At the beginning of the season, you looked at October 6th
and thought that it could be a big game.
Well October 6th is rapidly approaching, and it is a very big
game for the Georgia Bulldogs. There aren't enough adjectives in the English language to properly put this game in
perspective. Let’s just say this,
football games in the SEC are big occasions in their own right, but this game
is as big as Georgia has played in the last 10 years.
Not since Georgia traveled to Jacksonville as an undefeated
team in 2002 have the Bulldogs been poised for a legitimate run at the National
Championship. We all remember what happened
that night, well I remember and Terrence Edwards and his butterfingers remember
as well. Georgia lost to Florida, and
that was the only blemish on an otherwise spectacular season that saw Georgia
win the SEC and the Sugar Bowl on the way to finishing their season with a 13-1
record.
The only other game that could be considered this big would
have been the Alabama game in 2008, but I can’t talk about that game at all, so
we are going to move on.
The importance of the game can’t be overstated for Georgia. Having already played Tennessee, a win on
Saturday would mean that Georgia would have to lose two of their final four SEC
games for South Carolina to win the division.
Georgia will beat the pants off of Kentucky and Ole Miss. Auburn is down, so even though it is a
rivalry game, it’s hard to see Georgia losing that one. That leaves only Florida on the 27th
of the month as a swing game. Florida
and South Carolina have to play each other later in the season, so one of them
will have 1 loss already. Both South
Carolina and Florida have to play LSU.
Barring an upset, both teams would lose those games. Still with me? If you think Florida is good, but not great,
as I do, then there is no way they are winning two games out of three against
Georgia, South Carolina, and LSU, which means simply this:
A win on Saturday means that Georgia will be playing for the
SEC title in the Georgia Dome on December 1st.
Now, quickly, what does a loss mean? A loss means you better hope that LSU beats
South Carolina and then you better hope that either Florida, Tennessee, or
Arkansas beats South Carolina too. Hmm. A loss means simply this:
No SEC title game.
Now that we know what the stakes are, let’s get down to
business on the game itself.
South Carolina is a 3 point favorite given that they are
playing at home, but that is standard, which means the guys in Vegas think this
is an even match up.
Games like this could come down to a single play, a single
call, or a single mistake by the coaching staff. Everyone associated with the game for Georgia
has to bring their best on Saturday night.
No wasting timeouts because players didn't know what personnel was
supposed to be on the field. No stupid
penalties. No TUNOVERS!!!!!!!!
Defensively, Georgia is underrated this week. For the first time all season, Georgia had
their intended starting lineup on the field against Tennessee, and the results weren't great. But that is good news for
Georgia fans, because Coach Grantham has been telling his players all week (I’m
sure in a calm and respectful voice) that they have to be better. This is the kind of game made for big players
like Jarvis Jones, and I would be shocked if he doesn't play well. Rambo and Ogletree will be wanting to make
some noise after missing time. The key
to this game the past two years has been Marcus Lattimore. In 2010, Lattimore seem to pick up every
third down South Carolina faced by a foot.
In 2011, with the game on the line, Lattimore ran the ball very well in
the fourth quarter to help keep the Georgia offense on the sideline. I would expect that the game plan will be to
stop Lattimore, and dare Conner Shaw to beat you, and if they can manage to
slow Lattimore down, I don’t think Shaw will be able to win the game for South
Carolina.
Offensively, Georgia has too many weapons to not score
points. South Carolina’s defense is
amazing, especially up front, but Georgia’s offensive line has played well all
season, and Murray has done a great job of getting Georgia into the right
plays. As crazy as it sounds, the key to
Georgia’s offense are the strongest parts of the offense to this point in the
season.
The two freshman running backs have been amazing. Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall have been more
productive so far this season than Herschel Walker was in his freshman
season. Obviously there are two of them,
but production is the key, and Georgia has gotten amazing results out of their
running game. Can these two avoid making
freshman mistakes in a crazy environment like Columbia? Will they pick up their blocking assignments,
and will they hear the audibles? Will
they turn the ball over? They are
amazingly talented, but can they be poised in the face of great adversity? We will find out.
The other question facing the Georgia offense is Aaron Murray. Once Murray’s four years are up in Athens, he
will, statistically speaking, be the greatest quarterback in the school’s
history. He will hold every major
passing record, and he might break the record for wins in a career by a
quarterback. He is already been to 1 SEC
title game, and there is no reason he couldn't play in a couple of more. So why is he a question mark? Because 32 games into his college career,
Murray has yet to win a big game. Murray hasn't won a bowl game, lost the SEC title game last season, and has lost road
games at Mississippi State and Colorado.
His biggest win to date, would be a tie between the Florida and
Tennessee games last year. Those teams
were not good last year. Can Murray
avoid making big mistakes at the worst possible times? The fumble against South Carolina last year,
killer. The turnovers against LSU and
Michigan State in the second half last year, killer. Can Aaron Murray win when the eyes of the
college football world are squarely on him and his team? Again, we will find out.
Special teams cost Georgia the game against South Carolina
last season. South Carolina faked a
punt, and scored a touchdown. Georgia
was offsides on a converted onside kick in the second half. Those two plays were the turning point. That should make Georgia fans very
nervous. Special teams were a disaster
last week against Tennessee. Georgia has
already announced that there will be a new punt returner, but as a unit, things
have to get better now for Georgia.
In 2005, Georgia beat South Carolina because of a missed
extra point. After Georgia scores
touchdowns on Saturday, don’t look away.
Marshall Morgan has to hit his extra points! It could change the game and the
season. I can’t remember a kicker that I
felt better about when he was kicking a 50 yard field goal rather than an extra
point. Maybe Georgia should start taking
penalties on extra points to move him back to a place where he is comfortable?
South Carolina has beaten Georgia each of the last two
seasons. Never, in the history of this
series, has South Carolina beaten Georgia three years in a row, and it won’t
happen this year.
Georgia will win this game because their defense is plenty
good enough to limit, not stop, Marcus Lattimore, while Georgia’s offense is
elite. Elite. There are more playmakers on this Georgia
team than we have had since the 2008 team with Stafford, Moreno, and AJ
Greene.
Georgia 27 South
Carolina 17
GO DAWGS!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment