Georgia Looks for Revenge Against South Carolina
Fresh off an energizing win that boosted many around the program’s spirits after a demoralizing loss to Florida in Jacksonville. The Dawgs moved on with a win two weeks later against Mississippi State with a 31 point offensive explosion, boosted by the incredible debut performance of JT Daniels.
The annual Thanksgiving weekend matchup between Georgia-Georgia Tech was canceled this season due to COVID-19 forced conference-only play. Georgia will face South Carolina this weekend in a game that will undoubtedly mean more for the Dawgs this season.
South Carolina came into Sanford Stadium last season and pulled over the Dawgs at home. That win in overtime would make South Carolina the first unranked program in history to beat a Top-5 ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
An embarrassing loss to say the least. That loss likely kept the Dawgs out of the College Football Playoffs, despite the loss to LSU in the SEC Championship. The Dawgs would’ve been in a much better position with the committee as a one-loss team.
Despite that massive upset, last season former Georgia safety and now former South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp was fired last week after failing to compile a record above 500 as South Carolina head coach.
Muschamp’s firing from South Carolina is his second firing as a head coach. His first stint as the head man at Florida was less than spectacular as the Georgia alumni recorded a 28-21 record as a Gator before being let go.
A defensive mastermind and a great recruiter struggled to preside over a successful offense in Gainsville’s four seasons. The offense seems to be Muschamp’s most prominent rival as the Gamecock’s struggled to put together anything better than a below-average offensive unit.
South Carolina Athletic Director Ray Tanner announced that Will Muschamp would be let go by South Carolina with just three games left. Former Georgia QB and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is serving as interim head coach.
This will make Bobo’s first appearance against the Dawgs since he left the Dawgs as offensive coordinator under Mark Richt.
South Carolina comes into this game on a four-game losing streak with blowout losses to LSU, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss. The Gamecocks are fresh off a loss to Missouri. The 17-10 loss saw Mike Bobo change at quarterback, calling Luke Doty to replace graduate transfer Colin Hill.
Doty’s mobile capabilities likely part of the thinking in replacing Hill as a starter. Hill was the starting quarterback at Colorado State under Mike Bobo before transferring this offseason after Bobo’s hiring as offensive coordinator.
The offense is a struggling unit as they rely heavily on the talent of junior receiver Shi Smith. Smith is the leading receiver with 605 yards 4 touchdowns on 54 receptions this season. Smith was concussed in the loss to Missouri and is questionable for the game this weekend and beyond. Smith’s futures in the NFL lie ahead as the talented receiver will likely play on Sunday’s.
With a new quarterback under center for the Gamecock’s, the workload for star running back Kevin Harris increases; at 5’10 225 pounds, Kevin Harris is a smaller agile, powerful back. Harris is on pace for a thousand-yard season as a rusher with 875 yards so far.
Harris will be a player to watch Saturday night as we’ve all witnessed what Mike Bobo can do with talented running backs in the backfield.
Georgia comes into the game this Saturday with a boost in confidence. The 31-24 win over Mississippi State energizes a team riffed with injuries, poor execution, and two losses. Both losses come to top-6 ranked Florida and Alabama.
The debut of JT Daniels brought out the best of a struggling Georgia receiving core. The lackluster, inconsistent play at quarterback hurt the receivers as the Georgia passing game failed to amount to much explosion.
It took just one for JT Daniels to connect the dots in the passing game as the redshirt sophomore became the first quarterback to throw for 400 yards since Aaron Murray. Expectations are undoubtedly higher for start number 2 for JT after a career-best debut performance.
While Todd Monken is not planning on relying heavily on the arm and talent of JT Daniels to carry the Dawgs to victory again, the run game of Georgia will be looking to bounce back after a rough day at the office last weekend against Mississippi State.
The big defensive front of Mississippi State gave the Georgia offensive line trouble as the run game ran stagnant. The Bulldogs of Starkville stacked the box for four quarters and continually dared JT Daniels to air it out.
With a much smaller, more agile defensive front seven, South Carolina will likely not dare Daniels to beat them over the top to control the run game. The losses of star cornerbacks Israel Mukuamu and Jaycee Horn hurt the South Carolina defense that flourished against Georgia a year ago.
These days, it is an offensive game, and the Georgia defense realizes that they need points behind them if they have aspirations to compete for a National Championship.
It has not been smooth sailing for the talented Georgia defense as injuries derail them to leaders like Richard LeCounte and Jordan Davis. The absences of both are noticeable on the field in recent weeks.
The defense needs to bounce back into form after two high-scoring losses to Alabama and Florida. Add in the 24 points that the Mississippi State offense put up last weekend in a close game.
While the hatred and animosity that usually comes with the Georgia-Georgia Tech Thanksgiving Weekend showdown won’t be there, the Dawgs will be on the hunt for some good old fashion payback against South Carolina.