Georgia Bulldogs Host Rival South Carolina at Sanford

The Georgia Bulldogs, ranked 7th in the most recent AP Top 25 Poll, will host their SEC East rival the South Carolina Gamecocks Between the Hedges at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff happens at 6PM ET and will air on ESPN.

Georgia enters Week 3 of the college football season as one of the Top 10 teams in the country, ranked number seven in the country according to the third edition of the AP Top 25 Poll. Only #2 Alabama is ahead of UGA from the SEC.

However, that ranking means close to nothing at this point, with UGA hosting a huge rival in the South Carolina Gamecocks on their turf. UGA looks to set the tone in the year’s matchup with their stout defense and all-world rushing attack. South Carolina would love to play spoiler to their biggest SEC rival and knock off the Dawgs on the road, despite being a 17-point underdog.

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Part of what has hurt South Carolina this year has been inconsistency with throwing the football. It has been further complicated with the injury suffered by USC QB Connor Mitch in the Gamecocks game with versus the Kentucky Wildcats. Former walk-on QB Perry Orth will have to lead South Carolina for at least the next month or so. USC’s schedule is about to amp up big time, so the Gamecocks need to play with poise if they want to make a bowl game this year.

Georgia has shown drastic improvement defensively in their first two games of 2015, allowing only 14 PPG. The dominant pass rush of the Georgia Bulldogs’ outside linebackers has begun to include the entire front seven with strong play from NT Chris Mayes, DE Sterling Bailey, and ILB Jake Ganus in the first two weeks.

UGA’s secondary has looked sharp, preventing the long vertical pass in both games and ballhawking with the best teams in the country. Ganus and three members of the UGA defensive backfield already have an interception on the year, including SS Dominick Sanders‘ 88-yard pick six in Nashville last weekend.

For Georgia to win this rivalry game decided, three things have to happen. The first is that the offense needs to feature a slightly more balanced attack. UGA can’t go with the run 75% of the time. South Carolina will stack the box with 8 to maybe even 10 guys when Nick Chubb is on the field if UGA struggles to move the chains with the pass.

Next, the Georgia Bulldogs need to continue to win the turnover differential. While UGA has not thrown an interception this year, they are part of the game. Georgia needs to take advantage of South Carolina’s miscues on offense and turn those Gamecock errors into points. On the other side of the football, Georgia needs to play with composure on offense and look for holes to run through on the ground and seams to split in the receiving game. Forcing balls into tight spots could prove disastrous for the Georgia Bulldogs in this one.

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Lastly, Georgia needs to play angry in this one. Too often do the Dawgs under HC Mark Richt lollygag when playing the South Carolina Gamecocks. With supposedly tougher games on the schedule down the stretch, UGA cannot afford to lose a home game to a rival team that might not make a bowl game this fall. The thought of losing five out of the last six games to the South Carolina Gamecocks should disturb you, Dawg Nation. That simply cannot happen!

Essentially, if the Georgia Bulldogs play their physical brand of football both in the running game and with the pass rush, UGA should enter Week 4 against the Southern Jaguars ranked comfortably in the Top 10. A loss here would prove detrimental, and UGA would fall like Auburn did after narrowly defeating Division II Jacksonville State at Jordan-Hare in overtime.

Georgia has the stage in this rivalry game. Now it is time for the Dawgs to bark. I like Georgia to win by three scores in this border war. Georgia 35, South Carolina 17. Georgia moves up to #6 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll. Go Dawgs!

Next: Georgia Bulldogs: 5 Offensive Players to Watch Vs. USC

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