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Matthew Rebuffed: Gamecocks host Georgia in Sunday matinee

How many receptions will Gamecock TE Hayden Hurst have on Sunday? (Gamecock Central)

What: Georgia (3-2) at South Carolina (2-3)

Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC

When: Sun., Oct. 9, 2:30 p.m. ET

TV/Radio: SEC Network (Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer and Kaylee Hartung); Gamecock IMG Sports Network (Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs, Langston Moore); Sirius 83/XM 190

Hurricane Matthew has moved on, but the fallen trees and other storm damage serve as a firm reminder of Mather Nature’s power when unleashed. Thursday, many people questioned if this game would be played, but AD Ray Tanner, Georgia administrators and local officials were able to work things out. This game has traditionally been played early in the season, and Sunday’s date is the latest the two teams have net since 1980. Next year, USC and Georgia met on Nov. 4, the second latest date in the history of the rivalry after 1939.

WHEN SOUTH CAROLINA HAS THE BALL

When Perry Orth replaced true freshman Brandon McIlwain in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to Texas A&M and led the Gamecocks on a 9-play, 54-yard drive highlighted by three straight pass completions totaling 58 yards, we knew the quarterback carousel would begin spinning again.

The learning curve for a young SEC quarterback is steep as McIlwain is learning right now. He is an excellent scrambler and is accurate on short passing routes (9-15 last week vs. TM), but the Gamecocks averaged a paltry 2.27 yards per throw against the Aggies when he was in the Game. Will Muschamp acknowledged Orth was inserted into the game to boost USC’s vertical passing game.

Orth accomplished that by completing 11-of-18 passes for 138 yards, an average of 7.67 yards per attempt. McIlwain’s longest completion was 10 yards. Orth’s first three completions went for 18, 12 and 28 yards. But the Gamecocks still need more from the passing game.

Of course, Deebo Samuel and Bryan Edwards, the Gamecocks’ top two wide receivers, missed the Texas A&M game with injuries and their return to action against Georgia promises more throws downfield. The source of Samuel’s ingoing hamstring problems is the great mystery of 2016. He has four receptions in two games, far below preseason expectations before the ailing hamstring flared up again.

Edwards, meanwhile, has been the No. 1 revelation for the Gamecocks offense, sharing top billing with redshirt freshman running back A.J. Turner. Edwards had 17 receptions in the first four games of his career, putting him on track for a 50-reception season, until he sat out the Texas A&M loss.

Buoyed by his 75-yard TD run on USC’s first offensive play, Turner recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his career against Texas A&M, yet arguably the most discussed Gamecock running backs afterwards was true freshman Rico Dowdle, who debuted after missing the first four games due to his recovery from sports hernia surgery and later a groin pull when, Muschamp said, he tried to come back too early.

Dowdle had nine carries for 47 yards vs. Texas A&M. Will he crack the double digit rushing attempt barrier in his second career appearance? Most likely. Since both running backs are in their first year of eligibility, the tandem of Turner and Dowdle looks solid for the rest of this season and the next two years as well. Add North Carolina transfer Ty’Son Williams and C.J. Freeman into the mix and the future of the running back position is indeed bright.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart earned his reputation as a defensive guru, so it’s surprising to see the Bulldogs ranked No. 13 (next-to-last) in the SEC in scoring defense (30.8 ppg) and No. 8 in total defense (377.8 ypg). In fact, the Bulldogs are ranked higher than seventh in the SEC in just one of the four major defensive statistical categories. The fewest points they have surrendered this season is 24 to North Carolina and FCS Nicholls State in the first two games. Since then? 27 to Missouri, 45 to Ole Miss and 34 to Tennessee, albeit on a Hail Mary pass at the end.

Georgia also has the worst red zone defense in the SEC through five games (16-17, 94.1 scoring rate by opponents, allowing 12 touchdowns in 17 red zone trips by opposing defense, eight through the air. Then again, the Gamecocks possess the worst red zone offense in the SEC at 64.3 percent (9-14) with just six RZ touchdowns in five games. So, something’s gotta give there. Red zone production is always one of the key indicators in every game (see East Carolina game for best evidence) along with turnover margin in determining the winner.

One positive for the Georgia defense: they are tied for second in the SEC with seven interceptions. However, three came against Missouri quarterback Drew Lock, meaning Georgia has four interceptions in the other four games. Dominick Sanders had a SEC-leading six interceptions in 2015 and his return led to optimism about the Georgia secondary that so far hasn’t panned out.

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WHEN GEORGIA HAS THE BALL

Exiting Sanford Stadium following the shocking Tennessee loss, the major question surrounding the dazed Georgia program was the status of All-SEC running back running Nick Chubb, who missed the second half of the lopsided Ole Miss loss and had just one carry against the Vols before being shut down.

Chubb was cleared by team doctors to play against South Carolina and he has practiced all week. Chubb saved Georgia in the season opening win over North Carolina, tallying 222 rushing yards on 32 carries. But he has just 203 yards in the last four games as Sony Michel has emerged as the featured back in Chubb’s absence. Chubb, though, remains Georgia’s rushing leader with 425 yards on 84 carries. Michel has 197 yards on 39 carries. Freshman Brian Herrien is second with 258 yards, but this is still the Chubb and Michel show three weeks into the SEC schedule.

Georgia freshman quarterback Jacob Eason has experienced the same growing pains as McIlwain in an up-and-down season for the highly-touted prospect ranked as the No. 1 pro-style quarterback in the nation for the 2016 recruiting cycle.

Eason, who took over as Georgia’s starting quarterback in Week 2, becoming only the sixth Georgia freshman quarterback to start a game (first since Matthew Stafford in 2006), has completed 53.6 percent of his passes for 991 yards and seven touchdowns with four INT. He looked to have taken a major step forward last weekend against Tennessee when he fired a 47-yard TD pass to freshman Riley Ridley to give the Bulldogs a 31-28 lead with 10 seconds to play. It capped a four-play, 81-yard drive in 57 seconds. However, Tennessee’s ultimately won the battle of dueling Hail Marys.

Eason’s low point came two weeks ago in Georgia’s 45-14 loss at Ole Miss when he was 16-for-36 passing for 137

yards and one INT. His 55 pass attempts at Missouri were the most for a Bulldogs quarterback in 16 years.

Georgia suffers from a lack of depth at wide recover. Isaiah McKenzie, who also shines on special teams, leads the Bulldogs with 539 all-purpose yards (79 rush, 344 receiving, 116 return) and has scored five touchdowns. He has a team-high 24 receptions and four TD catches. McKenzie had a career-high 122 receiving yards against North Carolina and Missouri. Georgia’s most productive receiver behind McKenzie is Terry Godwin, but he has just 13 catches in five games.

The Gamecocks defense has progressed nicely since the poor first half at Mississippi State (24 points + 324 total yards), allowing just 59 points in the last 14 quarters of football. USC has done a nice job defending the pass (No. 3 in SEC in pass defense, 201.8 ypg) and minimizing damage in the red zone (14-21, 66.7 scoring pct for opponents), but the Gamecocks have struggled to stop the run, ranking 13th in the league in rushing defense and allowing 4.8 yards per attempt.

Three of USC’s first five opponents have surpassed 200 yards on the ground, including 216 by Kentucky and 229 by Texas A&M in the last two games. Obviously, that doesn’t bode well against a Georgia team that relies extensively on the running game.

SYNOPSIS: Not only does Sunday’s game mark the first time since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992 that both teams come into this game coming off a loss, they carry two-game losing streaks into the annual border battle. The key question for Georgia is how they respond to the stunning Hail Mary loss to Tennessee. Don’t be surprised if there are some lingering effects. For South Carolina, while the return of Deebo Samuel and Bryan Edwards offers some hope for the passing game, until the Gamecocks demonstrate they are capable of scoring more than 14 points against a SEC opponent, picking them to win any game the rest of the way beyond UMass, Missouri and Western Carolina is tricky. USC might have to lean on special teams to win this game. They lead the SEC in kickoff returns (28.4 yards per return) while Georgia is last in kickoff coverage (38.2 yards). Only six of UGA’s 26 kickoffs have reached the end zone for touchbacks. The Gamecocks have won four of the last six meetings overall, and three straight at Williams-Brice Stadium with Georgia’s last win coming in Columbia in 2008. If the Gamecocks find some offense (and the QB position stabilizes) and figure out how to contain Georgia’s running game with Chubb and Michel, they have a decent shot for a fourth straight home win over the Bulldogs. At the moment, though, that’s asking for a lot from a very young team considering how the first five games of this season this season have unfolded.

PREDICTION: Georgia 24, Gamecocks 16.

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