South Carolina vs UGA position matchups

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QB: Slight Edge - USC. Thompson has much greater arm strength and more experience than Mason, but Thompson has not looked accurate on shorter throws and occasionally has bad form. Mason has shown more leadership than Thompson this year and if he can hit a couple deep balls this position could easily be a wash.

RB: Edge - UGA. Davis and Wilds are both solid backs, but neither are as close to being as good as Gurley. UGA also has more depth at the running back position and a greater change of pace with Michel and Marshall.

WR: Slight edge - USC. If Mitchell and Rumph weren't injured, and JSW wasn't suspended I would give UGA the edge here, but without them there is not much of a deep threat other than Davis. Bennett and Conley are solid receivers, McKenzie could provide a spark, and Towns made some great blocks against Clemson, but overall Cooper, Jones, and Roland have done more so far than our WR core.

OL: Slight edge - UGA. Before the season I would have given this as a clear edge to USC, but our O-line (especially Theus) was very impressive against Clemson. USC was very underwhelming against one of the worst defenses in the nation last year and could not create any hole for the backs to run through.

DL: Edge - UGA. Bailey and Dawson were very impressive against Clemson and Atkins did a pretty good job of stuffing the middle. Jenkins will become an end on occasion as well. Even though Clemson had 100 rushing yards in the first half, zero were allowed in the second. USC was not able to get any pressure against A&M and struggled to pursue the running backs as well.

LB: Edge - UGA. The Dawgs may have the best linebacking core in the nation. Floyd is arguably the best pass rusher in the nation and Herrera was the best player on the field not named Todd Gurley against Clemson. He was everywhere. For USC, Skai Moore is a solid player, but this unit has missed a lot of tackles and is out of position more often than not.

DB: Slight Edge - UGA. Gurley is a very solid player for the Cocks, but he is the only player that looks to have a pulse in that secondary. Most of the defensive backs are playing Todd Grantham defense where they leave the 10 yard hitch wide open, but also can get beat deep. The UGA secondary is much improved and Pruitt's work has been noticeable only one game in.

ST: Edge - UGA. Todd Gurley returning kicks, Reggie Davis actually catching punts, and the best kicker in the SEC gives the edge in this category to the Dawgs.

Coaching: Push. Spurrier is one of the best coaches in the nation and always gets his boys ready to play UGA, but the addition of Pruitt makes this category even. Bobo occasionally struggles with his play calling, but when he doesn't get too conservative he dials up some great plays and should give Lorenzo Ward's defense a really hard time.

Intangibles: USC. Thankfully the game is not at night, Gameday went to Fargo, and the USC fans aren't confident in their team. That being said, the crowd is still going to be nuts and will provide a tough atmosphere to play in. If UGA can take an early lead they could possibly take the crowd out of the game.

Sorry for the long post, but I do this because I need someone to humble me. I am never confident in big games or even away games for that matter but for some reason I have a really good feeling about this game. I only watched highlights of the ECU-USC game so maybe they looked much better, but from everything I saw they didn't. It's hard to be super confident going into a place we haven't scored over 20 points in the last 20 years, but I am. Dawg (or Cock) fans please calm me down.

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