Let's go ahead and get the obvious out of the way. What is going to happen with the Quarterback situation? Without any real deep knowledge, I'd have to say I would be stunned if Connor Shaw starts this week. I think the plan will be to use him in an emergency role and let Dylan Thompson start his on field development. This is a tricky situation because the East Carolina defense is suppose to be one of the better units they have fielded in a long time (according to some of their fans), BUT they did give up 400+ yards to App State. I didn't get to watch the game but the score and scoring summaries indicate that it wasn't all against ECU's scrubs. App State bombed away for 300 yards so I'm feeling pretty comfortable that Dylan can get something going out there.
Coach Spurrier says the gameplan isn't going to change but I can't imagine there isn't either some scaling back of the offense (at least early on) or some plays to get the ball out of Dylan's hands early (quick screens, slip screens, slants). If Coach can get Dylan a few simple throws and completions early, I think we'll be doing OK. Worse thing that can happen is the first series ends up with him running for his life or making a poor decision and throw. I would like to see Coach Spurrier keep it really simple early on. Hand the ball to Lattimore, slip screens to Sanders/Ellington/Byrd/Roland, quick screens to Sanders/Roland, a bunch of curl flat or high low combination routes .. Nothing too extreme that makes Dylan hold onto the ball for more than 3-4 seconds.
This game also presents a great opportunity to get Bruce Ellington involved whether it is in the Wildcat or deep down the field. I also expect Shaq Roland to finally see the field. He gets 2 non-SEC games to get his feet wet before jumping in against Missouri in 2 weeks and I expect him to get a ton of snaps. As an aside, if he plays well, it is going to be awesome seeing he and Dorial Green-Beckham going at it.
It would be great to see a Jerell Adams and Buster Anderson sighting this weekend.
It would also be great if someone like Nick Jones, DL Moore, and KJ Brent stepped up and had nice outings at the B receiver.
One more thing, a little birdie hinted to me there could be a shakeup coming on the offensive line.
I don't think you could've wrote a better outcome for Dylan Thompson or our offense as a whole. What we saw Saturday was a flashback/reminder of what Steve Spurrier's offense truely looks like. The offensive line provided more than adequate protection, the receivers carried their weight, and most importantly the QB made the right reads and quick, accurate throws. There is no doubt in my mind that this offense can work in the SEC but it just takes good protection and a QB that will get the ball out of his hand when he takes his drop.
After rewatching the TV broadcast of the game, the thing that stood out to me the most about Thompson was him just having fun out there. You could tell the weight of the world came off his shoulders after the bomb to Damiere Byrd early in the 1st quarter. I had no idea the guy was that animated on the field either but I thought it was awesome seeing the guy celebrate after a big play and just having fun out there. Like most QBs there were some throws he probably wants back and times where he should've thrown the ball away instead of taking a sack but overall the guy exceeded a lot of people's expectations including my own.
As far as a QB controversy goes, I don't see it, yet. I wouldn't rule it out though because of who our head coach is. He won't say it publically but if his starting QB starts dancing around and holding onto the football, he is going to lose patience and get a guy out there that will at least get the ball out of his hand so the receivers can make a play. I'm in no way advocating Dylan Thompson take Connor Shaw's job, my point is simply if things start to bog down, don't be surprised if Thompson gets a series or two after his performance on Saturday.
Speaking of the receivers, even though this was an abysmal pass defense they went up against, they showed what they can do when they actually get an opportunity to make a play. This was the game that was needed for Damiere Byrd, Bruce Ellington, DL Moore, and even DD Smith. Damiere finally catches a bomb and he made another nice grab towards the sideline later in the game. He has nice hands and I'm convinced there is not a DB in the SEC that can keep up with this guy when he gets moving. Bruce Ellington is proving me wrong. I honestly didn't think he could excel at the WR position without being 100% fully dedicated to football. But he was put in a role that fits his skill set to the T. DL Moore came to play and made up for his subpar performance against Vanderbilt. Although he has the size, he isn't really a go up and get it receiver but he does have the ability to run away from defenders. He does a great job blocking too so I imagine he will have the B spot locked down for a while. And as far as DD Smith goes, one can only hope that the TD catch has the same effect that Thompson's completion to Byrd had. If it does, he could be in line for a pretty good season.
Can't find many things to complain about with the offensive line. I think the starters (Matulis, Cann, Johnson, Patrick, Gibson) work quite nice as a unit. The key reserves (Shell, Robinson) did their thing. I think the these guys will be the rotation going forward and should do a good job.
It was neat to see the USC crowd (what was left) give Shaq Roland a standing O after his first grab. He can flat out get behind a defense and he has some hops but he'll need to make that 1st big grab down the field to get his confidence going. I am excited to see some these highlight catches he had in practice from him though.
Still waiting on a Jerell Adams sighting. Buster Anderson is going to be big time folks.
Have to believe Steve Spurrier had a ton of fun calling ball plays. I would've liked to see the look on his face when Coach Elliott told him to keep calling pass plays.
East Carolina has some weapons which really shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone because of their offense but with our depth issues in the secondary and a few miscues we had against Vanderbilt, this isn't exactly a cakewalk to contain these guys. What is really frustrating is that bringing the blitz against these guys is almost impossible because the ball gets out so fast. Coach Ward and his staff have to find creative ways to get the Pirates into 3rd and long situations so it forces them into calling plays with deeper patterns and allows Clowney/Taylor/Quarles/Sutton to do their thing. It'll probably be more important for Clowney and Taylor to just get their hands up as much as possible. I don't think Rio Johnson is anything special like Dominique Davis was and if we can make his life hard by batting down some passes early, it could make it a long afternoon.
Justin Hardy, Reese Wiggins, and Michael Dobson seem to be their main playmakers. But a guy everyone might want to keep an eye on is Justin Jones. This dude is a 6'8" TE with good hands and good athleticism for a guy his size. He didn't play against us last year so not many people know about him but he is a guy that could potentially cause some problems for us. Devonte Holloman will have his hands full.
This will be a great opponent to get us ready for Missouri in 2 weeks. It will be a challenge to make plays and tackle well in open space which is what the Tigers are going to make us do as well. Missouri has a better QB and better overall playmakers so if we struggle with the Pirates, that could be a bad omen for later on. Our number one complaint with Coach Johnson was against these teams that run unconventional offenses. We will see what Coach Ward and his staff comes up with but this is a different animal that they will be going against 2 of the next 3 games.
I'm trying my hardest to keep my expectations low until after the Missouri game, but man, our defense has been NASTY. The confidence that this group plays with is unreal, and what Coach Ward has shown in two games far exceeds my expectations. The front 4 is dominate as expected but the secondary plays so fast compared to the past 2 seasons. I think the simpler approach has obviously benefitted them. Brison Williams is playing on another level and the corners have been solid. I can't wait until they get Golightly and possibly Auguste back to add some depth. If somehow we can get Akeem for down the stretch as a nickel, we should be able to lock down any team left on the schedule. Eventually, we are going to need DeVonte Holloman to start filling up the stat sheet but its hard to gauge how he is doing against teams that are predominantly passing teams. I think once we get into the UGA-UF-LSU stretch (teams that are balanced), he will start getting his name called. You can also tell they are keeping a tally on how many turnovers they get because Shaq was holding up the number after every one they got Saturday. I imagine the number is between 40 and 50.
The only thing I can gripe about is the fact that we burned Darius English's redshirt. I also read that Kaiwan Lewis got some burn as well. I'm also interested in seeing if the linebacker spot next to Shaq Wilson turns into a revolving door. I haven't paid too much attention but I don't remember hearing Reggie Bowens or Damario Jeffery's name called too much. I wonder how long they keep Cedrick Cooper on the sideline?
There isn't much more I can say about this unit other than they are playing loose and are all over the field right now. This is a product of a simpler, more aggressive approach and it seems to be working. I'll say it again, its eerily similar to older Virginia Tech defenses. The real test comes starting next week.
I am absolutely jazzed up to see these new improvements to Williams-Brice Stadium and the surrounding areas. I was able to grab season tickets this year for a good price so I'll be at most home games in Section 2 and I'll be right by the new video board. I can't imagine what the first SEC night game is going to be like. I'm wondering if the board will actually help hold in the noise? If it does, man, it is going to be absolutely deafening in there. I expect there to be a pretty good turnout for this game even with the early kickoff and I think there will be a huge purple & gold contingent. Hopefully the weather cooperates.
I expect this ECU Game to be a challenge for our team and I think the game has potential to go into the 4th quarter. Should be a lot of fun!
Williams-Brice Stadium is going to be one of the top 3-5 places to play in the SEC in the next 5-10 years after they finish the master plan and the trees have grown up. The work they did to the Farmer's Market and the Fairgrounds is unbelievable. If things unfold like we expect, I hope they set up ESPN's College Gameday in the Farmer's Market when Georgia comes to town. The Gamecock Walk has big, big potential. Nothing else can be said about the video board. It is like watching the game at home almost. They had some blips with the sound but that'll get worked out. We will see its full potential against Missouri when the sun starts to go down.
South Carolina has really come around as a football program, and I guess my biggest question going forward in regards to the facilities is can Ray Tanner keep us relevant in the arms race? I really hope he stays the course with the master plan because so far, its yielded incredible results.
Coach Spurrier says the gameplan isn't going to change but I can't imagine there isn't either some scaling back of the offense (at least early on) or some plays to get the ball out of Dylan's hands early (quick screens, slip screens, slants). If Coach can get Dylan a few simple throws and completions early, I think we'll be doing OK. Worse thing that can happen is the first series ends up with him running for his life or making a poor decision and throw. I would like to see Coach Spurrier keep it really simple early on. Hand the ball to Lattimore, slip screens to Sanders/Ellington/Byrd/Roland, quick screens to Sanders/Roland, a bunch of curl flat or high low combination routes .. Nothing too extreme that makes Dylan hold onto the ball for more than 3-4 seconds.
This game also presents a great opportunity to get Bruce Ellington involved whether it is in the Wildcat or deep down the field. I also expect Shaq Roland to finally see the field. He gets 2 non-SEC games to get his feet wet before jumping in against Missouri in 2 weeks and I expect him to get a ton of snaps. As an aside, if he plays well, it is going to be awesome seeing he and Dorial Green-Beckham going at it.
It would be great to see a Jerell Adams and Buster Anderson sighting this weekend.
It would also be great if someone like Nick Jones, DL Moore, and KJ Brent stepped up and had nice outings at the B receiver.
One more thing, a little birdie hinted to me there could be a shakeup coming on the offensive line.
I don't think you could've wrote a better outcome for Dylan Thompson or our offense as a whole. What we saw Saturday was a flashback/reminder of what Steve Spurrier's offense truely looks like. The offensive line provided more than adequate protection, the receivers carried their weight, and most importantly the QB made the right reads and quick, accurate throws. There is no doubt in my mind that this offense can work in the SEC but it just takes good protection and a QB that will get the ball out of his hand when he takes his drop.
After rewatching the TV broadcast of the game, the thing that stood out to me the most about Thompson was him just having fun out there. You could tell the weight of the world came off his shoulders after the bomb to Damiere Byrd early in the 1st quarter. I had no idea the guy was that animated on the field either but I thought it was awesome seeing the guy celebrate after a big play and just having fun out there. Like most QBs there were some throws he probably wants back and times where he should've thrown the ball away instead of taking a sack but overall the guy exceeded a lot of people's expectations including my own.
As far as a QB controversy goes, I don't see it, yet. I wouldn't rule it out though because of who our head coach is. He won't say it publically but if his starting QB starts dancing around and holding onto the football, he is going to lose patience and get a guy out there that will at least get the ball out of his hand so the receivers can make a play. I'm in no way advocating Dylan Thompson take Connor Shaw's job, my point is simply if things start to bog down, don't be surprised if Thompson gets a series or two after his performance on Saturday.
Speaking of the receivers, even though this was an abysmal pass defense they went up against, they showed what they can do when they actually get an opportunity to make a play. This was the game that was needed for Damiere Byrd, Bruce Ellington, DL Moore, and even DD Smith. Damiere finally catches a bomb and he made another nice grab towards the sideline later in the game. He has nice hands and I'm convinced there is not a DB in the SEC that can keep up with this guy when he gets moving. Bruce Ellington is proving me wrong. I honestly didn't think he could excel at the WR position without being 100% fully dedicated to football. But he was put in a role that fits his skill set to the T. DL Moore came to play and made up for his subpar performance against Vanderbilt. Although he has the size, he isn't really a go up and get it receiver but he does have the ability to run away from defenders. He does a great job blocking too so I imagine he will have the B spot locked down for a while. And as far as DD Smith goes, one can only hope that the TD catch has the same effect that Thompson's completion to Byrd had. If it does, he could be in line for a pretty good season.
Can't find many things to complain about with the offensive line. I think the starters (Matulis, Cann, Johnson, Patrick, Gibson) work quite nice as a unit. The key reserves (Shell, Robinson) did their thing. I think the these guys will be the rotation going forward and should do a good job.
It was neat to see the USC crowd (what was left) give Shaq Roland a standing O after his first grab. He can flat out get behind a defense and he has some hops but he'll need to make that 1st big grab down the field to get his confidence going. I am excited to see some these highlight catches he had in practice from him though.
Still waiting on a Jerell Adams sighting. Buster Anderson is going to be big time folks.
Have to believe Steve Spurrier had a ton of fun calling ball plays. I would've liked to see the look on his face when Coach Elliott told him to keep calling pass plays.
East Carolina has some weapons which really shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone because of their offense but with our depth issues in the secondary and a few miscues we had against Vanderbilt, this isn't exactly a cakewalk to contain these guys. What is really frustrating is that bringing the blitz against these guys is almost impossible because the ball gets out so fast. Coach Ward and his staff have to find creative ways to get the Pirates into 3rd and long situations so it forces them into calling plays with deeper patterns and allows Clowney/Taylor/Quarles/Sutton to do their thing. It'll probably be more important for Clowney and Taylor to just get their hands up as much as possible. I don't think Rio Johnson is anything special like Dominique Davis was and if we can make his life hard by batting down some passes early, it could make it a long afternoon.
Justin Hardy, Reese Wiggins, and Michael Dobson seem to be their main playmakers. But a guy everyone might want to keep an eye on is Justin Jones. This dude is a 6'8" TE with good hands and good athleticism for a guy his size. He didn't play against us last year so not many people know about him but he is a guy that could potentially cause some problems for us. Devonte Holloman will have his hands full.
This will be a great opponent to get us ready for Missouri in 2 weeks. It will be a challenge to make plays and tackle well in open space which is what the Tigers are going to make us do as well. Missouri has a better QB and better overall playmakers so if we struggle with the Pirates, that could be a bad omen for later on. Our number one complaint with Coach Johnson was against these teams that run unconventional offenses. We will see what Coach Ward and his staff comes up with but this is a different animal that they will be going against 2 of the next 3 games.
I'm trying my hardest to keep my expectations low until after the Missouri game, but man, our defense has been NASTY. The confidence that this group plays with is unreal, and what Coach Ward has shown in two games far exceeds my expectations. The front 4 is dominate as expected but the secondary plays so fast compared to the past 2 seasons. I think the simpler approach has obviously benefitted them. Brison Williams is playing on another level and the corners have been solid. I can't wait until they get Golightly and possibly Auguste back to add some depth. If somehow we can get Akeem for down the stretch as a nickel, we should be able to lock down any team left on the schedule. Eventually, we are going to need DeVonte Holloman to start filling up the stat sheet but its hard to gauge how he is doing against teams that are predominantly passing teams. I think once we get into the UGA-UF-LSU stretch (teams that are balanced), he will start getting his name called. You can also tell they are keeping a tally on how many turnovers they get because Shaq was holding up the number after every one they got Saturday. I imagine the number is between 40 and 50.
The only thing I can gripe about is the fact that we burned Darius English's redshirt. I also read that Kaiwan Lewis got some burn as well. I'm also interested in seeing if the linebacker spot next to Shaq Wilson turns into a revolving door. I haven't paid too much attention but I don't remember hearing Reggie Bowens or Damario Jeffery's name called too much. I wonder how long they keep Cedrick Cooper on the sideline?
There isn't much more I can say about this unit other than they are playing loose and are all over the field right now. This is a product of a simpler, more aggressive approach and it seems to be working. I'll say it again, its eerily similar to older Virginia Tech defenses. The real test comes starting next week.
I am absolutely jazzed up to see these new improvements to Williams-Brice Stadium and the surrounding areas. I was able to grab season tickets this year for a good price so I'll be at most home games in Section 2 and I'll be right by the new video board. I can't imagine what the first SEC night game is going to be like. I'm wondering if the board will actually help hold in the noise? If it does, man, it is going to be absolutely deafening in there. I expect there to be a pretty good turnout for this game even with the early kickoff and I think there will be a huge purple & gold contingent. Hopefully the weather cooperates.
I expect this ECU Game to be a challenge for our team and I think the game has potential to go into the 4th quarter. Should be a lot of fun!
Williams-Brice Stadium is going to be one of the top 3-5 places to play in the SEC in the next 5-10 years after they finish the master plan and the trees have grown up. The work they did to the Farmer's Market and the Fairgrounds is unbelievable. If things unfold like we expect, I hope they set up ESPN's College Gameday in the Farmer's Market when Georgia comes to town. The Gamecock Walk has big, big potential. Nothing else can be said about the video board. It is like watching the game at home almost. They had some blips with the sound but that'll get worked out. We will see its full potential against Missouri when the sun starts to go down.
South Carolina has really come around as a football program, and I guess my biggest question going forward in regards to the facilities is can Ray Tanner keep us relevant in the arms race? I really hope he stays the course with the master plan because so far, its yielded incredible results.