Georgia Football blew out South Carolina on Saturday. Here are Mike’s final thoughts on that win before the Dawgs move onto Middle Tennessee.
We have all had a few days now to look back on the 41-17 beatdown the Georgia Football team put on the South Gamecocks. I’ve analyzed it, talked about it and rewatched it. The one thing I think that at everyone, Georgia and South Carolina fans both, can agree on was that Georgia was simply the better team this past Saturday. South Carolina kept it close in the first half, but in the hot, muggy second half, the depth of Georgia shined through. There was never a moment in the second half after the Dawgs came out and scored a touchdown on their opening drive when this game was in question again. In fact, I felt really good after the Rodrigo Blankenship field goal right before the half that put UGA up 20-10. I have a few final thoughts on this game I would like to share.
1. Georgia is one of the deepest teams in the nation.
This was the main thing that stuck out to me before the game. The forecast called for a hot day, and they were right on the money. I figured this would lead to some injuries. We saw DeAndre Walker be helped off the field, fortunately, it looks like he may be OK. Offensive lineman Andrew Thomas went out of the game as well. He’s still currently not practicing. What was amazing about the Thomas injury was to see the offensive line not even miss a beat. Freshman Cade Mays, who has been practicing with the 1st team this week, stepped in and played great. This is where depth helps teams like Georgia to maintain the level of success they experienced in 2017.
2. Mecole Hardman is the most electric receiver in the conference.
This kid looked like something out of a video game Saturday. He had 6 catches for 103 yards and an electric touchdown that included a South Carolina defender tugging on his jersey that reminded me of one of Todd Gurley’s runs from back in the day. Hardman also hurdled a defender on a play that I knew as soon as I seen it was a highlight. It ended up being on the front page of the newspaper. Plenty more is to come from Hardman this season. The scariest part about him for opposing defenses should be the fact that he is still learning the wide receiver position and he is already this good.
3. South Carolina may not lose another East game.
The depth wasn’t there to run with Georgia for 4 quarters on Saturday. That’s understandable. South Carolina did keep it a game for the first half just based solely on their talent. Many people will point to home field advantage, but this didn’t really rattle the Dawgs consistently. South Carolina has playmakers on their 1st team on both sides of the ball, and I don’t believe there is another team in the East that can beat them straight up unless they beat themselves based on what I’ve seen so far out of the East teams this season.
4. Georgia should not lose another SEC East game either.
Leading up to Saturday, I heard all the classic cliches. “Trap game”. “Perfect spot for an upset”. Many analysts saying this was a tricky game for Georgia. Deebo Samuel talking smack about DeAndre Baker. Former South Carolina player Tori Gurley guaranteeing a win. So how does Georgia handle all that noise?
They go into a hostile environment with less than perfect weather and stomped their opponent in what was billed as the SEC game of the week. This is what elite teams do. The only 2 games left on the schedule that concern me at this point are the 2 West opponents, LSU and Auburn. The Dawgs are equipped to sweep the division for the 2nd season in a row.