Image: Georgiadogs.com (2005 UGA vs. SC)
Paul's got some preseason looks at our 2008 opponents upcoming, but I couldn't wait any longer to roll one out myself. Originally, I was going to do an in-depth analysis of each team on the schedule, but I decided to provide a few things I'm looking for in each game instead. I have a couple of reasons for this.
First, most of you are hardcore Dawg fans who have already bought several of the preseason magazines because the Dawgs are ranked No. 1 in many of them. Those magazines have all sorts of information about every team, but don't necessarily analyze teams from a Georgia perspective. Second, there are people who do a far better job of team analysis than I can do. What I will provide is a set of things I look forward to about each game, either because they signal good things for Georgia or they are things we as Dawg fans enjoy.
I don't mean to insult Georgia Southern or Central Michigan, but I'm starting with Carolina. The Central Michigan game is important if only because it provides a trial run for offenses we will see later in the season.
If any of you watched the Motor City Bowl last year, you saw Dan LeFevour running the Chippewas spread offense. LeFevour is Tebow-light and the only player other than Vince Young to finish a season with 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. Facing him early will help in Jacksonville and presummably against Auburn's new Tony Franklin spread.
But, the real first game of the year is Carolina in Columbia. Here's what I want to see:
#1 - 17 points or more. Since 1997, South Carolina has scored more than 16 points once in the series. That was in 2000 when Quincy gave them five picks (and even with five picks, they scored 21). In the three losses during that period, UGA has scored a single touchdown. I foresee the same Gamecock offense as we've always faced, lots of cock, but not much fire. The Dawgs need 17 points or more, from a historical perspective, to get out of Columbia with a win.
Those points won't be easy. Phil Steele has a high regard for Ellis Johnson's group and predicts that they will be greatly improved. I've even heard Steele saying that Carolina shut Georgia down last year, which is true, so this year should be even more of a challenge for the Dawgs against essentially the same personnel in Columbia. But, I disagree. Even if you take for granted that Johnson, a fine DC, will have his troops in top form under a new scheme, I think the UGA offense will be much better than what SC faced in Athens last year.
Knowshon had a big game behind what was at the time a green offensive line. Stafford was good enough to win, but his receivers kept dropping balls. Mike Moore and Tony Wilson dropped key passes that could have turned the game's momentum to the Dawgs. You didn't see much of those two guys after that game and I don't recall many drops by wide receivers in the second half of last year.
Bottom line: the Cocks will have a good defense just like last year's group, it's just that the Georgia offense will be better.
#2 - A couple of catches from A.J. Green. Everybody's heard the whispers from the practice fields. Supposedly, Green is all that he was cracked up to be based on summer workouts. Will it carry over to fall camp when the pads go on? If A.J. gets playing time in the Carolina game, gets open, and catches a couple of balls, that means the coaches, the team, and Stafford are confident in him, even as a true freshman. It also means he'll have beaten out some upperclassmen for PT. If Green, or any other receiver, can turn into a legit threat to take pressure off MoMass, we should be tough to stop. A big game here for the South Carolina native will go along way toward validating the hype and scaring some future defensive coordinators.
#3 - A pass rush. Carolina's offensive line should be solid. They have everyone back from last year except their center. Last year's line gave up two sacks to a UGA defensive line that still lacked the cohesive flash of force and speed that almost killed Colt Brennan. This year, the prospective pass rush looks like last year, a solid group of returning tackles with two question marks on the ends. If we can rush off the ends in this game and apply pressure, I'll have all my questions about the defense answered.
#4 - Lots of visor tossing.
Quinton
27 comments:
If we drop passes I riot...
Quinton...
Great post. I was keeping a list of things I wanted to discuss, but I forgot all that with the visor throwing. My best friend is a USC grad and we like to bet on when the visor goes airborne.
17 points should be about right. I'm hoping and praying that history holds form though. While you mentioned that USC only scored more than 16 once since '97, our offense hasn't been that bad since the 'Quincy Game' when USC was the third game of the year. Granted, it's only happened once, we did score 31 in '03. Hell, I'm an eternal optimist, but I'll take any streak we can get.
Plus, aren't we all pretty sure we have a better team going into that game this year than we did last year?
Gotta disagree on Staff. I thought he played really bad last year.
Something to remember. Last Year UGA was SC's first big game of the year. So the whole summer SC was planning for the UGA game. Kinda like UGA did for OSU.
This year SC actually plays somebody before us.....NC State and Vandy (who beat them last year).
Some one who is savvy should put together a video with nothing but Spurrier visor tossing and face rubbing clips,with a selected music track.High comedy,I tell ya.
What would the music be?
I want a "set-the-tone, confidence-building, payback-is-hell" kind of game. I know it's not CMR's style, but I would love to hang 50 on SC if we get the chance. In '03 we had the chance and didn't do it.
You're dead on with the 3rd game stuff. That will be more of a factor than most realize. We'll have 2 expected wins to get the kinks out and will be pointing toward Columbia all camp. Last year, we had to win that OSU game because of the national spotlight on it.
We threw the ball 43 times against them last year. Don't expect to see that. We'll give them a heavy dose of #24. As far as AJ, there will be no "working him into the line-up". We're vying for a championship. Expect big things from him in Columbia.
Our best case scenario is that Spurrier is still flip-flopping 2-3 QB's by the time our game rolls around because he can't make up his mind. If that happens, we'll destroy them. But it's always a 15 round fight with them. Let's hope for a KO early.
Though the OL will be a work in progress this season, I expect this returning class of Dawgs to be in an ill tempered mood come Colanut.
I agree with anon that Staff did not play well last season and I think he makes amends big time. The Dawgs will rush for 200+ and shut out the crackalinians.
fried chicken, I expect no less.
typical arrogant Georgia fans. We whupped you last year and will do the same this year. This is our year and 90% of us believe we'll not only win, but win by 10+ points. Don't get me wrong I think UGA has a solid team and will go on to win 10 games again but you simply have a hard time beating us. When you do you usually barely win with even your best teams.
One last thought, Moreno is all that (the best rb in the country I think), but Stafford has been a bust so far. Very overrated.
44-14-2, anon 10:25.
That's about a 24% winnng percentage.
You suck.
18-13 read it and weep. We own you just admit it.
Our OL wasn't nearly up and running in that game last year. To call them a work in progress at that point in the season would be quite generous. They didn't truly start to "get it" or believe in themselves and their new leader until at least the Florida game.
And SC's D is going to be in a similar spot this year. The most blindly loyal, punch-drunk Carolina fan can't possibly expect them to be running at full speed by game 3. And Ellis Johnson? While a solid, respected DC, is not exactly Brother Bill or Woody Widenhofer. Or Brian Van Gorder, for that matter.
Wow, I've spent a lot of time in the Palmetto State and forgot how crazy those Cock fans are. Kudos to S. Caronlina for last year's accomplishment. You beat what turned out to be an outstanding UGA team. But I am amazed at the insanity of S. Carolina fans. 6 victories in the last 20 years is apparantly "owning" another school.
Crazy anon, I think all Dawg fans expect it to be a fight. It usually is, but the reality of why it is a fight is part of the unique nature of college football. The Cocks circle 2 games on their calendar each year: Clemson & Georgia. The Dawgs circle many more (Tech, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee & this year LSU, Bama, & Arizona St.) before even thinking about South Carolina. It will always be this way
However, take note that Matthew Stafford and the boys will have circled the trip to Columbia this year. Oh, how the 'Cock fans would love to have a bust at QB to lead them to a Sugar Bowl victory. Enjoy another August National Championship in the Sandhills of South Carolina!
Don't sleep on that '03 stat about this being the 3rd and not 2nd game. Good work savdawg.
Anon @ 10:25....so you expect us to fear you because 90% of your fanbase believes SC will not only win, but win by 10+ points? Well hell, isn't this the same fanbase that had a large contingent that believed Corey Jenkins would win the Heisman, only to have him finish the year at safety? You should take pride in the fact that your fanbase is certainly the only one to ever pump up a guy for the Heisman, only to have him play so poorly he finishes the year at another position. Kudos for that, it is a perfect example of the depth of Cocks' mass delusions.
And we are the arrogant ones? At least we've experienced success as a program. The only thing close to success the Cocks have experienced is winning the Athletically Challenged Conference in 1969 with 4 losses. Have a cookie for that. And yet you are predicting a 10+ point win over us? Who is the arrogant party here again?
As far as this year goes, last year you had an entire offseason to plan for us, as you had two patsies before UGA. We, on the otherhand, had OSU. This year, we are the ones that have two tune ups and an entire offseason to prepare for your horrible offense, and you have to play Vandy and NC State, two teams you could very well lose to. We had a young OL that hadn't gelled, and Knowshon wasn't even starting yet. Now we have a deeper OL with some seasoning, and Knowshon ready to run it down your throats. You had an experienced, albeit untalented, QB, and Stafford was still pretty green. Now we have the experienced QB, except ours is talented, and you are shuffling around 3 inexperienced guys to see who will have the pleasure of being destroyed by our D.
This game will be a pounding. UGA wins 31-10. Over/under on number of Spurrier visor tosses is 5. I'll take the over.
Those anonymous pro-SC comments had to be from Georgia impostors trying to make the Gamecocks look bad, not that they need the help. "90% of us believe we'll not only win, but win by 10+ points"? I'm sure 90% of you also believe that the earth is flat, Saddam Hussein personally blew up the World Trade Center and Larry the Cable Guy is a comedic genius, but that doesn't make it true.
Personally, I'm glad we play 'em at their place. It just seems we are a bit more motivated for a conference game that we often have difficulty "getting up" for. We've dominated this series from the get-go, and the truth is: This rivalry isn't as big for us as it is for them. Having said this, we'll be very motivated and beat them by at least 14. Book it.
Check out the "Helmet Clash" at espn.com - It os Miami vs. UGA today.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?page=helmetsmiamigeorgia
Awesome! Now let me tell you what I hope we DON'T see in the S.C. game - Michael Moore, Kenneth Harris, and Demiko Goodman.
One other thing to note in last year's game were the 182 screen passes that Bobo called. I don't recall any of them netting positive yards.
It was his rookie year in the booth and he has become a pretty darn good play caller since then. I expect he'll be able to make better adjustments this year if need be.
What I remember is the Greenesque play-action all-out fake on 4th and 1 that the Gamecocks DIDN'T fall for. Bobo tried to be way too clever in that game. He won't make that mistake again this year. Knowshon and King combine for at least 200 yards, I think. After that, we'll have the luxury of adding some gravy and giving Stafford some passing yards, too. 28-7.
Um, as one of the few Gamecock bloggers on the Web, let me assure you that 90 percent of us certainly do NOT believe we will win by 10+ points. Most of us will be happy to win at all. (And the sane fans will be ecstatic to win.) Yes, it's usually one of Georgia's toughest games -- at least in relationship to how tough it should be -- but I, for instance, plan on having Georgia atop my BlogPoll ballot this year. Many of us recognize you have a talented team.
i don't think our DE's are a question mark. rod battle was solid last year as a sophomore and should be quite good this year. if you rewatch the sugar bowl, that should alleviate all of your fears about jeremy lomax. he's gonna be a monster and OT's are scared of.
from cocknfire: "Yes, it's usually one of Georgia's toughest games..."
This is precisely why so many UGA fans laugh at the coots. Y'all see us a your big rival. We see y'all as a low tier SEC opponent. You're not and never were a rival. The 75% winning record speaks for itself. And I think that's why SCU fans hate UGA so much - we never take them seriously and see them as a joke.
The only reason why several of the games of late have been close is because you're not a main rival to us and we're often worried/preparing for our bigger opponents. Y'all, however, prepare all summer long in desperate attempts to beat us. Its extremely lopsided. You get your win once a decade, but remember the sun shines even on a coots ass once in a while ;-)
Congratulations, Hairy Dawg, for ripping my comments out of context and arguing against something I never said. Oh, and congratulations for insulting a commenter from another team who complimented your team. That's real classy.
It is one of Georgia's toughest games at least in relationship to how tough it should be. In other words, we play you tougher than we should. Whether that's because we're more focused or you're more distracted or both or neither, I made it very clear that my statement was a relative one. There have been years when Georgia should have rolled over the Gamecocks and just got by. In no way were we as tough a game as Florida or Tennessee or Auburn -- but those games were supposed to be tough.
"Y'all see us a your big rival."
Don't flatter yourself. You rank below Clemson on the rival-meter. You're just the closest thing to a rival we have in the SEC.
LOL "Don't flatter yourself."
The Only Georgia-Carolina rivalry:
which school has the hotter chicks. Bobo was the weak link last year - his first SEC road game as Coordinator. Now he gets it. Our O-line is going to be actually less seasoned now that Sturdivant went down. Last year we started 3 young guys and 2 with much experience. This year, 5 young guys.
www.bighairyblawg.com
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