Oct. 4, 2012

The University of South Carolina football team worked Thursday afternoon at the Bluff Road practice fields. The sixth-ranked Gamecocks (5-0, 3-0 SEC) are preparing for Saturday’s SEC Eastern Division showdown with the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (5-0, 3-0 SEC).

South Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward knows his unit will have its hands full trying to slow down the high-powered Georgia attack. “They lead the league in a lot of statistical categories,” said Ward. “We’ve just got to play defense. The bottom line is to get lined up and execute what we’ve got called on defense and I think we’ll be fine.”

The Bulldogs’ freshmen running back tandem has been explosive this season. “They’ve been in some situations where they’ve been one-on-one with people in the perimeter and they’ve made them miss,” noted Ward. “When they’ve made them miss, then they’ve got the speed to take it to the house. They both were track guys. If you get them in space, they’re going to make some big plays and Georgia has made a ton of big plays this season.

“We’re going to line up,” continued Ward. “We’re going to do what we do on defense and I’m sure Georgia is going to do what they do on offense. So we’ll see what the end result will be.”

Game time is set for 7 p.m. at a sold out Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN with Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit in the booth and Heather Cox on the sidelines.