Game One Under Our Belt

[Dr. Pepper]

Well, we have the first game out of the way. A victory. We are happy.

But, the fans of USC and MSU know very little right now. A season is not made by one win or one loss or one seemingly poor showing. We are concerned about our line, but we may have played against one of the best defenses in the conference. MSU is worried about their Offense, but they may have played against one of the best defenses in the conference. Until 2 or 3 games are played, there is no sense ripping either team for a poor performance. We may have witnessed a good old 15 round heavy weight fight among two contenders waiting for a chance to take on the champ. We may have been watching featherweights. We will know soon enough.

Here are some things we do know:

1. Blake Mitchell has a lot of heart. I thought he was done.
2. Ryan Succop is a man. He was the David who killed the Philistines.
3. The Brinkley boys have changed the culture of our D. No longer will we be saying "bend but not break."
4. Tyrone Nix is fun to watch. (I bet the guys love playing for him).
5. The OBC knows what he is doing. What a great time to call a double pass.
6. Cory Boyd is a stud. If he stays healthy, look for big numbers.
7. McKinley will give nighmares to opposing coaches watching film.
8. We have a lot of weapons in our arsenal.
9. We always play UGA tough.
10. MSU could have used a little more cowbell.

[Denny Chimes]

But, the fans of USC and MSU know very little right now. A season is not made by one win or one loss or one seemingly poor showing. We are concerned about our line, but we may have played against one of the best defenses in the conference. MSU is worried about their Offense, but they may have played against one of the best defenses in the conference.

8. We have a lot of weapons in our arsenal.

Dr, I agree with some of what you say but please indulge an outside observer for a moment:

I don't think MSU is one of the best defenses in the conference. In fact, they may be one of the weakest. I think both OLs struggled or either both DLs are pretty good. MSU's secondary struggled and I didn't see much out of their LBs either.

I could say the same for USC's defense. You are right that time will tell.

As for having a lot of weapons...other than special teams (was that really your kicker's first game?) and Rice, I don't see anything that jumps off the screen. I'm sure all the Cocks will point out what I missed but as I said earlier, Mitchell isn't that good and struggled for someone who has led the offense since Spurrier arrived. Was MSU a real test for a team some have predicted to win the East? Hardly. But a SEC win is a BIG win and a shutout on the road is quite an accomplishment.

And the cowbells looked and sounded ridiculous. I guess it felt good to see all those fans, other than Cock fans, streaming out of the stadium mid-way through the 4th. :laugh:

Congratulations. The Cocks are undefeated!

[Neo]

My take....

USC played a top defense last night. This offense (USC's) would have run up the score on a lesser D. Guys this defense only allowed Bama so many last year and Auburn (ranked 4th this year) 21 on their field. It's not our offense.

Just something to think about....... :happy:

[Wizard of Orange]

My take....

USC played a top defense last night. This offense (USC's) would have run up the score on a lesser D. Guys this defense only allowed Bama so many last year and Auburn (ranked 4th this year) 21 on their field. It's not our offense.

Just something to think about....... :happy:
NEO...WAKE UP!!! Drink some coffee... get that Kool-aid outta your system. And rewatch the game.

It is your offense. Spurrier will no doubt correct some things, but right now your O is the problem.

[Neo]

NEO...WAKE UP!!! Drink some coffee... get that Kool-aid outta your system. And rewatch the game.

It is your offense. Spurrier will no doubt correct some things, but right now your O is the problem.


Obviously you weren't watching the same game. MSU's CB's totally locked our receivers down. They couldn't get ANY kind of separation. This was a game won by defense plain and simple.

The only REAL problem that I saw was the "O" line not making too many holes and the TB's (Boyd & Davis) not picking up the blitz.

Those things can and will be corrected. Overall, if you really look at it, the offense really wasn't that bad.

[GAMECOCKBOY]

Dr, I agree with some of what you say but please indulge an outside observer for a moment:

I don't think MSU is one of the best defenses in the conference. In fact, they may be one of the weakest. I think both OLs struggled or either both DLs are pretty good. MSU's secondary struggled and I didn't see much out of their LBs either.

I could say the same for USC's defense. You are right that time will tell.

As for having a lot of weapons...other than special teams (was that really your kicker's first game?) and Rice, I don't see anything that jumps off the screen. I'm sure all the Cocks will point out what I missed but as I said earlier, Mitchell isn't that good and struggled for someone who has led the offense since Spurrier arrived. Was MSU a real test for a team some have predicted to win the East? Hardly. But a SEC win is a BIG win and a shutout on the road is quite an accomplishment.

And the cowbells looked and sounded ridiculous. I guess it felt good to see all those fans, other than Cock fans, streaming out of the stadium mid-way through the 4th. :laugh:

Congratulations. The Cocks are undefeated!

all this coming from a smart ass bama fan...when bama gets a qb and a better wr then prothro then u talk to me....rice will be in the nfl will prothro or brown...so get on through

[GamecockDieHard]

Kool-aid or not, we won an SEC road game. Those cow-bells are awful. Instead of taking them away from fans when they entered the stadium, I think they were handing them out. I was expecting to see the MSU sideline pull them out and start ringing them at one point.

No doubt it was UGA-ly. But most of the nay-sayers this morning said we would lose so I don't expect anything other than continued smack from them. We didn't have any significant injuries and can re-set for next week.

Finding a way to win is more important than highlight reel plays. Top teams like Georgia have always found a way to win no matter how close the game or how bad or a situation they're in. That's certainly one of the positive's that I saw last night.

We're still in a "wait and see" mode until Georgia.

[GAMECOCKBOY]

Kool-aid or not, we won an SEC road game. Those cow-bells are awful. Instead of taking them away from fans when they entered the stadium, I think they were handing them out. I was expecting to see the MSU sideline pull them out and start ringing them at one point.

No doubt it was UGA-ly. But most of the nay-sayers this morning said we would lose so I don't expect anything other than continued smack from them. We didn't have any significant injuries and can re-set for next week.

Finding a way to win is more important than highlight reel plays. Top teams like Georgia have always found a way to win no matter how close the game or how bad or a situation they're in. That's certainly one of the positive's that I saw last night.

We're still in a "wait and see" mode until Georgia.


i like msu crowd they were pretty loud and had the bells...it will only help our young players when they go on the road to clemson,florida and even kentucky

[Denny Chimes]

all this coming from a smart ass bama fan...when bama gets a qb and a better wr then prothro then u talk to me....rice will be in the nfl will prothro or brown...so get on through

Hey Gamecockboy, I just bought some HEAD ON but I don't know where to apply it. Can you help?

Jeez, my comments weren't meant to stir such emotion. I guess I've got a big bulls eye on my back with the Gamecocks huh? Whatever. My analysis was spot on. Good luck Cocks.

[TrueGCFan]

Dr, I agree with some of what you say but please indulge an outside observer for a moment:

I don't think MSU is one of the best defenses in the conference. In fact, they may be one of the weakest. I think both OLs struggled or either both DLs are pretty good. MSU's secondary struggled and I didn't see much out of their LBs either.

I could say the same for USC's defense. You are right that time will tell.

As for having a lot of weapons...other than special teams (was that really your kicker's first game?) and Rice, I don't see anything that jumps off the screen. I'm sure all the Cocks will point out what I missed but as I said earlier, Mitchell isn't that good and struggled for someone who has led the offense since Spurrier arrived. Was MSU a real test for a team some have predicted to win the East? Hardly. But a SEC win is a BIG win and a shutout on the road is quite an accomplishment.

And the cowbells looked and sounded ridiculous. I guess it felt good to see all those fans, other than Cock fans, streaming out of the stadium mid-way through the 4th. :laugh:

Congratulations. The Cocks are undefeated!


I don't think MSU "D" is even close to being one of the weakest in the SEC. I'm not sure what you saw, but I saw something deferent.
Outside of Rice (WR) and Succop (KR/P) we have plenty of offensive weapons. Boyd, Mitchell, McKinley, Newton, Davis, Cook, etc... The challenge next week will be our Oline getting better. Mitchell will be one of the best SEC QB's this year. You can never truly judge a team one way or the other after the 1st week. I think the reality is our Offense isn't that bad and our Defensive isn't that good.
Thanks for the congratulations. I'll be watching close this year to see what MSU does later in the season.

[g8tor25]

I didn't take much away from the game other than USC found a way to win on the road in the SEC. Congrats on being 1-0. Who knows how good the USC defense is, the MSU offense couldn't get out of their own way. IMO Boyd was one bright spot for the 'Cocks. It was an ugly win for USC, (but a win none the less) and one they should learn from. Sure hope Mitchell doesn't go down.

[pc72687]

I like that our defense played good but I still question whether they are good or not because of MSU's offense. But for MSU fans the future is bright because that freshman running back was really good. Our offense wasn't hitting on all cylinders tonight and a good part of that can be contributed to their defense but I think it was mainly our inept Oline.

[blues_cap]

i dont know what to say, it was an ugly game, but it was the first game....both team's o-lines had better improve in a hurry or the 3rd string qbs need to start getting some reps. miss state had a sack early in the game rushing 3 men(and it wasnt coverage, looked like they blitzed). they rushed 3 again later and usc gave a little more time, but the pocket still collapsed.

usc's D was better than i expected it to be and the lb brinkley(and culberson from msstate) seemed to be the cream of the crop. usc was getting pressure pretty easily, but henig couldnt make a check to save his life. he was going to the first receiver,and of course he wasnt open, then he took off running.

tough game to tell anything by...will be interesting to see uga's running game vs the usc D...

[Wizard of Orange]

Obviously you weren't watching the same game. MSU's CB's totally locked our receivers down. They couldn't get ANY kind of separation. This was a game won by defense plain and simple.

The only REAL problem that I saw was the "O" line not making too many holes and the TB's (Boyd & Davis) not picking up the blitz.

Those things can and will be corrected. Overall, if you really look at it, the offense really wasn't that bad.

Okay " My receivers couldn't get away from the DBs who were primarily in single coverage and my line couldn't block the DL and my RBs didn't pick up the blitz... and , therefore, my offense really wasn't that bad."

I'm glad you clarified that for me, NEO :laugh:

[SHOCKTOP]

We beat the spread by double, so either we were better or they were
worse than the TRUE experts expected.

[goallthewayua]

We beat the spread by double, so either we were better or they were
worse than the TRUE experts expected.

I think it was both. I'll give yal some slack since it was the first game, but your offense looked lathargic. Some of it was off-timing which is to be expected. I agree with blues. Like I said before the only pretty thing about that game was Erin Andrews

[goallthewayua]

I was equally unimpressed with MSU defense.

[CockyTatGuy]

I was unimpressed by our o-line, I hope our defense will be able to play like that against UGA. I think that may be our one saving grace is that UGA's QB may not be able to check out of blitzes. Other than that I hafta say it might get ugly next week in a hurry.

[pc72687]

Right now I don't think we can count a win vs. UGA. Unless something happens this week I see us losing.

[goallthewayua]

Right now I don't think we can count a win vs. UGA. Unless something happens this week I see us losing.

I don't know if I would say that dude. Hey 95% of teams don't look good in their first game. You have a very capable coach. He will get yal's offense on the right track. I think you have a good shot at Georgia. Again congadulations, beating an SEC team on the road, in a season opener is something to be very proud of.

[GamecockDieHard]

Right now I don't think we can count a win vs. UGA. Unless something happens this week I see us losing.

I think we'll fix some of the glaring problems uncovered last night. MSU has a tough Defense and it was a very good primer. Much better competition than Georgia is going to have tomorrow, IMO. Who knows but I'm not going to concede to Georgia just because of winning the first game of the season 15-0, at an SEC road game, with a cow-bell stadium full of noise, playing a lot of first snap players, coming out injury free!!! But hey, that's just me....I'm a homer.
:laugh:

USC: 19
UGA: 17

[scunyon]

As I posted in another thread earlier, you weren't going to see much offensive firepower from either team because it was the first game. They weren't going to give anyone anyting to prepare for. I think that though both offenses were miserable, the defense for both units was great. If the MSU QB can get his stuff together and the receivers stop giving up on the routes, then MSU won't have a losing season this year. Put that together with that freshman tailback and they've got a chance to get some good wins.

OBC will have two extra days to prepare for UGA and there will be some corrections made. Brinkley will be a household name before the third game this year...that kid is a beast and is all over the field. I like the play from the DL and the LB's. Thomas was getting beat on the cuts by the WR's but Cook and Munnerlyn have great closing speed and helped him out.

It's going to be a very interesting season.

[pc72687]

Well I'm not conceding, I am just always a pessimist. Come next Thursday and Friday I'll be pumped and feeling good but after last nights offensive performance I just feel kinda edgy. I know MSU has a good defense but so does other teams so we need to be able to perform better under pressure of a good defense.

[GamecockDieHard]

Well I'm not conceding, I am just always a pessimist. Come next Thursday and Friday I'll be pumped and feeling good but after last nights offensive performance I just feel kinda edgy. I know MSU has a good defense but so does other teams so we need to be able to perform better under pressure of a good defense.


Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying. My post was more of me fighting off the same feelings that you're having. Spurrier seemed alot happier about the game than I did. Maybe he's got confidence that some of the problems weren't as serious as they appeared to be.? :unsure:

[Dr. Pepper]

Dr, I agree with some of what you say but please indulge an outside observer for a moment:

I don't think MSU is one of the best defenses in the conference. In fact, they may be one of the weakest. I think both OLs struggled or either both DLs are pretty good. MSU's secondary struggled and I didn't see much out of their LBs either.

I could say the same for USC's defense. You are right that time will tell.

As for having a lot of weapons...other than special teams (was that really your kicker's first game?) and Rice, I don't see anything that jumps off the screen. I'm sure all the Cocks will point out what I missed but as I said earlier, Mitchell isn't that good and struggled for someone who has led the offense since Spurrier arrived. Was MSU a real test for a team some have predicted to win the East? Hardly. But a SEC win is a BIG win and a shutout on the road is quite an accomplishment.

And the cowbells looked and sounded ridiculous. I guess it felt good to see all those fans, other than Cock fans, streaming out of the stadium mid-way through the 4th. :laugh:

Congratulations. The Cocks are undefeated!

Did you see:

1. McKinley catch a pass with one hand while the MSU DB was holding him? A flag was thrown, but we took the play.

2. Did you see Corey Boyd carry about 5 defenders on his back for a three yard gain that would have been a first down had it not be called back for 6 men on the line (or something like that)?

3. Did you see Succop kick a 47 yard field goal into the wind? Did you see Ryan Succop run up the middle for a first down while the defender stopped to pick up his jock strap?

4. Did you see Syvelle Newton throw a perfect strike all the way across the field?

I think that that is enough to make my point.

Our problem, unfortunately can be stated in one word: Gurminder. He really needs to do some soul searching because all of the heat on Mitchell came from the left side. He needs to step it up or he is going to see Hutch take his place. If we fix that spot, we will see wonderful things.

[Denny Chimes]

Did you see:

1. McKinley catch a pass with one hand while the MSU DB was holding him? A flag was thrown, but we took the play.

2. Did you see Corey Boyd carry about 5 defenders on his back for a three yard gain that would have been a first down had it not be called back for 6 men on the line (or something like that)?

3. Did you see Succop kick a 47 yard field goal into the wind? Did you see Ryan Succop run up the middle for a first down while the defender stopped to pick up his jock strap?

4. Did you see Syvelle Newton throw a perfect strike all the way across the field?

I think that that is enough to make my point.

Our problem, unfortunately can be stated in one word: Gurminder. He really needs to do some soul searching because all of the heat on Mitchell came from the left side. He needs to step it up or he is going to see Hutch take his place. If we fix that spot, we will see wonderful things.

I saw all that.

1. Nice catch. Did he have any others? I thought that was Rice. Oops.

2. Penalties against you don't count. Sorry. A moral victory perhaps?

3. I mentioned special teams.

4. Trick play. Nice call but desperate play calling. It ended up being the back-breaker so hat's off to you. Maybe Newton should be the Cock QB?

I reread my post and STILL think my point was emphasis on MSU's bad defense. 1 (pass interference), 3 (blown punt coverage...still a nice play by the P), and 4 (where was the safety?) reflect poor defense. Just because you guys didn't move the ball very well doesn't mean MSU has a great defense. Maybe they do but right now, I can't wait to play them.

Now, let's look ahead shall we?

[Williams-Brice]

4. Trick play. Nice call but desperate play calling. It ended up being the back-breaker so hat's off to you. Maybe Newton should be the Cock QB?


I see what you are saying, but I think you may be a little off base here. Was it a trick play? Yes. Was it desperate? No. We baited and baited and baited all night with that WR screen. WR screens are a big part of Spurrier's offense, and with a QB turned WR receiving those screens, then you can set up plays like that. It was a trick, but it certainly wasn't desperate. It was strategy.

[pc72687]

I'm with WB on this one, that screen definitly was not desperate, it was a well thought out plan. We had ran the play before (the screen) and the defense bit hard on it. Plus Boyd did a heck of a job selling the block.

[Williams-Brice]

I think you meant to say the screen definitely was NOT desperate.

We were setting that thing up all night. That was vintage Spurrier. Capitalize on mistakes.

[pc72687]

Your right, changes made.