AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 08
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Does the Ball Coach have any tricks left for Gators?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five burning questions as we head into the weekend:
1. Does the Ball Coach have something left in his bag of tricks?: On paper, Saturday night’s Florida-South Carolina game in Columbia should not be close. The Gamecocks are beat up after last week’s loss to Arkansas. The strength of the defense is the secondary where cornerback Captain Munnerlyn and safety Emmanuel Cook are really hurting. Steve Spurrier beat Florida in his first meeting with his old school in 2005. Last season he had the perfect game plan but lost 17-16 on a blocked field goal. A win over Florida would knock the Gators out of the SEC East race. Does he have something special cooked up for Saturday night?
2. How geeked up are Will Muschamp and Hugh Nall? Muschamp played at Georgia for Ray Goff. Nall was a center on Vince Dooley’s 1980 national championship game. Muschamp is the Auburn defensive coordinator and one of the young rising stars in the coaching ranks. Nall is the Tigers’ top-notch offensive line coach. Think they’ll have their troops ready when they walk Between the Hedges on Saturday? Yep, but so will Georgia assistants Stacy Searels (offensive line) and Rodney Garner (defensive line), who played for Pat Dye at Auburn. Stuff like that is why Georgia-Auburn is one of my favorite games.
3. Is Clemson ready for prime time? Clemson’s Tommy Bowden seems to begin every year on the hot seat but now he has a chance to have a very pleasant off season. Beat Wake Forest at home on Saturday and then beat Boston College the next week, also at home, and the Tigers will be playing in the ACC championship game for the first time. This team is capable of winning both games but can it handle the glare of the spotlight? Over the years Clemson seems to get in this position only to stumble.
4. Will Georgia Tech take care of business at Duke? If RB Tashard Choice is ready to go, I expect the Yellow Jackets to easily roll in Saturday’s game. Don’t quite know what it is, but Tech is a different team when Choice is on the field. It’s not just his talent, which is considerable. Tech just seems to have more energy on both sides of the ball when Choice is carrying the mail. Better make sure he’s healthy for Georgia.
5. Is Houston Nutt going to make it? After pounding South Carolina last week, the heat has subsided a little bit at Arkansas. What if the Hogs win at Tennessee on Saturday? The Hogs would then be 7-3 with games left against Mississippi State and LSU. Arkansas has had only one bad game all year against Kentucky (42-29). They lost to Alabama (41-38) on a last second touchdown pass and to Auburn (9-7) on a field goal, also with seconds left.
