USC/Auburn Review and Preview of the SEC East Race

What a tough pill to swallow on Saturday night watching the end of the South Carolina/Auburn game. The Gamecocks had come out on the winning side of the last couple of close wins (Georgia & Navy) this year but could not make the plays during crunch time to beat Auburn. (Will USC ever beat Auburn?) It has been more than 28,250 days (1933), fuzzy math possibly, since USC last defeated Auburn in college football. The Tigers have defeated the Gamecocks three times in the last 371 days, per AuburnUndercover.com. It is apparent that the 2011 Gamecocks offense has multiple issues at the most vital positions – quarterback and offensive line. I blame this loss on the USC offensive coaches. Steve Spurrier and his offensive assistants have had more than nine months, since the loss to FSU in the bowl game, to fix the ailments that continuously plague this team since really the 2007 season completed, IMHO. Going into year number seven of the Spurrier regime, we have yet to develop a quarterback, and because of poor o-line coaching and recruiting through the first four years of Spurrier’s tenure, USC is severely lagging with developed o-line prospects. Let’s look inside the numbers of why Carolina suffered its first setback of the season.

The Bad:

1. Auburn ran 92 plays on offense versus USC’s 52.
2. Auburn running back Michael Dyer had 42 touches (41 rushes/141 yards, 1 pass/6 yards) – ten fewer than the entire USC offense!
3. Gamecocks ran 17 plays for 93 yards of total offense in the 2nd half, with 50 yards coming on the scoring drive (two plays).
4. Per Scott Hood, GamecockCentral.com, USC ran ONLY four plays in Auburn territory – three on the final drive! In contrast, Auburn ran 52 plays in USC territory. So Auburn had as many plays in USC’s territory throughout the game as Carolina had total number of plays in the game!
5. Auburn converted 11/22 (50%) of third-down conversions. Auburn was yielding 60% of third-down conversions entering the contest.
6. The Gamecocks converted 2/10 (20%) of third-down conversions.
7. Carolina began an offensive series inside USC’s own 12-yard line half a dozen times, per AuburnUndercover.com; the Auburn punter was outstanding!
8. Auburn scored the winning touchdown against USC just as the Tigers executed versus Alabama last year to win in Tuscaloosa by one point. Per Auburn offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, they had not used that play since last year’s BAMA game.
9. Auburn rushed for 246 yards on 67 attempts. In the last seven games dating back to the 2010 SEC Championship Game, the USC defense is surrendering 179 rushing yards.
10. In the last seven games, Stephen Garcia has thrown 14 interceptions with only five touchdown passes. In that span of games, Garcia is averaging seven yards per pass completion.
11. On the game winning drive, Auburn drove 57 yards in 12 plays using 3:49 of the remaining 5:27 in the game. On the game-winning drive, Barrett Trotter was perfect on third-down conversions (4/4) including a 3rd & 13 for a 15-yard completion. The game-winning TD was scored on 3rd & 5.
12. Auburn has won eleven SEC contests in a row!

The Good:
1. Melvin Ingram – enough said! SuperMelvin recorded eleven tackles – 4.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks!
2. Antonio Allen – registered 13 tackles – 3 tackles-for-loss and one interception
3. C.C. Whitlock recorded his first two interceptions of the year; the interceptions came on consecutive Auburn drives. Whitlock intercepted a pass late 3rd quarter, fumbled the ball back over to Auburn and then intercepted a pass in the end zone on the first possession of the 4th quarter.
4. USC’s defense surrendered 3.9 yards per play (92 total plays run by Auburn’s offense).
5. In the last 10 quarters, USC has allowed 19 points & 547 yards of total offense! The defense is getting better!

The Ugly:
1. The length of the game: three hours & 59 minutes, per The State.
2. Coach Spurrier calling USC’s final time out with 00:12 to play in the game, forcing the USC offense to throw a pass over the middle of the field to get into FG range, but time expired as Ellington was tackled.
3. Carolina had 13 of 14 possessions that lasted five plays or fewer, per Ron Morris of The State newspaper.
4. Of USC’s 14 possessions, seven resulted in punts, two interceptions, one fumble, two when the clock expired (half time and end of game).
5. USC amassed the fewest total yards of offense that the Auburn defense has surrendered in 2011. Even lowly Florida Atlantic, ranked 119th out of 120 teams, accumulated over 300 yards of total offense against Auburn the week before Carolina!

I think I have given my faithful readers enough statistics to digest Carolina’s first loss of this season. These numbers paint a pitiful picture of offensive futility at USC. I predict right now that there will not be 60,000 fans at the Kentucky game. If this offense is not fixed ASAP, I predict a 6-7 season. When Spurrier plays Garcia at QB, SOS is letting down the other 84 scholarship players IMHO!

The SEC East race is wide open, folks. IMHO, the road to the SEC East runs through Knoxville, TN. Two teams have stability at the quarterback position: UGA & Tennessee.
Florida’s starting QB, John Brantley, reportedly has a broken fibula and might be out for the rest of the season. His backup, Jeff Driskell, is a freshman. Kentucky, Vanderbilt and USC all have QB issues!
UGA travels to Rocky Top this weekend, while USC travels to Knoxville in late October. If Georgia gets by UT, then a trip to the Georgia Dome is very conceivable for Georgia fans. UF, UT and USC all have tough road games upcoming. Keep your eyes on UGA, because right now I consider the Bulldogs in the SEC East’s driver’s seat.

My next blog will be Friday afternoon (I am going to skip Wednesday), when I will reveal the five keys to the USC/Kentucky game and Spurspective's prediction which might surprise Gamecock fans.

Go Gamecocks!