Cock-N-Fire Offense Finally Here?
http://www.meetmeatthe50.com/home.cfm?feature=2695288&postid=3243124
Big Play Offense
When Steve Spurrier accepted the title of HBC at South Carolina, Gamecock fans immediately had visions of Spurrier's "Fun-N-Gun" offense all dressed up in garnet and black. The HBC initially did too, renaming it the "Cock-N-Fire."
It didn't quite happen that way.
While Gamecock fans have no complaints (the reasonable ones, anyway) with 31 wins and the dramatic improvement of the program the last three seasons, the Connor Shaw zone read offense just wasn't quite what they were thinking when Spurrier became their coach.
Life happens. The USC staff had to adjust to both changes in the game and to the personnel they had in Columbia. They went with what worked. The end result was the most Ws in a three year period in school history.
As the focus now shifts to the 2013 season, with Connor Shaw on the sidelines for the spring due to foot surgery, at least two things point to 2013 as the season where the Gamecock offense may finally resemble the big play Fun-N-Gun / Cock-N-Fire offense that most college football fans still think of when they think of a Steve Spurrier offense.
Those two things are 1) The emergence of Dylan Thompson, the closest thing to a Spurrier prototypical quarterback the HBC has had at USC, and 2) the big play offense USC fielded against Michigan.
The Gamecocks gashed the Wolverines for 5 big-play touchdowns:
Shaw's 56 yard TD pass on the first series; Ace Sanders 63 yard punt return; Thompson's 70 yard pass to the UM 4 yard line where SC scored on the next play; and the two fourth quarter touchdown passes of 31 yards by Shaw and 32 yards by Thompson, respectively.
That's five big plays of over 30 yards for a game against a big name opponent. Give the USC defense it's due here as well - the vaunted Michigan offense was held to zero plays of 30 yards or more.
The offensive show USC put on in the 2012 East Carolina game where Thompson got his first start was even more Fun-N-Gun-esque than the game against Michigan, and gave a glimpse of what a Thompson led offense could look like, but let's be real - ECU's defense was neither Michigan nor SEC caliber.
Spurrier's Fun-N-Gun offense was always close to 50/50 run and pass. It's signature though, was the big play. The game has changed, and the zone read portion of the offense under Shawn Elliott and Spurrier is here to stay. The USC QB will run more than QBs did under the UF Spurrier. But if the first game played in 2013 by the Gamecocks is any indication of how the 2013 will play, the big play offense may well be worthy of a Cock-N-Fire designation.
http://www.meetmeatthe50.com/home.cfm?feature=2695288&postid=3243124
Big Play Offense
When Steve Spurrier accepted the title of HBC at South Carolina, Gamecock fans immediately had visions of Spurrier's "Fun-N-Gun" offense all dressed up in garnet and black. The HBC initially did too, renaming it the "Cock-N-Fire."
It didn't quite happen that way.
While Gamecock fans have no complaints (the reasonable ones, anyway) with 31 wins and the dramatic improvement of the program the last three seasons, the Connor Shaw zone read offense just wasn't quite what they were thinking when Spurrier became their coach.
Life happens. The USC staff had to adjust to both changes in the game and to the personnel they had in Columbia. They went with what worked. The end result was the most Ws in a three year period in school history.
As the focus now shifts to the 2013 season, with Connor Shaw on the sidelines for the spring due to foot surgery, at least two things point to 2013 as the season where the Gamecock offense may finally resemble the big play Fun-N-Gun / Cock-N-Fire offense that most college football fans still think of when they think of a Steve Spurrier offense.
Those two things are 1) The emergence of Dylan Thompson, the closest thing to a Spurrier prototypical quarterback the HBC has had at USC, and 2) the big play offense USC fielded against Michigan.
The Gamecocks gashed the Wolverines for 5 big-play touchdowns:
Shaw's 56 yard TD pass on the first series; Ace Sanders 63 yard punt return; Thompson's 70 yard pass to the UM 4 yard line where SC scored on the next play; and the two fourth quarter touchdown passes of 31 yards by Shaw and 32 yards by Thompson, respectively.
That's five big plays of over 30 yards for a game against a big name opponent. Give the USC defense it's due here as well - the vaunted Michigan offense was held to zero plays of 30 yards or more.
The offensive show USC put on in the 2012 East Carolina game where Thompson got his first start was even more Fun-N-Gun-esque than the game against Michigan, and gave a glimpse of what a Thompson led offense could look like, but let's be real - ECU's defense was neither Michigan nor SEC caliber.
Spurrier's Fun-N-Gun offense was always close to 50/50 run and pass. It's signature though, was the big play. The game has changed, and the zone read portion of the offense under Shawn Elliott and Spurrier is here to stay. The USC QB will run more than QBs did under the UF Spurrier. But if the first game played in 2013 by the Gamecocks is any indication of how the 2013 will play, the big play offense may well be worthy of a Cock-N-Fire designation.