Last season USC scored the biggest win of the Will Muschamp years shocking third ranked Georgia in Athens 20-17 in double overtime. Don’t think for a moment Bulldogs’ coach Kirby Smart wasn’t still smarting over that loss as he brought his 9th ranked team to Columbia Saturday night. Muschamp wasn’t there, so Smart took out his vengeance on another former Bulldog, Gamecock interim head coach Mike Bobo.
Smart uncorked his team’s power game on a depleted Gamecock defense in a 45-16 win. The Bulldogs, who passed for over 400 yards last week while rushing for just 8 yards, ran for a season high 332 yards. James Cook led the way with 104 yards and two touchdowns and Zamir White had 84 yards and two scores.
The Gamecock defense was down six starters with the additions of JJ Enagbare and Keir Thomas to the injury list. They also were without reserves Jordan Burch and Alex Huntley. And they lost linebacker Ernest Jones to injury in the first half and he didn’t return.
The Georgia defense lived up to its stingy reputation and held the Gamecocks to 273 yards, second lowest output of the season. Quarterback Luke Doty, making his first career start, was bottled up by a hard charging front and a variety of blitzes. He had minus 15 yards rushing on 15 attempts, and he was sacked 4 times for a loss of 26 yards.
Here’s more on the game with my recap from Williams-Brice Stadium
USC postgame interviews
Final Stats
Hopefully the new staff will bring a much better OL coach. South Carolina’s OL had no answers for UGA DL and no excuses, unlike just about every other position on offense. Wolford touted yet again another solid OL during the preseason, but failed as always to produce. No excuses for what was supposed to be the most seasoned of any group.