At least they’ve got some good looking receivers.

I keep trying to figure out whose side I should take here, but damned if I can come up with an answer.

… Moreover, well known sports talk show host Paul Finebaum, who fancies himself a buddy of Spurrier, blasted Garcia recently as the “worst quarterback in the history of the SEC” on his national show broadcast on XM Radio.

Hyperbolic?  Sure.  (I presume Finebaum can remember some of Sylvester Croom’s quarterbacks.  Or, for that matter, Vanderbilt, 2009 edition.)  On the other hand, if Finebaum’s point is to note the resources that Garcia seems intent on squandering, well, it’s hard to argue otherwise.

That being said, what does it say about a team that many think can contend for the SEC East title in 2010 when you can legitimately argue that uncertainty at quarterback isn’t the biggest problem on offense?

… As precarious as that situation appears, the offensive line remains the Gamecocks’ greatest concern. Shawn Elliott is South Carolina’s third different offensive line coach in as many seasons, and he wasn’t working with a full deck this spring. Quintin Richardson was out after undergoing shoulder surgery. The Gamecocks need him healthy at right tackle next fall. King recently had his second heart procedure, but should be back to full go sometime in July. Johnson was one of the SEC’s top freshman offensive lineman last season and started every game at guard. He moved to center this spring. Spurrier thinks a couple of true freshmen could end up playing early, in particular A.J. Cann of Bamberg, S.C. However it shakes out, the Gamecocks will have to make significant strides up front offensively from the last couple of seasons if they’re genuinely going to be in the Eastern Division hunt next season. They don’t need to be reminded that they gave up 37 sacks a year ago and ranked last in the SEC in rushing offense.

New center, true freshmen on the line, new line coach.  I hope Coach Grantham is taking note.

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Michael Johnson, Auburn 2003

This is just one of those plays that you forget about, but is fun to see again.  Everybody remembers Odell Thurman’s 99-yard interception return in the 2003 Auburn game, but this pass from Michael Johnson (!) to Fred Gibson earlier is also great:

Richt called another trick play right after that, and then Johnson came back and caught the TD pass on that drive.

Fun game.

Run/pass tells

Given the interest we had in this topic last year, I thought you might find this post on reading the quarterback worth a look, particularly this part:

… The solution is to read the QB’s non-throwing arm. Teaching the FS (or any other pure zone dropper) to read the long-arm is an effective technique. The FS should break when he sees the QB’s arm go long (or lengthen). The typical QB does not pump-fake with his off arm extended. The only active arm in a pump fake is the throwing arm (unless the QB pump-fakes with both hands on the ball, still there is no long arm in this type of fake). The long-arm is the motion a QB makes when his off hand creates separation from his body. This separation happens in the beginning stages of a QB’s throwing motion. Have you ever tried throwing the ball with your off hand stuck on your body? Try it sometime, it is pretty difficult. Have you ever tried pump-faking with your off arm extended, its possible but it will throw off your throwing rhythm. Most QB’s do not have the adequate time nor patience to develop this type of pump fake.

Living in the past, part two

I have to say that I’m a little surprised about the sentiment expressed in the comments to yesterday’s post about the 2004 season that Auburn should have been the number one ranked team that season, even without taking the Reggie Bush matter into consideration.

No offense to anyone who asserts that position, but based upon the teams’ stats and strength of schedule, what are you people thinking?  It’s not a close call.

And besides that, because of the margin of victory in the BCS title game, people tend to discount the merit of Oklahoma’s team from that season.  The Sooners weren’t exactly chopped liver.  Find me a team on Auburn’s 2004 schedule of similar quality that the Tigers totally destroyed.

I certainly don’t condone the cheating and the blind eye turned to it, if that’s what happened, and won’t lose a wink of sleep over whatever sanctions are visited on USC.  But I don’t see how you can argue that the Trojans didn’t trot out the best team in college football that season.

We shall overcome.

After reading this, I only have one question…

… Hatch responded by calling some of the arguments “absurd” and said the BCS system was “biased, secretive and harmful to schools and competitors” and referred to the letter as “arrogant” and “evasive.”

Good for you, Orrin, although it is a bit ironic that folks like you, who believe in less government, want the federal government to step in and do something about the inequities of the BCS football system.

While it certainly isn’t on the same level of importance, it reminds me of what Congress did nearly 50 years ago when it enacted the Civil Rights Act because certain powerful people wanted to keep treating others like second-class citizens…

Who is the Rosa Parks of college football?