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The South Carolina Gamecocks are set to roll into Athens this Saturday and try to knock off the number one ranked team in the country, the Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia, who has scored over 30 points in every game but one, has been steamrolling its opponents since week three. They got the nod over Alabama as the No. 1-ranked team in the country this week, and look to stay red-hot versus the Gamecocks.
South Carolina has been on fire as well, winning its last three games, all against SEC opponents. It is two games back behind the Bulldogs for the SEC East lead, and an upset this week would pull South Carolina even closer. The Gamecocks are a 24-point underdog heading into Saturday.
What to expect from Georgia
Georgia has been spectacular on both sides of the football this season. Running back Nick Chubb remains one of the premiere backs in the country, rushing for 765 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm won the starting job after Jacob Eason went down to injury early in the season. Fromm has been a pleasant surprise, throwing for 1,263 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Defensively, head coach Kirby Smart has some playmakers, especially in linebacker Roquan Smith, who leads the team with 61 total tackles on the season. Lorenzo Carter leads the team with four sacks for a Bulldog defense that has been smothering opponents all season.
Look for the Bulldogs to try to bully the Gamecocks around early with a lot of power runs, just like they’ve been doing all season. They may try to use their home crowd to their advantage against an SEC opponent.
How the Gamecocks can pull off the upset
South Carolina has won football games in just about every possible way this season. They’ve come back late against Louisiana Tech, they’ve blown out Arkansas, and they held Vanderbilt and Tennessee on the final drive of the game to maintain the lead. The Gamecocks have not been beaten convincingly yet this season, and have played every team tough, even if they let two games slip away.
It could be a long shot, but if the Gamecocks sustain long drives for touchdowns and force some turnovers or punts early on defense, they could stun the Bulldogs. They’ve been red hot in their last three, and they continue to improve on both sides of the football.
The Gamecocks and Bulldogs kickoff at 3:30 today, and it is a big game for both teams to prove how legitimate they are.