"Hey Larry, there's this guy named Elijah Hood. He's pretty good."
Last night's exhibition in Charlotte showed that no matter how much you prepare, you still don't know.
And that didn't apply to just the two teams. ESPN didn't even bring its "A" game from the cold mics to production errors to, of course, bizarre observations from Jesse Palmer.
I don't see how passionate North Carolina football fans (both of them) can't be enraged by losing that game. How do the Tar Heels not win that thing by 17 points? How do they not give the ball to Hood, who'd previously exploited gaps as wide as Lake Norman in the middle of South Carolina's defense? Yes, it's true that the Gamecocks put three linebackers on the field on that last drive after the Tar Heels ripped up their 4-2-5 look with Hood. But you gotta keep giving the guy the ball.
A few Friday links:
-- Andy Staples was in Charlotte and cautions not to make lasting judgments off of one game.
Williams would say later that he was trying to do too much on each of the bookend drive-killers. Fedora would put it more bluntly: “You throw it to the guys in the blue and not in the red. That’s all I can tell you.”
But Spurrier did not take these gift interceptions as a sign that his off-season hiring of Jon Hoke to join Lorenzo Ward as a co-defensive coordinator had magically fixed the issues that caused South Carolina to have a historically bad defense in 2014. Spurrier knew the 13 points the Gamecocks allowed did not square with the 440 yards they allowed. “Four-forty and 13 points,” Spurrier marveled. “See, that doesn't go together.” And Spurrier is correct. Those historically bad 2014 Gamecocks allowed 6.2 yards a play. Thursday, they allowed 6.9.
Nor did North Carolina’s hiring of Gene Chizik as defensive coordinator suddenly make the Tar Heels an impenetrable wall. They can thank the Gamecocks for the fact that they only allowed 17 points, because had South Carolina kept running the sweep to the right that Shon Carson turned into a 48-yard fourth-quarter touchdown, they might still be scoring. The Gamecocks gained chunks of yards every time they ran that play. The only thing that stopped them was their own playcalling. “Every now and then we’d get stupid and run somewhere else,” Spurrier said. “Should have just kept running it there.”
And this:
Spurrier doesn’t want any of us to forget Kelly, because if not for Kelly, Cooper and Moore, he might not have had anyone to laud. “Give a little praise to the Gamecock punter,” Spurrier commanded. Then he looked over at Josh Kendall, who covers South Carolina for The State newspaper in Columbia. “I’m searching, Josh,” Spurrier cracked. “Searching.”
-- Did you know Deshaun Watson has a cousin who plays for Wofford?
There will be a family reunion on the Clemson football field.
Wofford true freshman safety Devin Watson made the travel squad for the season-opening game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against his second cousin, Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson.
“I've been thinking about how great it would be to go to Death Valley,” Devin said. “I told myself that if I didn't make the list, I would just have to work a little harder.”
The two grew up in Gainesville, Ga., although they went to different schools, Devin at East Hall and Deshaun at Gainesville High. Both were quarterbacks, though, and although Deshaun was older and the more high-profile prospect, the younger one was a standout as well.
“He's a pretty great athlete,” Deshaun said. “I thought he was going to play quarterback in college. But he's also pretty good on defense.”
And this:
They competed on the basketball court but never went head-to-head in football. Devin said he tried to model his game after his cousin somewhat, but didn't want to compare.
“I'm 5-10. He's 6-4,” Devin said. “So trying to measure up to him was impossible.”
Devin said Deshaun has always been modest when it came to his athletic abilities.
“He's real humble,” Devin said. “He never even really wants to talk about sports a lot. But he's a beast. I'm telling you. It's always been that way. He was always just so good.”
-- Pat Forde writes on Jim Harbaugh's debut.
SALT LAKE CITY – The maize and blue masses descended here Thursday, wearing jerseys that hearkened back to the glory days: No. 2 Woodson, No. 21 Howard – and, yeah, a couple No. 4 Harbaughs, too.
They hit the ground running – and drinking. The Michigan fans filled downtown barstools and tables by noon, spontaneously breaking into rousing renditions of “Hail To The Victors.”
They were drunk on hope, not hops. The new era was starting, the Jim Harbaugh Era, the one that would return the winningest program in college history to the exalted realm it has not inhabited for a long time. The Rich Rodriguez bad fit was history, the Brady Hoke joke was over – here was a Michigan Man who could actually coach, marrying the two things his predecessors had lacked.
Yeah, they’d drink to that.
But here was the sober reality: hope made the trip here, but greatness is catching a later flight. The Cult of the Khakis must exercise patience.
-- Matt Brown of Sports on Earth gives his takeaways from opening night.
5. TCU's win was fine. We shouldn't be rushing to take anything definitive away from TCU's 23-17 win at Minnesota. The second-ranked Horned Frogs failed to put Minnesota away. Minnesota struggled to consistently move the ball. Based on Item No. 1 in this list, this is probably what we should have expected. While TCU does have one of the most proven, seasoned offense in the country with Heisman candidate Trevone Boykin one of 10 returning starters, Minnesota -- with a solid line and an excellent secondary -- has the type of defense that can put the clamps down and frustrate a team like TCU for a while, especially when the Frogs are on the road. Boykin averaged only 5.9 yards per pass attempt, but he helped make up for it with 92 yards on 18 carries, including a touchdown. Minnesota didn't have the explosiveness on offense to close the gap. Minnesota will likely be similar to the eight-win team it was last season, and Ohio State came away with a similar one-touchdown lead in Minneapolis last November. The Gophers will be solid, and this may be the biggest challenge TCU faces until the second half of a backloaded schedule.
-- Had lots of fun last night banging on objects at Loose Change with Doug Jones and Simple Syrup. Here's a cool number from the local Clemson music legend:
LW
