FINAL PREPARATIONS BEING MADE FOR GEORGIA
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The
University of South Carolina football squad worked out Thursday
afternoon at the Bluff Road practice fields as preparations continued
for Saturday’s SEC Eastern Division showdown at Georgia. The
12th-ranked Gamecocks are 1-0 on the season, while Georgia enters the
game 0-1. It’s the first time South Carolina has faced an unranked
Georgia team since the 1997 season.
Assistant Head Coach –
Defense, Ellis Johnson, thinks his unit will be more comfortable
against the Georgia offense than what they saw last week against the
spread attack of East Carolina or the option style they will face next
week against Navy. “They’re a lot more like our offense, which is what
you see all spring and what you see all fall, and that makes it a whole
lot more comfortable about the things we’re repping our defense,” said
Johnson. “They’re going to be more physical, they’re going to get in
the “I,” they’re going to run the ball and mix it a lot better. It will
be something our players will be much more comfortable seeing. Week 1,
week 2, week 3 – this may be the only one our kids are familiar with.”
Coach
Johnson isn’t convinced the Gamecocks will be able to get to the
Georgia quarterback like Boise State did last week when they registered
six sacks. “(Georgia) got behind by 20 points and they were predictable
when they had to throw. Last year we only got to him late in the game.
If they get the running game going and can mix it a little, it’s not
going to be any easier to sack him than the guy from East Carolina.”
True
freshman Jadeveon Clowney is slated to make his second start in as many
weeks. “We’re going to start (defensive ends) Clowney, Melvin (Ingram)
and Devin (Taylor) simply because all three played well, have had a
good week of practice and deserve to start. Very soon into the rotation
we’ll have two tackles inside,” noted Johnson.
Akeem Auguste is
still slated to get some work on Saturday after missing the opener with
a foot injury. “He’s had a good day and a half (of practice). We’ll
just have to keep checking with the trainer. I think he got good work
on it yesterday. He got off the field yesterday with a pretty good
practice, a pretty good work day, and didn’t have much problem with it,
so we’re hopeful we will have him,” said Johnson.
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