ATHENS — It doesn’t take a defensive expert to recognize Jake Fromm’s importance to the Georgia football team.
But that’s what happens over and over when opponents are asked to assess Kirby Smart’s football program.
South Carolina coach Will Muschamp followed suit on his Sunday night teleconference, his Gamecocks coming off a bye week in preparation for next Saturday’s noon showdown at Sanford Stadium.
“Offensively everything starts with Jake Fromm, an experienced guy, he’s completing close to 80 percent of his passes and I think he was 24 of 29 (Saturday) night,” Muschamp said, asked by DawgNation for his thoughts on the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs.
“Very accurate with the football, takes it to the right spot. Very experienced with their offense and what they do.”
But, Muschamp knows, Fromm has plenty of complimentary pieces to work with.
It was interesting, and perhaps telling to note which UGA players Muschamp mentioned in his breakdown.
“Extremely talented at the running back position where it’s (D’Andre) Swift, (Brian) Herrien, (James) Cook, (and) Zamir White is a good player,” Muschamp said, continuing his breakdown.
“A little younger at wideout than probably they’ve been, but Tyler Simmons and (Lawrence) Cager has been a good pickup for them, as far as a graduate transfer. He’s a big body guy, but they are talented outside” he said.
“Big and athletic up front, Isaiah Wilson and the entire front is 330 plus. (They’re) very big and athletic, they want to run the football. But they do a really good job of throwing the ball down the field and Jake is very accurate.”
That pretty much sums it up on offense.
“Defensively, very deep in their front 7, they are able to rotate and play a bunch of guys up front, big and hard to move,” Muschamp said. “They go in and out of three-down and four-down fronts. Active at the linebacker position, and they’ve got some length and athleticism in the secondary.”
The Bulldogs also have some experienced and added complexity this season, Muschamp noted.
“They mix coverages and do a good job of disguising what they do, they have two very experienced safeties in (J.R.) Reed and (Richard) LeCounte, they are both guys that are very active as far as directing what they do and on the back end.,” Muschamp said.
“They do a nice job of moving and giving you split safety looks and middle field looks, and switching to the other and trying to confuse the quarterback as much as possible,” he said. “Both guys are very experienced good players, and when you have guys like that it helps your defense being able to disguise and move in and out of things.”
Muschamp also said he’s impressed with the Bulldogs special teams unit.
“They have a deep football team, a really good placekicker and good punter, and good team speed on special teams,” he said, “so they have a good team.”
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