Upon further review, ‘Cock clubbing edition

I sat down and watched me some replay last night.  A few things I noticed:

• Pruitt’s chess match with Spurrier was everything I expected, starting with running four extra guys out at times to leave SC guessing as long as possible about personnel and alignment.  Mauger was fantastic in disguising looks as to whether he was coming to the line or dropping in coverage.  Floyd’s versatility is a handy weapon, too.  One area where Pruitt didn’t get too exotic was in Georgia’s fronts.  The Dawgs played with four on the line for most of the night, and played well there because Mayes and Atkins have improved substantially from last season.
• I noticed it during the game, but it really came out watching again how little faith Spurrier has in South Carolina’s passing game.  I’m sure some of that’s because he was forced to start a former walk-on at quarterback.  But the reality is that outside of Cooper, there really isn’t much of a receiving threat on that team.  I’ll be surprised if at some point soon, Spurrier doesn’t throw in the towel and play for next season by starting Nunez and running a lot more option football.
• Georgia’s offensive line and tight ends blocked their collective asses off.  Really, it’s a thing of beauty to see how those guys operate.  What’s really making things click is that both guards can move well for their size.  Georgia was pulling linemen most of the night, much of the time to devastating effect.
• It wasn’t just Schottenheimer’s run/pass play mix that went dramatically against his tendencies from the first two games.  It was also formations.  Early on, there was very little of the twin tight end, two back sets that we saw a bunch of against ULM and Vandy.  Instead, SC was treated to a sizeable dose of the single back, three wide sets Bobo made much use of last year.
• Just to cut off the first set of smart ass responses I’m guessing are coming, yes, it’s clear the coaches worked on how Lambert positions his feet in the shotgun.  I saw very little variance between his stance for pass plays and runs.
• And for those of you who wonder how you can tell whether a quarterback is going through his reads, you need only watch Georgia’s third play from scrimmage to see a case where Lambert clearly checked off and threw to a secondary target.  (Hint:  watch his head move.  See?  It’s not that hard.)
• Seriously, if you’re looking for one area of Lambert’s play that’s dramatically improved from his time at Virginia, it’s in his ability to process pre-snap reads.  Those quick passes were deadly because he knew at the snap where he’d be able to go.  And he was invariably right.
• Which leads to my other observation about South Carolina.  True, that secondary isn’t good, but Hoke’s scheme was a poor choice, too.  Soft coverage was just what the doctor ordered, as it played right into Lambert’s strength.  I will be surprised if Alabama doesn’t play more press coverage, just to see if it can disrupt Lambert’s timing.
• Lambert got very comfortable quickly, and it showed as the game went on.  He made some great throws, particularly on one to Jay Rome near the goal line and another on a roll out to Reggie Davis that sucked in most of the Gamecock defense.
• The scoring drives that ended the first half and started the second half had something of the feel I used to experience when Georgia’s offense would get on one of those seemingly unstoppable rolls with a hot Aaron Murray and Todd Gurley.  You get the feeling that Schottenheimer is really starting to appreciate what he’s got to work with in his tool belt.

That’s all I got.  If you’re looking for more detail, check out these second looks from Seth Emerson and Jason Butt.