Georgia vs. South Carolina – Preview!

09/12/2014

CFM - Georgia vs South CarolinaWestwood One’s coverage of college football continues from Columbia on Saturday as South Carolina hosts Georgia. Coverage begins at 3:00 PM Eastern on Westwood One and streaming right here at WestwoodOneSports.com.

For a preview of the game, we turn to our analyst Derek Rackley.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE GAME LIVE

Georgia Scouting Report:

UGA heads to Williams-Brice stadium following a bye week and a convincing 45-21 victory over then 16th-ranked Clemson. Three things I learned from Georgia’s win over Clemson:

  • Todd Gurley is really good (Duh!)
  • The Bulldogs are legit four-deep at the running back position with Keith Marshall and freshmen Sony Michel and Nick Chubb rotating through
  • Hutson Mason looks VERY comfortable as the unquestioned starter after Aaron Murray departed for the NFL

Gurley just has a perfect combination of size, strength, vision, physicality and maybe most importantly, he has the confidence it takes to be great. Assuming he stays healthy, he will NOT be in Athens next year and he WILL be a first-round draft pick in the NFL.

South Carolina Scouting Report:

The Gamecocks are in a similar situation having lost a record-setting quarterback from last year’s team (Connor Shaw), but fortunately have a stable of capable and difference-making running backs. However, South Carolina cannot be playing with the same confidence as Georgia after getting punched in the mouth by Kenny Hill and the Texas A&M Aggies two weeks ago. The Gamecocks then gave up 453 yards of total offense to East Carolina, but did walk away with a 10-point victory.

The Bulldogs will win if…

They continue to use their offensive backfield to their advantage by grinding on a rebuilding defensive front for South Carolina. Yes, the Gamecocks lost top overall draft pick Jadeveon Clowney off their defensive front, but they also lost Kelcy Quarles who was an All-American last year along with DE Chaz Sutton. It’s evident those guys are missed, with South Carolina giving up 1,153 yards of offense in just two games. That dominant running game led by Gurley sets up UGA’s quick passing and screen game with the occasional deep shot downfield sprinkled in.

The Gamecocks defend their home turf if…

Their defense makes a quick turnaround in week three. I think South Carolina has enough weapons on offense with a healthy Mike Davis at RB along with Dylan Thompson at QB, but you can’t expect to win games if your defense is getting gashed. Georgia has had troubles scoring at Williams-Brice Stadium over the past two years, with just 13 points in the last two meetings in Columbia. But that won’t be the case this year if the Gamecocks give up another 450+ yards of offense to Gurley and company.

Looking elsewhere:

UCLA will make the trek to AT&T Stadium in Arlington to take on a DEPLETED Texas Longhorns team. Charlie Strong and company were throttled last week by BYU 41-7 as Texas lost to the Cougars for the second year in a row. UCLA struggled a bit coming out of the gate on the road against Virginia in Week 1, but they’re now 2-0 and keeping hopes alive for a run at the College Football Playoff. Even though the Texas program is down, a convincing victory for the Bruins will make quite the statement to the selection committee, assuming they have a strong run through their Pac-12 schedule.

– Derek Rackley

You can also see Derek as a contributor to 120Sports. Check him out on 120Sports.com. John Sadak and Derek will have the call from Columbia beginning at 3:00 PM ET on Saturday. You can listen right here on WestwoodOneSports.com!

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