Know Your Enemy: Georgia vs. South Carolina
Revenge is on Georgia's mind Saturday. The Bulldogs travels to Columbia, S.C. to play the only team that beat them during the 2019 regular season.
However, the South Carolina team Georgia plays Saturday is very different than the one that upset them last year in Athens. For starters, head coach Will Muschamp is gone. South Carolina fired Muschamp on Nov. 15. Former Georgia quarterback and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo took over as interim head coach.
As the Gamecocks' offensive coordinator, Bobo abandoned the no-huddle offense seeking to create a fundamentally sound offense before taking on a faster pace. The results have been a mixed bag.
South Carolina scored 71 points across its two victories, including a 30-point effort against Auburn. The Gamecocks also scored 42 points in a shootout loss to Ole Miss. On the flip side, South Carolina's offense couldn't keep up with Florida (38-24) and LSU (52-24), and looked abysmal in losses to Texas A&M (48-3) and Missouri (17-10).
Growing pains in a new offense isn't the only factor holding South Carolina back. Injuries have also taken a toll on the Gamecocks. Leading receiver Shi Smith left last week's game against Missouri with concussion-like symptoms and he's listed as doubtful for the Georgia game. Fellow receiver Xavier Legette is also listed as questionable with an undisclosed injury.
Smith is by far the biggest loss for the Gamecocks' offense. South Carolina's three quarterbacks have completed 145 passes this season and Smith has caught 54. Smith also accounts for 605 of South Carolina's 1,575 passing yards, and four of the team's six passing touchdowns. Nike Muse is South Carolina's only other receiver with at least 20 catches and 200 yards.
That doesn't bode well for starting quarterback Collin Hill. His first season as a Gamecock has been a struggle. He has only 1,411 yards on 127-of-215 passing for six touchdowns and six interceptions. Hill has hit the turf a lot this season as the Gamecocks are ranked second-to-last in the SEC with 23 sacks allowed. That's an average of 2.875 sacks per game. For comparison, Georgia's defense averages 2.857 sacks per game.
South Carolina is expected to lean heavily on running backs Kevin Harris and Deshaun Fenwick. The duo has rushed for 1,172 yards this season with 14 touchdowns. Harris accounts for the bulk of that effort (875 yards and 13 scores). Both are very active in the passing game, combining for 30 catches and 220 yards. A lot of the Gamecocks offense will go through Harris and Fenwick.
Before last Saturday, the defense wasn't a huge concern for South Carolina against Georgia. With how poorly Georgia's offense looked for a three-game period, the decent Gamecocks defense appeared to be good enough to keep the game competitive.
Then JT Daniels passed for 401 yards and four touchdowns in a game where Mississippi State completely negated Georgia's running game. Bulldogs receivers Jermaine Burton, George Pickens, Kearis Jackson and Demetris Robertson all had big games.
Now that competitive South Carolina defense doesn't quite look up to snuff for the Bulldogs. Despite being sacked twice against Mississippi State, Daniels looked very comfortable in the pocket. Looking at the Gamecocks defense, he'll probably be even more comfortable this week.
South Carolina has reached the quarterback just 12 times all season. Defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare is a handful with six of his team's sacks, but second-leading sacker Keir Thompson is questionable for Saturday with an undisclosed injury. Aaron Sterling, another solid pass rusher, has only appeared in four games this season and hasn't dressed out for recent games.
The inability to reach quarterbacks speaks to how soft South Carolina's defensive line has been since losing Sterling. The first game he missed was the Auburn game. Although South Carolina won that game, mostly due to three interceptions, the Tigers rushed for 209 yards.
Sterling returned for the LSU game, but was largely ineffective as the Tigers rushed for 276 yards with three touchdowns on the ground. Sterling hasn't played since and the Gamecocks gave up 264 rushing yards to Texas A&M and 195 to Ole Miss.
Daniels' performance against Mississippi State proved that opponents can't focus on the run and expect him to falter. South Carolina is in a particularly rough spot without a consistent pass rush to pressure Daniels.
