Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

"We keep living like this, we will be dead."

Jack Crowe - following Jacksonville State's overtime victory over Georgia State.

THE GOOD

*Marques Ivory easily had his best game of the season, completing 24 of 32 passes for 283 yards;

*Senior John Houston Whiddon continues to provide leadership, catching 6 passes for 69 yards;

*Jamal Young provided the Gamecocks the burst they needed at then end of the game and had a good day running the ball (9 carries - 64 yards).

*Big Texas Garrott was all over the field;

*Antonio Bonner had 7 tackles.

*the Gamecocks had 450 yards of offense;

*James Esco was perfect on the day, including converting 2 field goals. A miss on either and JSU might have lost the game.

*Keggie Harris got another pick and had two other pass breakups.

*Tig Barksdale got his first extended action and popped a couple of runs.

*The Gamecocks showed a lot of resiliency winning the game despite the absence of Calvin Middleton, La Ray Williams, Matt Jones, Tylor Chambers, Cory Freeman (missed second half) and Justin Kay (injured in 4th quarter). It is tough to be cohesive when you are missing half your starters.

THE BAD

*Jacksonville State struggled to get off the field on third down as Georgia State converted 7 of 15 third down attempts.

*Pass break ups. Georgia State's quarterback completed almost 2/3 of his passes;

*The Gamecocks kick coverage continues to provide a challenge to the defense. Georgia State seemed to start most drives on their 40.

*The Gamecocks did not have their best day in the red zone. Justin Howard fumbled around the ten on one play. On two other occassions, the Gamecocks were forced to settle for field goals. 6 points on 3 trips inside the red zone will keep the other team in the game.

*Poor officiating aside, the Gamecocks had too many penalties. On the day, it was 13 or 14 penalties for over 100 yards.

The Ugly.

*The CAA officials did their best to keep Georgia State in the game. The referee that said there was 1 second on the clock at the end of regulation was promptly overruled. The disparity in calls was troubling. Towards the end, many JSU fans were complaining that the refs were giving Georgia State an extra yard on almost every play.

*JSU's last play in regulation was not a thing of beauty and the Gamecocks were lucky the ball was not intercepted and returned. As a result (and because the 4th quarter only lasted 14:59) the Gamecocks were unable to attempt a game winning field goal, albeit one from 40+ yards.

Conference play starts next week. There appears to be a lot to work on, but the Gamecocks are undefeated!

3 comments:

  1. I agree with everything you said.

    Am I the only one who thinks our offense would be better if Coty Blanchard was the starting QB?

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  2. No JSUParent, you aren't the only one.

    Whiddon was amazing on that last time. We should call him clutch. Its a shame that drive was wasted. Lets hope this 3-0 start doesn't go to waste...

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  3. The officiating was indeed "ugly". That overruled 1 second was ridiculous. Then, the ref in the end zone called a TD for GA State in OT when it was clear that the player was out of bounds. Thankfully, the other refs came in to correct the call. I hate to sound like sour grapes, but I told a friend of mine that JSU beat three opponents on the road Saturday...Georgia State, the refs and the CSS announcers. A win is a win though! Go Gamecocks!!!!!!!!!!

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