The no. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (10-0, 8-0 SEC) are set to face Charleston Southern this Saturday, November 20th at noon ET. This will be the final home game for the Bulldogs who will have an opportunity to honor their seniors after last year’s senior day game against Vanderbilt was cancelled. Head coach Kirby Smart on the seniors, “I can’t thank those guys enough for what they’ve done to this point for this program.”
Georgia has one career meeting against Charleston Southern where the Bulldogs came out on top 55-9 back in 2014. Kirby Smart spoke on the importance of these games stating, “It funds sometimes 50% of their athletic budget to have these games. There’s a group of young men that’s going to come in here and get an experience they would never get otherwise. If you ask me personally, I’m all about promoting the game of football. By taking away these opportunities for these universities, you take away scholarship opportunities for kids that want to go play.”
The top-ranked Bulldogs who are coming off clinching the first 8-0 SEC regular season record in program history will have a chance to get healthy this week. The expectation is that the starters will play a limited amount while players without much game action this season will have an opportunity to get game reps with a big lead.
With just under three weeks until Georgia is set to play in the fourth SEC championship game under head coach Kirby Smart, the top-ranked Bulldog’s have found themselves in the best position to prepare for that with this matchup against 4-5 Charleston Southern and next week’s matchup with 3-7 Georgia Tech as the Bulldogs look to finish the season unbeaten. Stetson Bennett is set to start his 7th-straight game at quarterback and currently ranks 3rd in the country in passing efficiency. Coach Smart after last week’s win against Tennessee said, “He can still play better. He can make good decisions and not try to make every play an elite play.”
With running back Kendall Milton still missing significant time with a knee injury, expect no Bulldog back to see significant carries this week in an attempt to keep them fresh moving forward.
The top-ranked Bulldog defense may still be shuffling lineups this late in the season. Early in the Tennessee game, safety Chris Smith slid to the STAR position while Dan Jackson moved the safety spot. This lineup change in response to Tennessee scoring on their first two drives helped hold the Volunteers without another point until late in the fourth quarter. Coach Smart mentioned, “Chris hasn’t cross-trained much and didn’t practice much at STAR until last week.” This game could provide a great opportunity to rotate lineups and find more ways to continue to improve a defense that has only given up 7 offensive touchdowns all season.
Georgia’s matchup vs. Charleston Southern will air on SECN+/ESPN+ as the Bulldog’s look for their 15th straight win dating back to last season.
