Georgia Bulldogs 52, South Carolina Gamecocks 20: The Bulldogs Hammer Another Nail Into the Coffin of the Steve Spurrier Era

"As if the way one fell down mattered."
"When the fall is all there is, it matters."--The Lion in Winter

It would be irresponsible to recap the game between South Carolina and Georgia without noting how it was one of the most dominant performances in the history of the series. The Bulldogs thoroughly routed the Gamecocks, 52-20, the most lopsided margin of victory in the rivalry for either team since 1974. And it served as a sort of revenge for Steve Spurrier's 1995 Florida team infamously becoming the first team in history to hang "half a hundred" on Georgia in Athens.

It would be inexcusable to overlook how well the Georgia offense played, racking up 576 yards of total offense and 32 first downs on 63 plays while taking just four third-down snaps the entire game. Nick Chubb carried the ball 21 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and Greyson Lambert finally seemed to grow into his own as a starting quarterback, throwing for 330 yards and three touchdowns while breaking an NCAA record.

With a minimum of 20 passes, Greyson Lambert just set an NCAA record for completion percentage at 96%. He finished 24 of 25.

— Jason Butt (@JasonHButt) September 20, 2015

There would even be something tragic about ignoring the solid performance of South Carolina freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez, who didn't impress anyone with his passing line (4-of-5 for 18 yards) but did run the ball 10 times for 76 yards and a touchdown, becoming perhaps the only player Gamecock fans could be justifiably excited about in Saturday night's flop.

But if South Carolina's season continues to turn into a slow-motion nightmare -- and there's no reason to believe that it won't -- this is just the latest and most emphatic chapter in the fall of Steve Spurrier. Looking at the Gamecocks' troubles on offense (258 yards on 61 snaps) and defense, where sloppy tackling and coverage busts contributed to many of Georgia's incredible stats, it's hard to see how this team can expect a quick turnaround. And aside from a recruiting burst that Steve Spurrier seems incapable of providing at this point in his career, it's hard to see that changing in future seasons as well. Even the man known as the Head Ball Coach seems to be at a loss.

Spurrier: Offensively, I'm open to suggestions.

— GamecockCentral.com (@GamecockCentral) September 20, 2015

Meanwhile, the natives are growing restless. And not just the program's run-of-the-mill fans, who can sometimes be dismissed as armchair quarterbacks and those who haven't put in nearly as much effort as Spurrier has over the last 10 years. Now, former players are inching towards calling for a change -- something that gets to the core of any head coach's base of support.

Yeah that was my last time watching Carolina prolly.......I'll watch when I hear they playing like Carolina and not the weakest team in SEC

— DJ Swearinger (@JungleBoi_Swagg) September 20, 2015

So it would be unthinkable to look back over this game and not point to the effort of players on both sides of the ball, and be slightly awed by the historic way in which Georgia dominated this game. But it would also be oblivious to look at it and not see how it plays into the fall of Steve Spurrier. Because for Spurrier, the fall might be all there is.