South Carolina vs. Georgia Preview
ATHENS, GA (AP) – Steve Spurrier was anything but content with South Carolina’s season-opening victory.
Mark Richt was none too pleased with Georgia’s discouraging opening loss.
With both coaches looking for more out of their teams, the 12th-ranked Gamecocks open SEC play against the Bulldogs, who could be hard-pressed to regroup without a key defensive player Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
According to latest college football odds, oddsmakers have made South Carolina 3-point spread favorites for Saturday’s game against Georgia. Current College Football Public Betting Information shows that 82% of more than 3,438 bets for this game have been placed on South Carolina -3.
Stephen Garcia, who was benched in favor of sophomore Connor Shaw, threw for 110 yards and a touchdown after sitting out the first quarter, rallying South Carolina to a 56-37 victory over East Carolina last Saturday. The Gamecocks trailed 7-0 heading into the second quarter and 24-14 at halftime before outscoring the Pirates 42-13 over the final 30 minutes.
“I don’t know if this was my best game as a Gamecock, but we needed this win, for sure,” said Garcia, who also rushed for 56 yards and a pair of TDs, earning his starting job back.
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While it’s hard to argue with Garcia’s results, Spurrier still believes there’s plenty of room for his team to improve.
“Overall, we’ve got a long way to go. We’re not a very good team right now,” Spurrier said. “We’ve got a lot to work on. I think we’ve got a chance to be a pretty good team, but I think we were fortunate.”
Sophomore Marcus Lattimore, who finished second among SEC running backs with 1,197 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns last season, picked up right where he left off, compiling 112 yards on the ground and a career best-tying three TDs.
Lattimore could be in for another big day against a Georgia defense which lost inside linebacker Alec Ogletree during last Saturday’s 35-21 defeat to then-No. 5 Boise State. Ogletree underwent surgery on his right foot and is expected to miss four-to-six weeks.
The Bulldogs had trouble stopping Lattimore during last year’s 17-6 loss at South Carolina, surrendering 182 yards and two touchdowns to the bruising back. With Ogletree on the sidelines, slowing down Lattimore will surely be all the more difficult.
“You can tackle a guy, but he’ll get a couple of yards after contact. Or you can tackle a guy and stop him in his tracks,” Richt said. “We’ve got to get our guys making tackles so they don’t get yards after contact. But there’s probably not a better back in the nation than Lattimore at doing that. It’s a tremendous challenge for us.”
Georgia gave up 390 total yards to the Broncos, and Richt knows that his team needs to make vast improvements if it wants to avoid opening 0-2 for the first time since 1996.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Richt said. “But SEC play hasn’t even started. It’s a long season. We’ve got to get our minds right. A game like this, no question, we know more about our football team than if we played someone and beat them by 40.
“Hopefully that translates into us learning how to play better in these type of games and better see where our weaknesses are.”
Sophomore Aaron Murray completed 16 of 29 passes for 236 yards and two TDs – including one to tight end Orson Charles, who caught six passes for a career-high 109 yards.
Despite Georgia’s less-than-stellar performance, Spurrier knows the importance of this rivalry and isn’t taking the Bulldogs lightly.
“We have a lot of work to do to get better. Georgia is a good team,” Spurrier said. “Their quarterback is really good, and their tight end is really good. We have to play some ball. It’s a huge game. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. The winner is in pretty good shape.”
Georgia, which had taken seven of eight from the Gamecocks before last season’s loss, holds a 46-15-2 edge in the series.
Seven of the last 10 meetings between these schools have been decided by seven points or less.
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