Langston Moore played college ball at South Carolina, he played in the NFL and now he’s the Gamecocks radio analyst, all of which is to say he knows a lot about football – especially SEC football.
Moore, 34, believes – both from experience and observation – that the SEC grind is unlike any other.
“It just reminds me so much of a shorter, abbreviated NFL season,” Moore said on CBS Sports Radio’s The DA Show. “The margin for error is so small, injuries – a lot of things some other conference and other teams don’t have to worry about. I think Urban (Meyer) got a little bit smart. One of the reasons he left – besides health reasons – was scheduling. You don’t have to play Alabama, Texas A&M, a Kentucky that’s on the rise. Not to take anything away from the schools up there in the Midwest, but it’s a grind. Teams have to figure out different ways to win, and a lot of times it’s like the NFL. It comes down to the smallest margin of error, special team. Things like that always play an important part.”
While Alabama is the best team in the SEC, several teams could threaten the Tide this season.
“Bama is always one that looks good,” Moore said. “Even though Auburn is having some woes, they could figure out a way through some stuff. LSU will come in here with questions (about) what they’re going to do offensively, but they still have one of the best running backs in the nation. Georgia has a lot of stuff by committee and obviously (Nick) Chubb (can) carry the load. Just always from top to bottom, there’s always tons of talent in the SEC. Kentucky is on the rise. Florida is trying to figure out what it wants to do. Vanderbilt. So it’d probably be Alabama and Texas A&M (as the best teams in the SEC). But again, so much about Texas A&M is going to be about defense for them and some of the things that new defensive coordinator (John Chavis) can do in trying to stop some points – because we know they can put up points.”
As for South Carolina, the Gamecocks have had a pair of four-point decision this season: a 17-13 win over North Carolina and a 26-22 loss to Kentucky. They play at No. 7 Georgia (2-0) this Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
“For us, we’re going to have to make sure we really hunker down on special teams and defense,” Moore said, “especially on the road where we’re trying to figure out our own offensive identity.”
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