Wow, what a win. For a long time, Gamecock fans haven't been given anything to hang onto as far as believing that the program may be headed in the right direction. I've been harping all year about the importance of having a game like this. This is the best win the program has had in years in my opinion. Not because Florida is the best opponent, but because of the context of how it happened. The last 3 years of the Muschamp era were so disappointing. We usually only won games we were supposed to win (Vandy) or won flukey games (Auburn & Georgia). I can't and won't take away from Muschamp the fact that we won those games, but they were games that we squeaked out against opponents that gave us multiple turnovers. It just seemed unlikely to be repeated often, and it wasn't. But this... this was different. So what made the difference?
Offense
This offense was obviously completely revamped during the bye week. I won't pretend to know what happened behind the scenes, but I can imagine that Beamer and Satt got together and talked about how what they were doing wasn't working, and they needed to change it. What resulted is an offense that not only didn't look terrible, but they looked pretty darn good. Florida has a pretty decent defense. The only opponent to score more than us was LSU (who scored 49) but that game was a 7 point contest, and I have no doubt we would have scored more if we weren't running clock in the second half. The use of the fullback clearly impacted our ability to run the ball. The offensive line actually looked like they knew what they were doing. Our play calling was creative. 33 offensive points, wow, feels like 100 for us.
Jason Brown
Clearly the biggest change in the offense came with our gunslinger. I'll admit it, I was wrong about this one. I've been saying all week that there was clearly a reason Jason was the 3rd string, mainly his poor decision making, and that nobody should expect him to come in and look like the savior. I am happy that he does get to spend the week as the hero after all. He made very few poor throws. He knew when to throw it away. Biggest of all, he had an elusiveness about him that made a huge impact. There were numerous times where Zeb would have been sacked that Jason escaped and made a play happen (such as the Vann touchdown or long throw, also to Vann. It made a huge difference. Really happy for him and excited to see what he does the rest of the year.
Defense
Alright moving on from admitting I was wrong, I can switch to "I told you so" mode. I've been saying all year how much I liked this defense we were running. Tennessee and A&M were not good sample sizes. Both had flukey plays (punt return for A&M for example) and turnovers by the offense that made the game unreachable early, and the defense won't look up to their potential in an unreachable game. I said that if the offense would show up, I had faith that the defense would deliver, and here they were right on cue. The defense gave up 2 huge passes early (both were right on the money for Emory Jones, who played very well throughout I thought), but not much else. Most importantly, they completely eliminated Florida's running game. We limited Florida to 82 yards rushing. Florida actually has a pretty solid offense (that just likes to turn the ball over too much). This is the first game all year that they've been out gained. Great to see the defense deliver like I knew they could.
Culture
So, as I said before, this win just feels a lot different than the Muschamp wins. Take away Florida's biggest mistake, the fumble touchdown at the end of the half, and we still win. Not only did we win this game, we completely dominated them. So what was the difference? It's certainly not talent. Florida has had a higher recruiting ranking than us every year since who knows when. Is it coaching? Maybe, but Florida has a head coach that many consider an offensive guru and we had an OC that everybody has been begging to fire all year. My belief is that the difference in this game is culture. We heard it all offseason, and it showed its face here. Florida appears to have a pretty weak culture, and we have a strong one. When we were down huge to Tennessee, and we kept fighting till the end, it all may have felt pointless in a game that was already lost, but last night is why it matters. We have players that havne't phoned it in once this year, haven't given up, haven't been down. We have an offense that has been ridiculed all season, a defense that has been mocked for failing to stop the run, and they came to Williams Brice stadium and made the Florida team, band, and fans wish they had all stayed home. That is a statement win to sell to recruits. Now, we have to make it mean something. We need to change the narrative about South Carolina by beating Mizzou next week. They are not a good team. If we lose, the narrative will be that Florida is just terrible. If we win, we can ride into the offseason with people watching Beamer very carefully and wondering if South Carolina has something here. Go Gamecocks, beat Mizzou!
Offense
This offense was obviously completely revamped during the bye week. I won't pretend to know what happened behind the scenes, but I can imagine that Beamer and Satt got together and talked about how what they were doing wasn't working, and they needed to change it. What resulted is an offense that not only didn't look terrible, but they looked pretty darn good. Florida has a pretty decent defense. The only opponent to score more than us was LSU (who scored 49) but that game was a 7 point contest, and I have no doubt we would have scored more if we weren't running clock in the second half. The use of the fullback clearly impacted our ability to run the ball. The offensive line actually looked like they knew what they were doing. Our play calling was creative. 33 offensive points, wow, feels like 100 for us.
Jason Brown
Clearly the biggest change in the offense came with our gunslinger. I'll admit it, I was wrong about this one. I've been saying all week that there was clearly a reason Jason was the 3rd string, mainly his poor decision making, and that nobody should expect him to come in and look like the savior. I am happy that he does get to spend the week as the hero after all. He made very few poor throws. He knew when to throw it away. Biggest of all, he had an elusiveness about him that made a huge impact. There were numerous times where Zeb would have been sacked that Jason escaped and made a play happen (such as the Vann touchdown or long throw, also to Vann. It made a huge difference. Really happy for him and excited to see what he does the rest of the year.
Defense
Alright moving on from admitting I was wrong, I can switch to "I told you so" mode. I've been saying all year how much I liked this defense we were running. Tennessee and A&M were not good sample sizes. Both had flukey plays (punt return for A&M for example) and turnovers by the offense that made the game unreachable early, and the defense won't look up to their potential in an unreachable game. I said that if the offense would show up, I had faith that the defense would deliver, and here they were right on cue. The defense gave up 2 huge passes early (both were right on the money for Emory Jones, who played very well throughout I thought), but not much else. Most importantly, they completely eliminated Florida's running game. We limited Florida to 82 yards rushing. Florida actually has a pretty solid offense (that just likes to turn the ball over too much). This is the first game all year that they've been out gained. Great to see the defense deliver like I knew they could.
Culture
So, as I said before, this win just feels a lot different than the Muschamp wins. Take away Florida's biggest mistake, the fumble touchdown at the end of the half, and we still win. Not only did we win this game, we completely dominated them. So what was the difference? It's certainly not talent. Florida has had a higher recruiting ranking than us every year since who knows when. Is it coaching? Maybe, but Florida has a head coach that many consider an offensive guru and we had an OC that everybody has been begging to fire all year. My belief is that the difference in this game is culture. We heard it all offseason, and it showed its face here. Florida appears to have a pretty weak culture, and we have a strong one. When we were down huge to Tennessee, and we kept fighting till the end, it all may have felt pointless in a game that was already lost, but last night is why it matters. We have players that havne't phoned it in once this year, haven't given up, haven't been down. We have an offense that has been ridiculed all season, a defense that has been mocked for failing to stop the run, and they came to Williams Brice stadium and made the Florida team, band, and fans wish they had all stayed home. That is a statement win to sell to recruits. Now, we have to make it mean something. We need to change the narrative about South Carolina by beating Mizzou next week. They are not a good team. If we lose, the narrative will be that Florida is just terrible. If we win, we can ride into the offseason with people watching Beamer very carefully and wondering if South Carolina has something here. Go Gamecocks, beat Mizzou!
