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What am I missing with the South Carolina / Houston game

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abcs

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South Carolina laying less than a touchdown?? I havent seen Houston play much, but i have seen every South Carolina game this year. Spurrier is coming off a huge win at Clemson and just reloaded on his contract extension. South Carolina, has beaten the teams they should beat badly, and hung in there against the really good teams ( besides uga ). They had 3 blocked kicks, or else they would have beaten a team that is playin for the NCC on the road.
I think this is a total mismatch. Spurrier has been great at playcalling the past few games. Blake and Sydney have been really sharp and both are probablly looking to continue the momentum for next year. The running game has excellent balance. That South Carolina v Clemson game wasn't as close as the score indicates. I expect this to be a beat down. South Carolina by 17.. :shake:
 
I forgot to mention Houston has played the 108th toughest schedule in the country..and are 0 - 0 vs teams currently ranked in the top 30.
 
I also think what happened to South Carolina in the last bowl game.. as well as the year before where they werent even allowed to play in 1.. will have an effect on this one
 
I remember that bowl game vividly last year. Naturally, SC was my largest bowl play, and they were absolutely crushing Missouri in the 1st Half. Then, one of the most pathetic collapses I have ever witnessed took place, and the Tigers came back in unfathomable fashion. It all started with a fucking INT to the house, as SC was inside Missouri's 10 yard line, looking to go up by either 4 or 5 scores.

I've never been so pissed while watching a game before. I was seriously sick to my stomach, and it was one of the worst defensive performances I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.

Don't get me wrong...I like Brad Smith, and I think he's a terrific player/athlete/person. But after witnessing that display of effort and lack of coaching adjustments, I will probably never bet on SC in a bowl game ever again. Unless Jump or abcs can convince me otherwise, I'm staying away...
 
haha I cant convince you, because i have no idea how motivated teams are to play in these snooze fest bowl games. Last year was sickening to watch them lose like that. I have been dead on with the sec teams for like the past month.. so i just think carolina rolls here.. but good luck

I havent found any news from the local papers on this game.. I wonder what the teams mind set is.
 
kolb has been a consistent piece of the team for 4 years. he wants to go out with a big win and so does his teamates. SC has a better shot if Blake wasn;t starting but he is and he isn;t very good IMO.
 
I broke down the game how I see it in my thread here:

http://www.cappingthegame.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9173

.....


I disagree Troy about Mitchell...

Syvelle is a better fit at QB if the OL is overpowered because of his ability to make plays with his foot like he did vs. Auburn and Tennessee..If the OL is doing a decent job than Blake is the guy you want behind center because he will move the passing game up and down the field...

As far as motivation, I think Spurrier brings this team to play. That collapse last yr was distgusting and left a terrible feeling in everyone's stomach..

Last yr's team featured a lot of kids who just didnt give a shit, this yr is different as they are young and hungry..
 
I think SC is better with blake starting honestly.. Yea Sylvelle was exciting but they werent winning. Blake has done alright, those 3 interceptions werent all his fault in the clemson game.
 
i just think kolb will pick that defense apart deep all day....how about an over like i said i see a 31-27 game never even looked at the o/u to tell you the truth
 
ABCS - you have landed on one of my rare 4 star plays of the bowl season.

Im going to write it up but SC will be one of my 2 best bowl games.
 
Part of it is UH is a pretty good team. And the other part could be that SC was a couple of plays away from beating a few of the big boys and they now are playing Houston. Dont know if Vegas considers that. It woud be a little hard to play UF, UGA, Clemson then go to a game against Houston.
 
muto thats true but did you not see what they did in that sandwich game to middle tenn st?
 
From Covers Editorial...


South Carolina Gamecocks
Game: Liberty Bowl
Opponent: Houston Cougars
Line: -6 ½
It was a year of close calls for the Gamecocks. They had chance after chance for a big win. South Carolina lost to Auburn by seven, Tennessee by seven, Arkansas by six and Florida by one. They finally won the big one in the game that matters most in the state of South Carolina, beating rival Clemson 31-28.
Beating a non-BCS school in a second tier bowl game simply can’t compare to their first win over the Tigers in six years.
 
SC has been off from practice all week, not sure about last week but exams are about to end and the team will resume with two-a-day practices this coming week..


Just curious because I have no idea, How much time do most teams take off from the end of the regular season to the bowl game..

Also..

They have sold over 12,000 tickets at the USC ticket office and as of today are still selling the extra ones that the Liberty Bowl sent them.
 
with ya guys on sc they cover easily nasty d and decent offense under spur , aztec i compare that game to the play offs houston oilers against buffalo bills forget what yr but same collapse both unreal and both worse losses i have been part of gambling wise
 
nasty d? wtf games have you been watching. Spurrier has never had good defenses and certainly not this year. The DBs and Safeties get beat deep all the time. I fyour going to debate this come to the table with some facts and not some bullshit now hahaha. Just admit you aren't interested in those CUSA and MAC weeknight games and know absolutely nothing about Houston. Now this isn;t to say I am 100% correct in my decision b/c that would be ignorant, I'm just saying I don't think you have a valid argument with this "nasty d" theory.
 
I would have to agree, the D is not nasty... There are many are things you could use to argue SC but nasty defense is not one of them.
 
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/16251855.htm

Coach hopes USC does not quit at bowl

Spurrier was unhappy with last year’s group, but 2006 seniors vow to be different

By JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com

<!-- begin body-content -->To borrow a high school phrase, USC coach Steve Spurrier believes many of his veteran players were afflicted with senioritis during the Gamecocks’ 38-31 loss to Missouri in last year’s Independence Bowl.
Instead of blowing off spring semester classes and staging skip days, Spurrier thought the USC seniors “pooped out” during a meltdown in which the Gamecocks coughed up leads of 21-0 and 28-7.
As USC begins its Liberty Bowl preparations today with a double practice session, one of the Gamecocks’ 10 scholarship seniors vowed this year’s departing players would not mail in their final game against Houston on Dec. 29.
“I think it was just the attitude that some of the seniors had last year. Like coach said, they were just ready to get it over with,” fifth-year center Chris White said. “But I can assure you that the few seniors we’ve got this year, we definitely want to go out with eight wins.
“On the O-line’s part, there won’t be a letdown in this bowl game. I promise you that.”
USC took 25 seniors to the Independence Bowl, including 17 scholarship players. While cornerback Fred Bennett did not want to pin the loss on the seniors, Spurrier said Friday “they were the ones doing the playing.”
“We don’t have many older guys this year, so maybe that will be helpful,” Spurrier added. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
The Gamecocks jumped up 21-0 in the first quarter against Missouri and were driving for another score. But the Tigers’ Marcus King picked off a Blake Mitchell pass and returned it 99 yards to give Mizzou a jolt.
Missouri quarterback Brad Smith took it from there, rolling up 432 of the Tigers’ 504 total yards, the most allowed by USC last season. After Smith’s third touchdown run of the second half sealed it with 2:13 remaining, an irate Spurrier vented in the visitors’ locker room.
“He was just embarrassed as a coach,” White said. “He said that was one of the worst letdowns he had ever coached. He was just letting us know that we should feel bad to have a 21-point lead, and just give up in the second half and let those guys come back and win. He said he didn’t want it to happen again.”
Spurrier has reminded the Gamecocks’ underclassmen that how they play in the bowl game will affect their position on the spring depth chart. While the game concludes the careers of Bennett, White and the other seniors, it will serve as a starting point for those players with eligibility remaining.
“We’ve got a lot of young players. We’ve got a couple of seniors. So this game is a start for next season,” Bennett said. “How we perform in this game affects how next season is going to start.”
While that might be true, White — after 41 career starts — also is concerned with how his final season ends. The Chester native believes he has the cure for senioritis.
“You’ve got to have a little fun on the side, but the main purpose is to go up there and win the game.”
 
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- COLUMN 1 -->Boyd probable for Liberty Bowl

By Seth Emerson
The State
Published: December 16, 2006


Leading rusher Cory Boyd remains probable for the Liberty Bowl. The junior running back has a cracked bone in his hand and will be kept out of contact drills.



----Just a heads up, this shouldnt matter much because he played vs Clemson with the same injury
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
houston SU...I have seen both teams a lot...SC can be run and thrown on, Houston D is decent but not great, I agree with Troy having a pocket passer back there in blake will help houston, they don't have to chase seville all game..houston has been on fire and are riding high going into this game, they have a great mix on offense to at least cover the number against an average SC defense IMO....no way should South Carolina be laying 7 IMO.
 
Rice and tulsa are decent...I just think the SEC isn't all that great and a good offense against an average defense getting 7 is a lot for me....houston is not a good fav, but a good dog...I just am not impressed with SC at all...I think they are undersized on D and can be run on...hey I had them against CLemson, but Clemson is done, finito, clemson lost their season after vtech.

bowl season is full of upsets, and you have to take them..I think these teams are basically even IMO so 7 is a lot for me.
 
My opinion -

I think you cannot underestimate last years disaster for SC. They were killing Mizzou and ended up losing. Everyone was embarassed.

I dont see this as a useless trend or insignificant factor - this to me is a big big deal. SC will come to play, and they will play all game.

Houstons competition this year (and the whole CUSA) is a joke. You can say that you dont like the SEC but there is no comparison to CUSA.

Spurrier vs Briles is a total mismatch.

More to come...
 
I agree with van.. this type of game will build momentum for next year for spurrier. You are giving him a month to prepare... i mean his offense was picking apart florida and sec defenses with 5 days to prepare. What do you think houstons record would have been in the sec? I mean cmon..
Sure anything can happen. But if both teams play their best sc wins by dd
 
I guess we will all just have to agree to disagree.

Good arguments on both sides.
 
I think its obvious I lean more towards the feelings of van..

Anyway, it seems this is one of the bowl games that most people are split on and we won't know until the 29th who was right..

GL Hunt and Troy, bowl season kicks off in less than 24hours
 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16160393/

South Carolina-Houston Preview


By DAN BURCH
Associated Press Sports
Updated: 6:01 a.m. ET Dec 18, 2006
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The Houston program is experiencing a renaissance under coach Art Briles. South Carolina is hoping for the same kind of success from Steve Spurrier.
Both coaches look to win their first bowl games at their respective schools when the Cougars meet the Gamecocks in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis on Dec. 29.


Briles took over a program in 2003 that was two years removed from an 0-11 season. He made it to a bowl game in his first season and led Houston (10-3) to its first Conference USA title in 10 years this season with a 34-20 win over Southern Mississippi in the conference championship game on Dec. 1.
"There was no respect for the University of Houston football program across the state when we got here,'' Briles said. "I know how the image was when I got here and it has changed. It's changed for the better.''
Briles, who has led the Cougars to bowls in three of his first four years, was named C-USA coach of the year and was one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson national coach of the year award.
"This certainly is a marquee matchup,'' Briles said. "South Carolina has played some good football this year, and so have we. It will be a challenge, and we are definitely up for it.''
Under Briles, the Cougars lost 42-13 in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl and 54-48 in triple overtime to Hawaii in the 2003 Hawaii Bowl. Houston hasn't won a bowl game since beating Navy 35-0 in the 1980 Garden State Bowl and is 7-8-1 all-time in bowl games.
Houston, which is on a six-game win streak for the first time in 16 years, has its first 10-win season since going 10-1 in 1990.
"A lot of people doubted us and said it couldn't be done,'' Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb - C-USA's offensive player of the year - said after the conference title game. "It was done tonight and hopefully, for the program, it will continue to be done.''
Spurrier is hoping to institute the same results at South Carolina (7-5), where he's led the team to bowl games in each of his first two seasons.
The Gamecocks, who went 16-19 in three seasons before the former Florida coach arrived, won seven games in both 2005 and 2006.
"Our goal the first two years was win more games than you lose because we thought it was fair,'' Spurrier said. "Now, we're going to start upping our goals.''
Spurrier, who is the first coach to lead the Gamecocks to bowls in his first two seasons, is staying at South Carolina despite overtures from big-name schools Alabama and Miami.
All five of the Gamecocks' losses this season came against ranked teams, but South Carolina beat then-No. 24 Clemson 31-28 in the regular-season finale on Nov. 25, its first win over the in-state rival Tigers in five years.
South Carolina lost its five games this season by an average of 7.8 points before upsetting Clemson.
"It was about time we finally won one of the close ones,'' quarterback Blake Mitchell said. "And we did. We finally finished one.''
With that victory in mind, Spurrier expects to see a better bowl performance this season. Last year, the Gamecocks blew a 28-7 lead to Missouri and lost 38-31 in the Independence Bowl.
"They play in that bowl game, it's not like, 'Coach, so long, I'm out of here,' '' said Spurrier, who received a contract extension on Dec. 2. "They're going to see all of us next year. ... They all know they're playing for their spot starting out next year.''
South Carolina, 3-9 in bowl games, lost 34-10 to Indiana in the 1988 Liberty Bowl.
"We'll be blues (fans) when we come to Memphis. We'll be a little bit of Elvis fans, too,'' Spurrier said. "We'll try and blend in with the locals.''
Houston won the inaugural C-USA title in 1996 and lost 30-17 to Syracuse in the Liberty Bowl that season. The Cougars are hoping for better results behind the leadership of Kolb, who helped the team finish sixth in the nation in total offense and 11th in scoring, averaging 439.9 yards and 32.8 points per game.
Kolb, who threw 27 touchdown passes and only three interceptions this year, is C-USA's all-time leader in total offense with 13,424 yards and he owns nearly every passing record at Houston.
"There's nothing I could have asked for better,'' said Kolb, who is fourth in NCAA history in total offense. "We've built it back up to where it needs to be, and there's a sense of accomplishment with that.''
Houston is 2-0 against South Carolina, but the schools haven't met since 1974. Spurrier is 1-0 against the Cougars, beating them 45-21 in 1995 while with the Gators.
 
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#d0d0d0><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap>Fri 12/29
</TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap>415</TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap>Houston U</TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap> +5.5 -105 </TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap>+194 </TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap> OVER 56 +102 <TD vAlign=center align=middle rowSpan=2></TD></TR><TR bgColor=#d0d0d0><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap> 01:30 PM</TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap>416</TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap>South Carolina <TD class=main_body_blk noWrap> -5.5 -105 </TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap>-220 </TD><TD class=main_body_blk noWrap> UNDER 56 -112 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Noticed the line dropped guys after staying pretty steady at pinnacle..
 
When I went over all the bowls a couple days ago, I wrote down South Carolina SU, Houston ATS...that was when the line was 6.5 or 7 however. I believe if the line gets down to 4 or so.. I will probably take South Carolina. I am not sure why Spurrier would rather start Mitchell over Newton, I have been much more impressed with Newton and think he gives them the best chance to win.
I believe South Carolina runs all over Houston with Cory Boyd and Mike Davis...hell even Joseph Doss of Memphis rushed for 133 yards behind that BRUTAL memphis O-line. Thus I believe South Carolina will control the clock and tempo keeping Houston and Kolb off the field. I believe it will be a close game, but South Carolina wins by 7 or so.
 
For what Spurrier wants to do, Mitchell is a better fit and believe me, I am no fan of his.

The bottom line is that Syvelle can make more plays with his feet but doesn't throw the ball nearly as well as Mitchell who is a sitting duck in the pocket. Syvelle has trouble locking in on one guy (Rice) but Mitchell will spread it around. Its no knock against Syvelle the kid has played Saftey, WR, QB, RB for our team over the years and he is a hell of an athlete but if our offensive line can give the qb some time than you want Mitchell throwing the passes. In the Clemson game those 3 picks were not all Mitchell's fault either. He is good for atleast 1 pick during the course of the game however he is more natural back there than Syvelle.

I think SC will do whatever they want for the most part on offense and score something around 30points. I saw some of those holes the So Miss rb had to run through and I watched Houston piss away that Memphis game dragging it all the way to OT.

Houston is a sketchy team, they will be up for this game no doubt but so will SC.

I will be a happy camper if this line hits 4
 
South carolina is gonna beat the fuck out of the cougars
I know the sec and this shit wont be close
 
vanzack said:
ABCS - you have landed on one of my rare 4 star plays of the bowl season.

Im going to write it up but SC will be one of my 2 best bowl games.
:cheers: What is your other best bet Van? :shake:
 
vanzack said:
My opinion -

I think you cannot underestimate last years disaster for SC. They were killing Mizzou and ended up losing. Everyone was embarassed.

I dont see this as a useless trend or insignificant factor - this to me is a big big deal. SC will come to play, and they will play all game.

Houstons competition this year (and the whole CUSA) is a joke. You can say that you dont like the SEC but there is no comparison to CUSA.

Spurrier vs Briles is a total mismatch.

More to come...

ITs always fun to go back and read peoples insights on the game and see how close they were.. Out of all the comments on this thread i think this was the strongest. C usa is now 0 - 4 SU . Also S carolinas defense came to play in the second half. Spurrier called a hell of a game, and mixed up the pass and run like he always has done throughout his career. If Sidney stays this South Carolina team will be primed for some nice wins next year.. although their schedule is a monster!
 
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