Mike Floyd, long time Dawg fan and occasional poster here at the Georgia Sports Blog, was at the South Carolina vs. North Carolina State game. Below is an up close and personal opinion on last night's action. Good stuff. (image: Tommy Beecher/Photo by Erik Campos TheState.com. See all photos)
By Mike Floyd:Well...what were your thoughts on the game?
I went on a recon mission to Columbia last night and was not the least bit impressed by what I saw.
NCSU Thoughts:
First off, let’s talk about NC State for a minute. If these guys win a single league game, I’ll be entirely surprised. I’ve seen some bad teams in my day, but D-A-M-N. Truly, staggeringly awful. I’ll also add that working up a good, frothing hate for NC State would be about the same thing as randomly disliking Methodists or going on a rampage against vanilla ice cream. I’ve never seen a team or group of fans with less identity.
As for the Gamecocks...
They very clearly have a quarterbacking problem. Aside from McKinley, their receivers had a very hard time getting open. And for most of the game, it was a total jailbreak in the South Carolina offensive backfield, with NC State defenders running roughshod over the Carolina offensive line.
Oh, and let’s not forget that fans began booing – loudly, clearly and with no mercy – each time Beecher came into the game after his second interception. Stay classy, Gamecocks. It only took twenty minutes into his first game as a starter for the boobirds and cussing to start raining down from all over.
Apparently, their fanbase is far less friendly to the team when it is required to donate an additional $95 to the university when it comes time to buy season tickets. I must have heard them bitching about cost of tickets a hundred times night...they are utterly clueless about what other fans pay at schools like Florida, Georgia and LSU, among others.
Defensively, Carolina has a unique set of problems in that they’re hugely talented, but unsure of how to get it all on the field at the same time. If you wanted to put together a team full of defensive ends, then you could cherry pick five or six great ones in Columbia. Cliff Matthews (total stud, by the way…what a shame he’ll be playing in Columbia instead of Athens), Clifton Geathers, Justin Lindsay, Eric Norwood and Jasper Brinkley are all excellent players, but there’s only room for two defensive ends on the field so Brinkley and Norwood are being asked to hold down the linebacker position, where they’re badly out of place.
The ‘Cocks apparently don’t have anybody else at the position. Brinkley looks like he did his rehab at BoJangles, while Norwood might be even bigger. Teams with a lick of speed at tailback are going to run around the ends on South Carolina all season long.
They have no idea where to play Clifton Geathers...he lined up all over the field last night. Again, DE would be the ideal spot, but I suspect he’ll end up playing interior defensive lineman this year.
Yes, I’m well aware that Carolina usually plays Georgia tough. And, yes, I’m well aware that you can’t make too many bold predictions after one game. But from what I saw last night, Georgia may blows the doors off those guys in two weeks.
See Also:
-- Georgia Bulldogs vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Tickets - Stubhub
PWD
