Corey: With opening night of the Olympics 15 days away, baseball has begun its media dominance. Naturally, my time has been spent watching countless hours of NCIS reruns. But we here at alligatorSports have a solution: football talk. Yes, it’s time to start dreaming of the gridiron. So, to kick it off, we debate who will win the Southeastern Conference’s East Division this season. And despite kicking them to the curb on NCAA 13 the other day, I’m taking South Carolina — luckily ECU is a non-conference game. The Gamecocks are coming off of an 11-2 record, and with the Ol’ Ball Coach in charge, this is their year. Marcus Lattimore comes back healthy from an ACL tear, quarterback Connor Shaw will have only improved from last season and both starting safeties return to a secondary that was second in passing defense in the nation last year. Let the Cock growl.
Joe: In the words of sportscaster Dan Patrick, “Don’t play with fire, scarecrow.” Baseball is a national treasure! Now, I’ll move on to our college football debate. Georgia won the SEC East last year, and guess what. The Bulldogs will be in the Georgia Dome for a second straight year come Dec. 1. Granted, UGA coach Mark Richt kicked rising sophomore running back Isaiah Crowell off the team after he was arrested for scratching the serial number off a gun. That’s a clown felony, Cro. However, the Bulldogs return starting quarterback Aaron Murray — the best quarterback in the SEC — and lost only two starters on defense. When the 2012 SEC Championship Game pops up on the schedule, Georgia will be saying, “Ock, ohem, oktei, weis, Atlanta.” Yes, that was another John Carter reference.
Corey: Any true movie fan would know that, Joe, just like every football fan can admit that the competition in the East this year will finally live up to the hype, unlike the aforementioned movie. Come October, both teams will be 3-0 in SEC play and looking to take control of the division. Playing at home, those pesky ‘Cocks will prevail. Shaw will follow up his breakout season, where he put up a passer rating of 148.31, threw 14 touchdowns and rushed for eight in 10 games, with yet another strong year. And now that the offense has their cornerstone in Lattimore back, it will be that much easier for the junior quarterback. The defense returns six players responsible for giving up only 267.7 yards a game, good enough for third in the country. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney will make his way into a starting role and prove why he was the No. 1 overall recruit two years ago. Off the bench last season, he was responsible for 12 tackles behind the line, including eight sacks, including one against Georgia that forced a fumble returned for a touchdown, which ultimately was the winning touchdown. I hear Murray has been afraid of clowns ever since.
Joe: Everybody is afraid of clowns, but Clowney won’t scare Murray. The Bulldogs signal-caller is a bona fide Heisman Trophy candidate this season, and that is the truth. During his sophomore season, Murray led the SEC with 35 touchdown passes and ranked second with 3,149 yards through the air. With another year of experience under his belt, Georgia will be just fine offensively. Granted, UGA lost three of its five starting offensive linemen from 2011, but with a calm, collected Murray at the helm, they should be fine. However, as much talent as Murray boasts in the Bulldogs backfield, Georgia’s defense will be the reason for its second straight trip to the SEC Championship Game. As I said before, the unit that ranked fifth in the nation — not too far behind third-place South Carolina — in total defense (277.2 yards per game) last season only loses two starters compared to the Gamecocks’ five. Defensive end DeAngelo Tyson is the only Bulldog not returning from Georgia’s starting front seven, which ranked third in the SEC behind Alabama and LSU with just 101.2 yards allowed on the ground per game last season. Linebacker Jarvis Jones, the SEC’s reigning sack leader (13.5), anchors the group. As far as the secondary is concerned, look no further than free safety Bacarri Rambo. The senior, who led the SEC with eight interceptions and ranked second with 16 passes defended, dominated opposing wide receivers in 2011 and looks to do so again in 2012. With a talented, experienced defense and a polished quarterback, UGA is primed for another trip to Atlanta in December. And don’t even get me started on the schedule. Georgia’s SEC West foes this season are Ole Miss (yawn) and Auburn (tradition) — both very winnable games. The true tests will be road games against Missouri and South Carolina. As far as Columbia, S.C., the Bulldogs have won four out of the last five games they have played against the Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium. If UGA wants a true road test, they should travel to Barsoom and face off against the Tharks and Dotar Sojat John Carter. Georgia has the easiest path to the Georgia Dome this season, and they are the best-equipped team to get there.
Contact Corey McCall at cmccall@alligator.org and contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw throws against Florida in a 17-12 win Nov. 12. Shaw threw 14 touchdown passes and ran for eight last season.
