The SC OL is in a bit of flux after losing 3 starters from last year’s unit, losing a guy to academic issues and relying on a converted DL to start the opener. Basically, this group has some solid size, but is limited on experience and is still trying to gel. Justin Sorenson is a mountain of an OT at 6-7, 325…it should be fun watching him go against Howard…fun in a, “wow, look how much bigger he is than Howard” kind of way. Starting RG James Thompson still has some academic issues, so Lemuel Jeanpierre (the converted DL) got the nod there in week 1 but played so poorly Spurrier has inserted massive R-Fr Kevin Young for his first career action. OC William Brown is the most experienced of the group, with 3 letters. Across the front, they average well over 300 pounds, mostly because of Sorenson and Young. Their two-deep has guys named Lemuel, Gurminder and Hutch…first names.

Bottom Line: This group is dangerous if for no other reason than the man calling the plays. Spurrier is a brilliant tactician and he hates UGA more than your average GT fan (which is considerable). Their OL is no better than ours in terms of experience or talent, so the key for them will be to keep Mitchell upright and give him time. They have solid skill position guys and will likely look to attack us somewhat similarly to the way we went after OSU. While they won’t be able to just line it up and run straight at our interior like we showed we could against OSU, I do think they’ll use short drops and screens to slow our pass rush and prevent heavy pressure on Mitchell. Look for them to use the TE a good bit as well as they have 2 good ones and OSU was able to be effective using theirs. Also look for Boyd to split out as a WR from the backfield.

Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Can we pressure Mitchell? We had incredible success getting after Reid last week and usually when we got pressure it was in bunches. If we can have similar success this week against a less mobile QB (although Reid refused to run), we could be in really good shape. Their considerable talents at RB and TE will put some strain on our LBs, who played really, really well Saturday.

SC Defense

SC returns several key members of a defense that finished towards the bottom of the pack in the SEC last season. They sported the SEC’s 9th ranked total defense (9th in rushing and 8th in passing). They were slightly better in terms of scoring defense, ranking 6th in that category. They are a year more experienced though, although the secondary took a few hits. The SC defense always seems to come prepared to play us, even when they are outmatched, so I fully expect a war this Saturday as they aren’t exactly outmatched this go ‘round.

Along the DL, SC will start squatty sophomore Eric Norwood at one end. He’s 6-0, 260 but manages to get in the backfield regularly, recording 7 sacks and 2 other TFLs last season, good enough for freshman All-American honors despite never starting until last week. Opposite him will be a pair of guys listed as co-starters in freshman Travian Robertson and other squatty senior Ryan Brown. Look for Robertson to get in on passing situations for sure although he played most of the snaps Saturday against the run-oriented ULL team. Spurrier hinted that he wasn’t pleased with the DE play Saturday and he could opt to rotate in either of two more true freshmen for significant playing time, both of whom were recruited heavily by UGA, Cliff Matthews and Clifton Geathers. At DT, a pair of juniors get the nod in Marque Hall and Nathan Pepper. Both have good size. Hall is returning this season from an injury suffered in the UGA game last year. Backups inside are a JUCO transfer and a true frosh, so depth is a concern.

The strength of the SC D is the LB corps. They are deep here and will likely play several solid options throughout the game. MLB Jasper Brinkley is one of the best players in the league. He’s a hoss at 6-2, 260. Last year he had more than double the tackles of SC’s #2. His brother Casper (SC has the best names in CFB) moves from his DE spot to WLB. Both of them transferred in from JUCO last year and had a big impact on the SC D. Rodney Paulk is listed as the starter at SLB and at 6-0, 220, he’s the runt of the litter. Spurrier has hinted that Jr Dustin Lindsey might get some more PT and even start at SLB after not playing all of last season due to academic issues. This unit is deep, big, fast and experienced.

Like the first two levels of the SC D, the secondary is going through some changes after week 1. The two corners remain the same in undersized, feisty So. Captain Munnerlyn and Jr. former WR Carlos Thomas. You might remember Munnerlyn as the guy who mugged Massaquoi at the goal line last season and didn’t get called for it. The changes occur at safety where Sr Brandon Isaac moves over from SS to FS and So Darian Stewart moves over from the backup spot at FS to man the SS spot (got that?). Isaac missed last season due to a shoulder injury. Stewart played in every game last season but only managed 7 tackles.