South Carolina football will try to pull the upset vs. UGA.
South Carolina will face off against SEC Eastern division rival Georgia for a Thanksgiving weekend meeting in Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks enter the matchup with a 2-6 overall record, having lost their last four contests. Georgia is 5-2, having fallen to Alabama and Florida.
The Bulldogs enter the week as 21.5 point favorites over their Southeastern Conference brethren, looking to get revenge following last year’s 20-17 double overtime thriller.
The teams are in two vastly different positions, as Georgia seems to have settled in on their quarterback of the future in JT Daniels. The transfer from Southern California threw for 401 yards and four touchdowns in his first start of the year, a 31-24 win over Mississippi State.
The Gamecocks, meanwhile, replaced their starter of eight games, Collin Hill, midway through last week’s loss to Missouri. Freshman Luke Doty came in in relief, and played well, but interim head coach Mike Bobo hasn’t yet said who will start against the Bulldogs.
The 21.5 point spread is the highest the Gamecocks have faced this year. Even in early season matchups with Florida and Texas A&M, the spread never eclipsed 17 points.
This game has been played annually since South Carolina joined the SEC back in 1992, and only five times has the outcome been decided by more than 21 points. Four of those wins came by the Bulldogs. The other was a 35-7 win for the Gamecocks in 2012.
South Carolina pulled the upset in Athens a season ago as 24.5 point underdogs, and will hope for similar results this Saturday. The Gamecocks showed some fight last weekend despite falling into an early 17-0 deficit versus Missouri. South Carolina battled back to get within seven points, and had the ball with a chance to tie in the final minutes.
Unfortunately, that attempt came up short, but it showed that the Gamecocks haven’t given up on the season quite yet. We’ll see if that fight continues in this rivalry matchup.