Tipping the Scales: South Carolina
By Paul Jordan
After a bye week for TTS last week, we return for some final thoughts on this week’s match-up against the the Gamecocks of South Carolina, a team that has been inexplicably unbeatable for the Cats and the newest target of Nick Saban’s death stare. They come into Commonwealth Stadium riding a wave of momentum after beating the Tide at home, despite only having 311 yards on offense, TOTAL. Alabama outgained them by 40 yards and they lost. It’s still baffling to me how this team keeps winning, but they do. Their wins before the Tide were over Furman, Southern Miss, and Georgia (and we all know how they’re doing right now), making them my paper tiger of last week. Now it appears that they do have some teeth although I don’t know where from. Let’s check out the in-game match-ups and see who tips the scales.
UK’s run offense v. USC run defense- one reason that the Cocks have experienced success is their very stout run defense. Allowing only 36 yards to the nation’s best run tandem put the game on Greg McElroy, who went 27-35 but could not punch the ball into the endzone. With Derrick Locke nursing two bad shoulders, we can only hope the the stable of running backs we have lined up ((including guest appearance by
FB
RB Moncell Allen) can generate a little more yardage than that; or pull a Kirk Gibson like one quarter performance.
UK’s pass defense v. Alshon Jeffery- Stephen Garcia has passed for 944 yards and eight TD’s this season so far, finding a comfort zone throwing to, in my opinion, one of the best deep threats in college football, Alshon Jeffery. 66% of the yards thrown and half of his touchdowns have gone to Jeffery, with his next biggest target getting 15% of the yards (along with less than half the catches). This part is simple: shut down Alshon Jeffery and eliminate a huge part of their offense.
Steve Spurrier v. Joker Phillips- Steve Brown might be getting a lot of heat right now, from myself included, but his name isn’t the one that comes up first; it’s the head coach. Joker is on a three game skid (with two top-10 teams in there) and playing one more against a highly ranked team. A hard stretch for anyone, but Joker has to stop the bleeding or prepare for an absolute must win next week. Finding motivation to strap it up against the Fightin’ Visors shouldn’t be hard, but you know the team has to be hurting just a little from such an emotional loss last week. Conversely, Steve Spurrier has to find a way to avoid a hangover on the road after a very emotional win. The chess match will be very interesting from the get go, and whichever coach adapts faster will win. That has been the Ole Ball Coach for the last 2000 years of history, but Joker would certainly make his first year look a whole lot better if he can outsmart the coach who is leading the league in snide remarks and underhanded compliments.
This game is one that we need to win; beating teams we’re supposed to beat is a sign of an okay team, but getting an upset or two is necessary in teams looking to take the next step. The ways Steve Spurrier wins is confusing to me, but you can’t argue that he gets them. This, talent wise, is the most evenly matched game we’ve had so far, but the game will be decided on the clipboard. If Steve Brown can blitz more than twice in the game and shake Garcia out of his comfort zone (and maybe roll a safety over the top on Jeffery, they’re there to do more than miss tackles Steve) we can stifle the offense and maybe keep the score down. But Captain Smugpants will find someone else to go to, whether RB Marcus Lattimore starts effectively will determine whether Spurrier keeps going o the ground. Sorry to say it, but the battle of evenly matched heavyweights on the field will go to the team with the box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts known as Spurrier’s trick play book. Final score : UK 31-USC 35.
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans