Sic’em On A Chicken

“And watch those feathers fly”…..I’m sure Zac Brown didn’t have the Dawgs in mind when he wrote the song or he would have included a verse about watching out for the spurs.

The Dawgs traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to open SEC play today and the highlight for Dawg fans turned out to be the tribute to 9-11-01 at halftime, the final score was 17-6 South Carolina.

The first half ended with South Carolina up 14-3 and fans scratching their heads wondering if most of the defense stayed in Athens with the majority of the Redcoat Band.

The Gamecock’s true freshman tailback Marcus Lattimore gained 103 yards on 21 carries in the first half and quarterback Stephen Garcia completed 9 of 13 pass attempts for 107 yards.

Coach Richt said in the post game press conference that history would prove Lattimore one of the all time great backs in the SEC. He finished the day with 182 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns.

If South Carolina can continue to recruit offensive linemen to block for him, they should have the school’s second Heisman winner in 2011.

The absence of All American A. J. Green was glaring, red-shirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray completed only 4 of 8 pass attempts for 32 yards in the first half, three of the four that were incomplete were catchable balls.

Murray did improve in the second half completing 10 of 13 for 160 yards, Coach Richt is ready to open the offense up and treat him like a veteran quarterback now. He has six days to get ready for Arkansas.

Tailback Washaun Ealey playing in his first game of the season had 75 yards on 19 carries and looked a step slow all day. Caleb King’s injured ankle kept him out of the game.

With 3:27 remaining in the third quarter and the Dawgs driving for a score, Ealey coughed up the ball on the three yard line, Carolina recovered.

The quarter ended with the Gamecocks up 14-6 after Blair Walsh kicked a 26 yard field goal for the Dawgs.

The final quarter saw only 3 points put on the scoreboard, South Carolina kicked a game clinching field goal with 72 seconds remaining.

The Gamecocks front seven shut down the Dawgs running game and their offense won the time of possession battle by 10 1/2 minutes.

The ankle injury to starting fullback Shaun Chapas was the only injury that Coach Richt was aware of following the game, the extent of the injury had not been assessed at the time.

For years Gamecock fans have been known for their high expectations before the season gets underway, the adjective used most often to describe them is “delusional.”

The only delusional fans in Columbia on this day were expecting an experienced offensive line to score easily and a revamped defense to dominate, they were wearing red and black.