By: Sara Allen
Scoring one of his two touchdowns in the game, QB Stephen Garcia makes it to the endzone. Photo courtesy of Google images
The USC Gamecocks won their 18th straight season opener; this time it was against Southern Miss. The game took place on Thursday, September 2. That win moved Carolina into the Top 25 in the national rankings. The Gamecocks have been in the Top 25 for four straight years. Last year, they managed to reach 21 and were Top 25 for four weeks until a loss against Tennessee knocked them out for the rest of the season.
During the game that got them into the Top 25 this year, QB Stephen Garcia and tailback Marcus Lattimore both contributed two touchdowns. T.J. Johnson was named the Southeastern Conference’s Offensive Lineman of the Week. It was his first start after playing the 2009 season as a redshirt freshman. The Gamecocks were able to attain 225 yards in the air and 224 yards on the ground for a total offense of 449 yards. Their average yards per play were 6.9.
“I don’t know how it feels (any) differently. We usually struggled every opener. We didn’t struggle as badly against Southern Miss as we usually do. I don’t know what that means. We had a few good breaks here and there. We were 5-for-5 in redzone scoring. They were 2-for-6. We were scoring when we had chances, and they messed up a bunch. We’re trying to make to make a lot of corrections on errors we made in the game and see if we can play our best this week,” Steve Spurrier, Head Coach, replied about winning the season opener by a large margin, 41-13, against Southern Miss.
Spurrier stated that the special teams play is the concern the coaches have in the game against Georgia. He believes that his players need to cover kickoffs, punts and kicksbetter. He is concerned that during the game against Southern Miss they only averaged 15 yards for punt returns.
“We have to play well, but we’re looking forward to it. We’re looking healthy right now. It should be heckuva game. I’m looking forward to what happens out here Saturday afternoon,” Spurrier said, concerning the game against Georgia. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Kickoff is at 12:01 pm. Gamecock fans have high hopes for the team this season and hope the wins continue.
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