South Carolina at Georgia: Saturday Game Day Preview

Saturday, September 10th

4:30 PM EDT on ESPN

Georgia

Bulldog fans were not happy with what they saw out of their team in the opener last week.  Georgia was overpowered by Boise State at the line of scrimmage and struggled to really get anything going.

The offense needs to protect Aaron Murray, who can be lethal if he is given time to find a target.  The receivers could also help greatly by cutting down on the number of dropped passes.  Nothing kills a drive like missing a catch for a first down on 3rd-and-6.  Richard Samuel seemed to be ineffective at tailback, so look for a heavy dose of super-freshman Isaiah Crowell.

Georgia struggled against Boise State’s pass attack.  Alshon Jeffery is one of the top receivers in the country, but does not have Kellen Moore throwing to him.  Moore was surgical in picking apart the Georgia defense, so it will be a relief to not see him across the field on the other sideline.  The Bulldog defense should look better this week against South Carolina and will need to improve on an unimpressive debut against Boise State.

Players to watch: QB Aaron Murray, RB Isaiah Crowell, TE Orson Charles, CB Brandon Boykin

South Carolina

South Carolina is a dark-horse favorite to win a national championship for a lot of people and will face their first real test of the season as they get ready to take on Georgia.

Offensively, the Gamecocks are loaded.  With Marcus Lattimore hammering the ball out of the backfield and the deep threat of Alshon Jeffery on the outside, Steve Spurrier has plenty of viable options on where to distribute the ball.  If Stephen Garcia can continue his good play from Week 1 against East Carolina, it will be a tall order for the Georgia defense to slow South Carolina down.

East Carolina was able to find some holes in the South Carolina defense last week, and there is no way that giving up 37 points is acceptable to Steve Spurrier.  Look for the defense to tighten things up against Georgia.  They will look to control the line of scrimmage, much like Boise State, and pressure Aaron Murray all game between the hedges.

Players to Watch: QB Stephen Garcia, RB Marcus Lattimore, WR Alshon Jeffery, DE Jadeveon Clowney

For analysis and picks on this game and the other big games of the week, visit Saturdays in the Fall.

Follow Erik Underwood on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/ErikUnderwood