Chick-fil-A Bowl: South Carolina vs. Florida State
By Ty Duffy
The Chick-fil-A Bowl is what a non-BCS bowl should be. It’s an intriguing matchup of deserving, evenly matched teams, one I would make time for during the regular season. It is in a sensible time at a sensible location for the teams involved. It makes a net positive contribution to the sport.
Charitable Donations: Besides being sensible, the Chick-fil-A Bowl leads all bowl games in donations to charity, around $1.2 million. Most of the money goes back to the participating schools in endowed scholarships. The Bowl spends $200,000 on the Play It Smart program for Atlanta public schools. Needs more frolicking and illicit political lobbying.
Preview: The Gamecocks and Seminoles had solid seasons, but for both teams this may be a prelude to 2011. South Carolina will have Garcia, Lattimore and Jeffrey coming back. Florida State will have a second year working under Jimbo Fisher’s staff. Both should be in contention for their respective conference titles in 2011, perhaps more.
Health: Christian Ponder will play tonight. The questions are how much of the game and how much strength and accuracy he’ll have.
For Florida State to Win: The pass rush will be critical. Florida State had 46 sacks during the regular season. Garcia is far less effective under pressure and would have more difficulty getting the ball to his big receivers. On offense, the passing game should be key. South Carolina is solid against the run, but has a weak secondary. They need Ponder or E.J. Manuel to throw the deep ball accurately.
For South Carolina to Win: Run the ball. In games Marcus Lattimore played, the Gamecocks were 6-0 when he carried more than 16 times. When he carried 16 times or less they were 2-4. One win was the first game of the season against Southern Miss. The other was a Troy game where he was taken out after 102 yards on seven carries. Crazy Steve always seems to be lurking beneath the surface, ready to start shuffling quarterbacks and winging it down the field. Keep him in his hole. Stick to the zone read. Pick spots in the passing game.
Prediction: I’m going for South Carolina. Both teams received a blueprint for success from the conference championship games. Florida State has no Cam Newton facsimile.