A Great Win At Murray

Its a great night to be a Gamecock! Here are a few observations from a cloudy OVC feed:

*So that's why you were the #1 back in Georgia! Washaun Ealey is now officially the player we thought he would be when he transferred to JSU. Good gracious, near 150 yards tonight and no personal fouls. It seems like he is buying in to the team.

*Pick your poison: If you are a defensive coordinator, it has to be tough to get ready for the Gamecocks. They pound it, run some option, hit you with some play action. If you key on Ealey, here comes Calvin and Coty. At some point, they need to let big Coot get a carry.

*Debut of the Slota Cat: The Gamecocks brought in all purpose bull in a china shop Jerry Slota three times tonight and he delivered three times. Before the end of the season, Slota needs to hit Coty with a pass.

*The Most Improved Award Goes to . . .: The Gamecock offensive line. After struggling early in the season, they are now blowing other teams off the ball. Tarik Milner, Max Holcombe and Spanky Ellis are much improved and we knew Mobley and Jones were good.

*Missing AJ: This was not a game where you wanted to be without a starting cornerback, but the Gamecocks were missing AJ Davis who tweaked an ankle in practice this week. Thankfully, JSU's other starting cornerback, Jawaan Booker was medically cleared to play earlier in the week.

*Bringing the Heat: Did the Gamecocks bring in Joe Lee Dunn as a consultant? They appeared to blitz on just about every play. While Murray certainly hit on a lot of plays, the constant pressure led to some stops by the Gamecocks. We are giddy right now, but if JSU can just eliminate the big plays they might become a dominant defense. They made Murray a one dimensional team only giving up 7 yards on the ground to an offense that included all OVC running back, Mike Harris.


*A pretty good trio: Trey Smith, Alan Bonner and James Shaw all turned in big games for the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks aren't throwing it much, but when they do this trio is producing.

*Who Are These Guys? After today's games, the teams joining JSU at the top of the conference standings are Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay. Tech beat UTM in a close one. JSU goes on the road to Peay in two weeks. UTM, Murray and EIU- all have two league losses.