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Georgia prepared with no-huddle sets against South Carolina
By Jordan Cox
Published:
To say that South Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward’s defense has struggled during its first two outings might be an understatement.
The Gamecocks gave up 680 yards of total offense on 99 plays to Kenny Hill and Texas A&M in its season-opening loss. Though in a losing effort, East Carolina’s spread attack had some success throwing for 321 yards against South Carolina and averaging 6.4 yards per play. They didn’t possess the ball nearly as much; the Pirates ran just 67 plays.
The Georgia Bulldogs have broken down those tapes extensively during its off week. So what do they do come kickoff on Saturday?
Head coach Mark Richt has warned his team of its recent scoring woes at Williams-Brice Stadium – in the last 20 years, not once have the ‘Dawgs scored 20 points or more in Columbia – and an offense that amassed 328 yards on the ground in its opening tilt against Clemson looks to reverse that trend.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo actually has an extensive spread/no-huddle package. According to media reports, the Bulldogs have worked those sets in practice over the last two weeks and will be prepared to break out those formations on Saturday against the Gamecocks. Injuries, however, might prevent them from replicating exactly what the Aggies and Pirates did.
“You’ll see us do that some,” Bobo told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday. “You’ll see us in three-receiver sets. You probably won’t see us in four-receiver sets or five like we might’ve done a couple years earlier just because of depth at receiver. There will probably always be a tight end on the field. But we’ll try to give them multiple looks and see how they line up.”
Injuries have plagued the ‘Dawgs at wideout. They’ll travel to Columbia without Malcolm Mitchell, Justin Scott-Wesley or Jonathan Rumph.
Georgia still will have plenty of talented playmakers on the field in receiver Chris Conley, heralded freshman Isaiah McKenzie and its stable of backs including Todd Gurley, Sony Michel and Nick Chubb.
“Our goal is to be balanced,” Bobo said.
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
