You can’t win a division title in your first SEC game of the year, but you sure can lose it. Those are the stakes Saturday when No. 3 Georgia travels to No. 24 South Carolina in a huge SEC East showdown that will put the winner in prime position to grab the division title.

There’s no question that the Bulldogs are the best team in the SEC East on paper, and most experts say that South Carolina is probably the second-best team, a group that keeps getting better every year under Will Muschamp. So this makes the 3:30 p.m. tilt (TV: CBS) a big one.

Here are five things I would like to see from Georgia on Saturday:

1. Georgia’s young secondary holds up just fine

South Carolina has plenty of weapons on the outside, most notably Deebo Samuel, who’s one of the scariest players in all of college football. He scored six touchdowns in two weeks last year before getting hurt, but he’s back at 100 percent now and he’s talking trash heading into this game.

Deandre Baker, the veteran cornerback who was, like Samuel, a preseason all-SEC pick, will probably see Samuel the most. But the other young defensive backs — most notably Richard LeCounte and Tyson Campbell — will have to step up, too. The other Carolina receivers also are dangerous, and Jake Bentley is a veteran quarterback who knows how to read defenses. This is the spotlight matchup on Saturday.

2. Dawgs’ running game takes crowd out of the game early

When you play a huge game in a hostile environment, the best thing you can do is take the crowd out of the game early. The Bulldogs are fully capable of doing that, because they should be able to run the ball on South Carolina, and if D’Andre Swift can break some big runs early, that will be huge.

Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Swift was a big part of the passing game in the opener, making four catches in the 45-0 rout of Austin Peay. He had just eight carries for 43 yards running the ball, but expect to see much more of him against South Carolina. Expect at least 20 carries from him and 125 yards or more on the ground, and if a lot of that comes early, the volume will  get turned down quickly at Williams-Brice.

3. Winning the turnover battle

The last thing you want to have happen in a rivalry game on the road is to give away easy points with turnovers. It’s a death knell oftentimes, and Georgia has been very good about avoiding that with Jake Fromm as its starting quarterback.

In 13 regular-season games so far, Fromm has thrown 23 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. He needs to be careful again Saturday against South Carolina’s pressure, and if he has to throw a few balls away, then so be it. No easy points, and Georgia should win easily. Give away a few, and it might be game on.

4. Dominating on special teams

Because of Samuel and others, South Carolina is capable of scoring points on every punt or kickoff return. Georgia can’t let that happen. If there’s one place where South Carolina might have an edge, this is it.

How to get past that? Make some special teams plays yourself. Georgia has plenty of weapons in the special teams game, too, and they need to break a few returns or — at the very least — help flip field position a time or two during this game. A push is fine, but winning the special teams value raises the chances of winning by a good 15 or 20 percent.

5. Making all the big plays down the stretch

Assuming this is a close game — and I’m thinking Georgia being favored by 10 might be a bit too much — someone is going to have a make a play down the stretch if the Bulldogs are going to win a big game on the road.

It could be a big sack from a defensive line that is clamoring to make a statement. It could be a short Fromm-to-Swift pass play that he breaks and takes to the house. Or, it could be a key Rodrigo Blankenship field goal late that makes a difference. It could be any of these, but that’s the key in close games. You have to make those plays!