The Verdict: Carolina must be the bully in Williams-Brice

South Carolina football superfan and lawyer at Goings Law Firm, Chris Paschal writes a column for Gamecock Central called “The Verdict.”

The Verdict: South Carolina must be the bully in Williams-Brice

Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama has the worst cell reception known to mankind. So of course, that’s where I was located as the South Carolina Gamecocks beat down the Kentucky Wildcats on October 8^th. (I was visiting my sister who is a student at the University of Alabama.)

With each video board score update, more and more Alabama fans grew concerned that I was lost and took a few wrong turns on my way to Lexington. I have more than made up by not watching the Kentucky game live by replaying it repeatedly on YouTube. This was a statement win by Carolina. 

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Right off the bat, two things struck me.

The first was that Carolina absolutely dominated the lines of scrimmage. Kentucky (especially in the second half) struggled to run the football despite star running back Chris Rodriguez entering the game with fresh legs. On top of that, Carolina sacked Kentucky six times. SIX. I don’t care who was taking snaps for the Wildcats, Carolina’s pass rush was relentless.

On the other side of the ball, Marshawn Lloyd ran behind mauling offensive linemen, and Carolina receivers benefitted from each other’s blocking.

One of the main things that drove me up a wall to start the season was Carolina’s inability to block on the perimeter. Whatever Josh Vann and Marshawn Lloyd and Jalen Brooks and Juice Wells and the rest of the crew figured out in Lexington worked.

The second observation was that this Carolina team played fast. That speed was highlighted in the aforementioned perimeter blocking where skill position players (and offensive linemen in space) got to their man or gap or zone quickly and with a lot of attitude. 

But it was also highlighted on defense.

Three plays jumped out to me in the first quarter.

The first was with roughly 9:25 remaining in the first quarter, Kentucky ran a reverse to their first-class speed receiver Barion Brown. As he approached the boundary of the field, Brad Johnson and a couple of other Gamecocks head him off and forced him to reverse course and run the length of the field. As it looks like he is turning the corner, Darius Rush out of nowhere runs through Brown and takes him down for an eight-yard loss.

Going back and watching the replay, I noticed that one of those Gamecocks that helped Brad Johnson set the edge was Darius Rush. Instead of hoping his teammates would clean things up on the other side of the field, Rush shot across the field like a heat-seeking missile and made the play.

The second play was the blocked punt where the poor Kentucky punter decided to pick up the ball and run with it. Did Trae Kenion have mercy on the Wildcat and pull up before contact? Of course not.

If Rush was a heat-seeking missile then Kenion’s tackle was nothing short of a torpedo shot out of a submarine.

Then there was the third play which occurred right around 3:34 left in the first quarter when Barion Brown took a screen pass for a considerable gain and a first down. But what impressed me was the speed Sherrod Greene showed in preventing that screen pass from becoming a touchdown. Yes, he had the angle on Brown, but throughout his career when Sherrod Greene is healthy and confident, he is one of the fastest players on the field. 

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So as all of that was happening, I was watching A&M play against the Crimson Tide.

My biggest takeaway is that A&M (despite the pedestrian record) is a more talented Kentucky. Kentucky has a great running back in Chris Rodriguez. A&M has just as good if not a better running back in Devon Achane. Kentucky has some elite athletes at the skill positions. A&M does, as well.  

The Wildcats have a strong defense. A&M has a phenomenal (yet inconsistent) defense. And A&M’s Haynes King (or their bluechip freshman Conner Weigman) is better than what Kentucky trotted out against the Gamecocks a couple of weeks ago. 

The key to this game is can Carolina play fast and physical.

Yes, that is most likely the key to victory in most games, but Carolina’s speed was not the issue in its loss to Arkansas. Defensive line play and fatigue were the main issues for the Gamecocks in Fayetteville. There are not going to be any extrinsic factors in this ballgame. Carolina is as healthy as it has been since the beginning of the season.

Injuries, fatigue, gimmicky offenses, or any other extraneous excuse won’t work in this game. If Carolina is to win against A&M, they must fly to the football on defense and block with some attitude on offense. 

Ending the nightmarish losing streak against the Aggies must be done with grit and with passion. It must be done with that Fighting Gamecock Spirit.

The foursome of Edmond, Burch, Pickens, and Hemingway must replicate their performance against this A&M offensive line. And the defensive backs must play their best game.

I watched the Alabama defensive backfield live in person in Tuscaloosa, and as wild as this may sound, I would take Cam Smith, Darius Rush, David Spaulding, Marcellus Dial, DQ Smith, and Nick Emmanwori over the Alabama defensive backfield. Sure, they might not have been recruited as highly as those Crimson Tide defenders, but this South Carolina defense is plenty talented, and I think we saw the beginning glimpses of that against Kentucky. 

Final note: I don’t miss Gamecock Walk. And there was one Gamecock Walk this season that looked different from the others.

When I stood there watching and cheering the team on before we took on Georgia, I saw a team that did not believe they could win. Heck, it was more than that. I didn’t think we would win, but I thought we would make Georgia hate getting out of bed the next morning. I didn’t see that even. Of course, this team and staff would never admit this, but if Alabama players are willing to say the moment was too big for them against Tennessee, I feel confident in saying the Georgia moment was too big for our team. 

This is not going to be 2021 Florida. The Aggies aren’t going to be lethargic coming into Williams-Brice. And they sure as hell aren’t going to roll over and give up.

In fact, I have a feeling A&M is coming into this game convinced that their roster, full of blue-chip recruits, is going to overmatch Carolina. Does Carolina blink or do they take the fight to A&M with a wrath that would make DJ Swearinger blush? The history in this series would point to the former, but I have a feeling we will see the latter. 

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