It's just the second week of the season, but Georgia still may be at a crossroads. The Bulldogs were beaten up along both lines in last week's 35-21 loss to Boise State. As bad as it was, though, it wasn't a conference setback. This week, there is a conference foe, and it's South Carolina, the preseason pick to win the SEC East. A 0-2 start to the season could mean it spirals out of control for a young Bulldogs squad. It also would increase the heat being felt by Georgia coach Mark Richt, who isn't buying the doom-and-gloom talk.
"I view it as a very important game," he said when he was asked on the SEC teleconference if this was a "pivotal game" for he and his team.
South Carolina is aiming for its first back-to-back wins over Georgia since 2000 and '01, and a victory in Athens would give the Gamecocks a boost as they seek their second consecutive division title.
"I've said it before: We have a strong dislike for a lot of teams and there's a lot of rivalry games, and South Carolina's definitely one of them," Georgia tight end Aron White said at the Bulldogs' weekly news conference. "In the series, historically, we've been playing as big brother, and the tables are turned this year and that's fine with us. We've gone into games underdogs before and come out on top, and that's what we plan on doing this week." The underdog role didn't work out so well last week, and Richt needs his team to play with a lot more consistency this week. What surprised him the most in the opener, Rich said, was his team's lack of execution: "I would've expected more than what we had."
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier - who is 13-5 as a coach against Georgia, but just 2-4 with the Gamecocks - wasn't buying any downplaying of the game.
"Obviously, it's a big ballgame this week," he said. "Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina. I guess in the preseason, most of the experts picked either us or Georgia [in the division]. I don't know if anyone picked some other teams, so it's a huge game."
No comments:
Post a Comment