Dowell Loggains shares philosophy for scouting Georgia's defense

Things have gone smoothly so far for South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. But he knows everything is about to crank up a notch this weekend.

The Gamecocks are set to head down to Athens, where they’ll take on No. 1 Georgia. As the two-time defending national champions, the Bulldogs are a team without many flaws. They will be a challenge unlike anything Loggains has seen this year.

“It’s an extremely talented team. I mean, they’ve got four- and five-star players and they’ve recruited really well. They play with an intensity I think they get from their head coach,” Loggains said.

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For Loggains, his job has been far from simple. He will be tasked with creating a game plan that is good enough to conquer one of the best defenses in the country.

“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 three,” Loggains said. “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 of it, which will be arguably one of the toughest schemes we face this year, if not the toughest.”

Over the last two years, Georgia has been the top defense in the SEC. And that hasn’t changed this year. The Bulldogs have only allowed one touchdown in two games, though the competition wasn’t on the same level of what the SEC slate will be.

From what Loggains has seen on tape, he knows it will be like facing an NFL-caliber defense.

“They’ve played two games so you have a little bit better of an understanding of their roster,” Loggains said. “When you watch the tape, I mean, you can see why the Philadelphia Eagles are good because half their team plays for them.”

In his scouting reports, Loggains’ focus hasn’t only been on the player personnel. One of the first things he looks at is the coaching staff and where they’ve been.

As Loggains pointed out, Georgia has some of the best coaches out there. It starts with head coach Kirby Smart, who comes from a defensive background. Then there’s Will Muschamp and Glenn Schumann running things as co-defensive coordinators. Together, it makes for a lot of research on Loggains’ plate.

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“It’s a very knowledge group. They’re very well-coached, and you can tell it’s also a group that loves football because when you watch their tape from year in and year out there’s always new themes, there’s new schemes. They do a good job of taking the personnel they have and studying other things that other people are doing and finding what fits them,” Loggains said.

“And they’re also creative on the defense with how they use their personnel. They don’t put their guys in bad situations very much. Most of the time, it’s an advantageous situation. So when you put a bunch of really good players in advantageous situations you get a product like they have.”

To come out of Athens with a win, Loggains knows his group will have to play almost perfect football. South Carolina must limit its mistakes, otherwise Georgia will find ways to make them pay. Ultimately for him, it comes down to the mindset the offense has going into this game.

“When you play teams like this, it really is about you. We all know that this team is really talented. They’re the No. 1 team in the country, they’ve won two national titles,” Loggains said. “But you have to make them earn everything and you can’t give them things. And if you do, then it gets lopsided real fast because they’re a talented, well-coached team, and they deserve everything they’ve gotten, they’ve earned it.”

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