Before I give my take on this matchup, I just have to say, I have never seen so much venum in a fanbase after one game as I see with the UGA fans on the board I generally post on, Dawgpost. Look, I love UGA football more than I love one player or one coach. That being said, I also try to be a realist. Last week was a disaster in so many ways. Primarily because we had a losing season last year, the horrible performance/loss vs. Central Florida, the UGA faithful looked at the Boise game as a chance to move back in the right direction. They remembered the last time we played Boise, they had very little respect for the Broncos-I had respect for them but I think a lot of Georgia fans did not respect them at all, despite all their recent success against big name opponents. During the second half of the game, after halftime, it was pretty evident which team made adjustments. Then again, Boise had a QB that knows how to play the game, he is like a coach on the field. I suspect Aaron Murray is going to be a lot like Kellen Moore when he is a senior-assuming he has a decent OL blocking for him. Point being, they came out and took it to us and made some plays. We could not adjust or would not adjust. BUT, the players never quit and we did manage to get a little offense going late. I came away VERY frustrated and disappointed with the loss-both sides of the ball disappointed me greatly. The offense running the no huddle, I didn't get it. Nor did I get why we didn't run outside more often, didn't try any toss sweeps with Crowell, didn't get Mitchell more involved before the 4th quarter, tried throwing mid range passes instead of 5 yard dinks here and there to keep the chains moving. On D, why we didn't man up the WR's and try to disrupt their timing on passing plays, why we didn't send guys up the middle more often-the few times we came up the gut we forced bad throws. SO, yes, I was really bummed out. But, I realized it was only ONE game of this season and this season is NOT last season. Can it turn into last season, you bet it can. But, can we turn the season around in one week, no doubt about that. Everyone looks at SCarolina and thinks, there is no way we can beat a team like that after losing to Boise. I personally believe, Boise is a BETTER team than is South Carolina. Talent wise, maybe not but as a TEAM yes. This game provides our players and coaches a chance to basically tell the fans/media, KISS OUR A**!! I really hope they can walk off the field on Saturday night feeling like they have proved something to everyone that has doubted them this week. That being said, a loss this week is only going to fuel the fires that are already burning. I have said many times, I want to see how this season unfolds before I make a call on our head coach. I think 8-4 regular season is good enough for him to stay, I honestly do. But, if we start out 0-2 that certainly is going to put a lot of pressure on this team to win out or come close to that. With the UF game still lurking, along with a tough Miss State team, a game in Knox where we have been steamrolled the last two visits, a young but talented AU team, a game in Lexington which is historically never easy for us, even the Nerdy Insects can give us a battle, this game tomorrow is very critical.
The Gamecock defense is good, but I personally think they might be a tad bit overrated. People talking about this D being one of the top in the conference etc, well, let's just say ECU moved it on them pretty well. They do have some very explosive guys on their DL and a really good LB is Shaq Wilson, the secondary to me is very suspect and I would imagine that if TKing can catch the ball this week, he can have a big game, as well as Brown and Mitchell-who I would look to get involved early instead of late this week. The OL will have their hands full trying to block some of these guys, they at times will insert a "panther" package which means all DL are DE's, and SCarolina has some excellent defensive ends. I still think the fact Boise had so much experience on their DL, this DL will not be any better than what we faced last Saturday. If I am Mike Bobo, I would look to throw early, short passes, mix in a deep throw. I would also look to use some draw plays as when those DE's are on the field, they are interested in pushing upfield in a hurry trying to get pressure on the QB. I think we can move the ball on this defense but we are going to have to be more creative and less predictable, which is a common complaint with Bobo calling plays. I do think Murray will be more focused this week, he will be ready to go and I feel like our WR's are going to play MUCH better this week. Orson Charles is going to be a big nightmare for Carolina trying to cover him, look for him to have another big game. Here are the projected starters for SCarolina, I believe Clowney IS starting so I will list him that way.
DE-Devin Taylor 6-7 260 JR
DE-Jadeveon Clowney 6-6 254 FR or Melvin Ingram 6-2 276 SR
DT-Travian Robertson 6-4 303 SR
DT-Aldrick Fordham 6-3 274 JR
LB-Shaq Wilson 5-11 223 SR
LB-Reginald Bowens 6-2 248 JR
CB-Stephon Gilmore 6-1 193 JR
CB-CC Whitlock 5-10 178 SR
S-DJ Swearinger 5-10 208 JR
S-Antonio Allen 6-2 202 SR
S-Jimmy Legree 5-11 185 Soph
Just reading the SCarolina front page on rivals, seems weird to read stuff like SCarolina SHOULD win the game, SCarolina has MORE talent than UGA??? I am sorry but I just don't believe they have MORE talent, you could make a case they have pretty equal talent but more talent-not so sure about that. But, bottom line is SCarolina is favored in Athens for the first time since I can remember. They do have more experienced and talented players at RB and WR. We don't have a Lattimore or Jeffrey. They have a SR QB that has played well against us. They have stingy D and a good defensive coordinator. I can get where the Gamecocks are feeling very confident going into this game. I will counter with this. As good as SCarolina was last year in winning the east, they were only 5-3 in conference, they still didn't win 10 games. They dominated the game with us last year, I have already given those stats earlier in the week YET we had the ball inside the 5 when Ealey fumbled, the score at the time, 14-6 and that was in the 3rd quarter. SCarolina kicked a FG late in the game to finally ice it. All of that at home, with a crowd behind them and going crazy, we had no AJ Green, we had a redshirt FR playing his first road game of his career. I guess the point I am trying to make, last year was the PERFECT storm for them against us and yet the game was on the line late.
I expect another game that is close and don't see either team blowing the other out. I think we will play much better this week and I suspect Carolina will as well. I think we will win this game, some will call me crazy but I really do think we will win. This has the makings of the UGA/UT game back in 2007 in Knoxville, we were favored going to Knoxville, Fulmer was on his way out, the Vols played inspired football and beat the daylights out of us that day. Maybe that doesn't happen for us but don't be surprised if we don't pull this game out. I say UGA 21 SCarolina 17.
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