Georgia football takes on Charleston Southern this upcoming Saturday and its senior day.
The Dawgs have two regular-season games left, and while they aren’t the most formidable teams, there is no need to overlook them.
Georgia has to remain focused on the prize and goal of finishing with a perfect 12-0 record. To finish undefeated in the regular season is a challenging feat, and the Dawgs have an excellent opportunity to do so.
Saturday brings a 4-5 Charleston Southern team to town that isn’t great but can make plays if given a chance to. The Buccaneers average 26 points a game and give up 25 points.
They average 122.7 rushing, 277.22 passing and 399.9 total offensive yards a game. Charleston Southern converts 41.56% of third downs and has a 73.5 red zone scoring rate.
Right now, after the way Georiga has demoralized nine straight teams, it’s almost unfair the Bucs have to take on the Dawgs, but they knew what they were scheduling when they did. This reason alone is enough to stop scheduling FCS teams in November, especially when a team like Georgia goes on a tangent of this magnitude.
While putting FCS schools on a team’s schedule is a double-edged sword, it is what it is, and the Dawgs have a noon kickoff against Charleston Southern, who they are likely going to demolish on Georgia’s senior day.
At the same time, we’ve seen teams like Michigan fall to Appalachian State in 2007, James Madison upset Virginia Tech in 2010, North Dakota State beating No.13 Iowa in 2016 and countless others.
Georgia cannot take the Bucs lightly and understand that even if they beat them by a massive amount of touchdowns, it’s still okay because they got some money for their program.
The Dawgs still had to prepare for the Bucs, and these are three players to know about for Saturday’s midday matchup.
1. Jack Chambers (QB)
The biggest playmaker for Georgia football to slow down is Bucs starting quarterback Jack Chambers.
He is a dual-threat quarterback who uses his arm and legs to make things happen. Chambers leads the team in rushing yards as he averages 3.7 yards a touch on 128 carries for 477 yards and seven touchdowns.
Through the air, he has gone 219-of-387 for 2,435 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season. He completes 56% of his passes and is the Bucs’ go-to man.
Last week against Gardner-Webb, the redshirt senior went 23-of-39 for 286 yards, two scores, and one interception. He also had 13 carries for 28 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Chambers is the guy Charleston Southern is going to look to try and make plays against the Bulldogs. He can, but this defense is stout, so it’ll be interesting to see how the coaching staff decides to call the game.
The Bucs trust him to score points, and he does. He is their leader, and it shows in his numbers — to have 2,435 yards through nine games is pretty impressive as well. There is no overlooking this guy as he is a similar statue to Georgia’s quarterback Stetson Bennett.
Chambers is 5-10 and 180-pounds while Bennett is 5-11 and 190-pounds, so this defense knows what it’s like to go up against twitchy quarterbacks that like to run the ball.
Charleston Southern will try and hurt the Dawgs through the air, so the secondary better get ready to stay tight on those wideouts, and the linebackers and defensive linemen need to be prepared for Chambers to tuck and run it because he will.
Georgia should put some pressure on Chambers, but they need to do it quickly because while he has gotten sacked 31 times, Chambers can get away from the pressure as well.
2. Charleston Southern’s leading wideouts
The next player Georgia football must circle for Saturday’s game isn’t a player, but the Bucs four wideouts in Garris Schwarting, Cayden Jordan, Geoffrey Wall and Demetrius Jones.
These four guys have at least 370 yards on the season, and all have caught at least one touchdown.
Schwarting is the Bucs’ second-leading wideout, but he leads the team in touchdowns. He has 45 catches for 510 yards and five scores on the season, averaging 56.67 yards a game and 11.33 yards a catch.
Last week against Gardner-Webb, Schwarting recorded two catches for 67 yards, and he is known to do some return stuff as well. He had one punt return for 19 yards against last week’s Bulldogs, so Georgia must prepare for him to do both.
Jordan is the lone guy in front of him, who has 52 catches for 746 yards and one score. Last week, Jordan had five catches for 92 yards.
While he has better numbers, Schwarting is proving to be better at getting in the endzone for Charleston Southern. The graduate student is a veteran who can be a trusty target for Jack Chambers if he needs to get it out quick on this defense.
However, while Georgia must prep for Schwarting, they must know that four guys can be explosive, so this secondary should be ready. Wall and Jones have also both have been essential playmakers for the Bucs.
Wall has 62 catches on the year for 500 yards and two scores, averaging eight yards a touch. Jones has 30 catches for 370 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 12.33 yards a catch.
Both of these guys scored touchdowns on Gardner-Webb last week too. Wall led the team with 12 catches for 104 yards and one score, while Jones had one six-yard touchdown catch.
Georgia’s secondary needs to be ready for these four guys because they will try and get the best of them. There need to be no silly mistakes from the Dawgs this week. Instead, play aggressive yet smart football. This secondary should handle this unit, but it’s hard to overlook them when they all can score for the Bucs.
3. Shaundre Mims (DL)
Shaundre Mims is a guy Georgia football needs to know where he is at all times. This guy leads Charleston Southern in sacks and is a head hunter.
The Bucs have 23 sacks on the season, and Mims has eight of them — 34% of their total.
On the season, Mims leads the Bucs in tackles for loss as well with 16.5. He has 58 total tackles, one interception, three pass breakups, seven quarterback hurries, and a forced fumble — this guy is everywhere on the field for Charleston Southern.
This week, he will be looking to add a few sacks to Georgia’s records, so the Dawgs’ offensive line will need to play tough. Stetson Bennett, JT Daniels, and the rest of the quarterbacks need to be aware of where No.90 is at all times and know he is going to be the guy who comes after them the most.
Mims is a redshirt senior, and he has been around a while, so he knows what it takes to make plays against a team like Georgia. He will be looking to hurt some feelings because he knows Charleston Southern will likely get beat, so why not get a few moral victories for himself.
Georgia’s offensive line needs to be big and keep protecting the quarterbacks. They have the second-fewest sacks on the season through 130 schools, and that is an incredible number, so don’t screw it up this week against an opponent like Charleston Southern.
The Bucs will come out explosive to try and get Georgia on their toes, but the Dawgs just need to play their game, and the rest will handle itself. Georgia should come out of this game with a big victory and be 11-0 on the season.