Sunday, September 1, 2013

Looking Forward: South Carolina

After a disappointing loss at  Clemson, the Dawgs will be coming back home for a matchup with division rival South Carolina. Many believe this game will go a long way in determining the SEC East Champion, and I would tend to agree with that. Looking down the line, South Carolina has as easy a schedule as you could ask for in the SEC. Georgia has struggled in this game as of late having lost the last 3. Spurrier's long hatred for UGA has seemed to give him the leg up in this game and this year looks to be the same.

My Key Fact for this week is more than just 1 simple fact. USC has posted a 3-6 record versus other ranked SEC teams while they have gone 3-0 against UGA. I found myself wondering "what is it that they do to consistently beat UGA that they can't do against other teams?" I have given some key numbers for South Carolina's performance in the past 3 years against UGA vs Ranked SEC Opponents vs All Ranked Opponents.

Team USC Passing Yds USC Rush Yds USC Total Off USC Total Def Takeaways Turnovers Points Scored Points Against
Georgia 156 224 381 304 1.7 1.0 32 18
Ranked SEC 188 105 293 391 1.3 2.5 24 35
All Ranked 221 118 339 348 1.4 2.1 26 29

As you can see, our "record setting" offense has averaged nearly 100 yards less per game than all other SEC offenses. They have also given up nearly twice the run yardage per game. The sloppiness with which UGA plays in big games is also apparent here. They have given up the ball more and forced less than half the turnovers as other opponents.

So getting back to my preseason prediction for this game, you can imagine why I think this game will be no different. UGA has shown no improvement in run defense after giving up huge rushing yardage to Clemson and showing off poor tackling skills. Boyd is a great QB, but Shaw and Thompson aren't really that far behind. We also continue to show sloppy play with tons of penalties, turnover, and lack of takeaways vs Clemson. I expect South Carolina will run the ball with ease, hit a few pass plays, and torment our offense all day. Bobo will certainly have no answer for Clowney and will run screen after unsuccessful screen or long developing pass plays allowing sack after sack. Sorry Georgia fans, but this one will be another heartbreaker.

2 comments:

  1. It seems to m that the way these numbers ad up, that Georgia doesn't appear to treat the South Carolina game as a big game. It would be interesting to see the same stats with Georgia vs. Ranked SEC and All Ranked. The evidence may show that Georgia still does not respect South Carolina as a legitimate big time SEC opponent.

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  2. It seems that you've stopped posting after you were DEAD WRONG about the South Carolina game. Be a man and eat some humble pie. TRUE Georgia fans believed in this team all along.

    We don't need your negativity. Go root for Florida.

    GO DAWGS!

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