Can I get a fistbump?!?!?!

Gamecocks' defense - hit em early and often

Josh Kendall has a nice look at how South Carolina is a Jekyll and Hyde situation defensively.

South Carolina’s defense has given up 37 points in the first half of two games this year and zero combined in the second half. (Kentucky’s two points Saturday night came on a fumble return on special teams.) The yards allowed discrepancy has been almost as dramatic. First half: 550. Second half: 296. And the real story is in the yards per play – 8.73 in the first half vs. 4.29 in the second half.

Taking our last game 'tween the hedges into mind, perhaps we can have a lead built before the lightning strikes...somewhere out towards Elberton.

Lambert, Ramsey, and Bauta walk into a huddle

Here are four scenarios for how the quarterback position could play out. And really, I think I'm okay with any of them. Also, feel free to provide your own if you think Leonard Floyd can throw a spiral hand it to Chubb.

Lambert takes the reins

It’s a key moment in the game. Something like it’s third and medium distance, or we’re backed up to our own goal line, or it’s fourth down at midfield, and the coaches put the ball in their starter’s hands. They send in a play that immediately tells Lambert -If you want this team, here are the keys. We need you NOW!

Big throw to Malcolm Mitchell for a big gain. And not just a tunnel screen or one of those quick outs where 26 is one on one and he beats the defensive back’s attempt at a tackle for more yards. No, this one is all 11. Deep throw that is on the money and moves the chains or adds to the scoreboard.

Ramsey finally steps up

He’s had his moments. And he’s made some big throws. But a moment arises when he’s in the huddle and he makes a play. And unlike “Lambert takes the reins”, this doesn’t necessarily have to be a key moment, but if it were it would only add to the confidence level I’m sure.

What I envision is a long drive that puts all of Ramsey's talent on display. There’s a big throw down the sideline. A quick out to move the chains. A key block when Sony suddenly reverses field. There’s a line of scrimmage audible when he sees something he doesn’t like. Then, as the clock drains towards halftime, it’s third and three at the 25 yard line. Timeout by Richt to give Schotty time to come up with a play. A field goal would extend the lead to a touchdown. Can we get more here with just a few seconds left? Sensing a handoff to Chubb one safety cheats towards the line of scrimmage just before the snap. Ramsey looks the other safety off and then fires to the slant route on the wide side of the field. Right between the 8 and the 1. Touchdown!

Bauta’s patience pays off

Lambert sustains an injury while Ramsey throws a pick. Or vice versa. Either way, Bauta enters the huddle and moves the chains, most likely with his arm and his feet. In fact, it starts with a run on a zone read play very similar to the play Lambert scored on in Nashville last week. Defense keys on a handoff to Chubb and dares Bauta to throw. But he does neither and scrambles for 15-20 yards.

On the next play we max protect and Bauta hits Mitchell on a crossing pattern right over the blitzing safety’s head. Now the defense is on its heels and Chubb gashes them with two carries for another 30 yards. Bauta hits Blazevich on a drag route that appears to be heading for six, but replay shows the tight end’s foot was out at the three.

No worries. Naked bootleg and Bauta powers over a crashing defensive back and dives forward across the line for a touchdown.

Status quo

Lambert continues to start with Ramsey coming in at designated times for a complimentary drive of TBD length/time/yards/points. The playbook eases open a little more each quarter and both the running game and the passing game benefit. During the game against Southern, all three quarterbacks get live work in and have good days. This makes the receivers especially happy.

Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. The only question becomes can Lambert make the throws with the weight of the game on his shoulders. Because that exact moment is coming sometime in October, if not sooner.

See y'all, we got this. Bring on the 'cocks!

Our thoughts and prayers...

A grim reminder that there are things much bigger than football. Can't imagine the pain Coach Sherrer and family are going through.

Sister of UGA football assistant Kevin Sherrer found shot to death http://t.co/TwRYashjsZ pic.twitter.com/kMzXrXOfv3

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) September 16, 2015

Humpday Hilarity - Ol Ball Coach, Gangham Style

Or so he thinks.

It's Torso Thrust Tuesday, do you know where your exercise ball is?

Vandy rewatch

In an effort to not belabor a seventeen point road win, some bullets:

- If there's ever been a better pair of sophomore running backs to grace one campus at the same time than Michel and Chubb, I'm forgetting their names as well as their vision, drive, speed, power, change of direction, blocking technique, versatility as a receiver, etc., etc...

- There was a lot made around me in the stands of Schotty continually running the ball in between the tackles. But, can we blame him? Chubb averaged nearly ten yards a carry. I'm anxious to see some pitches and counters too. However I also understand the desire not to show the Gamecocks anything more than we need to. And Saturday there was no need to.

- Hope the tight ends can get more involved going forward. They were targeted a few times and both Blazevich and Harris had nice catches. The more yards our running backs get they more those guys should be able to find some open space.

- The offensive line played better against the Commodores than they did against ULM.

- Remember when so much was made about freshmen receivers not seeing the field until they could block? Yeh, thankfully those days are gone. Godwin may not be very big, but he got in the way of at least three Vanderbilt defensive backs on Michel's long touchdown run.

- The wife and I nearly threw up watching the officials get paychecks for absolutely no reason. Seriously, how hard is to see Leonard Floyd's helmet being wrenched in unnatural directions?

- But she took some measure of solace seeing Richt mouth the words "That's targeting!!" when they vaulted over the line to tackle Lambert before the snap. Because she had yelled the same thing from the stands Saturday.

- I felt good not great about the defense walking away Saturday. For all the quarterback pressure and tackles for loss and interceptions, we gave up a lot of dinks and dunks. Rewatching it I feel about the same. They set their jaws in the red zone and the first string (if there is such a thing under Pruitt) did not give up a touchdown. But I keep asking myself How much of that is Vandy's offensive ineptitude?

- Not sure why teams run to Malkom Parrish's side. He's good in pass defense. He's great in meeting the ball carrier at the point of attack.

- Easy to see why Mama Jenkins was saying her son Jordan's game was good but could've been better. His momentary shock at not getting blocked (at all!) on a couple plays meant the ball carrier only lost two yards instead of three.

- Semi-sarcasm aside, if Lambert can take his offensive line out for ice cream, Floyd and Jenkins can take Mayes and Co. out for steaks and mashed potatoes and pork loins and macaroni and cheese.

- Can Collin Barber kick field goals too? I'm not joking when I say that if it weren't for Chubb, Barber would be the team MVP to this point. As we struggle to find answers at quarterback, we're going to need 32 to keep his game at this level. At some point the South Carolina or Alabama or Tennessee or Missouri games are going to drop down into field position games...much like the first quarter in Nashville.

- Davis took the blame for the uncovered pooch kick. All I'll add is that was awfully generous of him.

I'll have a post on the quarterback situation later in the week, so I'm not going to say much else about Lambert on Saturday. I understand the nervousness fans have watching him work through his progressions (although honestly, there were many times he was only watching one receiver). but I do think too much is being made about his 0-fer first half. There were some drops in there that could've been big plays and given Lambert some much needed confidence early on.

In a nutshell, weird things happen in Vanderbilt Stadium. And sometimes that includes 17 point wins that light up message boreds.

Is Orth an improvement at QB for Gamecocks?

Full disclosure: I watched most of their game against UNC and very, very little of the loss to Kentucky. So I dove into the statistics last night and immediately started to wonder if Orth might be an improvement as Connor Mitch recovers from his injuries.

Completion percentage and yards per attempt favor Orth:

VIA CFBStats.com

Regardless of who Spurrier trots out, the goal is always to force third and long. South Carolina has a 65% completion percentage on first down. That goes down to 35% on third down overall and 25% on third and 4+ yards.

One thing's for certain, Orth is a big reason South Carolina was still in position to win that game Saturday night in Columbia. Well, him and the Gamecocks defense that pitched a second half shut out. But don't be surprised (and really, how could you?) if Spurrier comes to town with some other options at quarterback up his sleeve.

“I think Perry threw some nice balls last night,” Spurrier said. “We have confidence in Perry. Unfortunate Connor got hurt, but you have to move on to the next player. That’s what we’ll try to do. We actually moved the ball with Perry in there the second half.”

Freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez, who had two carries for 40 yards against Kentucky, “probably” will be the backup quarterback against the Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 SEC), Spurrier said.

“He and Michael Scarnecchia, yeah,” Spurrier said. “Lorenzo could play some, we will have to wait and see.”

Nunez is their future at the position. He has two carries for 40 yards and is an athlete that can make some plays. Would the old ball coach trust the kid on the road against the Dawgs? I'd bet on seeing Orth for the most part, unless it's time for a wrinkle or there's been an turnover or two. With the help of four interceptions, Georgia leads the conference in turnover margin after just two weekends. If we are to beat the Gamecocks for just the second time in six meetings, we may need to add to that interception total and see if we can get that visiting visor thrown in the dirt.

Sunday Thoughts on a disgruntled sigh of relief

Credit to the Commodores for playing a much better game than they did in the opener.

Credit also to the refs for finding new and inventive ways to make things interesting in Vanderbilt Stadium.

There's a lot to work on this week. Special teams, quarterback decision making, not running ball carriers so often up the middle, covering 40 yard onside kicks. What else? I'd like to hear that the starting QB position is back to being open for competition. But honestly, it appears the job is Lambert's for better or worse.

But you have to be happy with the win. That's something Gamecock fans can't enjoy this morning. Which means they're already focused on giving us all we can handle come Saturday night.

Keys to commanding the Commodores

I think Groo pretty much nailed it:

Georgia showed some progress on special teams in the opener – kickoffs were usually boomed into the endzone, coverage was effective, and punt returns were uneventful. Georgia got to one punt and affected another. The day was a win for special teams. If we get more of that in Nashville, Georgia should win comfortably. After the special teams disasters of the past two games in Nashville, it’ll be a positive development if special teams are just a non-factor.

Nothing can swing a tackle football game like a big play on special teams and turnovers. So protect the ball and execute each and every task effectively in kicking situations and we should have a nice afternoon on Uncle Verne’s lap.

Get sloppy and it has too much potential to be a long drive back home to Desperation Town.

PS. Follow me on Periscope, and/or Twitters. If I remember I’ll post some sights and sounds from the game at Vanderbilt Stadium, where we’ll be wearing red. Go Dawgs!