South Carolina football: 3 bold predictions for Georgia game
By Jacob Elsey
The South Carolina football team is prepping for its toughest test to date, a matchup with SEC East foe Georgia. The Gamecocks escaped with a last-second victory on the road last weekend, but it will take a monumental effort to take down the Bulldogs for a second straight time in Sanford Stadium.
While we’re two games into the year, we still don’t know a ton about the South Carolina team. They’ve won two games that they probably should have, even though last week’s win was a little too close for comfort. The offense has struggled at times, and starting quarterback Luke Doty has yet to see the field. Does that change on Saturday?
If so, he’ll need some help from his receivers and offensive line. Josh Vann and Jaheim Bell are becoming a couple of big play targets in the passing game, but the front five will need to protect its signal callers from a very talented Georgia pass rush. That defensive front racked up seven sacks against Clemson in the season opener.
South Carolina running backs will need to carry the load, but it’s been encouraging to see freshman Juju McDowell coming on strong. He, Kevin Harris, ZaQuandre White, and MarShawn Lloyd will create a rotation to hopefully wear down the Bulldogs in the run game.
On defense, the Gamecocks rank in the top 10 nationally in both yards allowed and scoring. They shut down a pretty talented East Carolina offensive attack, holding them to 268 total yards. A huge chunk of that came on the game’s opening snap, a 75-yard trick play. The Gamecocks settled in thereafter, holding senior passer Holton Ahlers to just 77 pass yards and swiping two interceptions.
The Gamecocks will need to play perfect to have a chance to take down Georgia, who sits at No. 2 in the latest polls. They’re currently listed as 31-point underdogs. Let’s take a look at three bold predictions for their upcoming matchup with the Bulldogs.