Ok, Dawg fans, I'm gonna be as forthcoming as I can be about this. I absolutely hate statistics that start out "4 out of the last 6 years..." and "ranked in the top-27..." Maybe they're such a pet peeve of mine because they tend to hide more than they reveal; maybe because programs on the decline tend to be the first to point out things like "...but our offensive production has ranked in the top-4 in the SEC in 3 of the last 5 years."
That being said, we're a little more than one week away from the first Thursday night with live football action and, as usual, the South Carolina Gamecocks will be taking the field. Most Dawg fans gripe ad nauseum about this, and it goes something like this: "But since they play on Thursday, Spurrier gets TWO extra days to prepare for us!"
So, I did a little bit of digging. Since the Head Ball Coach first arrived in Columbia, the Cocks have opened their season on a Thursday FOUR times. In 2005, his first season, they beat UCF in an UGLY game, 24-15. I remember this because I watched it, alone, at Loco's. What a loser. In '06, they prevailed over an offensively-inept Miss. State team, 15-0. In 2008, they whupped up a solid defensive squad in N.C. State (scoring 31 of their 34 points in the second half). In '09, they won a snooze-fest against the Wolfpack, 7-3. Ok, so what does this mean?
In every season since Spurrier's arrival in 2005, when South Carolina has had those "two extra days to prepare for Georgia," the Dawgs have won. Every. Single. Time. The games are usually close, but UGA comes away with the W.
The obvious omission here is 2007, when the Gamecocks broke your hearts in Athens and probably cost Georgia a shot at the national championship (anyone else hear violins playing?). Well, USC played their first game on a Saturday.
I'm not saying Carolina won't win. I'm not saying Carolina CAN'T win. I'm not saying that Spurrier won't be using those two extra days to prepare.
I'm not saying anything.
I'm just saying.
1 comment:
GOOD ARTICLE. I have always not liked the 2 extra days, and maybe them being more rested, especially with CMR saying how tired the team was in 2008 coming home from Tempe to play BAMA...
But its the 2nd game of the year, and we are under a new system, a new D-Coor, and we have no excuses.
BOTTOM LINE...play georgia football, GATA, and just come home with a win. thats the goal.
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