Q&A: Gamecocks’ Shaw encouraged by what Tennessee ‘among other teams’ able to do vs. Georgia
As Jeff Schultz so eloquently pointed out in his weekly predictions column, my scheduled interview with South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw on Wednesday was canceled by The Ol’ Ball Coach that day. We’re not sure if it was related to Schultz’s column advising Steve Spurrier he should learn to take criticism more like Georgia’s Mark Richt, but we have our suspicions. He’s been known to be a little thin-skinned here lately.
In any case, I wanted to profile Shaw for our readers because obviously he’s the starting quarterback for the Gamecocks, he’s from Flowery Branch, he’s the son of a longtime Georgia high school coach and, in case you haven’t noticed, he’s playing some pretty good ball.
A quick review on Shaw: He played at Flowery Branch High for his father, Lee Shaw (now at Rabun County). There he threw for 3,100 yards and 30 TDs with just six interceptions as a senior and established a reputation for finding a way to win games in dramatic fashion. Shaw was lightly recruited by UGA but signed with South Carolina and enrolled early in December of 2009.
With the Gamecocks, Shaw succeeded the troubled Stephen Garcia early last season and has been nearly unbeatable since. The Gamecocks are 12-1 with Shaw as the starter. At the moment he’s on quite the hot streak. In the last games, Shaw has completed 35-of-39 passes for 397 yards and four touchdowns.
While I wasn’t able to conduct my own interview, I was able to view a video of Shaw talking to South Carolina reporters Wednesday evening after the Gamecocks’ practice. He didn’t provide a lot of insight or any profound quotes, but I put together a little Q&A so you can at least hear from him this week. Here ya go . . .
Q: What are your thoughts about Saturday’s matchup with Georgia?
A: “Two Top 10 teams, a lot riding on this game, an SEC East Game, College GameDay and I’m from Georgia. Yeah, it’s pretty exciting.”
Q: What do you expect?
A: “I just know it’s going to be intense. It always is every year. We’ve just got to come out and play smart and take care of the ball.”
Q: Are you excited about what you saw Tennessee do to Georgia’s defense?
A: “Yeah, Tennessee among other teams. We’ve been watching all the tapes and we’ve got our plays ready for them that can hurt them. Of course, we’ve got to come out and execute.”
Q: What are your impressions of the Bulldogs’ defense?
A: “They just play hard. They’ve got Jarvis Jones who’s a great player and makes plays. Really their whole defense flies around. So we just have to play sound football.”
Q: What’s the plan for tailback Marcus Lattimore?
A: “We’ve got to get him involved early and we know that. He steps up on big stages. We expect him to this game.”
Q: Were there some positives you guys could take from struggling early against Kentucky?
A: “I think it’s good that we were down going into halftime. We were able to come back in the second half and it was good to see our team bounce back.”
Q: How is your offensive line doing?
A: “I think they’re playing hard and we’ve definitely been playing hard out here. There’s plays where they execute really well and there’s some plays we have mistakes, but that’s going to happen every game.”
Q: What does it mean to know you’re able to just run Lattimore up inside on a lead play at any time and get positive yardage?
A: “It’s an advantage. It’s good to know we can just run 21 and get the job done. But we can’t just go out there and run power against Georgia and expect to beat them.”
Q: Do you think Lattimore is back to where he was last season before his knee injury?
A: “I don’t think he’s missed a beat. He’s strong. One thing big about him is he gets better as the game goes on, the second third and fourth quarter, everybody’s wearing down and he’s getting stronger it seems.”
Q: How do you handle the hyped atmosphere and everything that is surrounding Saturday’s game?
A: “You can’t let the game be bigger than it is. It’s another SEC game and that’s how we treat it. We know it’s a big game and I’m from Georgia. We’ve got a lot of guys from Georgia. But we can’t treat it like it’s more than it is.”
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88 comments Add your comment
Sammy
October 5th, 2012
11:37 pm
Mark Richt is 29-1 when he gets 200 yards rushing.
SC has faced some lusy rush offense like:
#122 UAB
#113 E Carolina
#104 Kentucky
#87 Mizzou
#58 Vandy
UGA’s rush offense national rankings?
#11, 250 yards per game.
#4 yards per carry average at 6.2
#5 in rush td’s
Spurrier should be worried, because UGA will get 200+ yards tomorrow, and Richt’s 29-1 when that happens.
Ken in Alpharetta
October 6th, 2012
12:06 am
Why would they call their team “cocks”? I wonder what they think when their partner yells “I love my cocks!”.
RED DOG 77
October 6th, 2012
12:08 am
RED’s questions of the day………….#1 which team has more to prove given last years outcome ?…#2..which team has more fire in heir bellies given last years score ? #3 which team offense is playing 4 quarters of football ? #4 which team has all of their “big guns ” back on defense with a game under their belt, with something to prove?..#5……….If your life depended on it, which team would you say had more anger toward the other………….and something to prove to America?……………Now you tell me who should win this game, South Carolina or Georgia ?…………..Me ? I say Georgia 42 South Carolina 24………….but then again, that’s just me…………………RED……………Oh Yea………..and GATA
ARdawg
October 6th, 2012
12:26 am
EAT MOR CHIKIN
TK Harty
October 6th, 2012
12:42 am
like red said
Rock
October 6th, 2012
1:11 am
Sounds like a real Road’s scholar there.
Fair n Balanced
October 6th, 2012
1:17 am
The kid seems to be a little like his coach. Cocky is the word I guess. Hope we can humble them. It won’t be easy.
kingdaddy
October 6th, 2012
1:23 am
Do you really want to be a chicken? Worst bird in the world…
Ken in Alpharetta
October 6th, 2012
1:28 am
I read that 2 million chickens are slaughtered every day in America. After Saturday night it will be 2 million and one.
dbc
October 6th, 2012
1:42 am
Everybody seems to be talking about the UGA O vs. the SC D. What I want to know is CMR’s strategy in punting to Ace Sanders? He’s a dangerous return guy and this could kill us. Hopefully he’s on it, but my confidence level is somewhere between low and maybe.
LakeDawg
October 6th, 2012
1:49 am
Georgia wins this game.
Billy Joe Bobby
October 6th, 2012
6:47 am
Ken in Alpharetta
October 6th, 2012
12:06 am
“Why would they call their team “cocks”?”
It gives them a distinct home-field advantage. Players on the visiting team aren’t accustomed to looking up into the stands and seeing pretty girls wearing “I Love Cocks” tee shirts. It can be a distraction.
sportzfan
October 6th, 2012
7:40 am
@Ken In Alpharetts….you’re a dog park leg humper. @Sammy, you’re right SC doesn’t have Tenn receivers, they have better ones and much faster too. And please don’t compare Connor Shaw to Bray…..look at stats of both. And you’re right again, Connor can’t tie Bray’s shoe strings….doesn’t have to. Weather report just in for tonight in Columbia….”Clowney with probability of pain”.
joe jenkins
October 6th, 2012
9:02 am
the chickens suck…i hate yall worse than anthing in this world…my top four hated teams
1. chickens
2. fla
3.tenn
4. aub
ARdawg
October 6th, 2012
9:24 am
Just win BABY!
Arby
October 6th, 2012
9:25 am
Georgia has got to defend the twp tight end sets !
Ken
October 6th, 2012
9:30 am
Yep I am glad he sees and likes what TENN and others have done against UGA. 0-4 and giving up nearly 50 points per game
No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 South Carolina ready to settle their score on the field | UGA sports blog
October 6th, 2012
10:02 am
[...] Q&A: Connor Shaw likes what he’s seen of Georgia’s defense [...]
chase
October 6th, 2012
10:25 am
I am looking at this game as a DAWG fan and thinking I “should” be worried
BUT
When you look at it OBJECTIVELY – UGA is the demonstrably better team in every category
Passing Game – Advantage UGA
Wide Receivers – Advantage UGA
Quarterback – Advantage UGA
O-Line – Advantage UGA
Running Game – If it is not a UGA advantage it is at least a Push (Gurly and Marshall are #1 & 3
Lattimore is #2 in the conference)
OFFENSE – ADVANTAGE UGA
DEFENSE-
D-Tackles – Advantage UGA
D-End – Advantage SCAR
Linebackers- Advantage UGA (and its not close)
D-Backs & Safeties – Advantage UGA (and again this is not close)
Overall Defense – Advantage UGA
Special Teams- PUSH – Field Goal Kicking – Advantage UGA
Georgia’s WRs and QB vs SCAR’s small inexperienced DBs – HUGE UGA Advantage
Georgia’s Defense vs SCAR’s Oline – UGA Advantage
Georgia’s DBs vs SCAR’s little WRs (biggest is 5′ 9′) Advantage UGA
Can anyone look at this assessment and really argue? What are your thoughts
If the game is straight up without a bunch of bad calls and sloppy turnovers on either side, GEORGIA WINS by 14
flo-ri-duh
October 6th, 2012
10:57 am
Let big Kwame fall on Shaw’s shoulder one time …….. oops! Spurrier ” Danggit! Bring out the cart – he’s done.”.
fBFan
October 6th, 2012
11:13 am
Chase….. put down the crack pipe. UGAs D is not ranked higher than SCs and is not an advantage. UGA will have difficulty running the ball and Murray will be on his back side a lot. Unfortunately for Georgia all of the arrests, drugs, thefts, gun charges, academic issues, expulsions, transfers etc. depth is a problem. It will show in the fourth quarter.
flo-ri-duh
October 6th, 2012
11:15 am
I would be worried but guess what? S.C. Game Crocks ain’t played NOBODY near as good as UGA yet. Tennessee is better than any body the Crocks have played. Put a few shots on Shaw early and he will be reluctant to run. His great passing % is dink and dunk – about 6 yards a catch at best. Lattimore is not quite back with his quickness but he’s still good but he won’t get any where near thirty carries in this game. Actually Myles is more of a concern because he is very fast. Say 20 carries for Lattimore (80 yards) and 10 carries for Myles ( 45 yards) . Add another 150 passing and 275 yards total won’t be enough. UGA 24 …. Spuds 14. Spud will set a new record for visor throws – he’s the OLD ball coach don’t ‘cha know?
CockeyT
October 6th, 2012
11:53 am
I guess we should not even show up. We have no chance. None of our players could play for the dawgs! Heck even Lattimore and Clowney would not see much playing time. We have no hope. That’s why we play the game. I do not live in the past like dawgs and kitties do. The future is now!.Gamecocks take care of business – ( 31-17)!
S Garcia
October 6th, 2012
2:50 pm
Hey you lag hompers is stoped. I cum up from canda to hang wid my boys and rut gainst you. me and clown and my homes is getin tore up and zootd. that punk thet stold my job ishere to but i wunt giv him nun my sweet sweet booz. clown shard sum dem roids he been bootin dis sesun un dey good. it ant bad tho cuz coch spurrer gives the roids to specul players so its ok.
you sux you dum doggs
01HAWK
October 6th, 2012
2:57 pm
Defense……………………Is that what you call a defense. LOL…………………Over rated as they come. They have not been able to stop anyone and the teams were not even ranked.
cowper
October 6th, 2012
3:24 pm
As a Georgia fan for 70 years, one thing has my concern about this game. The extra point kicker.
REAL DAWG'S N FALCONS FAN
October 6th, 2012
3:59 pm
go DAWGS . I’M GONNA ENJOY A LITTLE BARBECUED CHICKEN{game hen} HA HA . WHILE WATCH CONNER SHAW EAT SOME CROW ALONG WITH SOME GRASS AND DIRT WHEN HE GETS KNOCKED ON HIS BUTT TONIGHT. DAWGS DESTROY GAME HENS ! JUST WONDERIN WHO WANTS A CHICKEN FOR A MASCOT ?
FOR REAL
October 6th, 2012
4:13 pm
JT remember you have 2 stars on defense we have 11 with the dawgs. And we will be all over the field. See who crows after the game.
GamecockInSeattle
October 6th, 2012
8:49 pm
de·lu·sion·al [dih-loo-zhuh-nl] 1. having false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions: UGA fans are delusional.
o·ver·rate [oh-ver-reyt] o·ver·rat·ed, o·ver·rat·ing.
to rate or appraise too highly; overestimate: The Georgia Bulldogs are overrated.
ace333
October 6th, 2012
9:45 pm
Hey Augusta dog, you are a real genius, aren’t you. Georgia sucks and you and everybody whose head is not up their a– knows it. Murray is your golden boy and more overrated than the team, which is a LOT. so we’re sitting at 28-0. You really called this one. GO COCKS!!!!!!!!!! N
GamecockInSeattle
October 6th, 2012
10:44 pm
The only thing more pathetic than the Georgia Bulldogs, are there fans.
GamecockInSeattle
October 6th, 2012
10:47 pm
Georgia fans should contact PETA! Spurrier is being cruel to bulldogs!
VCGA
October 6th, 2012
10:50 pm
Say what DAWGS????????? Murray is what??? The DAWGS are what???? How’d you like them now???
DeepDiver
October 7th, 2012
12:10 am
How do you like us now Shaw!!??! Sweet, sweet comeuppance. I guess he won’t be so quick to shoot his mouth off when he’s messin’ with the D-A-W-G-S!!!!!
LET THE BIG DAWG EAT!
Freehawk
October 7th, 2012
8:15 am
LOL at all of your comments.
Freehawk
October 7th, 2012
8:28 am
You geniuses might want to spell his name right, Connor, from the state of Georgia, unlike your QBs.
Cleve
October 8th, 2012
9:45 am
Well again like the last two Georgia gets it handed to them by 28 points. We beat the living hell out of Georgia. I challenge any Georgia fan to a debate on this. Made a lot of money off you fools. Making arrangements to collect and I will enjoy myself in Hawaii next spring thinking how nice it is to be your daddy.
Rick James
October 10th, 2012
11:49 am
Georgia bloggers were very WRONG….Bulldoggies and their fans are pitiful.
GO GAMECOCKS~~~!!!