Dowell Loggains scouts Georgia defense, makes Philadelphia Eagles joke

South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and the Gamecocks staff has spent a lot of time preparing for Saturday’s game at Georgia, dating back to the offseason.

“We have summer scouting reports, so we spend time on every opponent, and we do it in reverse order,” Loggains said this week. “We’re very thorough in the offseason with studying each opponent – the last two we just played and this one, the next one, the next one. Every team we’ve put eyes on. We’ve broke down. We’ve studied from last year.”

Loggains was very impressed by what he saw from the 2022 Georgia defense on film.

The Bulldogs had five defenders from last year’s team drafted, including first-round picks Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. They both went to the Eagles, as did fourth-round pick Kelee Ringo.

“When you watch their tape from last year, you can see why the Philadelphia Eagles are good, because half their team plays for them,” Loggains said.

Of course Georgia still has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball in Athens.

Loggains has now watched two games worth of film of the 2023 Bulldogs. From players, to scheme, to coaching, he believes Georgia has an elite defense from top to bottom.

“It’s an extremely talented team. They’ve got a ton of four and five star players, and they’ve recruited really well. And they play with an intensity that I think they get from their head coach. He seems like a very intense guy, as well,” Loggains said. “They’ve got every scheme. I mean it’s like being back in the NFL when you talk about scheme. They’ve got ‘em all. They’ve got every adjustment to quarters, and they’ve got every simulated pressure and every version of man coverage you can play. Every version of Cover 3. So it’s a task for recognition and communication for our quarterbacks, our wide receivers, our tight ends, our offensive line.”

The good news for South Carolina is that it has a veteran quarterback leading the way in Spencer Rattler.

However, the Gamecocks are also inexperienced at some positions on offense, including offensive line. Loggains believes his offense will have to play extremely well to have a chance to pull off the upset.

“They create a lot of stress – not just because they’re so talented and they’ve done such a good job recruiting. But they tackle well, and then you put the scheme on top if it, which will be arguably one of the toughest schemes we face this year, if not the toughest,” Loggains said. “So they offer a lot of different challenges that way.”