Gamecocks look to protect against prolific offense
South Carolina has relied on the nation’s sixth-best scoring defense to get off to a 5-0 start, but that defense will face a major test when No. 5 Georgia rolls into Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night.
“Anytime you have a team that’s rushing for the kind of yards they’re rushing for and (also) protecting the passer,” said USC defensive line coach Brad Lawing. “I mean, they’re doing an outstanding job. That offense is going to be as good an offense as we play this season.”
The emergence of Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall, or “Gurshall” as they have come to be known after the tandem rushed for 294 yards and five touchdowns last week against Tennessee, has further intensified an already potent Georgia offense.
UGA junior quarterback Aaron Murray has been the most efficient quarterback in the SEC this season and has been one of the beneficiaries of the Bulldogs’ new run games.
Opposing teams now can’t zero in on Murray, and the future first-round NFL pick has taken advantage, completing 68 percent of his passes to go with 12 touchdown passes and just three interceptions this season.
While USC was able to limit Murray the last time UGA visited Columbia in 2010, Lawing says this is a completely different quarterback this time around. The Gamecocks won that 2010 meeting, 17-6.
“He was just a sophomore,” Lawing said. “He’s gotten better every year. That’s a testament to him and to his coaches. He’s really good.”
Senior cornerback Akeem Auguste said Murray is “up there” when comparing him to the other quarterbacks in the SEC. Auguste said the defense is not going to back down come Saturday.
“We have to put it on their throats,” Auguste said. “We can’t back down from nobody and not come out like we did in the first half against Kentucky and we will be fine.”
In that first half at Kentucky, the USC defense allowed the Wildcats to jump out to a 17-7 lead behind the play of a third-string freshman quarterback.
“We have to lead by example,” said senior safety D.J. Swearinger. “We have to take every day as gameday and get better every day. We can’t waste any reps out here on the practice field because they have a lot of weapons.
“Like I was telling the guys in the locker room, we have never been down 17-7 (before Kentucky). Adversity hit us in the Kentucky game, and I was just asking the guys how we would respond. We responded great, and it was good to see that, but we can’t let ourselves get in that hole again.”
While UGA had talented tailbacks Isaiah Crowell and Caleb King the last couple of years, Murray was still the main person to worry about on those teams. The USC defense knows it has more on its plate this time around.
“They’re fast,” said sophomore defensive lineman Kelcy Quarles on Gurley and Marshall. “If you give them a crease, they’re gone. So it’s imperative that we stay in our gaps and run and tackle better this week.”
So far this season, the USC defense has gotten the upper hand against opposing offenses. The Gamecocks give up just more than 11 points a game, which is seventh best in the nation, and also have a top-10 rushing defense.
“We are just going to have to come out here and play Saturday,” Auguste said. “It’s going to be a good game; I just can’t wait. Saturday is going to be crazy.”