South Carolina football had the unenviable task of taking on the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. A capacity crowd at Sanford Stadium had some additional motivation heading into the game as Georgia coach Kirby Smart turned an innocuous comment from Gamecock defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway about Tennessee and Texas A&M into a slight against Bulldog fans.
On the field, it was both teams’ first SEC contest and a game that would be an indicator of what fans of each team could expect for the rest of the season. The matchup was much more competitive than many experts thought it would be.
For a shorter summary of the Georgia game, click here.
South Carolina Football vs. Georgia:
A Game Summary
The opening kickoff from Georgia sailed out of bounds, and the Gamecocks took the field at the 35-yard line with a brand new left tackle as true freshman Tree Babalade earned the job, moving left tackle Sidney Fugar to right tackle and Tyshawn Wannamaker to the bench.
The Gamecock offense moved the ball well on the first drive, primarily through the air. Quarterback Spencer Rattler hit his backup Luke Doty three times for short gains (his only three catches of the afternoon) and Xavier Legette for a nice catch on the sideline. Most noteworthy, however, was the fact that Antwane “Juice” Wells had a catch and looked smooth running after the catch, perhaps indicating his toe/foot injury was behind him.
After a penalty and a loss, Wells showed some juice by taking a screen pass and slicing his way through almost the entire Bulldog defense for a 17-yard touchdown to give South Carolina football the lead 7-0. It was the first time Georgia had allowed points in the 1st quarter this season. Rattler hit five total receivers on the drive, going 8-8 for 62 yards.
A Mitch Jeter touchback gave UGA the ball at the 25-yard line, but unfortunately for Carolina, the ‘Dawgs did not stay there. A combination of run plays and short passes moved Georgia down the field, but a combined sack for TJ Sanders, Stone Blanton, and Drew Tuazama moved them behind the sticks (Sanders ended up with credit for the sack as the first man there).
A Tonka Hemingway hit on Georgia quarterback Carson Beck forced an incompletion that would have ended the drive, but a DQ Smith holding call in the secondary gave the ‘Dawgs new life. That new life was enough to earn Mike Bobo’s offense a field goal opportunity. Freshman Peyton Woodring nailed the kick, bringing the score to 7-3 in favor of the ‘Cocks.
During the Georgia drive, Juice Wells was taken to the locker room, barely putting any weight on his foot. After appearing to be just fine on the score, he started feeling the effects of a new injury to his left foot and was forced to leave the game.
The Gamecocks managed just one first down on the next drive before Kai Kroeger took the field for the first time for the first punt of the day. The first quarter ended with the Gamecocks on top 7-3, and the Bulldogs took over with over 14:00 to go in the half.
After a couple of UGA first downs, TJ Sanders continued his strong day (a tackle for loss and 0.5 sack on the first drive) by knocking down a Carson Beck pass to force a Bulldog punt.
As the rain intensified in Athens, the Gamecock offense moved the ball a little before coming up just short on 3rd down after an acrobatic Xavier Legette catch. A Kai Kroeger punt pinned the ‘Dawgs inside their own 20.
A few big runs from Bulldog running back Daijun Edwards moved the Georgia offense to the 50-yard line. On a 3rd-and-short, TJ Sanders had another stop for no gain, but the Bulldogs went for it on 4th down, converting with a short pass to tight end Oscar Delp.
A Stone Blanton late hit on a Carson Beck scramble put Georgia in prime position to score again, but Debo Williams made back-to-back nice plays with a tackle for loss and good coverage on Delp. A TJ Sanders tackle in space forced another field goal, but the score remained 7-3 as Woodring’s try missed way left.
With 3:27 left in the half, Spencer Rattler led the troops back on the field against both the Bulldogs and the driving rain. An impressive scramble through the teeth of the defense was followed up with a Georgia facemask.
Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains took a deep shot to Xavier Legette (have we heard that one before?), and the Gamecocks were all of a sudden within striking distance once again. Another nice scramble from Rattler put USC at the 15-yard line. After a false start, Rattler hit a wide open Trey Knox to get the ball down to the 2-yard line. A wildcat carry for DK Joyner kept the Sanford crowd conspicuously quiet as he crossed the goal line, putting his team up 14-3 with 1:00 left in the half.
Georgia picked up two first downs on the ensuing drive, but a Stone Blanton sack (forced by excellent pressure from Bryan Thomas, Jr.) ended the half. Just as everyone expected, South Carolina football was whipping the Georgia Bulldogs. At halftime, the score stood 14-3 in favor of the visitors in garnet and black.
Georgia got the ball to start the second half, and it didn’t take long before the ‘Dawgs made their move. A Carson Beck deep ball to RaRa Thomas was followed up with a strong run from Kendall Milton, and it was 1st-and-goal for UGA. Two plays later, Daijun Edwards scored from seven yards out, and, in the blink of an eye, the 14-3 lead shrunk to 14-10.
A hold on the kickoff return backed up Rattler and the offense to the 8-yard line. A short gain on 1st down was more than erased on 2nd when the Georgia overload blitz got home. An incompletion and a punt out of the Gamecock end zone meant that the Bulldogs would take over near midfield with momentum on their side.
O’Donnell Fortune made a nice play to knock away a deep shot on the first play, but Brock Bowers immediately picked up a first down on the next snap. The Gamecock defense couldn’t hold up as Georgia converted three more first downs (including a 4th-and-inches quarterback sneak) to get the ball to the 3-yard line.
Eerily similar to a play from the season opener against UNC, Carolina had too many men on the field, but do-it-all Georgia playmaker Dillon Bell scored anyway to give the ‘Dawgs their first lead at 17-14.
.The Gamecocks were not going to go quietly, however. Rattler hit Eddie Lewis for a big gain, DK Joyner picked up 7 for the longest running back carry of the day, and O’Mega Blake caught a pass for the first down. Unfortunately for South Carolina football fans, Georgia tightened up and forced the Gamecocks out of field goal range after sacking Spencer Rattler on a twist stunt.
Georgia escaped the poor field position that came after the Kroeger punt and picked up two first downs to move to near the middle of the field. A big gain from Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and some Georgia offensive line push put UGA in the red zone before a couple of stops and a holding penalty forced another Woodring kick. After missing to the left earlier in the game, he pushed this one right, keeping the score at 17-14.
The Gamecocks couldn’t do anything after the lucky break, and a Trey Knox drop on 3rd down killed what would have been a nice conversion from Rattler. A short Kroeger punt (something that is becoming an unexpected theme this season) set up the ‘Dawgs with a short field.
The red and black offensive line continued asserting its dominance against a defensive line who, other than TJ Sanders, couldn’t get anything going. Mike Bobo’s offense pushed its way down the field, and walk-on running back Cash Jones scored from 13 yards out to push the lead to two scores. 21-straight Bulldog points made the score 24-14.
Carolina drove to midfield but couldn’t convert an ill-advised 4th-and-15 try, giving the ball back to Georgia. The Bulldogs tried to salt the clock, but the Carolina defense stood tall and forced a 3-and-out.
Self-inflicted wounds (a drop from Xavier Legette, a false start from Sidney Fugar, and a lack of awareness from Trey Knox) almost killed the next drive, but Spencer Rattler found O’Mega Blake twice for first downs to keep hope alive. Another big gain to Josh Simon was negated by an ugly hold by Jakai Moore.
An interception by safety Dan Jackson on a desperate 3rd-and-20 heave all but ended the game. Georgia killed some more clock before the Gamecocks forced another punt, but there likely was not enough time for the Carolina offense to do what needed to be done.
Another desperate Rattler interception ended things as all Georgia had to do was kneel it out to finish off the 24-14 win.
Spencer Rattler was really good once again until Georgia began dominating up front. TJ Sanders had a nice game for the defense, and Debo Williams and Nick Emmanwori cleaned up a lot of the mess left behind by a defensive line that got pushed around (other than Sanders).