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
aarh
October 7th, 2012
2:09 am
We need to get some more O-Line prospects if we’re going to compete w/ the big boys. I think that’s a big part of it anyway.
snellville dawg
October 7th, 2012
2:09 am
I did not see the game. I did see some highlights. It did look to me that Gates did get beat bad tonight. I do feel that we have been on the verge of make great strides on the o line. If I were the Kolston family I would sue the NCAA if all I read is true. We are undermanned due to the poor choices of many of our players. I also think that the choices of the players that have just returned have had a huge impact on the current events. I think we will go on to have a good season. I think next year we will have a very good football team. Our o will be better than this year because our o line will be much better. I believe we will be better at qb no matter who is in that position even if Murary stays. If you saw the LSU game today it is obvious why Muray was the better choise than zake. Mason maybe better than both. The chemistry of our DB is not good at this point. I think Rambo is not ready for prim time this year. Maybe some inward thinking these next two weeks will turn a rag tag bunch of guys on defence that somehow have under achieved into a group that will be what we and them expected. 10 and 1 works for me. Let everyone else play and lets see how it goes. I was at a wedding during the game tonight and did not see it and you know I care much more about the success of this marriage that i do if Georgia won tonight. Life lessons learned are much more important for our families and our country than to lose a lot of sleep about a game .
aarh
October 7th, 2012
2:10 am
or at least more good ones anyway, bc they manhandled us on the line.
blackandwhitestripes
October 7th, 2012
2:13 am
Bubble busted! Back to normal
captguitarman
October 7th, 2012
2:15 am
No doubt, Spurrer’s sideline antics are hard to watch. He is like an adolescent who was not invited to the big party that night . . . petulant, peevish, whiney, angry, frustrated, etc. But, I’ll take that over Richt. The camera was on him quite a few time . . . just another boring day at the beach. If he was not happy about how it was going, the TV audience didn’t know it, and perhaps not the supporters in the stands. But they are irrelevant. Did the players know it? Were they dreading half time . . . a coach mad as hell and breathing fire and kicking ass and taking names? I doubt it. He was cool as a cucumber. Just another footbal game. Just one camera shot showing some disappointment, anger, outrage, concern, intensity???? Way too much to ask. Many bad parents view themselves first as their child’s best friend. Unfortunately for parents, they have a far more important relationship with their children than being their friend. I wonder, especially after tonight, does Rich know he has a far more important relationship with his players than being their nice guy friend and mentor? After this game, the answer is no. They just didn’t show up. Neither the team nor Richt. It was pretty obvious.
snellville dawg
October 7th, 2012
2:16 am
I do believe all most of college sports have gone Getto. It is just a matter of time till each team is somewhere is in trouble. NCAA is worthless. There does need to be a Minor league system for football and let NCAA football be for the kids who want to get an education and not be concerned with going to the school that can get them to the next level.
Texas Pete
October 7th, 2012
2:20 am
Spurrier > Saban.
No disrespect to Nick Saban but any pretty good coach can win at Alabama as long as they stay off probation.
Spurrier won at Duke, took Florida from mediocre to elite, and now somehow has South Carolina as a national championship contender. Spurrier is the man. Thank goodness Florida was too arrogant to take him back because I wouldn’t be able to live with the domination the Gators would have under Spurrier Part 2.
JL
October 7th, 2012
2:24 am
Well, the cream puffs are easy to beat, but just like the big game against Bamako 3 years ago, Bulldogs get humiliated on offense and defense, and victimized once again by Spurrier. Easy to win SEC championships without Spurrier, Miles, and Saban in the league. Richt will be 4th best in the SEC always, and for the level of talent that comes through Athens, the number of guys that make it to the NFL year in and year out, this is totally unacceptable. Richts best days are done. Georgia needs a Georgia guy like Muschamp or Smart in there.
joelc
October 7th, 2012
2:25 am
Georgia got beat by a superior team tonight. That doesn’t mean that Georgia is a bad team but that Carolina is a better team. Face it, they may well win the East and the championship. They have the top defense in the nation and may well have the top offense. If they beat LSU next week then the answer is apparent and bow your heads to your new master!
SMH
October 7th, 2012
2:45 am
This is a sad day indeed for Georgia fans. The Ol’ Ball Coach really showed us up tonight. Glad we got a week off after such a terrible ass whooping. But win or lose, I’ll always love my DAWGS!
On another note, Spurrier got another win against UGA – but my god it must suck to have such a bad complex. Georgia kept him from winning a National Championship as a QB, and that’s something he will NEVER get over. I suppose it will eat away at him for the rest of his life. Because no matter how many times he beats UGA as a coach, he can never go back in time and get that win as a player. Sad to hold such a grudge. No amount of wins will ever make that go away! Some folks just need a little prayer, I guess.
saltlakedawg
October 7th, 2012
2:49 am
I’m sick of hearing that Aaron Murray is the best QB in the SEC. He wasn’t even the best QB in the game tonight., He runs up big stats on weak teams in Mike Bobo’s pass happy offense. When it comes to the big stage he is pathetic. Time for Richt to take a hike. He’ll never take the Dawgs to the next level
Andrew Lipham
October 7th, 2012
2:54 am
Time to fire Mark Richt folks. I’m sick of this. Oh, and South Carolina will NOT win the SEC.
RDDAWG
October 7th, 2012
3:30 am
To be honest, we will probably loose to Florida and go 10 – 2, but fuck that, as I fan, I expect a strong push for the National Title every year, and CMR may have an ongoing winning percentage, but no one can tell me that even in the 10-2, 9-3, 8-4, seasons, are we a team that can successfully beat the SEC’s best, let alone the country’s best, what’s the person of being a fan if you there is no reward in the end? I’m so thinking about rolling tide right now…
clem
October 7th, 2012
3:41 am
connor shaw is listed same height as murray. yet he is able to spot receivers and buy time with his feet. poor offensive coaching and play/formation selection. and defense overrated with dbs who are clueless. poor coaching or recruiting. whole team no passion, no pride. can’t seem to get out of second or third gear.
dawgs1966
October 7th, 2012
3:41 am
Why is everyoe so upset, we beat Vandy, who beat Missouri
redandblack
October 7th, 2012
3:41 am
we were exposed for what we really are………..pretenders……….not contenders
Murray is “not the guy”………and never will be…..
Richt is “not the guy”…………and never will be…..
Defense is overrated……waaaayyyy overrated…..
UGA should never have been ranked…….we are avearge at best……..on a good day…..
Andrew Lipham
October 7th, 2012
3:43 am
If South Carolina loses to Florida and LSU the next 2 weeks, we better beat Florida for the SEC East. If not, Richt is gone.
north-by-southeast
October 7th, 2012
3:45 am
For those of you who don’t understand what happened…Ga. is the most over-rated team by far. Once again the Dogs prove just how pointless rankings are the first half of the season. Number 5 during that cream-puff schedule? What a joke!
Andrew Lipham
October 7th, 2012
3:49 am
@north-by-southeast We have 4 of the top 10 players in next years NFL Draft. All the talent in the world. We lost tonight not because we are overrated but because we have a HORRIBLE coaching staff.
redandblack
October 7th, 2012
3:54 am
@ Andrew
I don’t see any of that happening……I would like to see it……..but none of it is realistic…
from what I saw of the LSU/FL game….it does not bode well for us….
We are stuck with Richt also……..for awhile at least…
@ north
you hit the nail on the head my friend…….
redandblack
October 7th, 2012
4:03 am
@Andrew……..very good points……….but I do not see us as anything more than a “smoke and mirrors” bunch……..”Penn and Teller”……..and a poor example at that….
Hairy Dawg
October 7th, 2012
4:05 am
Exactly! All we got to do is table running and beat that Benedict Arnold coaching Gaytors. We did better job scheduling than Scar. And then that cause them to lose to Gaytors and LUSer Tigers. Dawg Nation just got to hang tough and then we get the last laughing at Visor Boy for bad schedling that sends Dawgs to Dome.
Once we finish bowl game some of the stinkys boys need be cut loose so that we free schollies to bring up the Hargraves mens. The problem in Athens is that some the get lazy from from easy access to the ladies that take care of needs. But we can bring up hungry mens from Hargraves that know how to play and wants to have the women while exposing talent on big stage for NFL draft.
Dawgs have to keep head up cause they got better schedule for winning East. And then we can ships out the ones that really stinks it up tonight to reload with more talent that grateful for getting to run athens and access to ladies.
Boo
October 7th, 2012
4:05 am
All I can say is “PITIFUL”.
Mr Bill
October 7th, 2012
4:13 am
“Flat Tire” why don’t you get a real life, geez!
north-by-southeast
October 7th, 2012
4:21 am
Andrew…ratings aren’t based on the perceived talent on the team, but the team’s ability to win football games, period. That team includes the coaching staff.
E Love
October 7th, 2012
4:33 am
A. Murray is a solid quarterback and we pump him up like he is a superstar. Let’s wake up guys, he can’t take the Dawgs to the promise land.
Bama Fan#2
October 7th, 2012
4:40 am
Bad weekend in Georgia with the Braves and Dawgs playing
like CRAP!!
No. 5 Bulldogs ‘Spurriered’ by No. 6 South Carolina, 35-7 (UPDATED) – Georgia – Dawg News
October 7th, 2012
4:44 am
[...] posted here: No. 5 Bulldogs ‘Spurriered’ by No. 6 South Carolina, 35-7 (UPDATED) ← Back to Home Tags: bulldogs, connor shaw, florida, focal, football, history, jarvis [...]
Reality
October 7th, 2012
4:46 am
OVER RATED!!!
Reality
October 7th, 2012
4:50 am
Where are all those people that said UGA was going to be National Champs? To bad you had to play the games. However, there is good news. UGA has announced that they are dropping South Carolina and Florida from their 2013 schedule and will be playing, Kentucky, Vandi, Missouri, Ole Miss, Miss. State, Auburn, Tennesee, Arkansas, and Texas A&M as their Conference games. They don’t want to take any chances on having to face a RANK Opponnent.
Bobito
October 7th, 2012
5:00 am
Same junk every year Dawgs. Everybody defends Richt until the first pummeling by a ranked opponent. Richt’s teams aren’t big time. They can’t play defense and they aren’t tough. Never will be. It’s been time to move on for some time.
DrOlliff
October 7th, 2012
5:01 am
Definitely time for a coaching change…I’m sure D. Dooley would love to leave Tennessee for UGA…Lets make an offer!
Notso Fast
October 7th, 2012
5:05 am
Like him or hate him the Old Ball Coach has turned the program around at SC. We have all the top recruiting classes and then get beat like that. We were beaten by a bettter team. We were out coach by a better coaching staff. Dream team with nightmares is what we have.
Wise old coach
October 7th, 2012
5:24 am
To UGA Dominated Board of Regents:
Helping GT helps UGA. All the Georgia athletes that GT does not get, because you want let GT have enough Majors for football, go to South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc.
Wise old coach
October 7th, 2012
5:30 am
Hey Board of Regents:
You are running all the Athletes out of State to UGA opponents that UGA can’t take because of numbers. Help GT and help UGA football. I don’t know why you are restricting GT and hurting UGA too.
GT should merge with Georgia State anyway, save hundreds of millions dollars a year for taxpayers.
Charlie Postelwaite
October 7th, 2012
5:40 am
Mark Richt is a good man. But I do not think he is a NC caliber coach. There are only 4 or 5 of them in college football right now.
Sports Facts » No. 5 Bulldogs ‘Spurriered’ by No. 6 South Carolina, 35-7 – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
October 7th, 2012
6:11 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
john
October 7th, 2012
6:12 am
Time for a new coach. U Get your A out of Georgia
Sir Uga Man
October 7th, 2012
6:15 am
Murray???!! Are you people crack smokers??? CMR is the ONLY reason this continues to happen each year. He is a TERRIBLE coach and being a good christian man does not qualiffy you as great coach. ALL of his SO CALL sucess came EARLY from JIM DONNAN players. I love UGA but i will not support this program ANYMORE as long as RICHT and company are still there……..HE HAS TO GO!!!! PERIOD!!!!!
Dactavius Jones
October 7th, 2012
6:21 am
Richt and his entire coaching staff are a disgrace. Clean house and start the rebuilding process.
Dactavius Jones
October 7th, 2012
6:24 am
Someone put together a search committee to find good ol’ boy Mark Richt a job at one of these high dollar private christian high schools that get walked on by teams from the ghetto… I think that may be a little more his speed.
plain and simple
October 7th, 2012
6:31 am
we got out coached…again
we have 9 defensive starters who will be playing on Sunday next year
we now lose every big game. . . when is the last time we won a big game vs highly ranked opponent?
dddf's
October 7th, 2012
6:51 am
Good experience for the leghumpers. At least they had an opportunity to see a great coaching staff in action for once in their career. On the opposite sideline. How often does spurrier take his guys swimming?
SteelerFan
October 7th, 2012
6:53 am
John Kincaid you are 0-2 on predictions this weekend! UGA Braves
Richt, where’s the urgency when you are down 21-0, you looked clueless out there pretending to be a coach, BOO BOO must go
Reality
October 7th, 2012
6:58 am
It’s hillarious. Just last week all of you were singing Mark Richt’s praises. Now he is the scum of the earth. Face it, Richt is 2-10 against his last 12 ranked oppenents. Get rid of the facing Ranked Teams, and you might have a chance to play in the NC game….of course, you’d have to get past the SEC Championship first.
lewisbuzzard
October 7th, 2012
6:58 am
I just wanted to give a good “Damn Good Dawg” shout out since you dawg venters like to pile on the Tech message boards and rip Tech. Have a great weekend.
Reality
October 7th, 2012
6:58 am
The good news, you only have 1 more ranked oppenent on your schedule.
Sautee Dawg
October 7th, 2012
6:59 am
Our team can still make it to the SEC Championship game. Upper deck, section 402 row 50, seats 1 thru 100. Coaches stay home.
RunninWithTheDawgs
October 7th, 2012
6:59 am
Ga. has got a better team than this. They were totally unprepared !
SEC Observer
October 7th, 2012
7:03 am
Didn’t think it possible, but the Dawgs’ collapse matches that of the Ryder Cup Team, Chipper and the Braves, even Team Obama, all chokes of epic proportion and all occurring in the same week. I feel for CMR. He’s a good man, but there is no national championship in the Big Guy’s plan for him. Wonder if he ever starts to lose faith? Well, UGA can’t find and won’t hire anyone ruthless enough to win a national championship so Dawg fans better get used to at least one major choke/letdown every year. Amazing how the classless ones like Saban and Spurrier and Miles get the trophies and the honorable one’s like CMR play the teaser stallion.