It’s only week 3 in college football and the battle for conference supremacy has already started in the SEC. This Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs will travel to Williams-Brice Stadium to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in a game that many pundits claimed would decide the SEC East before the season started.

Williams-Brice_Stadium

But not so fast. South Carolina comes into this game as a shell-shocked team, having been blown out week one by Texas A&M at home and a less-than-stellar win over East Carolina in week two. Georgia, meanwhile, has certainly lived up to the hype so far having dismantled Clemson two weeks ago in Athens on the heels of an other-worldly performance by running back Todd Gurley.

Despite the teams differing trajectories at the start of this season, all signs lead to a competitive match-up in Columbia on Saturday. Georgia has managed only 13 points total during their last two trips to USC-east and it is likely that this game will become a slug-fest that could go deep into the fourth quarter.

This is a must-win game if the Gamecocks wish to re-insert themselves into the SEC East conversation, as an 0-2 conference start (with both losses being at home) would be utterly crippling to their chances of playing in Atlanta this December. To be successful in this game, South Carolina will have to clean up its’ play in the secondary. They gave up an unfathomable 511 yards through the air to Texas A&M two weeks ago and 453 total yards to East Carolina last weekend.

5222d5ea87eac.preview-300As for Georgia, you can expect more of the same with regards to feeding all-world running back Todd Gurley the football. Gurley emerged as an early Heisman candidate with his career-high 198 yard rushing performance two weeks ago against Clemson. The Bulldogs will enter hostile territory Saturday afternoon, but there is no better counter to a wild crowd than a power-running game, and you can expect Georgia to slow it down and force the Gamecocks to try to stop Todd Gurley.

Prediction

Georgia 24 South Carolina 16

 

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By Clint Switzer

Full-time sports fan, part-time contributor to society. Starcade Media co-founder, podcast host, filmmaker and writer.