[Corrected link below. Sorry about that. Now that I'm not on my phone here's the embedded video as well.]
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Two keys to a Williams-Brice win
It's simple really.
- Run the ball because they know they can't stop it.
- And protect the ball so that we can keep running the ball.
Do those two things and Atlanta inches even a little closer to Athens than it already is.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Gurley is the one who knocks.
Hitting the road. Well, after taking a final dig at that one Sakerlina fan I work with. I'll be back here tomorrow with two keys to the victory and maybe some pics/vids from around the beautiful USCe campus warehouses. Until then, remember....
HE...is the danger.
Go Dawgs!
Friday Misery - chicken soup for the cocks' soul
"Man did he turn it on when he had to!" - Larry Munson on Herschel trucking past some chickens
Inspiration is for those who need it
I've never read one, but those chicken soup books were all the rage a couple few years ago, weren't they? They had one for every subset of human existence - chicken soup for the teachers' soul, Jesse Palmer's teleprompter, golfers, dads and moms, B1G coaches, dog lovers, cat lovers, teenagers, pre-teenagers, dads and moms of pre-teenagers, Beyoncé (no...just Beyonce), elementary school crossing guards, college students, Waffle House short order cooks,bloggers, Urban Meyer pan pizza deliverers, grandmas, rent-a-Santas, Knoxville periodontists, the Internal Revenue Service, Chicago Cubs fans, encyclopedia salesmen, encyclopedia saleswomen, Wikipedia editors, drivers ed teachers, Mrs. Bernie (no...just Mrs. Bernie), blog readers, all the single ladies, teenage mutant ninja turtles, engiNerds, sisters, the brothers, Michael Adams' tailgate, Canadians, that person in Montana, runners, walkers, emerging scooter and alley enthusiasts, Indian Armed Forces (no, really), NBA majority owners, gardeners, Craig James' dead hookers, House Baratheon, iPhone 1 users, Walter White's chemistry students, my college advisor(s), and even your local legislators of all people. Bless their hearts.
I missed a few probably. But you get the point. Whoever it is that needs their soul soothed, their confidence lifted, their spirit heightened to new altitudes, there's a book for that poor bastard.
Us..you, me, and most of the other dumbasses reading this right now...we don't need that shit. Soup is for the sick and the downtrodden. How do you make soup? You throw a chicken carcass in a pot of boiling water and then go find a spoon. I don't want chicken soup. I want what comes first. I want what makes that chicken carcass a chicken carcass. I want the blood that Richt was referring to the other day. I want the meat and not the slimy discarded byproducts.
I want to roast that sucker to perfection, carve it up like Gurley, grab a hunk like Leonard Floyd grabs Dylan by the scruff of his neck, dip that sucker in a vat of sauce and the feast on the mother.
Then I want to turn to Spurrier and say, "The spoons are in the Light/Inspirational reading section."
A badass is not born from a greasy wishbone
Two years ago we were there outside of Williams-Brice pretty early. Three older Damn Good Dawgs had arrived even earlier than us and waved us in. I had met them only once before but they had graciously offered to let us join them after Robert vouched for us.
Now, if you've never been to a Georgia-Sakerlina game, you probably listen to the rest of us talk about the stadium being set against a barren landscape and think those guys love them some hyperbole. But truly, it's a shithole. Perhaps Tyler put it best - "...you know that Columbia is a utopia of good breeding, manners, and well designed urban planning. Or the exact opposite of all those things." I've even met some Gamecock fans that will admit to the unattractiveness of the stadium's environs. That is if they themselves have ever ventured to other stadiums. You know, ones that are actually a part of the campus. So yeh, it's a dicey tailgate scene.
And as we hunkered down in a dilapidated warehouse district we watched both Georgia and Carolina fans trickle in. Just across the way a very large tailgate was set up and the music started. I say music, but it wasn't. It was sound being blared at a decibel level taller than Jadeveon Clowney with his dreads on end. The noise bounced off the brick facades until all you heard were "lyrics" about "bitches" and "ho's" and "mother f---ing haters".
It wasn't even 9am and we were already miserable. I turned to Ben and Brian and said something. If the words escaped my mouth it was a miracle. I tried again before giving up. And it was then that I noticed Larry walking over there to "greet" these dudes.
Now, I'm an older fella. And this guy could be my uncle and was wearing a knee brace. He towers over most people much like Paul Bunyun did I would imagine, Except Larry wears red and black better than Bunyun ever could. The twenty to forty gamecock fans (actually, I'm pretty sure they were former players that get that spot every home game for a reunion of sorts) on the other side never saw Big Larry coming.
I guess Dean saw the tension in my eyes. After all, he couldn't hear it in my voice since some mother f---er was about to bitchslap some ho across a dance floor. But I did manage to hear his words as he leaned in close. "Now watch this. They're gonna turn that shit down."
"Should we..."
"Naw," Dean interrupted, understanding where I was going. "Ol' Larry has a way with words."
His emphasis on those last three words didn't ease the tension and I readied for whatever the hell comes when a group of 30 some odd gamecocks turn on one solitary giant Dawg fan. In my head it was fight or flight, but what it should of told me was to just sit my ass down and light a cigar cuz Badass Larry is on the mother.
What seemed like an hour but was actually just a few seconds passed and finally Larry limped back in our direction. The music dropped so low you could almost hear him grunt as he settled back into his chair. He casually re-engaged with the television that he could now hear as well as see, and sipped his bloody mary.
Or perhaps it was White Lightning, or jet fuel. Hell, it may have just been a Diet Coke. Didn't matter. Badass Larry had set the tone for the day. There have been many times since then that I wished he had been the one to give the pregame speech for Georgia. To this day I still don't know what it is that he said to that head henpecker in the garnet and black jersey. Don't really care. Like Dean said, Larry has a way of making people see what's in everyone's best interest.
In other words, show some respect and don't be a goddamn cock.
Let's close with a prayer shall we?...Dear Lord, please feed Gurley the ball. Forever and ever, Amen.
Inspiration is for those who need it
I've never read one, but those chicken soup books were all the rage a couple few years ago, weren't they? They had one for every subset of human existence - chicken soup for the teachers' soul, Jesse Palmer's teleprompter, golfers, dads and moms, B1G coaches, dog lovers, cat lovers, teenagers, pre-teenagers, dads and moms of pre-teenagers, Beyoncé (no...just Beyonce), elementary school crossing guards, college students, Waffle House short order cooks,
I missed a few probably. But you get the point. Whoever it is that needs their soul soothed, their confidence lifted, their spirit heightened to new altitudes, there's a book for that poor bastard.
Us..you, me, and most of the other dumbasses reading this right now...we don't need that shit. Soup is for the sick and the downtrodden. How do you make soup? You throw a chicken carcass in a pot of boiling water and then go find a spoon. I don't want chicken soup. I want what comes first. I want what makes that chicken carcass a chicken carcass. I want the blood that Richt was referring to the other day. I want the meat and not the slimy discarded byproducts.
 |
| Got chicken? (via) |
I want to roast that sucker to perfection, carve it up like Gurley, grab a hunk like Leonard Floyd grabs Dylan by the scruff of his neck, dip that sucker in a vat of sauce and the feast on the mother.
Then I want to turn to Spurrier and say, "The spoons are in the Light/Inspirational reading section."
A badass is not born from a greasy wishbone
Two years ago we were there outside of Williams-Brice pretty early. Three older Damn Good Dawgs had arrived even earlier than us and waved us in. I had met them only once before but they had graciously offered to let us join them after Robert vouched for us.
Now, if you've never been to a Georgia-Sakerlina game, you probably listen to the rest of us talk about the stadium being set against a barren landscape and think those guys love them some hyperbole. But truly, it's a shithole. Perhaps Tyler put it best - "...you know that Columbia is a utopia of good breeding, manners, and well designed urban planning. Or the exact opposite of all those things." I've even met some Gamecock fans that will admit to the unattractiveness of the stadium's environs. That is if they themselves have ever ventured to other stadiums. You know, ones that are actually a part of the campus. So yeh, it's a dicey tailgate scene.
And as we hunkered down in a dilapidated warehouse district we watched both Georgia and Carolina fans trickle in. Just across the way a very large tailgate was set up and the music started. I say music, but it wasn't. It was sound being blared at a decibel level taller than Jadeveon Clowney with his dreads on end. The noise bounced off the brick facades until all you heard were "lyrics" about "bitches" and "ho's" and "mother f---ing haters".
It wasn't even 9am and we were already miserable. I turned to Ben and Brian and said something. If the words escaped my mouth it was a miracle. I tried again before giving up. And it was then that I noticed Larry walking over there to "greet" these dudes.
Now, I'm an older fella. And this guy could be my uncle and was wearing a knee brace. He towers over most people much like Paul Bunyun did I would imagine, Except Larry wears red and black better than Bunyun ever could. The twenty to forty gamecock fans (actually, I'm pretty sure they were former players that get that spot every home game for a reunion of sorts) on the other side never saw Big Larry coming.
I guess Dean saw the tension in my eyes. After all, he couldn't hear it in my voice since some mother f---er was about to bitchslap some ho across a dance floor. But I did manage to hear his words as he leaned in close. "Now watch this. They're gonna turn that shit down."
"Should we..."
"Naw," Dean interrupted, understanding where I was going. "Ol' Larry has a way with words."
His emphasis on those last three words didn't ease the tension and I readied for whatever the hell comes when a group of 30 some odd gamecocks turn on one solitary giant Dawg fan. In my head it was fight or flight, but what it should of told me was to just sit my ass down and light a cigar cuz Badass Larry is on the mother.
What seemed like an hour but was actually just a few seconds passed and finally Larry limped back in our direction. The music dropped so low you could almost hear him grunt as he settled back into his chair. He casually re-engaged with the television that he could now hear as well as see, and sipped his bloody mary.
Or perhaps it was White Lightning, or jet fuel. Hell, it may have just been a Diet Coke. Didn't matter. Badass Larry had set the tone for the day. There have been many times since then that I wished he had been the one to give the pregame speech for Georgia. To this day I still don't know what it is that he said to that head henpecker in the garnet and black jersey. Don't really care. Like Dean said, Larry has a way of making people see what's in everyone's best interest.
In other words, show some respect and don't be a goddamn cock.
Let's close with a prayer shall we?...Dear Lord, please feed Gurley the ball. Forever and ever, Amen.
Dawgs @ Cocks - when Spurrier is calling the plays
I don't think this is going to be very complicated. Spurrier will want to run the ball as much as possible to both wear of Pruitt's defensive front as well as keep Gurley on the sideline.
Through two games, South Carolina is about 43/57 in favor of the passing game. I look for Saturday night to be closer to 55/45 in the first half favoring the running game and then maybe evening out closer to 50/50 by the end of the game. The last thing Spurrier wants is third and long situations where Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins can pin their ears back and go.
Looking at the Clemson film surely gave the Gamecock offensive coaches enough to go on as the Tigers were running very well up the middle for the entire first half. That also happens to be something South Carolina does well:
Through two games, South Carolina is about 43/57 in favor of the passing game. I look for Saturday night to be closer to 55/45 in the first half favoring the running game and then maybe evening out closer to 50/50 by the end of the game. The last thing Spurrier wants is third and long situations where Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins can pin their ears back and go.
Looking at the Clemson film surely gave the Gamecock offensive coaches enough to go on as the Tigers were running very well up the middle for the entire first half. That also happens to be something South Carolina does well:
If you saw SEC Now last night on the Network then you will recall Greg McElroy pointing out that the offensive line, in particular the center who goes off the wrong foot, blocked poorly on that play. And yet Davis makes the read as he approaches the line of scrimmage and cuts back off tackle. They'll have this corrected for Saturday knowing they're going up against Georgia's front seven.
The Gamecocks don't want to rely on Dylan Thompson to move the chains. Their gameplan will be to run it right at the Dawgs' front and then take their shots when ready.
So what will Pruitt do to stop them? Probably a lot of what we saw him do in the second half of the Clemson game - pressure up the middle to force runs outside the tackle box. He'll want a lot of hats on the ball whenever Davis carries it.
Although #28 is one of the better tailbacks we'll see all season, it's as yet unclear if he can carry the offense on his legs.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
"Why would you want to tackle a guy as big as me?"
Not a real big fan of Aschoff. And he gets awkwardly, albeit understandably, gushy over Gurley in this piece leading up to Saturday's SEC East tilt. But he hits on the the crux of South Carolina defensive coordinator's problem this week:
#FeedGurley
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Gurley registered a career-high 102 yards after contact and seven rushes that gained at least 10 yards against Clemson. In Gurley's career, he has averaged 46 YAC per conference game (2.8 YAC per carry) and has 89 rushes of at least 10 yards (which is tops in the SEC over the past three seasons).Nothing new (at least to us Dawg fans) that Todd Gurley has the unique ability to make you defend the field from sideline to sideline as well as endzone to endzone. Just hope Coach Ward is just as perplexed Sunday morning as he is right now.
That means you have to put a lot of hands on Gurley at the same time in order to bring him down and stop those tree trunks he calls legs from churning.
Do you push him outside or keep him running through the middle? Well, that's a tough one to answer when you consider this: According to ESPN Stats & Information, over the past two seasons, Gurley has averaged the fourth-most yards nationally per rush (6.0) inside the tackles (minimum 100 attempts) and fifth most outside the tackles (7.6).
"We have to have 11 hats on the ball," said Ward, who wants to stack the box more when Gurley is in. "We can't be tackling one-on-one, we have to have gang-tackling all day."
#FeedGurley
From opening kick 'til the end of the first quarter
As this morning's earlier post alludes to, this game in Columbia tends to be won in the fourth quarter, 2012 notwithstanding. But a lot of attention is being paid to Georgia's confidence, its mindset at Williams-Brice in particular.
Take it away Mr. Emerson:
I agree that it turns out this bye week may be a blessing in disguise. I expect Georgia will travel to Columbia focused on playing good, fundamental football. And I expect that the coaches have already broken them down from the high of that opening win. The quotes from the players and coaches suggest that this game is being put in the right frame.Is there a chance Georgia comes into Williams-Brice overconfident after how poorly South Carolina looked in the opening game?
It’s always a possibility, but I think the bye week may have helped. It gave the coaches two weeks to show game film from the Clemson game and isolate on the mistakes that were made. Hutson Mason has had two weeks to hear that he’s not a good quarterback, and it obviously bothers him. It also makes the Clemson game seem further away, which may help stem the overconfidence factor.Then again, it could certainly work the other way: Two weeks to hear how great you are, with ESPN putting Georgia in the playoff, Todd Gurley getting the Heisman hype, etc. This is one of those things you can’t say for sure until after the game.
“I’ve got a feeling this game could get a little bloody,” coach Mark Richt said.
“We’re both going to come out swinging,” Bailey said. “We’re not going to back down and they’re not going to back down.”
Quarterback Hutson Mason said he expects a “big, physical, downhill game. May the toughest man win so to speak.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo expects the Gamecocks, already 0-1 in the SEC, to play hard.
“We’ve got to match their intensity,” he said.But I don't think we'll need wait until the end of the game to find out if that was all just talk. We'll know at some point in the first quarter if Georgia came in overconfident.
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