Georgia vs South Carolina: WATCH Kirby Smart, players react
Well, I had my doubts about Georgia vs South Carolina. It had nothing to do with anything empirical.
I’ve just seen a lot of good Georgia teams struggle against the Gamecocks.
Especially at Williams-Brice Stadium.
But this, apparently, isn’t just any old Georgia team.
It’s actually a young one, on defense. It’s very, very good.
And it’s quite disciplined. You don’t pass a road test in the SEC like Columbia without some intestinal fortitude and mettle. But that’s what the Dawgs did in a 48-7 win over their SEC East rivals.
Just ask Stetson Bennett, who hydrated so much that he puked on the Carolina turf.
When he wasn’t throwing up, the Mailman was throwing it up.
As a matter of fact, the play in which Bennett got sick included a great throw and an even better catch by Brock Bowers along the endzone sideline.
Here’s how we are broke down the game on DawgsHQ’s YouTube channel, and on our audio podcasts (APPLE / SPOTIFY).
And that wasn’t Brock Bowers’s only score. The California kid and All-American had a hat trick on the day
One score on a reverse, and two through the air.
Although Bowers did most of the work on his second touchdown reception, Stetson Bennett demonstrated his accuracy with a tight toss across the middle.
Bowers did the rest, and finished with five catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He also had one carry (a five-yard touchdown).
The Mailman ultimately delivered when needed today, despite his upset stomach. Bennett only finished with 284 passing yards, but Georgia didn’t even need that many out of him to win handily.
Bennett finished 16-of-23 passing with two scores, and three carries for 36 yards with a score on the ground.
Georgia once again distributed the football. It had to, with star receiver AD Mitchell out (ankle injury).
Eleven different players caught at least one pass for a total of 339 yards.
Ten different players ran it for a total of 212, too.
The best run of the day belonged to Bennett, who shook South Carolina defender Gilber Edmond out of his shoes on a keeper for the score.
If Stetson Bennett is The Mailman, Todd Monken is the USPS.
Georgia’s young defense was bend-but-not-break at worst
An early fake punt knocked Georgia off of some early momentum.
The Spencer Rattler-led Gamecocks made it deep into Georgia territory, but the Dawgs kept points off the board.
True freshman Malaki Starks had his second interception of the season. Dan Jackson snagged his first, as did Trezmen Marshall.
Kirby Smart said he doesn’t feel much relief, even after wins over former assistants like Shane Beamer.
But he has to be pleased with the way Georgia once again dominated a power-five opponent – this time on the road, and in its SEC opener.
The 41-point win is Georgia’s greatest margin of victory at South Carolina in series history.
