A savage preseason prediction

On the surface, this is a pretty standard looking preview of Georgia’s season — Dawgs go 9-1, with the only regular season loss at Alabama — but dig a little deeper and you’ll be rewarded with this:

November 28

Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia, S.C.)

Series History: Georgia leads 51-18-2, but the Gamecocks delivered one of the biggest upsets in recent memory last season

Most Recent Meeting: South Carolina defeated Georgia 20-17 (2OT) on October 12, 2019

Georgia will be out for blood here, and as a result, South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp gets fired. The Bulldogs put up their highest point total of the season as Zamir White, James Cook and George Pickens all top 100 yards of offense. Throw in a special teams touchdown on a punt return, and this one is over early. Georgia tops 500 yards of total offense in route to a big win.

Score: Georgia 45, South Carolina 7

Boom getting Kirby’d the year after beating him?  As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold and that’s about as cold a take as you can find.

Third time’s a charm.

Shot.

Tennessee has yet to win an opener under Pruitt, losing 40-14 against West Virginia in Charlotte two years ago and getting stunned 38-30 by Georgia State last season in Neyland Stadium. https://t.co/VdYzntPIu0

— Vols Update (@VolsUpdate) September 21, 2020

Chaser.

REMINDER: Will Muschamp owns a 7-1 record in eight games as a head coach vs. the #Vols, who are three-point favorites Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. The total is 48 points. #Gamecocks

— Brian Edwards Sports (@vegasbedwards) September 21, 2020

Even Booch and SOD managed to win their openers.

You know, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings in the slightest if Boom managed to pull off an upset Saturday.

The perfect man for the job

Ladies and gentlemen, this is South Carolina football.

Boom’s busts

Via Josh Kendall ($$) come these two factual tidbits:

• “Florida went through five starting quarterbacks during Muschamp’s four years there. Last season, South Carolina sophomore Ryan Hilinski became the fifth player to start for Muschamp at the position.”
• “Bobo will be the fifth play caller in Muschamp’s nine seasons as a head coach, and Kurt Roper was hired twice, once at Florida and again at South Carolina.”

Agent Muschamp sure has worked with some considerate ADs in his career.

The Kirby and Boom Show

Like it or not, they’re gonna make you laugh, especially when they talk about Nick “Cutting Edge Technology” Saban.

From talking about family to fixing technology to talking about Nick Saban's film routine, @KirbySmartUGA is surprised by @CoachWMuschamp and they dive into it all on "Connected." pic.twitter.com/loa0pW55k0

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) May 8, 2020

Boom has a question.

In this appearance, Muschamp made clear he'll be ready to play when powers that be mandate but this comment was interesting, "It’s not my call, but all I’ll say is, 'If it’s not safe for the fans, how’s it safe for our players?'" @TheAthleticCFB https://t.co/WqyCPvCB8w

— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) April 30, 2020

Or the coaches themselves, for that matter.

“Familiarity” in Columbia

Knowing Agent Muschamp’s track record with offensive coordinators, I’m not sure I’d be thrilled to read this, were I a Gamecock fan.

Of course, the main reason Bobo now is in Columbia after his five season run as Colorado State head coach is because of the person who occupies the head coaches’ suite.

Will Muschamp and Bobo were Georgia teammates for two seasons who have stayed in touch as they each climbed the coaching ladder. Muschamp was a Bulldog team captain as a senior in 1994 and Bobo his junior and senior seasons in 1996 and 1997.

“We’ve always talked, we’ve always stayed close,” Muschamp said. “When I felt like I needed to make some changes here, he was the one and only guy I planned on talking to. I did talk to some other people, but Mike was the guy that I wanted here. I trust Mike as a person and a coach. I saw what he did at Georgia and I saw him adjust to a lot of different personnel groupings at Colorado State. I thought he did a fantastic job in watching their film. He and I coach a lot alike. He’s liked minded as far as those things are concerned. I think that’s always important as a coach to be philosophically aligned with people on your staff.”

Nah, I think I’d be more optimistic if Boom had said, “Mike’s looked at what I’ve done for years with my OCs and thinks it’s total crap.”

Agent Muschamp is the new Agent Muschamp.

Wheels within wheels, baby.

The Georgia Bulldogs added another piece of the 2020 puzzle on the eve of National Signing Day. Jackson Muschamp, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback out of Columbia, South Carolina, has verbally committed to Kirby Smart as a preferred walk-on quarterback after taking an official visit this past weekend to Athens. He is the oldest son of South Carolina head coach and former UGA football captain, Will Muschamp…

In the end, the chance to play his college days in Athens was too much to pass on.

“Just thinking about it more, that opportunity to go to Georgia, and I have always wanted to go there,” he said.”They never really stopped recruiting me since I went to camp there last summer. It was just an opportunity I could not really pass up. I am fortunate enough to be in a situation where I could go walk on somewhere like Georgia in the first place. I am super excited about it.”

Any decision on his college future was going to be supported by his family and especially by his Dad.

“He was super happy for me. We kind of decided a long time ago that I was going to kind of do my own thing and blaze my own trail, no matter where he was coaching,” he said.”He knows I love Georgia and how much I wanted to be there, and he was ok with me doing whatever I wanted to do. He was happy when I committed to Colorado State, but he also supports my decision to go to Georgia.”

Muschamp will report shortly after graduating in late May.

“I am going to Georgia to work and compete. I will do whatever I am asked to do, to make the team better,” he said.”I am definitely going there to compete. I am so excited about it. I have always wanted to go to Georgia.”

You have to appreciate his taste, at least.  Should make for some interesting dinner chatter around the Thanksgiving table at the Muschamp house.  For that matter, it should make for some interesting chatter on the recruiting trail for Kirby Smart.

What’s the over/under on the number of paranoid Georgia fans who fret about what info Jackson’s passing back to daddy?

December is for trolling, pt. 2

If you follow recruiting more closely than I do — admittedly, that’s not saying much — then you’re probably aware that Georgia hosted a bunch of its top targets this weekend, including this kid:

The nation’s No. 1 strong-side DE prospect (Hammond School/Columbia, SC) has been a mystery across the entire recruiting cycle. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior does no media. He plays in the same city as South Carolina. His quarterback at Hammond is the son of Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp.

That would be Jackson Muschamp, who is also a senior.  Why mention him specifically?  Welp, according to some on the South Carolina 247 message board, Kirby has offered Jackson as a preferred walk on.

That’s a lovely box Smart’s constructed for Agent Muschamp.  Especially if, as one commenter there put it, “Lol if we lose Burch because Will’s son is going to UGA”.

A thought to warm a chilly December

Just remember one thing as you ponder another Sugar Bowl trip to watch a Georgia team with key players sitting out against another Big 12 opponent likely to be better motivated:

True story, Georgia might've made the Playoff even with a blowout loss to LSU if not for one man pic.twitter.com/8U27e8xK0X

— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) December 8, 2019

Then again, without the upset, Boom might not be coming back for another year of greatness in Columbia.  Life is full of trade offs.