In retrospect, it’s my own fault I saved the Papa John’s bowl for last; of course I’m having issues with motivation when a bowl is pitting a couple of 7-5 teams against each other.  The most notable on-field incident between South Carolina and UConn is UConn’s triple-OT win over Notre Dame, made famous because of a) the name of the team they beat and b) the significance of their first win following the tragic death of Jasper Howard.  Aside from that, it’s a long way down; honestly, my first thought was South Carolina’s 7-3 wet turd of an opening game against NC State that presaged a litany of subpar Thursday night games.

Gamecocks Stephen Garcia (thanks Icon SMI)

South Carolina’s offensive line has spent most of the year practicing the swinging gate play without actually moving; their 33 sacks allowed on the season is a wee bit subpar, to put it mildly.  I’m not typically a fan of blasting an offensive line as a unit, but the rushing attack (3.6 ypc) really isn’t doing a whole lot to make me feel any better; sure, it’s not like South Carolina has much in the way of running backs, but since sack yardage counts, you have bizarre things like Stephen Garcia getting 100+ carries at a little over a yard a pop and junior RB Brian Maddox only getting three a carry.  Sure, freshman RBs Kenny Miles and Jarvis Giles did decently at 5 yards per carry apiece, but balanced against the rest of the team, it’s not going to sway too much.   There’s help on the horizon, but it didn’t really show up this year.

With that being said, WR Alshon Jeffery was a very welcome surprise for the Gamecocks.  As a true gas-pumping freshman, Jeffery emerged as the best receiving threat on the team any way you slice it, leading the team in receptions, yards, and TDs.  If anyone’s going to talk about South Carolina’s dangerous offense (and not be on some kind of mind-altering drugs) that danger begins – and ends – with Jeffery.  The rest of the offense is strictly padded-pillow routines.  On the other hand, defensive danger is real; both Eric Norwood and Cliff Matthews are pass-rushing beasts, and Norwood himself is an absolute terror; I’m of the mindset that neutralizing him is less of a possibility and more of a dream.

On Connecticut’s side, it’s about as pedestrian as you can get.  They’re Generic Bowl Team – slightly above average for their conference in most cases save for an obvious weak spot (in their case, pass defense) and a random specialty (they’re deadly at the return game, 9^th in the country in kick returns with 4 return TDs on the season).

Based on that, let’s go for some kind of wholly unimpressive result – I’ll pick Connecticut in a slight upset to the tune of 17-12.

Related posts:

1. Liberty Bowl Preview
2. South Carolina Gamecocks in 2009
3. The Peach Bowl Preview
4. SEC Bookends: Who Cares Who’s #1?
5. SEC Keeper Watch

Tags: SEC