Gruden is good friends with Coach Spurrier, and has visited our practices several times in the past. He also has a home in the Tampa area. I know that doesn't really matter much, but I'm sure he's happy to be able drive to the ballpark and sleep in his own bed.
I'm a softball dad and just wanted to add that most warm-climate softball players play year-round for the most part, so it wouldn't surprise me if she is ready go from day one. Most schools only use 1-2 pitchers during the season, so if you're stacked at that position, she likely will not see the field her 1st season, unless she's thrown in there to pinch hit. We follow recruiting a good bit, and it appears you guys got a good one in Megan Betsa.
We Gamecock fans are really looking forward to playing the Big Blue down in Tampa, and believe we have at least equal talent across the board as UM. We're not quite as big in some positions, but we have good size in the trenches. One thing that has separated us from most of the SEC pack is our coaching staff, starting with our OL and DL coaches. Both are gritty, neck-vein-popping, in-your-face kinds of guys. Those of you who get in early enough to see pre-game warm ups will be wondering why our OL coach (Shawn Elliott, a former player and then a coach at App St when they beat you guys a few years back) isn't wearing pads. The guy's freakin nuts, but pretty effective at waking our guys up and getting them ready to play. He's also our run-game coordinator on offense, and has taken some flack this year because, like you guys have said about UM, we can't seem to get a decent push up the middle to help our run game. If your D is stout on the interior line, you will likely stuff whatever we run up in there. Even so, we'll run it up in there anyway just to keep you guys honest.
Our QB position is a 2 headed monster. Connor Shaw is our starter and is simply a winner. The funny thing about Shaw is that he can be very frustrating for Gamecock fans to watch because his play is so unorthodox from what most fans' minds are programmed to seeing out of the QB position. Most of our opponents absolutely hate him for the same reasons that frustrate Gamecock fans. When he drops back in the pocket and holds onto it, we're yelling "throw it!" while opponents are yelling "sack him!", then he'll just take off at the last second and run with it, usually very well. The thing that Shaw taught UGA's Jarvis Jones and other teams was that, for a white boy ;), you just don't expect to see legit 4.5 speed outrunning you to the edge and then turning it up field for nice gain's. Shaw has been somewhat inconsistent in the downfield passing dept overall, but is really good at the dink and dunk game. Above all, Shaw is really smart, and I promise you this, even though he's not that big, he's as tough or tougher than any player he's ever faced.
Our back up QB, Dylan Thompson has played really well in the 2 games this season that he played significant snaps in, albeit against weak teams, East Carolina and Clemson. Dylan is your prototypical QB that you'd expect to see out of a Spurrier offense. He's excellent in the pocket, and won't take off unless a defender practically has a hand on him. Unlike Shaw, Thompson is a pure passer in that he sees the route unfolding downfield and delivers the ball where it's supposed to be. To me, he's much more entertaining to watch than Shaw, but like I said, Shaw's our starter and a winner.
Long story short, we have 2 QB's that can win. If we have one advantage in this game it's that your D-Coordinator is going to have to prepare for 2 entirely different offenses. The one that Shaw Qb's, and the one that Thompson QB's.
Yep, by far our worst game in eon's. Our turnovers gifted the Gators 21 points, and they unleashed their D with max pressure once they got up on us by a couple of scores. All credit to the Gators in that one, but definitely not a benchmark game to judge the Gamecocks by.
Recent Comments
Gruden is good friends with Coach Spurrier, and has visited our practices several times in the past. He also has a home in the Tampa area. I know that doesn't really matter much, but I'm sure he's happy to be able drive to the ballpark and sleep in his own bed.
Love Gruden's passion and Tirico's sensibility.
I'm a softball dad and just wanted to add that most warm-climate softball players play year-round for the most part, so it wouldn't surprise me if she is ready go from day one. Most schools only use 1-2 pitchers during the season, so if you're stacked at that position, she likely will not see the field her 1st season, unless she's thrown in there to pinch hit. We follow recruiting a good bit, and it appears you guys got a good one in Megan Betsa.
We Gamecock fans are really looking forward to playing the Big Blue down in Tampa, and believe we have at least equal talent across the board as UM. We're not quite as big in some positions, but we have good size in the trenches. One thing that has separated us from most of the SEC pack is our coaching staff, starting with our OL and DL coaches. Both are gritty, neck-vein-popping, in-your-face kinds of guys. Those of you who get in early enough to see pre-game warm ups will be wondering why our OL coach (Shawn Elliott, a former player and then a coach at App St when they beat you guys a few years back) isn't wearing pads. The guy's freakin nuts, but pretty effective at waking our guys up and getting them ready to play. He's also our run-game coordinator on offense, and has taken some flack this year because, like you guys have said about UM, we can't seem to get a decent push up the middle to help our run game. If your D is stout on the interior line, you will likely stuff whatever we run up in there. Even so, we'll run it up in there anyway just to keep you guys honest.
Our QB position is a 2 headed monster. Connor Shaw is our starter and is simply a winner. The funny thing about Shaw is that he can be very frustrating for Gamecock fans to watch because his play is so unorthodox from what most fans' minds are programmed to seeing out of the QB position. Most of our opponents absolutely hate him for the same reasons that frustrate Gamecock fans. When he drops back in the pocket and holds onto it, we're yelling "throw it!" while opponents are yelling "sack him!", then he'll just take off at the last second and run with it, usually very well. The thing that Shaw taught UGA's Jarvis Jones and other teams was that, for a white boy ;), you just don't expect to see legit 4.5 speed outrunning you to the edge and then turning it up field for nice gain's. Shaw has been somewhat inconsistent in the downfield passing dept overall, but is really good at the dink and dunk game. Above all, Shaw is really smart, and I promise you this, even though he's not that big, he's as tough or tougher than any player he's ever faced.
Our back up QB, Dylan Thompson has played really well in the 2 games this season that he played significant snaps in, albeit against weak teams, East Carolina and Clemson. Dylan is your prototypical QB that you'd expect to see out of a Spurrier offense. He's excellent in the pocket, and won't take off unless a defender practically has a hand on him. Unlike Shaw, Thompson is a pure passer in that he sees the route unfolding downfield and delivers the ball where it's supposed to be. To me, he's much more entertaining to watch than Shaw, but like I said, Shaw's our starter and a winner.
Long story short, we have 2 QB's that can win. If we have one advantage in this game it's that your D-Coordinator is going to have to prepare for 2 entirely different offenses. The one that Shaw Qb's, and the one that Thompson QB's.
Yep, by far our worst game in eon's. Our turnovers gifted the Gators 21 points, and they unleashed their D with max pressure once they got up on us by a couple of scores. All credit to the Gators in that one, but definitely not a benchmark game to judge the Gamecocks by.