COLUMBIA —Steve Spurrier loves creating “firsts” at South Carolina.
He’s got a few more to add to the list.
Before Saturday, South Carolina had never beaten Georgia in three consecutive games or won by more than 17 in the series.
In one of the most crucial games in the history of the South Carolina football program, plenty of records — and perceptions — fell as the No. 6 Gamecocks ran roughshod over No. 5 Georgia in all three phases of the game in a 35-7 victory over the Bulldogs in Columbia.
“Obviously this was a special one,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said. “A school that used to own us, they can’t say they own us anymore. That’s for sure.”
USC (6-0, 4-0 SEC), especially, couldn’t have been more invested in one game.
It was between two undefeated teams. ESPN blew out its coverage. It was the first top-10 team vs. top-10 team in Williams-Brice Stadium history. It was the best offense in the league (UGA) going up against one of the best defenses in the SEC (USC).
And the winner got the upper hand in the SEC East title race.
“I was thinking prior, this might be the best one since I’ve been here,” Spurrier said. “I thought it would be a lot closer, but with so much on the line, it was a game our guys really got ready to play. Our goal now is to see if we can match that emotional level.”
USC jumped out to a three-touchdown lead in the first quarter and never looked back behind a smothering defense, an efficient QB Connor Shaw and a special teams touchdown.
“We got beat by a very good football team,” UGA coach Mark Richt said. “They whipped us pretty good on both sides of the ball. Whether you lose by 28 or lose in overtime, it’s still a loss … one loss.”
The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) hope they aren’t out of the division race; they don’t play Alabama or LSU from the West this season.
“We stopped the bleeding somewhat in the second half,” Richt said. “But we just couldn’t sustain any momentum.”
USC’s victory increased its winning streak to 10 games, passing the mark of nine set by the 1984 team. TCU held the longest wining streak in the nation at 12 games, but the Horned Frogs lost to Iowa State on Saturday.
With Alabama idle, USC surged ahead to claim the longest winning streak in the country.
“The whole team played super,” Spurrier said. “If we can continue playing like this, we may have a huge year.”
USC running back Marcus Lattimore, who was averaging 179 yards in two games against the Bulldogs, methodically racked up another 109 yards on 24 carries and scored on a short TD run.
Shaw had just 10 passing attempts, completing six of them for 162 yards while throwing two TDs and rushing for another; he added 78 yards on the ground and gutted the UGA defense on several big runs in the first half.
The Bulldogs came into the game averaging 536 yards and 48.2 points per game. But against USC’s ferocious defensive front, the Bulldogs could only total 224 yards.
The USC defense recorded just two sacks, but the pressure haunted Georgia QB Aaron Murray all night.
“We only sacked him twice, but we really affected his throwing,” USC defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said. “I think he was 11-for-31 (passing). You talking about a guy that was averaging 285 (yards) coming into the game throwing the football.”
USC nearly completed its first shutout of the Bulldogs since a 2-0 win in 1904, but Georgia’s only score came on a 3-yard TD run by Ken Malcome with 1:55 left in the game.
“Coach Ward had a good feeling going into the game,” Spurrier said. “We felt like we could slow them down.”
USC built its 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game — and it started on the first drive of the contest.
The Gamecocks marched 76 yards in five plays and capped the drive on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Shaw to Bruce Ellington into the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 12:28 left in the first.
Georgia helped the Gamecocks build the lead when a Murray pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles and intercepted by DeVonte Holloman at the USC 31.
South Carolina struck 11 plays later when Shaw found an open Rory Anderson in the flat for a 14-yard score that put USC up 14-0 with 6:29 left in the first.
Georgia was unable to get anything going on its next drive and punted to Ace Sanders, who returned the boot 70 yards down the left sideline for the third touchdown of the quarter.
“We had a lot of emotion coming into this game,” Shaw said. “We came out the gate rolling. We were all hyped up for this game.”
UGA had a chance to cut into the deficit in the second quarter when it reached the USC red zone for the first time in the game, getting inside the 5.
After Victor Hampton broke up a third-down Murray pass from the 2 intended for Malcolm Mitchell, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth down.
Murray completed a pass shy of the end zone to Rantavious Wooten, who was stopped short of the goal line by D.J. Swearinger. USC didn’t score again until the third quarter when Shaw set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Lattimore with a 62-yard passing strike to D.L. Moore, who made a difficult catch in traffic and was tackled at the UGA 1.
The Gamecocks tacked on a fourth-quarter score on a 7-yard TD run by Shaw to cap a historic night at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“We received just about all the hype we could before this game,” said Shaw, who will lead the Gamecocks into LSU this
Saturday. “We handled it perfectly.”
“We knew how to come out and play.”
link: http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/oct/06/usc-dismantles-georgia/
He’s got a few more to add to the list.
Before Saturday, South Carolina had never beaten Georgia in three consecutive games or won by more than 17 in the series.
In one of the most crucial games in the history of the South Carolina football program, plenty of records — and perceptions — fell as the No. 6 Gamecocks ran roughshod over No. 5 Georgia in all three phases of the game in a 35-7 victory over the Bulldogs in Columbia.
“Obviously this was a special one,” USC coach Steve Spurrier said. “A school that used to own us, they can’t say they own us anymore. That’s for sure.”
USC (6-0, 4-0 SEC), especially, couldn’t have been more invested in one game.
It was between two undefeated teams. ESPN blew out its coverage. It was the first top-10 team vs. top-10 team in Williams-Brice Stadium history. It was the best offense in the league (UGA) going up against one of the best defenses in the SEC (USC).
And the winner got the upper hand in the SEC East title race.
“I was thinking prior, this might be the best one since I’ve been here,” Spurrier said. “I thought it would be a lot closer, but with so much on the line, it was a game our guys really got ready to play. Our goal now is to see if we can match that emotional level.”
USC jumped out to a three-touchdown lead in the first quarter and never looked back behind a smothering defense, an efficient QB Connor Shaw and a special teams touchdown.
“We got beat by a very good football team,” UGA coach Mark Richt said. “They whipped us pretty good on both sides of the ball. Whether you lose by 28 or lose in overtime, it’s still a loss … one loss.”
The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) hope they aren’t out of the division race; they don’t play Alabama or LSU from the West this season.
“We stopped the bleeding somewhat in the second half,” Richt said. “But we just couldn’t sustain any momentum.”
USC’s victory increased its winning streak to 10 games, passing the mark of nine set by the 1984 team. TCU held the longest wining streak in the nation at 12 games, but the Horned Frogs lost to Iowa State on Saturday.
With Alabama idle, USC surged ahead to claim the longest winning streak in the country.
“The whole team played super,” Spurrier said. “If we can continue playing like this, we may have a huge year.”
USC running back Marcus Lattimore, who was averaging 179 yards in two games against the Bulldogs, methodically racked up another 109 yards on 24 carries and scored on a short TD run.
Shaw had just 10 passing attempts, completing six of them for 162 yards while throwing two TDs and rushing for another; he added 78 yards on the ground and gutted the UGA defense on several big runs in the first half.
The Bulldogs came into the game averaging 536 yards and 48.2 points per game. But against USC’s ferocious defensive front, the Bulldogs could only total 224 yards.
The USC defense recorded just two sacks, but the pressure haunted Georgia QB Aaron Murray all night.
“We only sacked him twice, but we really affected his throwing,” USC defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said. “I think he was 11-for-31 (passing). You talking about a guy that was averaging 285 (yards) coming into the game throwing the football.”
USC nearly completed its first shutout of the Bulldogs since a 2-0 win in 1904, but Georgia’s only score came on a 3-yard TD run by Ken Malcome with 1:55 left in the game.
“Coach Ward had a good feeling going into the game,” Spurrier said. “We felt like we could slow them down.”
USC built its 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game — and it started on the first drive of the contest.
The Gamecocks marched 76 yards in five plays and capped the drive on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Shaw to Bruce Ellington into the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 12:28 left in the first.
Georgia helped the Gamecocks build the lead when a Murray pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles and intercepted by DeVonte Holloman at the USC 31.
South Carolina struck 11 plays later when Shaw found an open Rory Anderson in the flat for a 14-yard score that put USC up 14-0 with 6:29 left in the first.
Georgia was unable to get anything going on its next drive and punted to Ace Sanders, who returned the boot 70 yards down the left sideline for the third touchdown of the quarter.
“We had a lot of emotion coming into this game,” Shaw said. “We came out the gate rolling. We were all hyped up for this game.”
UGA had a chance to cut into the deficit in the second quarter when it reached the USC red zone for the first time in the game, getting inside the 5.
After Victor Hampton broke up a third-down Murray pass from the 2 intended for Malcolm Mitchell, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth down.
Murray completed a pass shy of the end zone to Rantavious Wooten, who was stopped short of the goal line by D.J. Swearinger. USC didn’t score again until the third quarter when Shaw set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Lattimore with a 62-yard passing strike to D.L. Moore, who made a difficult catch in traffic and was tackled at the UGA 1.
The Gamecocks tacked on a fourth-quarter score on a 7-yard TD run by Shaw to cap a historic night at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“We received just about all the hype we could before this game,” said Shaw, who will lead the Gamecocks into LSU this
Saturday. “We handled it perfectly.”
“We knew how to come out and play.”
link: http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/oct/06/usc-dismantles-georgia/
