Georgia Bulldog Secondary Could Be Tested by "Talented" Gamecock Receivers
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ATHENS - Week three is here for Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs who open up their SEC schedule on the road against a familiar foe in Shane Beamer and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
It’s never easy to play at Williams-Brice Stadium, but this is a true business trip for the Bulldogs who will should ready for the heat and first-quarter crowd noise. After a sluggish day for the offense against Samford last weekend, expect the Bulldogs to start out aggressive with an early kickoff on the road.
The Gamecocks are coming off a big loss to Arkansas where they gave up just under 300 yards on the ground and five touchdowns. The Razorbacks did everything they wanted too offensively with KJ Jefferson having a very efficient game, going 18/21 for over 160 yards and one touchdown pass.
The Gamecocks are having a tough time on defense, but offensively, you can’t ignore the talent. It’s certainly not on the offensive line, but there’s a good bit of talent in the receiving core, and Kirby Smart spoke about that unit to reporters on Monday.
“They have a great receiving corps”, Smart said. “They have really good wideouts. Fast wideouts.”
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The Gamecocks have found a go-to receiver this year, and it’s not veteran Josh Vann, who completely disappeared against Arkansas last weekend. The wideout they targeted the most last weekend was Antwane Wells Jr., who caught eight passes for 189 yards and a touchdown in the loss. Senior receiver Jalen Brooks, tight end Jaheim Bell, tight end Austin Stogner, and Vann should also be part of the game-plan when Georgia comes to town.
Of course, their offense starts with transfer quarterback Spencer Rattler, who was running for his life against Arkansas. The Oklahoma transfer was sacked six times last weekend, and it won’t get any easier for him with Georgia’s defense coming after him.
Smart added some comments about Rattler as well during his Monday press conference.
“You know, the quarterback's got an elite ability to throw the deep ball. He can throw the ball over 70 yards, stretch the field. And he's an athlete. So when you start talking about, you know -- like we played against Bo, we know Bo can throw the ball, Bo can scramble. He's a guy that can move around. You got to be disciplined. You're going to have probably five to six snaps a game where you got to use scramble rules, you've got to plaster, take shots down the field. You've got to win 50/50 balls. That doesn't change based on who we play. I mean, everybody we play, especially in the SEC, is going to be challenging us down the field. And you got to be able to win those one-on-one matchups. They got really talented guys to do that with.”
In the end, this is going to be a game decided on the line of scrimmage. That’s a BAD matchup for the Gamecocks who got bullied in the trenches by Arkansas throughout the game. South Carolina has talent, but their offensive line is going to have real trouble against Jalen Carter and Georgia’s hungry front 7.
The ONLY way Georgia loses this game is if they have terrible play in the secondary. That’s it. Carolina’s receivers are “talented” and “great” according to Smart, so maybe they give Georgia’s secondary a test, but it won’t be nearly enough. The Bulldogs might be able to score at will on Saturday, and Rattler is going to be running for his life on offense. If the secondary continues to play the way they have the last two weeks, they’ll be able to force Rattler into some early turnovers.
