better decisions and threw the ball better. Not surprisingly, Garcia excelled at escaping the pass rush and not taking sacks.
The receivers did not help either quarterback in this game, as they failed to make too many plays that were there for the taking, especially down field. It seemed only Kenny McKinley came to play against Arkansas, and even he dropped a touchdown pass on a throw from Smelley. To have any chance to beat the red hot Florida Gators, the receivers are going to have to play much better than they did against Arkansas.
Running back Eric Baker averaged over 6.5 yards per carry and is showing signs of getting more comfortable with the ball in his hands. He made some excellent cuts and appears to be seeing the field much better than he was just a couple of games ago.
The offensive line had a solid game overall.
Defensively, I thought Eric Norwood played one of the best games of his career, racking up nine tackles and three sacks. Darian Stewart also had an excellent outing, as did Cliff Matthews. It was easily Matthews’ best game of his career in terms of pressuring the quarterback.
If you have any news or tips you'd like to share, please send an email to recruiting@gamecockcentral.com
This post was edited on 11/10 8:28 AM by Brian Shoemaker
This post was edited on 11/11 10:04 PM by Brian Shoemaker
With the start of a new football season, GamecockCentral.com is happy to announce a new feature: The Insider Report. Check back each weekday during the season for a new edition.
For continuity reasons, if you have question regarding this report, please use today’s “Ask Tony" thread on The Insiders Forum.
Five Keys To Victory
Ignite the offense - It was quite an interesting game on offense for the Gamecocks with Spurrier deciding to alternate quarterbacks on every play and breaking out the “Emory & Henry” formation for several plays. In the end Carolina racked up a respectable 351 yards of total offense. Had they gotten better play from the receiving corp, it would have been well over 400 yards. Grade ? B-
Protect the football - Carolina won the turnover battle by forcing three turnovers on defense while only turning it over once on offense. The lone miscue on offense came on a bad decision by quarterback Stephen Garcia, who forced the ball into double coverage while rolling out to the right. Three different players on defense grabbed interceptions, including defensive end Jordin Lindsey, whose play shifted the momentum back in the Gamecocks’ favor. Grade ? B+
Pressure Casey Dick - For the second straight week, the defense for Carolina racked up six sacks and harassed quarterback Casey Dick for most of the game. There were some drives where they did not generate enough pass rush, particularly in the third quarter, but it was still impressive performance overall. Grade ? B
Limit Michael Smith’s impact - Arkansas running back Michael Smith came into this contest leading the SEC in rushing at over 120 yards per game, but he was a non-factor in this one. He rushed for 27 yards on seven carries and really never made his presence felt. Grade ? A
Continued strong special teams play - Kicker Ryan Succop boomed a career long 54-yard field goal that would have been good from 60+ yards and also did a great job on kickoffs by only allowing the Razorbacks to return two of the seven on the day. Punter Spencer Lanning averaged almost 41 yards per punt, with a long of 53 yards. The coverage units were solid as well. Grade ? B
Recruiting Tidbits
Carolina can count two players back to the class of 2008, meaning they can enroll as many as 27 between January and August 2009. I could see easily see the staff deciding to sign 30 or more players when all is said and done.
I will be following up today with both Jarvis Giles and Jonathan Scott for follow up interviews with each on how their respective official visits went. I talked to a source last night on Giles who said he believe the visit was going “as well as it could go.” It’s setting up perfectly for Carolina to land him, but Tennessee is going to scratch and claw and do everything they can to hold on to him.
I should have an update on Giles on the front page late this morning or early afternoon.
Jonathan Scott actually ended up leaving late last night to head home because his mom had to work today. Assuming Scott goes to school today, I may not be able to reach him until this afternoon for a follow up interview.
While this should come as no shock to anyone who has read the Insider Report with regularity, Greenwood (S.C.) safety D.J. Swearinger has officially de-committed from Tennessee and has named Carolina as his leader. The Gamecocks are in on a lot of good safeties, so it’s going to come down to which ones commit first since they can’t take them all.
Game Observations
Spurrier’s decision to alternate quarterbacks every play was a curious one but not unprecedented, as he did the same thing multiple times at Florida. Neither Chris Smelley nor Stephen Garcia ever seemed to get in a rhythm, but of the two, Smelley made better decisions and threw the ball better. Not surprisingly, Garcia excelled at escaping the pass rush and not taking sacks.
The receivers did not help either quarterback in this game, as they failed to make too many plays that were there for the taking, especially down field. It seemed only Kenny McKinley came to play against Arkansas, and even he dropped a touchdown pass on a throw from Smelley. To have any chance to beat the red hot Florida Gators, the receivers are going to have to play much better than they did against Arkansas.
Running back Eric Baker averaged over 6.5 yards per carry and is showing signs of getting more comfortable with the ball in his hands. He made some excellent cuts and appears to be seeing the field much better than he was just a couple of games ago.
The offensive line had a solid game overall.
Defensively, I thought Eric Norwood played one of the best games of his career, racking up nine tackles and three sacks. Darian Stewart also had an excellent outing, as did Cliff Matthews. It was easily Matthews’ best game of his career in terms of pressuring the quarterback.
If you have any news or tips you'd like to share, please send an email to recruiting@gamecockcentral.com
This post was edited on 11/10 8:28 AM by Brian Shoemaker
This post was edited on 11/11 10:04 PM by Brian Shoemaker
