COLUMBIA, S.C. — Shane Beamer has seen enough from Georgia football to know something has to change for South Carolina to score an upset.

The Gamecocks rank 129th out of 131 team in rushing defense through two games (247.5 yards) while ranking 125th in rushing themselves (125th in the nation).

“We have to work hard as coaches to come up with a plan to be able to run the ball because it will be a long day Saturday if we’re not able to run the ball a bit, that’s just a fact,” said Beamer, whose South Carolina plays host to the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs at noon on Saturday.

“And then also be able to stop the run, because frankly, Georgia is watching our tape from Arkansas last Saturday and probably feels really good about being able to hand the ball to those big running backs that they have in Athens.”

Coach Kirby Smart has indeed seen to it than juniors Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards get the downhill run game going while Kenny McIntosh has been playmaking as a receiver on the perimeter.

Beamer said Georgia is capable of being even more diverse than it has shown this season -- a scary thought considering the Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring defense and rank second in passing yards per game.

“There’s not a huge body of work because they’ve had two blowout wins, so you’re guessing a little bit,” Beamer said. “Oregon turned the ball over two times in first three possessions, and it was pretty much over after that. In the Sanford game it was 30-0 at halftime …”

“Offensively you see them using the tight ends with (Darnell) Washington and (Brock) Bowers and (Arik) Gilbert, the way they roll those three guys in there makes them very multiple,” Beamer said.

“I don’t think they’ve turned the ball over yet, so they are doing a good job of being efficient and protecting the football.”

Beamer said Georgia hasn’t had to show much variety on defense, either, even thought it’s the only FBS team to have not allowed a touchdown this season.

“They may come out on Saturday and be a lot more multiple than they’ve been the first two games,” Beamer predicted.

“They have really good players, really tough, really physical, and they make it hard to run it,” he said.

" Then we you throw it, it will be competitive catches — they have size in the secondary, and they are really good,” Beamer said. “There’s not a lot of teams with wide-open receivers running down the field, and if you do get that, they aren’t going to be wide-open for long because of their closing speed.”

Beamer’s father, College Football Hall of Fame Coach Frank Beamer, was known for elite special teams play and Shane Beamer has coached those units himself.

Shane Beamer also knows from his time at Georgia that Smart places a premium on those units.

“I know the emphasis Kirby puts on that, I saw that directly,” Beamer said. “You turn on the tape and there’s Brock Bowers covering punts, and there’s Ladd McConkey covering punts, and there’s Nolan Smith on punt pressure team trying to block punts.”

It has been a busy week of preparation in Columbia, to say the least.

“ Anytime you have the number one team in the country coming into your stadium, you don’t have to motivate your guys,” Beamer said. “Georgia has our respect, they are deserving.

“I’m still trying to find a weakness on their football team, and I”m having a hard time.”