That Was Unexpected: Georgia 41, South Carolina 37

by cocknfire on Sep 12, 2009 11:28 PM EDT in SEC Football

Remember how ugly the South Carolina-Georgia game was going to be? Remember how few points were going to be scored and how one big play was going to decide it?

Well, forget all of that except the last part. The last part turned out to be spot on.

I generally hate to speculate like this, because there's no telling what actually would have happened if South Carolina had hit an extra point down 38-37 in the fourth quarter. Perhaps Georgia wouldn't have been able to drive down the field if the Gamecocks hadn't had the wind sucked out of them by the gaffe that always happens against the Dawgs. Maybe after that three-and-out, South Carolina would have made some other mistake that even more obviously handed the game to Georgia.

But it would be impossible to overlook the blocked kick that deprived the Gamecocks of a chance to tie the game with an easy field goal. That play pretty much saved the game for the Dawgs, or at least kept them from facing the always dangerous prospect of overtime.

Not that either team comes out of this game without something to show for it. With Steve Spurrier finally confident enough to give Stephen Garcia chances to make bigger plays, the QB showed he has some of the potential that South Carolina fans have been waiting to see realized. Garcia wasn't flawless, but he was close enough to believe that the best days for the Gamecocks offense might be ahead of it.

Georgia, meanwhile, avoids a loss that could very well have sent the Dawgs into a tailspin. An 0-2 mark at this point would not have been a death knell for Mark Richt's team, but it would have left them staring at the real possibility of a 1-win or even winless August. And the Dawgs also found out that their offense is probably a lot better than advertised.

That's not to say that either of these teams are going to be able to challenge Florida or make a run at Atlanta this year, even if it seems a lot more likely now than it did a week ago. If Georgia allowed 427 yards to a Garcia-led South Carolina offense, however underestimated that unit might have been, how much success do you imagine Tim Tebow might have against the Dawgs?

But both of these teams found a reason to believe that this season will be at least as good as they anticipated before the year began, and maybe a little better. That makes the victory sweeter for Georgia fans. The loss might not sting any less for South Carolina fans, but at least they have a reason to believe they will feel the pain of defeat fewer times than they had right to expect 24 hours ago.

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There are plenty of Georgia-South Carolina games . . .

. . . that ought to cause a Gamecock fan to wonder, “What if?” This was not one of them.

This time, the “What if?”s more than balanced out for both teams. What if Rod Battle had not been hurt . . . what if Justin Houston had not been suspended . . . what if Branden Smith had downed the kickoff in the end zone instead of bringing it out . . . what if Joe Cox hadn’t telegraphed his throw by locking onto the receiver on the interception . . . what if Stephen Garcia hadn’t had the game of his life . . . what if Spencer Lanning hadn’t had the game of his life . . . what if the fake punt hadn’t worked . . . what if the long snapper hadn’t sent the ball over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone?

Yes, you can list very nearly as many “What if?”s going the other way, but there were several points in this ball game where it easily could have gotten completely away from the Gamecocks. Without a couple or three unforced Georgia errors, this game wouldn’t have been close. It is to South Carolina’s credit that the Gamecocks hung around after it threatened to get away from them and, for once, took advantage of every bit as many Bulldog miscues as Georgia took advantage of South Carolina mistakes.

When you score (quite literally) more points on a longtime rival than you have ever before scored in your history, and you still lose, you have nothing to hang your head about or second-guess. The better team won and it reflects extremely well on Steve Spurrier’s squad that the visitors made a real game of it. Good luck the rest of the season.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Sep 13, 2009 11:52 PM EDT reply actions

Except some of Georgia's what-ifs

are things you can expect in the normal course of any college football mistakes. Maybe not the opposing quarterback having the game of his life — though you could make the same argument about Joe Cox, and I think it’s ridiculously early in their seasons/careers to make that argument about either — and maybe not the safety. But missed extra points only happen on about 2 to 3 percent of attempts, especially for an SEC team, so I would argue that you have about a 98 percent chance of that play going the other way. With the possible exception of the snap going out of the end zone, all those other things are part of the ups and downs whenever two teams get together.

My point also was not necessarily to say “what if” in the voice of the fan, but to point out that one very big play — which is to Georgia’s credit — changed the likely outcome of the game. Georgia made the play that won the game and so they won the game. It wasn’t meant to in any way downplay the Dawgs’ win or the Gamecocks’ loss.

Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.

by cocknfire on Sep 14, 2009 4:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Please note that, when I use the phrase "game of his life" . . .

. . . there is an implicit “so far.” I didn’t mean to imply that Stephen Garcia will never be that good again; I certainly hope this was the start of something big. I merely meant that he has never looked even remotely that good on a college football field before.

One big play changed the outcome. Several other big plays made it possible for that one big play to matter. For once, those big plays went both ways instead of being one-sided. Don’t let it get you down. Y’all are going to have a solid season.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Sep 14, 2009 7:24 AM EDT up reply actions