Last week both of these teams started out with intriguing match-ups. The Georgia Bulldogs faced the Boise State Broncos in the Georgia Dome and the Gamecocks of South Carolina faced off with the East Carolina Pirates. Both teams struggled but the Gamecocks came out of their game with a win. The Bulldogs on the other-hand did not look good in many aspects of their game (which we touched on here, but will also touch on in this column). There are some important games this week involving SEC teams (Miss State/Auburn and Penn State/Alabama) but this game could decide the SEC East and it’s the subject of our weekly “Big Game Preview”. Before you read this make sure you check out the Q&A we did early this week with the great South Carolina blog Leftover Hotdog then come back and we will take a look at where the advantages and dis-advantages are for each team.
QUARTERBACK
Stephen Garcia came in the last game against ECU and saved the Gamecocks bacon. Garcia is a 5th year senior who has struggled mightly with inconsistencies on and off the field during his tenure in Columbia. Garcia replaced starter Connor Shaw in this game and went on to score two TDs with his feet and one with his arm. There is no question that Garcia has the confidence of his teammates and he is the QB that they want in the huddle with them.
Aaron Murray struggled against Boise State as he was running for his life for the majority of the game. The biggest aspect that Murray must improve is the sacks he took (six of them against Boise). When Murray was given time he found his receivers as he was 16 of 29 for 236 yds and 2 TD vs 1 INT. In the second half he found Orson Charles on a 36 yd TD and true freshman Malcolm Mitchell for a 51 yd score. I still like Murrays’ upside but he’s got to get some help from his OL and from his receivers (namely Tavarres King, who would like to forget the Boise game ever happened).
Verdict: Slight Advantage Georgia
RUNNING BACK
Marcus Lattimore is one of the best backs in the SEC (and the Nation) and last year as a true Freshman he pounded the Georgia DL. Lattimore vs the Georgia DL will be one of the most important match-ups of the evening. While Georgia’s new-look DL wasn’t that impressive they did do a good job in stopping Boise RB Doug Martin and containing the Boise rushing game. Lattimore finished the ECU game with 112 yards and 3 TD.
Outside of Brandon Boykin’s awesome 80 yd sweep for a TD, the Georgia running game was somewhat pedestrian against Boise. Was it the fact that the Boise DL just beat up the Georgia OL or was it that the Georgia running backs just aren’t that good? I thought true Freshman Isaiah Crowell did a pretty good job (15 carries for 60 yards) and got better and more comfortable as the game went on. Richard Samuel was unimpressive in his first game back at RB since moving to LB over a year ago (7 carries for only 12 yards). Establishing some sort of consistent running game in this game will be key for Georgia.
Verdict: Advantage South Carolina
WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END
South Carolina looked like a one-man team at these positions against ECU. That being said, it’s a damn good one-man gang. Alshon Jeffrey caught 5 passes for 92 yards and is one of the best receivers in the Nation.
I believe that Georgia has better overall talent (other than Jeffrey) at these positions but it’s yet to be realized on the field. Orson Charles had a great game against Boise as he finished with 6 catches for 109 yards and 1 TD. Malcolm Mitchell also had a nice showing but other than them nobody stepped up for the Bulldogs and the receivers had difficulty separating from the Broncos on the deep balls. Paging Tavarres King, Rantavious Wooten and Marlon Brown. It’s time to show up.
Verdict: Advantage South Carolina
OFFENSIVE LINE
The play of the OL was hands-down the reason why Georgia lost their football game last week. The OL got beat on running plays and passing plays and could not hold the line of scrimmage. Justin Anderson struggled early with a couple of false starts and could be a liability at OT this year. Georgia will face a more talented, but I believe a less disciplined, DL this week in South Carolina and this once again could decide the ball game. I’m not even going to discuss South Carolina’s offensive line because I know they are better than Georgia’s.
Verdict: Advantage South Carolina
DEFENSIVE LINE
Georgia’s defensive line played good against the run but didn’t do a good job getting into the backfield against the pass. This could have been because of the offense that Georgia was running was counter-productive versus the big bodies we had on the field on defense (we will discuss this later in our intangibles section) or it could have had to do with losing a play-maker from the LB corps in Alec Ogletree that helped take pressure off the DL.
South Carolina is stocked on the DL with Devin Taylor, Melvin Ingram, Travian Robertson and true frosh Jadeveon Clowney. That being said, with all of this talent they struggled to stop East Carolina. South Carolina didn’t have a sack and only had 3 tackles for loss last week (last in the SEC). The Gamecocks DL is definitely looking to have a much bigger impact this week as they play a more balanced offensive team in Georgia.
Verdict: Advantage South Carolina
LINEBACKERS
Georgia’s best LB Alec Ogletree went down with a broken foot last week against Boise early in the game. While Ogletree was in the game Georgia was able to handle Boise State, but once he left the game the defense was unable to stop Kellen Moore and the Broncos. Olgetree was replaced by a senior walk-on in the game last week because of his familiarity of the system but with more practice time this week it should be junior Mike Gilliam that gets the most snaps. Georgia still has a lot of talent at LB with Christian Robinson, Jarvis Jones and Cornelius Washington but they need someone to step up in the absence of “Big Tree”. The LBs were unsuccessful last week helping out against Boise’s accurate short passing game. I didn’t have a chance to watch too much of the Gamecocks game last week but obviously their defense has seen better games. I think the loss of Ogletree in this game swings the advantage here to the Gamecocks.
Verdict: Slight Advantage South Carolina
DEFENSIVE BACKS
South Carolina’s DBs weren’t very good last year. Last week South Carolina gave up 260 yards passing. The only team to give up more than them? The Georgia Bulldogs who gave up 261 yards. Georgia gets back it’s starting safety Bacarri Rambo after a suspension in week one. Rambo’s return allows Sanders Commings to move back to corner and will help to solidify the Georgia secondary. Despite giving up 261 yards last week the Georgia secondary didn’t look that bad (save a couple of plays). There is only so much you can do when the oppossing QB is left to stand in the pocket and pick you apart because your DL could not get to him.
Verdict: Advantage Georgia
SPECIAL TEAMS
Georgia has Drew Butler and Blair Walsh and South Carolina doesn’t. Georgia also has Brandon Boykin back to return kicks and he showed his explosiveness last week when he took a simple sweep 80 yards for a TD against Boise. Butler averaged 47 yards per punt last week but what Georgia needs to be careful about is him out-kicking his coverage like he did once last week (and it cost Georgia to the tune of a 49 yard punt return). Blair Walsh was rendered moot in last weeks game as Richt went for a 4th and 2 instead of kicking a chip shot and Walsh missed a 57 yarder wide left (but it had more than enough leg on it). South Carolina has Bruce Ellington and he had a 35 yard return last week, he’s the guy to watch out for from South Carolina in the return game.
Verdict: Advantage Georgia
COACHING/INTANGIBLES
I still believe that Steve Spurrier has lost his edge. The NFL humbled him and I just don’t think he’s the same coach he used to be at Florida. That being said, I think the Georgia coaching staff is struggling to get on the same page. Our buddy MikeInValdosta over at the Dawgs BUI blog had some good insight on Mike Bobo’s offense not being on the same page as Todd Grantham’s defense. Basically Georgia has some big defensive players (especially along the line) and they would benefit from sustained offensive drives to keep them fresh. But Bobo constantly ran the hurry up last week and were quickly on and off the field. As the game wore on the Dawgs defense wore out. Was it that the Strength & Conditioning program wasn’t up to snuff this off-season or was it the fact that Boise had the ball seven and a half minutes longer than we did in the game and spent those seven minutes smashing us in the face. I am also befuddled at Bobo’s insistance to call play action plays when our running game isn’t being effective and the Boise line is crashing down on Aaron Murray. If the OL can’t block then there is no need for play-action. Let Murray spend those seconds looking for an open receiver or a running lane so that he can escape and live another day. Georgia was just flat out coached by the Boise staff. When the teams came out of the locker room, Boise made adjustments that worked and Georgia was never able to do that.
I also don’t like the trajectory of the “feelings” around the Georgia team right now. Georgia fans on Twitter are sending negative (read…ugly) messages to Aaron Murray and Christian Robinson via Twitter? That’s just taking it too far in my opinion and it just gives these guys one more thing to think about. Neither team had a good outing last week but one of them won and the other didn’t. My confidence in the Georgia coaching staff to pick this team back up for this weeks game is questionable. I hope they can but hope is not a strategy.
Verdict: Advantage South Carolina
FINAL TAKE:
When I went position by position and broke down the game I had six in favor of South Carolina and three in favor of Georgia. I think the biggest match-up in this game will be the Georgia OL against the talented South Carolina DL. Georgia would probably be best served by going back to a more traditional Georgia offense and playing smash mouth football and drop all of the failed stuff they tried last week. I don’t want to see Aaron Murray lining up in the Shotgun and then looking over at the sidelines for instructions. I don’t like that type of offense and I don’t think it’s the right fit for the talent we have. Much like the Boise State game this game will be won in the trenches. Boise State and it’s senior laden DL smashed our OL and our DL could not get a pass rush on Kellen Moore. If that changes this week then Georgia will win this game. But after last week I won’t believe it until I see it.
PREDICTION: SOUTH CAROLINA 24 GEORGIA 20
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