From: Benjamin
What an absolutely humongous victory for the Fighting Gamecocks last Saturday! While everyone is talking about Alshon, Garcia, and Lattimore, here are ten other things we observed...
1) Coach Spurrier was finally able to run his passing offense because Garcia was throwing perfect timing passes. The corner route to Tori Gurley on the first drive was the most beautiful pass he has thrown as a Gamecock. Fades and corner routes are a staple in the Spurrier offense and we finally saw them. Oh, and it helped that the oline gave Garcia time to throw. Did you notice how much fun Coach was having on the sidelines? That was the Cock and Fire right there!
2) Everyone saw our lines win the battle of the trenches, but what got into right tackle Hutch Eckerson. To say he has played poorly during his 4 year career would be well, true. He was destroying the Bama DE. I hope he sustains that level of play because he was a machine.
3) Coach Shawn Elliott is worth every penny!
4) Loosening the restrictive shoulder brace on DE Cliff Matthews made a world of difference in his pass rushing ability.
5) All season, our defensive weakness was our linebackers-see Auburn game. Josh Dickerson played out of his mind. 6 tackles in the first half! He was vital to stopping the Wildcat formation. Tony Straughter had a big game as well.
6) Most underrated player----TE/FB Patrick Dimarco. Losing Weslye Saunders was a blessing in disguise for many reasons, not the least of which is getting Dimarco on the field more. He is a bruising blocker and was owning his man the whole game. Watch the block he threw on Lattimore's option TD run into the south endzone. Wow!
7) Anyone wonder now why we scream everytime Garcia comes off the field for a sub?
8) Moving DT Melvin Ingram to DE to add some bulk there was a genius coaching move. Ingram had 2 sacks and was disruptive all night.
9) D.J. Swearinger changing his committment from Tennessee to us was a bigger day than we thought at the time. He is a big time player and had his best game yet!
10) One of the most important improvements from last year's team is the kickoff specialist. The extra hangtime, distance, and ability to locate the kick allowed us to keep the Bama offense on a long field all night.
Enjoy this one Gamecock fans and don't lose focus!
