Oct. 6, 2012

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Head Coach Steve Spurrier

Opening Statement
Obviously this was a special one, there’s no question about (it after), beating Georgia for our 10th in a row and beating three years in a row a school that used to own you. They can’t say they own us anymore, that’s for sure. Our offense played beautiful. Offense, defense and special teams wise. We did miss one field goal, but we got touchdowns. It was really neat. We weren’t all that great on third-down conversions, but we didn’t have a whole bunch. It was a special day for us. I was thinking prior that this might be the best one since I’ve been here. I was thinking it might be closer, but with so much on the line and being here at home, it was a game that our guys were really ready. Our goal is to see if we can match that emotional level and getting ready as we get through the rest of the season. We’ll see where this leads us. One thing we’ll have to guard against is everyone telling us how great we are, which when you win convincingly, that’s what happens. Hopefully as coach and players we understand that we can play like we played that first half at Kentucky.

On the defense slowing down Georgia’s offense
We didn’t know (the defense) would be as effective as we were. We thought we could play with them. Coach [Lorenzo] Ward had a good feeling going into the game. He and Coach [Brad] Lawing and all the coaches felt like we could slow them down. We haven’t given up a bunch of touchdowns this year. Our defensive guys feel pretty good. Fortunately, we were able to kill a bunch of clock in the fourth quarter. I think they only had one possession in the fourth quarter. Obviously with 51 runs and 10 passes, that was a clock moving type of game.

On big plays like Ace Sanders’ punt return
They were all big. D.L. Moore’s catch, we sort of caught them without a free safety back there, checked to it fast, and he got it down to the one-yard line. That got us to 28-0. Obviously we didn’t have a lot of passes, but we didn’t have too. Our defense was sensational. Sixty-seven plays they had, (and) 61 for us. That’s not a bad way to win sometimes.

On beating Georgia
I knew it was going to be a special one if we won. If we didn’t win, it wouldn’t be very special of course. When you get to the door of the school trying to win 10 in a row, if you don’t do it when is it going to be done if you don’t do it now? We had to try and do it tonight. I was telling Jamie Speronis, this was actually my 250th overall win as a coach, and having it against the Georgia Bulldogs is special, too. That’s a team that used to beat my alma mater very well. I’ve been fortunate as a coach against them, not so much as a player, but as a coach so that was special.

On winning for the fans
Our fans had paid their dues, and they need something in return. Hopefully they are getting something in return now that we’re able to win at home and win some big games against good teams.

On not getting over confident as a team as the season progresses
All we have to do is remind ourselves of that Kentucky first half and the Vandy game. We were very fortunate to beat Vandy. Sometimes that’s how you hope your season goes. We still have a tough road ahead of us. It was a good one tonight and good to get all of those historical wins. Those are fun.

On the game atmosphere
I was thinking our stadium was probably the loudest in the country today with everything that was going on. I know the Swamp is loud, but this is sort of a first time for us with two top 10 teams. That’s happened a bunch in the Swamp, but our fans had so much extra energy coming into this game that I knew it would be a loud one. Fortunately it worked out for all of us Gamecocks.

On the goal line stand on fourth and goal
It was a good goal line stand. We’ve done that several times this year. Our guys can cover, and I guess they threw it about a yard short.

On winning with the running game
Connor (Shaw) is sensational running the ball. That’s his game. He can throw, too, but running Marcus (Lattimore) and running him we try to hit some big plays. Fortunately we did hit some big ones. That was key for us. When you play a team like Georgia, you like to limit their number of plays if you can by staying on the field. We did it decent the fourth quarter.

Defensive Coordinator Lorenzo Ward

On what they did to try to contain Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall
I think it was the same pressure we used all season, but we made a conscious effort to not let them get on the outside. If you go back and watch them in every ball game they played, they make their plays by getting on the perimeter. We had a conscious effort to keep them on the inside.

On defensive effort thus far
We’ve got good players, and I’ve got good coaches. Not only the front four, but our linebackers have played really well and the perimeter. We were in the position to make some plays. It’s a blessing to be able to rush four guys and drop seven when it’s time to play football.

Connor Shaw • Quarterback • Junior

On the team mentality
We had a lot of emotion coming into this game. We had a great week of preparation. The intensity was up in our practices. We came out of the gate rolling. We were all hyped up for this game.

On the atmosphere
This was the greatest atmosphere I’ve ever played in. I saw a Tweet where Kirk Herbstreit said GameDay at the Horseshoe was one of the greatest he’s ever been a part of, so I’m very grateful to the fans.

On getting the early lead
We found a groove. I think it’s important in a game like this to come out early and find your comfort level. We just rolled with it. I’m glad I’m not playing against our defensive line. They played an excellent game.

On Rory Anderson
Buster is a guy that he’s very humble. He’ll be ready every play.

On playing quarterback for Steve Spurrier
The main thing is just leading the team and limiting the turnovers, playing smart, handling the game and managing the game. That’s what I work on during the course of the week and course of the season.

DeVonte Hollomam • Senior • Spur

On the environment
It was difficult for [Georgia] to hear, and it was really difficult for us to hear. But as far as in the fans eyes, it was probably as crazy as the Alabama game. Everybody just fed off it. Even Coach Ward was jumping around.

Jadaveon Clowney • Sophomore • Defensive End

On how the pressure was affecting Aaron Murray
I think we did a good job tonight. That was our goal to come out here and put pressure on him and cause a lot of conflict with the offensive line. We came out here and did our job.

On the environment
It was pretty big. The offensive line gave away when they were going to hike the ball, so I got a good jump on it and our crowd got into it.

Ace Sanders • Junior • Wide Receiver

On having the lead going into the second half
We just looked at it as if we have them down, we just have to keep pounding because games can turn quick.

Marcus Lattimore • Junior • Tailback

On how different this team feels to the team he was on as a freshman and sophomore
I feel like we come to the ballpark every game expecting to win. We did in the past, but it’s just a little more fire and people just motivating us before the game, during the game, after the game. It’s just a great team.

Head Coach Mark Richt

Opening Statement
Like I told the guys, we took a whipping, but the good news was that we all took it together. I don’t think anyone could look in the mirror and say `I had a great day but the other boys didn’t.’ I don’t think either side of the ball could say `We did our job and the other boys didn’t.’ It was a team loss. We got beat by a very good team that was primed and ready to go. I thought their fans were outstanding. I guess they broke a new record in attendance. They grabbed the momentum early and held on to it. The second quarter, I thought we slowed them down a little bit and stopped the bleeding to a certain degree. I thought the momentum was up for grabs in the second half. Their defense the entire night just took care of business. We have to give them credit. The other thing I told the guys is whether you lose by 28 or you lose in overtime, it is still a loss. That doesn’t mean the season is over for Georgia. We still have an opportunity to keep fighting and keep playing and getting better and winning. If we are able to do that, then we will have a chance to get back to Atlanta and that’s where we want to be.

On the speed of the South Carolina defense
They’ve got great speed. They are very long human beings. They are 6-8, 6-6 and have long arms. I think a couple times we were blocking them halfway decent trying to run them by the quarterback, but they are just so long and they are so athletic that [Aaron] Murray was getting grabbed right at the last moment as he was trying to move up into the pocket. We did a good job at times.

On the first few South Carolina drives
Three touchdowns in a row unanswered ,and we might have had a couple first downs here and there so it resembled a drive. It was nothing that really threatened them. We started to get some stops on defense and once you start getting stops it stabilizes to where, if you are able to put seven on the board before the half and you get the ball, you’re not in that bad of shape.

Sanders Commings • Cornerback • Senior

On what South Carolina was doing that was so efficient in the first quarter
Nothing special at all. It was just lack of focus. When that happens, it is easy for a team to make a big play and that’s what they did.

Aaron Murray • Quarterback • Junior

On what the loss does to Georgia’s morale
It stinks. We felt like we had a great rhythm offensively going on in the first five games. We’ve got to go back, watch the film and make corrections and get better. It’s still a long season to go and there’s still six games left. Plenty of chances to get better, more games to win. We just have to watch the film and get better.

On how big South Carolina’s punt return touchdown was
It was huge. They built up a whole lot of momentum and it’s hard when a team like that gets rolling.

On how much of a roadblock it is when the running game can’t get going
They did a great job defensively putting us in the situation of having third and longs. That’s not where you want to be. I know we had our shots, I know we weren’t executing whenever we had them. We just have to go watch the film and having a bye week is huge for us to work on some fundamentals and get ready for the next opponent.

Jarvis Jones • Outside Linebacker • Junior

On what South Carolina was doing in the first quarter that was so effective
I think they just came out and made a couple big plays in the first quarter and scored on them. They really didn’t do anything else until the big play in the third quarter and had the last play in the fourth quarter. I think we held them in check but being down 21-0 in the first quarter, that’s hard to come by, especially by a team in the SEC.

On how Georgia adjusted to hold South Carolina scoreless in the second quarter
Just communicated better, we knew what they were doing. They had a 21-point lead and they just tried to sit on it. We just kept stuffing the run.