SEC Football Game of the Week: Georgia at South Carolina

Although early in the season, this is still definitely a game worth watching. This Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs will take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Both teams are ranked, with Georgia ranked 6th and South Carolina ranked 24th. An early SEC game such as this may have a huge impact later on in the season. For Georgia, a win on the road like this will keep them on pace for potentially making the NCAA College Playoffs.




WHAT TO WATCH
Georgia: Coming off of a year in which Georgia was plagued by injuries, look for them to bounce back this season in a major way. Against Clemson, Georgia was able to run very the ball extremely well! Running back Todd Gurley played like a complete beast. Gurley was able to rush for 198 and 3 touchdowns. Look for Georgia to give Gurley close to 20 touches in this game. Quarterback Hudson Mason had an efficient game, throwing 18/26. The Georgia gave up close to 300 yards and 21 points against a good Clemson team. Look for Georgia to play a mixture of coverage packages since South Carolina has been heavily passing the ball this year. In passing yards, they rank 26th in FBS. Rushing yards? 106th.

South Carolina:
After their loss to Kenny Hill and the Aggies' incredible performance, the Gamecocks were able to bounce back and defeat ECU by 10 points.While Hill did take the country by storm, Dylan Thompson did perform very well, throwing for 4 touchdowns. Look for Thompson to take a couple of shots down the field to receivers Nick Jones and Pharoah Cooper. In the rushing game , running back Mike Davis was able to find some ground. He rushed for over 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns in last week's game. While we know that South Carolina will be throwing much throughout the game, they would be ecstatic if they could get Davis going against a tough Georgia defense.




X-FACTOR

Georgia: This week's x-factor will be Hudson Mason. Gurley will come ready to play, but South Carolina will have a defensive scheme that will try to contain him. Most teams tend to pack the middle when trying to contain a running back. Look for the safeties of South Carolina to either blitz or RB watch from time to time.  If Mason could continue to move the ball and be efficient like he has, big play opportunities will be there.

South Carolina: The week's x-factor for South Carolina will be Mr. Mike Davis. He will be a big factor in this game, as Georgia will look to for the Gamecocks to be one-dimensional. If Davis and the offensive line can move the ball with the running game, this will put pressure on Georgia to play for both the pass and the run. If they are unable to do so, Georgia will simply rush the quarterback and play in multiple coverages.

PREDICTIONS
With a tough game such as this, both teams will come to play. Both teams basically face each other each and every year, with both their regular season and conference record hanging in the balance. Since the game is in Georgia, they will have a good advantage. I predict that the Georgia Bulldogs will win 24-21.



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