Georgia football is set to square off against the Chickens of South Carolina. As of writing this Friday afternoon, the game is at 27 points, favoring Georgia. I would not be shocked if the line drops slightly more before kickoff.
This game has a weird feeling surrounding it. Maybe that is just me, but it smells like a trap game. I am on high alert; South Carolina has always seemed to get Georgia when they least expect it. Look at 2019, 2014, 2012, and 2011; Georgia was the far better team all those years, but somehow the Gamecocks won. The 2019 game is the only one that is an oddity out of those four. It was at noon at a sleepy Sanford Stadium. I was at the game, and it was one of the oddest Saturdays I have experienced in Athens.
However, this game should be different. South Carolina is a better team than their 2019 counterpart, and this game is at 3:30. But it is also different because Kirby Smart has challenged the fan base. In his game breakdown, Josh Pate compared the game to the 2021 Georgia vs. Arkansas game. That is a healthy comparison. It is not a noon game, but it is an afternoon showdown. Crowds tend not to be that loud when the sun is still shining. I do not know if that is because the fans can’t drink brown liquor all day or what. It is just the case when talking about day vs. night games.
So here is my question: Can Sanford Stadium be elite once again? Can the fan base make South Carolina’s offense jump offside a few times? I have seen the 93,000 people yelling and screaming their heads off for 60 minutes multiple times. Will that crowd do it again when their team is 27-point favorites? They better.
Like last year’s Oregon game, Georgia needed to make a statement. Last year, after that game, the statement was, “Georgia is still here.” Can we once again make that statement? With all the chaos that seems to be on its way to the SEC and college football, for that matter, can Georgia stay above it? Georgia has stayed out of the Chaos Twister for the past two seasons, while every other team is in the Chaos Twister.
The Dawgs need to make that statement this Saturday. The SEC is falling apart because Alabama and LSU have lost out-of-conference games. But is Georgia the new king of the SEC? How weird is that? For most of my life, Alabama has dominated this conference, and now, at the current moment, Georgia is the new king! All those years when the SEC seemed down, Alabama was the program that held it together, and now it’s Georgia. Somebody pinch me. Is this real? As you can tell, I am just putting all of this together when writing this.
Now, this game is a small step toward the Dawg’s actual goals. But if Georgia goes out there and crushes South Carolina, everyone will crown Georgia the defacto National Champion. Still, we have a long, long, long way to go.
So Georgia fans, if you are going to the game, be loud; make South Carolina life on Saturday miserable. The Dawgs and Kirby Smart might be making a statement Saturday afternoon, and we need our team and our fans to be elite. Smart said it all offseason and after the 2017 national championship loss: Georgia is here to stay!
Game Info:
- Game: Georgia vs. South Carolina
- Time: 3:30 pm EST (but we know CBS so 3:39)
- Network: CBS
- Live stream on FuboTV
- Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023
- Location: Sanford Stadium–Athens, GA