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I haven't done a winner over the past 2 weeks, and that's been for a few reasons.
Honestly, I was very uninspired by the performances across the board
I didn't hardly watch the Texas A&M game because we were hosting the Food/Bourbon pairing with "Bourbon at Tiffany's" and it took a lot longer to get these set up than I expected
I made my first game of the year Saturday (if you follow me on Twitter, you know the cluster and debacle that has become of our tickets). I told myself before the season that the Gamecock vs Gamecock game I wasn't going to miss ... and I'm glad I didn't.
I know the D hasn't been up to the level that many of us had expected going into the season, and Saturday didn't do a whole lot for the perception of the D, but I saw a lot of things that I think are being over-looked.
Jax St ran a lot of option ... a LOT of option. Historically, we don't do well against those types of teams because it's not something we see on a weekly basis. They had a lot of pre-snap movement, and then the next thing you know, there's a read option or toss or counter and I even saw a triple option with a hand off, QB run, or pass. That's hard to defend an entire game and not have some plays get through.
I'm not here making excuses, but Rich Rod has been known as one of the best Offensive coaches in the world for quite a while now. There were definitely some plays that we missed, but if you expected us to keep them silent, I think you were kidding yourself.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Xavier Leggette - One reception away from breaking the single game record, there's not much more you can say about the performance that XL is putting on the field this season. Of course if we had Juice, some of that wouldn't be there because those balls would be getting split, but that's a duo Gamecock fans will talk about being robbed of getting to watch for years.
Spencer Rattler - What more can you say? Week in and week out, he just goes out and produces.
Alex Huntley - Boogie had another great game. Finished 3rd on the team in tackles. There were multiple plays, and many were on 3rd downs, that he stepped up and either ran the QB down on a scramble or knocked down a pass or got some pressure on ... and helped block for Tonka's TD.
Tonka Hemingway - Tied for the lead on the team in rushing TDs for the game, also had a pass break up, and picked up a fumble in the 2nd half. Tonka is building a career of always being around the play and when we really need something, he steps up.
This guy I've been a fan of and have been rooting for, since he committed. As a washed-up Baseball player, I love the guys that play both sports.
When I first started the Gamecock Eats page, he liked a post around the time I was closing in on 100 followers. I posted and tagged him, requesting a follow for him to be the 100th. Someone snuck in just in front of him, so he became "Mr. 101" (that doesn't mean anything, it's just a joke that I have that nobody else finds funny but me). That made him the first South Carolina athlete to follow the GE page.
He also was a part of the group for the first ever NIL deal that I did.
To say I've been really waiting for that spark moment for him, is an understatement.
All season, he's been around a lot of plays. He's tipped some passes, made some big sacks, and ran some QBs down in space ... but none of those made such an impact on the game as the play he made late in the 4th quarter Saturday.
As Jacksonville State drove down the field trying to tie or even go up late in the 4th quarter. Their running back swings out of the backfield on a wheel around. The 2 receivers, with our DBs, create a ton of traffic around the numbers with the back sneaking behind them. He makes it through untouched, looks back at the QB, sees the ball, then ATE 'EM UP out of the air, and took it back 88 yards to the house for a pick 6 ...
AND THAT'S WHY, THE ATE 'EM UP WINNER
AGAINST JACKSONVILLE STATE IS ...
STONE BLANTON
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