Georgia Football: Five Takeaways from S. Carolina Game

4: South Carolina knows who Deandre Baker is now

If there is one thing that I think we can all say that we’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that it doesn’t pay to trash talk these Georgia Bulldogs. Last year Florida made fun of Jake Fromm and he carved them up. This week, Deebo Samuel claimed that he didn’t know who Deandre Baker was despite the fact that he was a preseason All-American who many consider UGA’s best player.

Yeah, that was a stupid statement. Baker doesn’t need external motivation from a receiver to play well. He didn’t need trash talk to shut down Calvin Ridley in the national championship game and he certainly didn’t need it to stop Samuel. When a guy comes back for his senior year to make himself a first-round NFL draft pick, motivation isn’t really an issue. Still, I get the feeling Baker was a little bit irked by the disrespect he was shown this past week.

Baker was once again fantastic on his side of the field. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that opposing passers should probably just avoid him. His ability to take away one side of the field makes Georgia’s defensive incredibly difficult to break down. Yes, he made a silly mistake with the interception when he dropped the ball early, but other than that, Baker was almost perfect.

He showed the Gamecocks and the rest of the league that 2017 is not an aberration. He is a legitimate shutdown cornerback who can take away any teams top weapon if they line up on his side of the field. Call me crazy but I think it’s safe to say Deebo Samuel knows tho Deandre Baker is this morning. So should the rest of college football.