South Carolina vs. Georgia: After Further Review
This past Saturday, Shane Beamer's South Carolina Gamecocks weren't better than Georgia in almost any facet of the game. Carolina not only seemed to be at a disadvantage on the defensive side of the ball because they were missing five starters, but Georgia's coaching staff knew what the Gamecocks' weaknesses were and made sure to expose them.
Despite games like this one being tough pills to swallow, the team and the coaching staff will have to go back and watch how things unfolded, and when they do, there'll be multiple aspects from this game they'll pick up on.
Todd Monken's Brilliance
Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken was discussed last week for his ability to maximize his personnel's full potential. Another quality of a great offensive mind is understanding where there are cracks in a team's preverbal armor and attacking it with full force.
With South Carolina missing several defensive backs, Monken challenged the inexperienced secondary by forcing them to play run support. Georgia didn't run between the tackles but used the passing game to find extensions of their ground game. South Carolina's defensive backs struggled to get off blocks and negating yards after the catch.
With South Carolina predictably playing more soft zone coverage to try and conceal this issue, Monken called Clayton White's bluff instead of continuing Georgia's hot start on offense.
Basic Fundamentals Are Still Important
While Georgia's offensive coaching staff developed a solid game plan, South Carolina's defensive efforts were disappointing.
The team again had a bevy of issues bringing guys down to the ground, giving up chunks of yards after contact. There were many occasions where defensive ends didn't maintain their contain assignment, which led to Georgia's first touchdown and a few highlight reel runs by Stetson Bennett on zone read or read option concepts.
While everything else could be explained more easily by the injury and rotational issues, there were far too many simple mistakes made by Gamecock defenders.
The Roster Just Isn't Quite There Yet
These issues are fixable, and harsh external factors can excuse others. Still, Georgia deserves credit for the talent they've accumulated over many years under Kirby Smart.
The fastest way to lessen the gap with teams like Georgia is to keep trying to chip away at other teams while simultaneously bringing in hoards of blue-chip prospects who can provide immediate help. The Gamecocks have already seen improvement in this area and will need to continue to challenge the top dawgs in this conference over time.
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