Analyzing South Carolina's chances to beat Georgia in 2023

On paper, it looks like Georgia has a fairly easy schedule for the 2023 season. Tennessee is the only opponent the Bulldogs face that currently appears in preseason top 15 rankings. And Georgia had its way with the Vols last year.

The two-time defending national champions are likely to be favored in every game this coming season, and in most cases will be favored by double digits.

Still, On3’s JD PicKell believes the Bulldogs could have a few close games.

One game PicKell mentioned that could be tough will be played Sept. 16 when Georgia hosts Spencer Rattler and South Carolina at Sanford Stadium. PicKell recently broke down what kind of chance the Gamecocks have of pulling off the upset.

“They go to Athens, which isn’t ideal, and that’s one team that I think is very fascinating, because of having an alpha dog wide receiver — Juice Wells. He was that guy at the end of the year, man. He and Spencer Rattler were synced up and he was putting up Road to Glory numbers. Against Tennessee, I think he had close to 200 yards receiving. He had two touchdowns against Clemson. They were just playing upset like it was their job, was South Carolina,” PicKell said.

“Now, roster wise, I don’t think South Carolina matches up well with Georgia. That’s not saying much. Not many places do across the country. But there’s a couple of things to look into now. Does Juice Wells play to his potential and have a day like he had against Tennessee and win 1-on-1 and maybe he’s your equalizer? Maybe he’s your edge for you that day.”

As PicKell mentioned, Wells was critical to upset wins over top 10 teams Tennessee and Clemson last year. Wells and Rattler are a big part of why expectations are high in Columbia entering 2023.

While PicKell believes the potential is there for South Carolina to give Georgia a game, he warned that doing so won’t be easy.

“It’s the first SEC game. This is the first game of real competition that Georgia’s going to see. Now, I don’t love that for South Carolina, because typically Georgia, especially early in the year, they’re not a team that you’re really going to see fall asleep at the wheel. I’m pretty sure Kirby Smart has just eliminated complacency, not just within his building in Athens but just like the entire city of Athens. I just think he radiates intentionality and we’re going to be detail-oriented and we’re not going to be complacent. That’s one thing,” PicKell said.

“The other thing that concerns me a little bit about South Carolina in this game is… you’ve gotta run the ball well enough to where you keep those safeties honest. South Carolina last year, when they lost this game, their leading rusher had 33 yards. Doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence if you’re playing Georgia. You can’t be one-dimensional against Georgia.”

With all of that said, if Rattler and Wells get hot, who knows what could happen.

Rattler passed for 438 yards and six touchdowns last season against Tennessee and is as good as any quarterback in the country when he’s on.

“Other side of this is it would require Spencer Rattler to play mistake-free football. I don’t know if he’s able to do that against a defense like Georgia. So not predicting this, but if you were to look at a matchup early in the year where you were to say, ‘OK, if it is about 1-on-1s, and it is about having that alpha dog wide receiver,’ Juice Wells has shown he can be that guy for you if you’re South Carolina,” PicKell said.

“So keep an eye on that one. South Carolina, I think, is one team if you were looking for potential bugaboos for Georgia, I think that’s the one.”