South Carolina (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3)
Dec. 29th,
4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
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Liberty Bowl
Player Profile: South Carolina LB Jasper Brinkley, team bowl history and more
One thing's absolutely, positively for
certain: one team is going to get over a brutally ugly bowl run.
The Liberty Bowl went from being one of the traditional duds of the
bowl season to a good one over the last two years, and now,
hopefully, some of the magic will wear off on South Carolina, who's
3-11 in bowl games, and Houston, who's 0 for its last five
post-season appearances not winning since the 1980 Garden State
Bowl.
A win over a middle of the pack SEC team would do wonders for
Conference USA. Who'll take the league seriously on a national scale
if the C-USA champion gets obliterated? On the flip side, this is a
winnable game for the SEC to make the final bowl tally look good.
This is also a big, important game for USC head coach Steve Spurrier
after losing last year's Independence Bowl to Missouri and with some
Gamecock fans still waiting for the visor magic to kick in.
 |
|
National
Rankings |
|
South
Carolina |
Houston |
|
Total Offense |
|
28th 385.25 ypg |
6th 439.85 ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
46th 321 ypg |
66th 339.08 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
52nd 25.17 ppg |
11th 32.77 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
22nd 17.25 ppg |
52nd 21.92 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
52nd 140.58 ypg |
29th 170.85 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
77th 147.83 ypg |
67th 139.92 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
24th 244.67 ypg |
12th 269 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
22nd 173.17 ypg |
61st 199.15 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
75th -0.25 |
14th 0.77 |
|
South Carolina
at Miss St
W 15-0
Georgia L 18-0
Wofford
W 27-20
Fla Atlantic
W 45-6
Auburn L 24-17
at Kent.
W 24-17
at Vandy
W 31-13
Tennessee L 31-24
Arkansas L 26-20
at Florida L 17-16
MTSU
W 52-7
at Clemson W 31-28 |
Houston
at Rice W 31-30
Tulane W 45-7
Grambl St W 42-22
Okla St W 34-25
at Miami L 14-13
UL Lafayette L 31-28
at So Miss L 31-27
UTEP W 34-17
UCF W 51-31
Tulsa W 27-10
at SMU W 37-27
at Mem. W 23-20 OT
C-USA Championship
So Miss W 34-20 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
SC |
5
highest
1 lowest |
H |
|
3.5 |
Quarterbacks |
5 |
|
3.5 |
RBs |
4 |
|
4 |
Receivers |
4 |
|
3.5 |
O
Line |
2.5 |
|
4 |
D
Line |
2.5 |
|
4 |
Linebackers |
3 |
|
4 |
Secondary |
3 |
|
4 |
Spec
Teams |
3 |
|
4.5 |
Coaching |
4 |
|
South Carolina
is a better team than the 7-5 record might indicate after suffering
some of the toughest losses in America. Losing to Georgia, to Auburn
(in a 24-17 nail-biter), to Tennessee (by seven), to Arkansas (by
six) and Florida (in a 17-16 loss that USC should've won) is nothing
to hang your head over. While the argument could be made that
Spurrier's club was roughly five plays away from a truly special
season, it also won its share of close battles along the way.
Depending on who you want to believe, either Spurrier has done one
of his most masterful coaching jobs over the last two seasons,
making the program as competitive as its been without a lot of
top-shelf playmakers, especially at quarterback, or else he hasn't
quite been able to break though and get things going as well as many
might have hoped for.
Relying a bit too much on trick plays to kickstart the attack at
times, and without enough consistent explosion to mount big-time
comebacks, this isn't a Gamecock offense that can drop 45 just by
showing up. The team is more about defense than offense, but that's
obviously not what Spurrier is known for.
Houston, on the other hand, if full of home runs just waiting to be
hit. Led by four-year starting QB Kevin Kolb, the attack is balanced
and effective with several weapons that can turn little plays into
backbreaking scores. Vincent Marshall is one of the fastest
receivers South Carolina will have faced, while RB Anthony Alridge
has another gear that'll get him a look at the next level.
Great at getting up for the big games, the Cougars pushed Miami,
back when there was still life in the program, beat Oklahoma State,
and won five straight games before taking the Conference USA title
with a dominant 34-20 win over Southern Miss. If Houston is ever
going to play with the bigger boys, it'll come up with a win here.
With a glut of bowl games on the 29th, this should be able to hold
your attention more than some of the others as long as the South
Carolina defense doesn't dominate from the word go. It would also
help if ...
Players to watch: ... Kevin Kolb could make up for
last year's performance in the Fort Worth Bowl disaster against
Kansas. Throwing for just 214 yards and three interceptions against
the Jayhawks, and throwing two picks in the bowl loss to Hawaii two
years earlier, Kolb has some unfinished business to put a cap on a
fantastic career. Houston's all-time leading passer, Kolb was
brilliant throwing 27 touchdown passes and just three interceptions
all season long. He didn't force the offense like he did in the past
and spread it around better than he did in his previous three years.
Kolb's counterpart, South Carolina's Blake Mitchell, returned
after being hurt/injured/benched midway through season and turned
into a night-and-day more effective passer. While he suffered a
setback throwing three interceptions in the win over Clemson, and he
could stand to make better reads, he's starting to figure out what
he's doing and is starting to fit what Spurrier is looking for from
his quarterback. Emphasize the word starting.
Mitchell's top target is sophomore Sidney Rice, who has been
brilliant against the mediocre and average against everyone else. Of
his nine touchdown catches on the year, five game against Florida
Atlantic and two came against Middle Tennessee. He'll catch his
passes and will the get the ball thrown his way again and again,
especially around the goal line, utilizing his great combination of
size and athleticism. The Houston secondary is merely average.
Houston's most dangerous playmaker throughout the Conference USA
season was junior RB Anthony Alridge, a former receiver who
averaged a whopping 10.6 yards per carry. He's not a workhorse and
the offense tries to pick its spots when to use him, but when he
gets the ball in space, especially on the outside, he's gone.
South Carolina
will win if...
it gets the ground game moving. The
Gamecock offense is known for its passing attack mostly because
that's what everyone focuses on, but the ground game is the better
barometer for how well the attack is doing. Mitchell is a good
passer, but when the entire offense falls on his shoulders, he's not
nearly as effective as he is when he's just part of the attack. The
Gamecocks are 7-1 when they run for more than 150 yards with the one
loss coming to Tennessee mainly because of three interceptions.
Houston will win if... make this a shootout and
don't make mistakes. As strange as this might sound considering it's
a Steve Spurrier coached team on the other side of the field,
Houston is better equipped for a firefight with the better
quarterback and more overall speed among the skill players. The
Cougars are always good for at least a fumble a game, but Kolb is as
stingy as they come securing the ball. If Kolb starts throwing picks
against the talented USC secondary, Houston will be in big trouble.
What will happen: South Carolina will win if it's heart is in
it. After the loss to Missouri in last year's Independence Bowl, the
team was accused of not exactly playing with the proper energy level
and spark after jumping out to a big lead. The coaching staff will
make sure that doesn't happen twice. Houston is hardly going to roll
over with a veteran team looking to validate its championship season
with a win over a name team, but the Gamecock defense will keep this
relatively low scoring while the offense will get the balance needed
for the school's fourth bowl win.
Line: South Carolina -7 ... CFN Prediction:
South Carolina 27 ... Houston 17