Sept. 17, 2015

The University of South Carolina football team (1-1, 0-1 SEC) practiced again Thursday afternoon on its new practice fields in preparation for Saturday’s SEC Eastern Division showdown with the No. 7/8 Georgia Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 SEC) in Athens.

South Carolina co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke expects to see a balanced Georgia attack on Saturday. “They run the ball extremely well,” said Hoke. “The times they have thrown the ball, you can see they have excellent receivers. The quarterbacks have strong arms. They haven’t had to play balanced football right now. They’ve played to run the ball, but they’re very capable of throwing the ball so it’s going to be a balanced offense is what we’re expecting.”

Hoke knows the Bulldogs have a special running back in Nick Chubb. “Just watching his tape from what I’ve seen last year and this year, he’s an outstanding back,” said Hoke. “He doesn’t need much. He can make a lot out of a little. He’s very talented.”

Hoke feels that his team is well-prepared for Georgia style of offense after seeing spread offenses through the first two weeks. “Our offense does a little bit of both, so they do a great job during the season and during training camp of helping us prepare for this. (Offensive line) coach (Shawn) Elliott has some drills and teamwork together where it does help us.”

Saturday’s game will be televised nationally on ESPN with Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge in the booth and Holly Rowe working the sidelines. Game time is set for 6 p.m. ET. The Gamecocks have won four of the last five meetings with the Bulldogs.