No. 5 Bulldogs ‘Spurriered’ by No. 6 South Carolina, 35-7 (UPDATED)
Georgia coach Mark Richt (R) congratulates South Carolina's Steve Spurrier on the Gamecocks' third win in a row over the Bulldogs. They're now 4-4 against each other. (AJC photo by Bob Andres)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — It’s starting to look like Steve Spurrier is going to be just as frustrating for Georgia at South Carolina as he was at Florida.
The Ol’ Ball Coach had his No. 6 Gamecocks clicking on all cylinders Saturday night against the No. 5 Bulldogs at Williams-Brice Stadium. In the most-hyped game in the history of this series, South Carolina jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 35-7 victory.
The win was the Gamecocks’ third in a row over Georgia — the first time in the 118-year history of the rivalry they’ve done that — and makes Spurrier 15-5 as a coach against the Bulldogs. He was 11-1 as the Gators’ coach and 4-4 since he’s been at South Carolina. Including his stints in the NFL and USFL, it was Spurrier’s 250th career victory.
“Having it against the Georgia Bulldogs was special,” said Spurrier, who was 1-2 against Georgia as a Florida quarterback. “They are a team that used to beat my alma mater pretty well. I have been very fortunate against a coach as them, not so much as a player, but as coach, so that was special.”
The loss was kind of a double-whammy for the Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) because Florida also scored a big 14-6 win over LSU Saturday in Gainesville. Georgia will need to the Gamecocks to drop two games and then have to beat what could be a Top 5 Florida team to return to the Georgia Dome as Eastern Division champions.
South Carolina (6-0, 3-0) plays on the road at LSU and Florida the next two weeks.
Georgia falls to 3-5 in top 10 matchups under coach Mark Richt and 3-10 when the ESPN College GameDay crew happens to be in attendance. The last time the Bulldogs won one of these marquee games was against Hawaii in Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2008.
The Bulldogs will try to regroup during next week’s off week. They’ll resume play at Kentucky (1-5, 0-3) on Oct. 20.
“Tonight we weren’t very good,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “But the world didn’t end. We’ve still got a lot of things to play for and a lot of good things can still happen.”
The Bulldogs had boldly stated that their goal this year was to reach Miami and to play for the BCS championship. How, then, Richt was asked, can they be expected to rebound from such humiliating loss?
“They’ll be fine,” Richt said. “They’re supposed to dream big; I want them to dream big. They’re good men and they’re going to fight. They’ll come back together and win again.”
The Gamecocks’ offensive charge was led by Georgia native Connor Shaw. The junior quarterback from Flowery Branch who’s best known for his running ability,gashed the Bulldogs’ defense with arm as well. He finished with 162 yards on just six completions – an average of 27 yards per – and threw for two touchdowns. Shaw also had 78 yards rushing and scored an in-your-face touchdown on a 7-yard run with 6:17 remaining in the game.
“He was pretty much reading me,” said Georgia’s All-American outside linebacker Jarvis Jones. “If I got up field he was going to take off running. . . . He’s a good player. He made plays with his feet and he was fast, faster than I thought he was.”
South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore had yet another 100-yard game against Georgia. The junior from Duncan, S.C., had 109 on 24 carries and a touchdown, giving him 467 yards and 4 TDs in three games against the Bulldogs.
The Gamecocks finished with 392 yards against Georgia’s once-vaunted defense. After finishing fifth in the nation last season in total defense, the Bulldogs entered Saturday’s game 55th. They will drop again this week
“I don’t think that team is 35 points better than us, or whatever it was,” UGA senior cornerback Sanders Commings said. “We just made too many mistakes tonight; gave up some big plays, had some penalties, turnovers. You can’t win games like that.”
The most impressive part of South Carolina’s victory had nothing to do with Spurrier’s famous “ball plays.” It was defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward’s unit had Carolina on the verge of shutting out the Bulldogs for the first time since they lost to Alabama 31-0 in 1995. Georgia came in leading the SEC in scoring (48.2 ppg) and yards (536 ypg). The Bulldogs hadn’t scored fewer than 41 points in a game all season.
It was a tough night for quarterback Aaron Murray, who came in with the knock of having never beaten a ranked team on the road. Harassed all night by the Gamecocks’ rangy defensive ends Jadeveon Clowney and Devin Taylor, he completed just 11-of-31 passes for 109 yards and threw an interception. The Bulldogs, who finished with just 220 total yards, scored a meaningless touchdown in the game’s final three minutes with South Carolina’s victory well in hand.
“Very talented defense all over the board,” Murray said of South Carolina’s defense. “They’re up there with the best I’ve ever played. They’re definitely one of the top ones.”
This one was over quick South Carolina shot out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter on two long drives and a punt return for a touchdown.
The game could not have started any worse for Georgia. The Bulldogs won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving the Gamecocks the ball to start the game.
South Carolina wasted no time doing something with it. Gaining 62 yards on two pass plays, the Gamecocks covered 76 yards in 2:32 and scored on a 20-yard pass from Shaw to Bruce Ellington. On both passes South Carolina receivers for behind safety Bacarri Rambo.
The Bulldogs got a 48-yard kickoff return from Malcolm Mitchell and seemed poised to answer after a 15-yard run by Todd Gurley got the Bulldogs down to the South Carolina 34. But after a failed reverse, Murray’s pass was batted up in the air at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles and intercepted by a diving DeVonte Holloman.
South Carolina made the Bulldogs pay. Utilizing Lattimore in both the running and passing games, the Gamecocks again drove the field. Shaw threw his second touchdown of the night, a 19-yard strike to wide open tight end Rory Anderson. And just like that, the South Carolina led 14-0 with 6:29 still left in the first quarter.
Georgia had to punt after its ensuing possession, and that’s when the Gamecocks turned it into a nightmare night. After bobbling the catch, Ace Sanders recovered and returned the punt 70 yards for a touchdown. It was Sanders’ second punt-return TD this season and it put South Carolina ahead 21-0.
“It stinks,” Murray said of the lopsided defeat. “It definitely hurts a lot. We put a lot into this game. It definitely means a lot. But there’s still a lot of games to play. They’ve got a lot of tough games left and so do we. Right now they’re in the driver’s seat and we have to win every single game to make it to Atlanta. We’ve got to grind and work and we did that last year. But it’s not a good feeling.”
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920 comments Add your comment
DOWN WE GO AGAIN
October 7th, 2012
12:40 am
CMR KICK SOME TAIL OR PLEASE LEAVE YOU ARE A FINE MAN BUT THIS IS GETTING OLD
DOWN WE GO AGAIN
October 7th, 2012
12:43 am
I WANT THE COACH AT TCU GARY PATTERSON
Showmeyurtd's
October 7th, 2012
12:43 am
So depressed….watching Dexter reruns and it seems like a comedy. Was surprised dawgs STILL the most penalized team in the SEC, how’s that for discipline. FIRE CMR NOW!!!
Yellow Jacket 89
October 7th, 2012
12:43 am
I guess you can put Mark Richt on the bus out of town with Freddy Gonzalez, CPJ and Al Groh.
Atlanta87
October 7th, 2012
12:44 am
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA maybe next year bull puppies.
Atlanta87
October 7th, 2012
12:45 am
Fire Bobo!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Gurshall Walker
October 7th, 2012
12:45 am
Woof woof woof wah wah wah– where u big talking dawgs now?? You’ll be lucky to win 3 games from here on out thanks to some good game film tonight…
Atlanta87
October 7th, 2012
12:46 am
Karmas a biatch dawgs. Losers!! N
Showmeyurtd's
October 7th, 2012
12:47 am
South carolina’s Offensive coach, the guy from Applician state who beat micigan last year may jump at the chance to replace Coach do nothing.
Cock of the Walk
October 7th, 2012
12:48 am
For all you UGA fans who’ve talked trash the last 364 days … I hope this hurts. Bad. Picture me in your living room wearing a Steve Spurrier mask, twisting the knife. Because no fan base ever deserved this more than you arrogant jerks.
dreammaker
October 7th, 2012
12:48 am
this happens when you play easy teams..and your overated ,have a faux christian overpayed coach,that runs into a coach that knows how to coach
UGA better than Bama
October 7th, 2012
12:50 am
Okay you GA haters are just being mean now. This is feeling very one sided. Time to look up porn.
joe jenkins
October 7th, 2012
12:52 am
Now yall all wonder why i’m so negative about our team….I knew after the first game of the year…we were overated….we look like the 08 team alot…..The dream team we recruited a couple of years ago have did nothing….jay rome and ray drew..corey moore are so very overated!!! We hired a terrible o-line coach….this oline is god awful!! richt needs to resign before the sun rises….how in the hell did grantham get a raise????? mcgarity was a fool to give him a raise…We have so much nfl talent on this team and they do absolute nothing in games against ranked teams…fire richt now….we could not do any worse could we by starting all over….we need real assit coaches not these clowns we have now…. I’m just so disgusted by this loss…i’m phsyically and mentally sick… we will never win the sec again as long as richt is at the helm…. Ii
Santa Monica Jacket
October 7th, 2012
12:54 am
I love the irony that Athens is so close to Atlanta… but yet always so far away every year!!!!
Looks like...
October 7th, 2012
12:54 am
For those of you waking up in a cold sweat wondering if what happened tonight really happened, let me tell you, it did.
And we’re all laughing at you. I stop every time ESPN reviews the days events… just to hear it again. “South Carolina absolutely deeeeeestttroyed Georgia.”
He Hate Gator
October 7th, 2012
12:55 am
Richt again blames the team.. It was a team loss,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said.
Joe
October 7th, 2012
12:55 am
Murray is a grade a puscatore. Will be glad when he hits the bricks.
Jadeveon Clowney
October 7th, 2012
12:55 am
That’s was just an old fashined beat-down. You dilirious
Georgia fans can’t say anything now. As I have always said, Darth Visor is your Daddy! Are there any questions?
Santa Monica Jacket
October 7th, 2012
12:57 am
Driving through Athens one day, CMR ponders…”Atlanta is so close to Athens but yet I can never figure out how to get there… Hmm weird”
dreammaker
October 7th, 2012
12:57 am
UGA NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME….FOLKS THIS COUNTRY SCHOOL IN REDNECK ATHENS ..IS NOT USC,UCLA,NOTRE DAME OR DUKE,STANFORD..AND ITS FOOTBALL PROGRAM IS NOT ALABAMA,LSU,STANFORD,USC…FORGET ABOUT STOP PLAYING DIVISIONII TEAMS AND WHEN YOU RUN INTO A GOOD ONE YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY ONE
DawgNole
October 7th, 2012
12:57 am
“It was defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward’s unit who shut out the Bulldogs for the first time since they lost to Alabama 31-0 in 1995. What’s more, they did it against a Georgia offense that came in leading the SEC in scoring (48.2 ppg) and yards (536 ypg). The Bulldogs hadn’t scored fewer than 41 points in a game all season.” – Chip Towers
______________________
Can’t believe you wrote that crap, Chip. Who did the UGA offense put up those impressive numbers against? Total garbage teams–and you know it. We depend on you to paint an accurate picture, and you have failed us on this one.
Warhorse
October 7th, 2012
12:58 am
Once again UGA is tougher during August and September, but loses out in October. Gators and Cocks class of the SEC East. And AJC is enabler in building expedtation that explode in the face of all. UGA settles back into the dust of the contenders.
Joe
October 7th, 2012
1:00 am
Mark Richt is a vagina.
Go Gamecocks
October 7th, 2012
1:03 am
So, I know you have some great fans on this site (and being from Woodstock, I understand that) …. but as a Gamecock alumn, who has been berated on this site fairly often ….. I just want to say “YES!!!!” …. but it is only 6 games in to the season, and anything is still possible (see Reggie Miller dumping like 86 points on the Knicks to win a playoff game)….. UGA still has a very favorable schedule. Oh yeah …… Gotta love that gamecock D, huh?
DawgNation
October 7th, 2012
1:04 am
I’m ashamed to be a Dawg fan right now. Not because we lost, an undefeated season is just an unrealistic expectation to have every single year. I’m ashamed to be lumped in with the other “Dawg Fans” on this board who can do nothing but pi.ss moan whine and cry because our team played badly for a game. Yes. lets fire Mark Richt and bring in another coach. If he loses a game, lets fire him to. If the third guy loses a game fire him to eventually we will win a Championnship!! Yeah right. s t f u you whiny losers.
The worst is the guy who is talking about holding a garage sale and supporting Bama because he can’t handle supporting a team that loses here and there. He’s either drunk, stupid, or both. I’m thinking both.
Did our team play like total cr.ap tonight? Yes. The SuperBowl Champion NY Giants played like cr.ap in 7 of their games before they put it together to win the superbowl last year. I will still support my team and look forward to seeing if they can bounce back from a tough loss. 99% of you whiny turds on this board are complete losers, its a game… get over it.
ZACK
October 7th, 2012
1:06 am
RICHT PLEASE GO….ALL THAT “NFL” TALENT AND YOU NEVER BEAT QUALITY TEAMS. BE GONE MR. NICE GUY!!!
Santa Monica Jacket
October 7th, 2012
1:07 am
“Athens is such a nice college town, why on earth would anyone want to go to ATLANTA” – CMR
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA Shut out… Please tell tech fans they have a HS offense
7576DAWG
October 7th, 2012
1:13 am
The thing that contributed the most to Georgia having no run game was the fact that Murray went 11 for 31 passing. Spurrier concentrated on stopping our run game and hoped that Murray would self destruct with the pass game, which he did. Murray is the worst Quarterback that Georgia has had in 20 years as far as being able to handle pressure. He is great when he doesn’t have any pressure. Based on the remaining games we should lose to Florida and beat everybody else. 10-2 and a Outback bowl bid. We may get the Sugar Bowl bid but without beating a top ten I doubt it.
DawgNole
October 7th, 2012
1:15 am
DawgNation
October 7th, 2012
1:04 am
Did our team play like total cr.ap tonight? Yes. The SuperBowl Champion NY Giants played like cr.ap in 7 of their games before they put it together to win the superbowl last year. I will still support my team and look forward to seeing if they can bounce back from a tough loss. 99% of you whiny turds on this board are complete losers, its a game… get over it.
__________________
It’s a blog. YOU get over it.
mike
October 7th, 2012
1:18 am
this isnt simply playing flat.Its playing a (suspurrier)team.Georgia will always be mediocre.
Jadeveon Clowney
October 7th, 2012
1:20 am
Gurlsahall who? Once again Marcus Lattimore #21 kicks your Todd
Grantaham country a$$.
Gamecocks’ QB Connor Shaw shows off against state school | UGA sports blog
October 7th, 2012
1:21 am
[...] Game story: South Carolina 35, Georgia 7 [...]
Same Ol scrub richt.
October 7th, 2012
1:23 am
You idiots will never learn. Richt is CMR Loser! Who are you going to blame this time….Martinez? Bobo?
Richt should be fired. you can give him the top 22 players in the country and hed still get blown out.
Richt sucks.
Georgia’s defense no match for Gamecocks | UGA sports blog
October 7th, 2012
1:24 am
[...] Game story: South Carolina 35, Georgia 7 [...]
Spurrier: ‘They can’t say they own us anymore, that’s for sure’ | UGA sports blog
October 7th, 2012
1:25 am
[...] Game story: South Carolina 35, Georgia 7 [...]
Showmeyurtd's
October 7th, 2012
1:28 am
It’s all UGA’s fault! Dam brown spots!!
Jadeveon Clowney
October 7th, 2012
1:31 am
The crazy thing is that Georgia has never lost a game agianst SC-they always “give it away” what do you douche bags have to say tonight? Kiss the baby MF’s
dbc
October 7th, 2012
1:35 am
Murray is no where near a great QB. He just can’t win any big game. NFL? Hope David Greene can get him a job selling insurance. Rambo — All American? Not a chance. Special teams? Well they get a bad rap (thanks for covering Ace.) Our D line is a slow bowl of Goo. And this was the team that was supposed to go all the way? Either Richt can’t judge talent, he can’t coach them up, or the entire thing is broken? ALL OF THE ABOVE. This is just bad. I really don’t want to hear we can still win the East with our weak schedule. Backing in like last year isn’t anything to be proud of, as far as I’m concerned. And Grandpa, our AD will put his specs on and say all is good. It ain’t.
Santa Monica Jacket
October 7th, 2012
1:36 am
A recruit ask CMR, “Can we go to Atlanta and visit?” CMR replies, “Sure you can go there whenever you like, however we never go there as a team.”
dbc
October 7th, 2012
1:38 am
I truly hope we plummet out of the top 25 and never get there again until we beat a team with a pulse.
Help
October 7th, 2012
1:38 am
CMR doesn’t seem to relate to his players…they don’t respect him..from team violations to a quick meeting on the field. How low must we go before a change takes place?
Nhgamecock
October 7th, 2012
1:42 am
Did the visor go flying tonight?
Where was Jarvis jones?
Gurshall?
Rambo? Was he eating brownies?
Alec? Was he pushing his gf?
CaptainMudd
October 7th, 2012
1:44 am
Don’t feel like they are real confident in big games…the QB Murray, appeared dumbfounded after the second SC touchdown. and certain calls on offense simply ran into the teeth of the SC defense. The “O” line got bown up too many times and that punt team is second tier–some slow defenders out there. Coaching scheme seems pretty sound but not up to superlative opponents who have an understanding of what Mark Richt is trying to do….Grantham, your defensive guy neds to learn how to get his corners deep. Dawgs really need a taller QB and more depth in the receiver corps. And, finally, Mr. Murray needs to get back to moving the pocket to throw vertically with successful regularity—I do feel they are trying to find the best offensive plays to protect him from injury—but in a game like the one tonight, well. sometimes you have to let it all hang out; this is an area that these Dawgs mst improve on in the coming weeks…UGA still has a lot to play for.
Strange Murphy
October 7th, 2012
1:44 am
I have supported Coach Richt though all the for his head over the past few years. No more. It’s time for him to go there is no excuse for what happened Saturday. He’s good at beating up on nobodies but when facing a half decent team this is the usual result.
And he can take Grantham’s none coaching butt with him.
Texas Pete
October 7th, 2012
1:46 am
How many of you have really sat down and pondered Murray? How can he be 1 TD away from tying David Greene’s record only 2.5 years in and NOT beat quality opponents? Has there every been a bully offensive producer in the history of college football that can produce like gangbusters against inferior competition but do nothing against quality teams to this degree?
I mean dude is more productive than Stafford who couldn’t beat many great teams either. Mind boggling.
SebastianValmont
October 7th, 2012
1:54 am
SMH… I knew after allowing all those points last week that the Dawgs would find a way to lose this game but I thought it would at least be close… back to the drawing board they go… hopefully they wake up and finish the season strong, if not then they need to overhaul the coaching staff… no way we have so many NFL players on defense and get gashed up like that two weeks in a row. Still Dawgnation all day… we just got outplayed and out coached tonight.
South Carolina Dawg
October 7th, 2012
1:54 am
At least most of you bloggers do not have to live year round with the Gamecocks. For the last 4 years they have been out-recruiting us and now they will dominate. What does it take to get Mark Richt fired? My husband and I graduated from UGA and 2 children graduated from UGA, but our patience if over. I am ready to do what the Gamecocks used to do – find a second team to cheer for. My son knows one of the scout team players and he told that at a party last weekend Rambo and Ogletree were snorting cocaine. I questioned – why doesn’t he tell the coaches? The coaches have NO CONTROL and NO DISCIPLINE. Georgia is now a thug mentalilty school. True Dawg fans should ban together to get this culture changed.
Showmeyurtd's
October 7th, 2012
1:55 am
On top of being vertically challenged, Murray chokes big time. Almost feel sorry for him, he doesn’t have a coach! god bless our head cases, no pun intended.
Texas Pete
October 7th, 2012
2:02 am
Strong allegations right there South Carolina Dawg but I’d believe it. After Rambo was torched in the 1st quarter my first thought was to random test him to see if he was high during the game. Dude had no clue where he was tonight.
blackandwhitestripes
October 7th, 2012
2:09 am
ugag cocky? Just ain’t that good.