Georgia Football: 4 SEC East foes who could see a miracle against the Dawgs

Georgia football vs. South Carolina

There is growing consensus within college football that Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer may be building, quietly but confidently, something special in Columbia, SC., and the Georgia football squad may need to watch out for them in 2022.

Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler joined Beamer through the transfer portal back in December. While Rattler divides opinion, he was undoubtedly a prominent name that transferred into a team with no end of issues at the quarterback position last season.

If Rattler can perform as he did in the early stages of his career, the return could be huge. However, most will recall the collapse of a Sooners team in last year’s Red River showdown. While Rattler should not have shouldered all the blame, his performance in such a high-profile game was not commanding, and his demise as the Sooners’ starter was sealed.

Beamer is in his second year and has had a year to implement his system and get his team to buy into the culture. In addition, the Gamecocks jumped into the transfer portal to maximum effect.

Running backs Christian Beal-Smith and Lovasea Carroll transfer from Wake Forest and Georgia, respectively. Dawg fans will remember Carroll from his time in Athens, but not as a running back. You will recall him in the Red and Black as a defensive back. Beal-Smith and Carroll strengthen a running backs room with returners Marshawn Lloyd and Rashad Amos.

Another transfer, Juice Wells, arrives from James Madison and will fight returner Josh Vann for one of the starting wideout spots. Wells has been practicing with Rattler over the summer months to get to grips with the playbook and build rapport with his new quarterback.

While there is a lot for Gamecocks fans to be optimistic about on offense — it is still the one that stalled out a lot last season. So Dawgs fans will be confident that the defense will handle the trip to Columbia without too much damage.

However, the Gamecocks will field a stout defense that held opponents to 17 points or less in six games last season. Pash rush remains key to the success of this defense, with high hopes on the shoulders of Zaach Pickens and Jordan Burch.

So, can the Gamecocks’ defense stop the Dawgs’ offense? The issue for Georgia is that this game arrives early, on Sept. 17, or in Week 3 of the season. So any slow start to Georgia’s game plan runs the risk of misfiring. However, unless Rattler gets off to a rocket fuelled start, it seems unlikely that the Georgia defense cannot negate the offensive firepower that the Gamecocks have.

This game could prove to be tricky and unfortunate timing for Georgia. But can the Gamecocks overcome the Bulldogs? It could be a tough game, but I don’t think the Gamecocks can pull something like this off in September.