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LSU, six sacks sink USC

Garcia feels heat, then Tigers' offense turns on the pressure in second half to wear down Gamecocks defenders

garcia

Stephen Garcia gains yards against the LSU defense in the first half at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC on Sat.

Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com /Erk Campos

Written by JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 10.19.08
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What surprised you the most in the loss to LSU?

When Stephen Garcia looks back on his first college start, the South Carolina quarterback's most vivid memory will be of picking himself off the grass at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Again and again and again.

Garcia’s promising starting debut and the Gamecocks’ 7-point halftime lead were buried under the weight of six LSU sacks Saturday as the 13th-ranked Tigers smothered USC in the second half to take a 24-17 win before a crowd of 82,477 on a cool night at Williams-Brice Stadium.

All five of USC’s SEC games have been decided by a touchdown, and for the third time the Gamecocks (5-3, 2-3 SEC) were on the losing end. Of Steve Spurrier’s 19 losses at USC, a dozen have been by a touchdown or less, including eight to ranked opponents.

The Tigers (5-1, 3-1) bounced back from their 51-21 loss at Florida. LSU improved to 7-0 under Les Miles following a loss and has not dropped back-to-back regular-season games since 2001.

Garcia threw for 215 yards and a touchdown and had a 20-yard run that was the longest by either team. But the redshirt freshman often ended up on his back as the Gamecocks gave up a season high in sacks to an LSU team that entered the game with only nine sacks.

Spurrier wondered aloud whether he asked Garcia to do too much.

“We tried to throw and tried to put it in the hands of a freshman quarterback starting his first game ever,” Spurrier said, “and it probably wasn’t a good idea.”

But Spurrier said Garcia, who completed 14 of 26 passes and had one interception and one fumble, would start against Tennessee on Nov. 1 following the Gamecocks’ open date.

The Gamecocks led 17-10 at halftime, but were outgained 184-42 in total yards in the second half and had minus-7 yards in the fourth quarter as the Tigers dialed up the defensive intensity.

“We did what our coaches asked us to do — run around and have fun out there,” said LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson, who had two of the sacks. “I think it paid off. Especially on defense, you just have to have fun.”

The Tigers had fun at the expense of Garcia, who came off the bench last week at Kentucky to lead USC to a 24-17 win. After the sixth sack, Spurrier drop-kicked his headset and had a few words for Garcia when he reached the sideline.

Spurrier wanted Garcia to check to another play when he recognized the blitz, or at least throw the ball away.

“It was pretty rough. They adjusted and started coming with a pretty big blitz,” Garcia said. “They just brought more people than we could block.”

But USC had few options but to allow Garcia to keep passing. The running game was nonexistent: 39 net yards on 31 attempts.

“We had no offense much at all the second half,” Spurrier said. “It would’ve been helpful if we could’ve done something.”

LSU took a 24-17 lead on Charles Scott’s second of two short touchdown runs with 4:16 remaining. The Tigers went 83 yards in 11 plays, bleeding nearly 6:30 from the clock. The big play was Jarrett Lee’s 36-yard pass to Demetrius Byrd, who beat sophomore cornerback Addison Williams down the left sideline.

Williams was in for starter Captain Munnerlyn, one of two corners who missed big chunks of the second half due to cramps.

On USC’s next possession, safety Curtis Taylor jumped a route by Jason Barnes and picked off Garcia at the Gamecocks’ 42-yard line with 3:57 remaining. It turned out to be USC’s final offensive possession as LSU drove to the 1-yard line before taking a delay-of-game penalty and kneeling to end the game.

“We definitely should’ve won this game. We had our opportunities and we just blew ‘em,” Garcia said. “But we’re a pretty young team and we’ll bounce back.”

USC was in LSU territory on nine of its 12 possessions. USC receivers had a couple of key drops in the second half, including one by Kenny McKinley when Garcia had evaded the Tigers’ rush.

But the Gamecocks’ defensive players did not point fingers after the game, sharing the blame for another close loss in a big game. Linebacker Eric Norwood said it is a matter of time before USC wins one of these.

“We’re going to do it,” Norwood said. “We had this one. We just didn’t finish it and they did.”

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.

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