Realistic Observations (Week 3).....

Sep 21, 2010, 9:11 AM

Observations from our game as well as others from Saturday:

1) Physical, physical, physical. It has been a long time coming, but this Tiger team played physical on both fronts. Very refreshing to see. Hope it continues.

2) Refs were not a factor in deciding this game. The game was decided by two teams getting after it in primetime on national TV. (Although we did have one player have his helmet taken off his head with no penalty called).

3) Ellington is quietly VERY good. He hits the hole hard, and his vision is similar to CJ's. Gamecocks are already talking Heisman for Lattimore because he had 200 carries against UGa for 188 yds. Well, Marcus is a good back, but I would rather have Andre. Andre split carries/series with Jamie Harper and ran for 144 yds on a lot less carries.

4) Harper's catch in the endzone was nothing short of phenomenal. I don't know if it made the number 1 play on Sportcenter but it should have. What a catch, and what a solid performance from Harper.

5) ALL WHITE is ALL RIGHT. There is not a better road uniform in our closet of combinations than what we saw Saturday night. The ALL WHITE looks sharp. Best uniform we have in my opinion. Nothing gimmicky about it. Its almost as if our physical nature of play is enhanced by the all white uniforms. I hope to see these again in Chapel Hill.

6) Kyle Parker is what we have missed at QB for a long time. More than anything, he is a gamer. He wants to win. There were sooooo many times when Cullen looked like he was just going thru the motions and then hitting the sidelines if it didn't work out. KP plays with emotion.......and I dig it. He pumps his fist often after TD's, and you can tell he loves to play. Yeah he overshot a couple of huge passes late (Allen; Brown in the endzone), but I wouldn't take any other QB in the nation right now. Gutty performance.

7) If Ashe thought he got hit hard by the defense after bobbling that pass from Parker, he should have known what was coming from Dabo on the sidelines. Loved seeing Dabo earhole him after that blunder. Hey....it happens. But when there are 6 or so guys trying to get playing time at WR, you better catch the easy ones.

8) Dwayne Allen will be in the NFL.

9) Chris Hairston will be in the NFL.

10) We lost. So ultimately we have to find a way to bottle up the same intensity, and come out and take the fight to Miami. We need to WIN. The physical play we showed in the AU game will again be meaningless if we go on to lose to UM and even UNC. Keep playing hard Tigers and I believe you have a shot at a great season. If we can develop a couple receivers to compliment Allen, we could be tough to stop on offense.

11) Bowers played his best game as a Tiger.

12) Dear Notre Dame.....How are you not prepared for a fake in OT? Doesn't hurt my feelings, just sayin....

13) Dear Wake......Please do not find your defense until the Tigers are out of Winston Salem.

14) Can we get UGa back on the schedule a little sooner?

15) I hope all the big recruits on our board are at the Valley for the Miami game. I have a feeling after a week off that the Valley will be electric, especially if the game is at 7:00p.m.

16) Secondary got some turnovers. Great to see. I would like to see us cause more fumbles. Hopefully we will pressure the fire out of Jacory Harris.

Overall I hate moral victories. I felt like I got punched in the gut Saturday night. BUT.....I cannot fault the effort in this one. We missed our opportunities, yet we still showed our character. Lets roll Miami, and defend our Atlantic Division crown.

GO TIGERS

PS - The all white was awesome.