SCARed Money

In October of 2016, King Kirby Smart (long may he reign) was entering his second month as UGA's head coach. After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Dawgs were coming off two consecutive losses. The first was a 45-14 blowout courtesy of Swag Kelly and Ole Miss, and the second was a 34-31 loss to Tennessee in the Josh Dobbs Hail Mary game. Even though the season was expected to be a challenging one because of the obvious holes in the roster, morale was pretty low. On top of that, the Dawgs had lost to SCAR the previous 3 times they traveled to Columbia, SC in 2010, 2012, and 2014. That stretch was a golden age of sorts for the SCAR program under longtime UGA nemesis, Coach Steve Spurrier.

Due to Hurricane Matthew, the 2016 game was moved from Saturday to Sunday. Williams-Brice Stadium is near the top of the list in the hostility and crowd noise categories of the soon-to-be published Dtru stadium rankings. However, with kickoff set for 2:30 PM on a Sunday afternoon, it was a lower energy environment (which benefited the Dawgs). I went to that game with the usual contingent including Brett, AO, and Kyle. Also in attendance was our friend Chris, who is a SCAR fan and happens to be getting married later today. Congrats in advance sir, and thanks for scheduling on a Friday! Priorities, right?

What we saw that day was an unprecedented display of passing innovation and efficiency from the UGA offense. White hot heat served up from future NFL draft pick Jacob Eason, who finished the day with 1.7 Yards per Attempt and a QBR of 5.7. It's not fair to place too much blame on a true freshman QB working with a depleted roster (and Jim Chaney as OC). Suffice to say, the Dawgs were fortunate that Nick Chubb and Sony Michel were on the team and managed to grind out an ugly win. Please take a second to admire the box score below.

Dtru's nickels

1. After week 2, Bill Connelly's SP+ has SCAR ranked 46th overall (61st offensive and 32nd defensive).

2. SCAR is ranked 20th overall in the 247 Sports College Football Team Talent Composite

3. Spencer Rattler was ranked as the 11th overall player and top QB in the 247 Sports Composite rankings in 2019 (just ahead of our old friend JT Daniels). After transferring to SCAR this past offseason, Rattler is off to a shaky start with a QBR of 41.7 through 2 games (100th in the nation). Part of this can be attributed to poor performances from the SCAR offensive line, which has allowed 9 sacks in two games. Rattler will be looking to get back on track against a young but talented Junkyard Dawgs defense. That may prove to be a tall task.

4. OLB Jordan Burch was ranked as the 8th overall player in the 2020 recruiting class, and is leading SCAR with 15 tackles and a sack on the season. Another former 5-star in the SCAR front 7 is DL Zacch Pickens. Neither Burch nor Pickens has quite lived up to their respective recruiting rankings, but both are major contributors and Burch is off to his best start yet in Columbia. I don't think the SCAR front 7 has the depth to hang around for 4 quarters, but they do have some talent.

5. The last time the Dawgs opened as 23.5 point favorites against SCAR, the Gamecocks pulled off a stunning upset in Athens. The line is currently UGA -25. Can't play scared and expect to win. Dawgs cover.