Georgia coach preparing for both Gamecocks QBs

South Carolina is still deciding on a starting quarterback between redshirt senior Perry Orth and true freshman Brandon McIlwain for this weekend’s SEC East clash against Georgia.

While McIlwain may not start for the first time since the Week 2 loss at Mississippi State, Georgia coach Kirby Smart realizes the issues he creates for a defense both running and throwing.

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“He is very diverse. He can take off and run it and he has a really strong, live arm,” Smart said Wednesday on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference. “When he gets out of the pocket, you see the baseball player in him. He can wing it, he can whip it sidearm. The biggest thing he does is create and extend plays.”

Just five games into his career, McIlwain has completed 56-of-106 passes (52.8 pct.) for 567 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. His completion percentage rises to 54.8 percent (40-73) as the starter. McIlwain is also the Gamecocks’ third leading rusher with 98 yards and two touchdowns.

“He gives them the ability to run some really hard to defend plays, quarterback run plays similar to what we saw last week with (Tennessee QB) Josh Dobbs,” Smart said. “It’s hard when the quarterback is running the ball because they have an extra hat to block with. So, he creates and opens up the game for them when he is in there.”

Orth isn’t as highly regarded as a running quarterback as McIlwain, but Smart contends the redshirt senior is a running threat as well.

“Perry Orth is very good running the ball,” Smart said. “He’s a good athlete. He can throw the ball in the pocket too. (McIlwain) is a lot faster. But it’s not like they have two different offenses. You have a mature kid that has played a bunch of games and a younger kid that hasn’t played as many games, similar to us. They are both good athletes.”

Smart and the Georgia defense have prepared for the Gamecock offense by utilizing a variety of scout team quarterbacks in practice.

“You prepare (for the game) by the plays you run with your scout team,” Smart said. “We have different kinds of quarterbacks on the scout team. We have pocket quarterbacks, we have scramblers, we have a really good athlete that can do the gun runs and things like that. It’s important to your program that you have guys on your team that can do different pictures for you. So we can get different looks.”

Depending on when the South Carolina-Georgia game is played, Mother Nature could have a significant impact on the USC-UGA game, Smart said.

“It probably affects kicking game more than the quarterbacks,” Smart said. “I’ve always thought it affected the defensive players the most because they’re reacting and the offensive players know where they’re going. When you have to react, sometimes there is more slipping and sliding. It becomes a control the ball type deal. We’ll see what happens.”

SEC WEEK 6 SCHEDULE (Sat., Oct. 8)

Auburn at Mississippi State, noon (ESPN)

LSU at Florida, noon (PPD)

Tennessee at Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)

Vanderbilt at Kentucky, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)

Alabama at Arkansas, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

BYE: Ole Miss (3-2), Missouri (2-3)

SEC WEEK 6 SCHEDULE (Sun., Oct. 9)

Georgia at South Carolina, 2:30 p.m. (SEC Network)