GAMECOCKBOY
09-08-2006, 11:44 PM
September 6, 2006
Brinkley twins want to prove Georgia wrong
Scott Hood
GamecockCentral.com Staff Writer
Talk about it in The Insiders Forum
It didn't take Jasper Brinkley long to introduce himself to the college football community.
Paul Collins
Jasper Brinkley set the tone for the Gamecock defense against Mississippi State.
His vicious hit on Mississippi State quarterback Michael Henig moments into South Carolina's 15-0 victory last Thursday in Starkville may have shattered some television screens.
After that, the hits, hard tackles and hard knocks kept on coming from USC's new middle linebacker.
By the time USC's first road shutout in nine years was complete, Brinkley and his identical twin brother Casper, a defensive end, had combined for 14 tackles and left quite an impression on their coaches and teammates.
"Both of them played well," USC head coach Steve Spurrier said. "They had super nights.
How did the Brinkley brothers celebrate the win? By traveling to Athens, Ga., just a few miles down the road from their hometown of Thomson, Ga., to hang out with family and friends and possibly talk some smack with Georgia fans heading into Saturday's SEC East showdown between the Gamecocks and Bulldogs at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The contest will be nationally televised by ESPN at 7:45 p.m.
Rest assured, the Brinkleys will be fired up Saturday to face Georgia.
"It's not that I have anything against Georgia," Jasper Brinkley said. "Now that we're here, it's about the SEC and they're the defending champions. We want to beat them. It's pretty huge."
If their USC debuts are an indication of how they will perform this week, Georgia will certainly game plan to try to limit the Brinkleys' production. It didn't work for Mississippi State.
"Both of them are quality football players," USC defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said. "Casper is more of a linebacker type that's playing defensive end for us out of necessity. He's accepted that role and that responsibility and did okay with it."
Jasper led USC with 11 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Casper had three tackles, and helped disrupt the Mississippi State offense all game long on the perimeter.
"We've been very pleased with both of those young men," Spurrier said. "They love to practice. They love football. They're commitment level is super. Certainly, that will rub off to the other guys on the team. They go to class and have done everything we've asked. Their wonderful young men."
Jasper applauded the entire Gamecocks' defense for an impressive performance against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs managed just 161 yards of total offense and never penetrated inside the USC 35-yard line after intercepting a Blake Mitchell pass on the first play of the game.
"It was a great first time for me. I give credit to the whole defense," Brinkley said. "It's not just about me or my brother. The whole defense, every guy did what they were supposed to do. We didn't expect a shutout but after the first quarter we knew it was going to be a defensive struggle."
Jasper, who was one of several defensive players to receive a game ball following the victory over Mississippi State, and Casper kept up a running banter throughout the game to make sure the other brother kept his eye on the prize.
"I talked to him a lot about keeping focused," Jasper said. "With me and him being at a major program like this, we've never seen this big of a crowd. We told each other, 'Let's go, we've been waiting for this our whole lives.' We did that the whole game."
Jasper Brinkley graduated from Georgia Military College in December and enrolled at USC a few weeks later when the spring semester started.
His early entrance allowed him to make a favorable early impression upon coaches and teammates. He quickly earned the starting job at middle linebacker with his size,s peed, and aggressiveness. In fact, Spurrier had to ask him to cut down on his all-out play after several hard tackles on teammates.
Spurrier warned against showering Jasper with too many accolades too soon in his college football career. The contest Saturday night will certainly provide a stern test for him and the rest of the Gamecocks defense.
"We watched him in practice and thought he had a chance to be a big-time inside linebacker," Spurrier said. "Thus far, he's done very well. It's only one game and he needs to do it game after game after game, year after year, then you guys can proclaim him one of our best linebackers ever. Let's wait until he does it over a period of time. And I think Jasper would be the first to tell you that. He wants to do it over and over."
Paul Collins
Casper Brinkley was solid at defensive end in his Gamecock debut.
While his brother was putting on eye-opening performances for the Gamecocks, Casper remained at GMC until the end of the spring semester and did not arrive in Columbia until early July for the summer conditioning program. He started fall camp down on the depth chart but became the starter within a couple of weeks. His backup is Eric Norwood, another Peach State product.
"Casper just got here during the summer but he's learned very quickly," Spurrier said. "That is why they are both playing, I guess. They are very good players and they are smart football players. It is not hard to teach them what to do."
For Casper, lining up against Georgia Saturday will be sort of a surreal experience.
"I never thought I'd be playing against Georgia," Casper Brinkley said. "I thought I'd be playing for them. They could have had two good athletes. I want to prove they made a mistake. Hopefully, we'll make them sorry."
When the Brinkley brothers were in Athens last weekend, they could have reminisced about their high school days, when they helped lead Thomson High to the 2002 State Championship.
The Brinkleys are one of three Georgia Military graduates to sign with USC this year. They were joined in Columbia by defensive tackle Joel Reaves. Safety Brandon Isaac is also a GMC graduate.
Growing up just a few miles from Athens, the Brinkleys dreamed of playing for Georgia. They still harbored hopes of wearing the Bulldogs' red and silver uniforms while attending GMC.
But the Bulldogs hesitated when the twins insisted they were a package deal. Georgia only offered Jasper a scholarship. USC, along with Arizona State and Baylor, agreed to offer both.
"It was sort of us and Arizona State, for some reason," Spurrier said. "I don't know how Arizona State got in on them. But that was the other school they were deciding upon. I think the opportunity to play in the SEC was something important to Jasper and Casper."
With USC being the lone SEC school to offer dual scholarships to the Brinkleys, the choice was easy: they signed with the Gamecocks.
Their performance last Thursday night showed they made the right decision. Now they ant to prove it to Georgia.
Brinkley twins want to prove Georgia wrong
Scott Hood
GamecockCentral.com Staff Writer
Talk about it in The Insiders Forum
It didn't take Jasper Brinkley long to introduce himself to the college football community.
Paul Collins
Jasper Brinkley set the tone for the Gamecock defense against Mississippi State.
His vicious hit on Mississippi State quarterback Michael Henig moments into South Carolina's 15-0 victory last Thursday in Starkville may have shattered some television screens.
After that, the hits, hard tackles and hard knocks kept on coming from USC's new middle linebacker.
By the time USC's first road shutout in nine years was complete, Brinkley and his identical twin brother Casper, a defensive end, had combined for 14 tackles and left quite an impression on their coaches and teammates.
"Both of them played well," USC head coach Steve Spurrier said. "They had super nights.
How did the Brinkley brothers celebrate the win? By traveling to Athens, Ga., just a few miles down the road from their hometown of Thomson, Ga., to hang out with family and friends and possibly talk some smack with Georgia fans heading into Saturday's SEC East showdown between the Gamecocks and Bulldogs at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The contest will be nationally televised by ESPN at 7:45 p.m.
Rest assured, the Brinkleys will be fired up Saturday to face Georgia.
"It's not that I have anything against Georgia," Jasper Brinkley said. "Now that we're here, it's about the SEC and they're the defending champions. We want to beat them. It's pretty huge."
If their USC debuts are an indication of how they will perform this week, Georgia will certainly game plan to try to limit the Brinkleys' production. It didn't work for Mississippi State.
"Both of them are quality football players," USC defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said. "Casper is more of a linebacker type that's playing defensive end for us out of necessity. He's accepted that role and that responsibility and did okay with it."
Jasper led USC with 11 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Casper had three tackles, and helped disrupt the Mississippi State offense all game long on the perimeter.
"We've been very pleased with both of those young men," Spurrier said. "They love to practice. They love football. They're commitment level is super. Certainly, that will rub off to the other guys on the team. They go to class and have done everything we've asked. Their wonderful young men."
Jasper applauded the entire Gamecocks' defense for an impressive performance against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs managed just 161 yards of total offense and never penetrated inside the USC 35-yard line after intercepting a Blake Mitchell pass on the first play of the game.
"It was a great first time for me. I give credit to the whole defense," Brinkley said. "It's not just about me or my brother. The whole defense, every guy did what they were supposed to do. We didn't expect a shutout but after the first quarter we knew it was going to be a defensive struggle."
Jasper, who was one of several defensive players to receive a game ball following the victory over Mississippi State, and Casper kept up a running banter throughout the game to make sure the other brother kept his eye on the prize.
"I talked to him a lot about keeping focused," Jasper said. "With me and him being at a major program like this, we've never seen this big of a crowd. We told each other, 'Let's go, we've been waiting for this our whole lives.' We did that the whole game."
Jasper Brinkley graduated from Georgia Military College in December and enrolled at USC a few weeks later when the spring semester started.
His early entrance allowed him to make a favorable early impression upon coaches and teammates. He quickly earned the starting job at middle linebacker with his size,s peed, and aggressiveness. In fact, Spurrier had to ask him to cut down on his all-out play after several hard tackles on teammates.
Spurrier warned against showering Jasper with too many accolades too soon in his college football career. The contest Saturday night will certainly provide a stern test for him and the rest of the Gamecocks defense.
"We watched him in practice and thought he had a chance to be a big-time inside linebacker," Spurrier said. "Thus far, he's done very well. It's only one game and he needs to do it game after game after game, year after year, then you guys can proclaim him one of our best linebackers ever. Let's wait until he does it over a period of time. And I think Jasper would be the first to tell you that. He wants to do it over and over."
Paul Collins
Casper Brinkley was solid at defensive end in his Gamecock debut.
While his brother was putting on eye-opening performances for the Gamecocks, Casper remained at GMC until the end of the spring semester and did not arrive in Columbia until early July for the summer conditioning program. He started fall camp down on the depth chart but became the starter within a couple of weeks. His backup is Eric Norwood, another Peach State product.
"Casper just got here during the summer but he's learned very quickly," Spurrier said. "That is why they are both playing, I guess. They are very good players and they are smart football players. It is not hard to teach them what to do."
For Casper, lining up against Georgia Saturday will be sort of a surreal experience.
"I never thought I'd be playing against Georgia," Casper Brinkley said. "I thought I'd be playing for them. They could have had two good athletes. I want to prove they made a mistake. Hopefully, we'll make them sorry."
When the Brinkley brothers were in Athens last weekend, they could have reminisced about their high school days, when they helped lead Thomson High to the 2002 State Championship.
The Brinkleys are one of three Georgia Military graduates to sign with USC this year. They were joined in Columbia by defensive tackle Joel Reaves. Safety Brandon Isaac is also a GMC graduate.
Growing up just a few miles from Athens, the Brinkleys dreamed of playing for Georgia. They still harbored hopes of wearing the Bulldogs' red and silver uniforms while attending GMC.
But the Bulldogs hesitated when the twins insisted they were a package deal. Georgia only offered Jasper a scholarship. USC, along with Arizona State and Baylor, agreed to offer both.
"It was sort of us and Arizona State, for some reason," Spurrier said. "I don't know how Arizona State got in on them. But that was the other school they were deciding upon. I think the opportunity to play in the SEC was something important to Jasper and Casper."
With USC being the lone SEC school to offer dual scholarships to the Brinkleys, the choice was easy: they signed with the Gamecocks.
Their performance last Thursday night showed they made the right decision. Now they ant to prove it to Georgia.