September 8, 2001
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) – Phil Petty threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Brian Scott with 1:22 remaining, giving No. 21 South Carolina a key 14-9 road victory over No. 25 Georgia on Saturday night.
Billy Bennett’s third field goal, a 27-yarder with 3:17 remaining, pushed Georgia to its first lead of the game at 9-7.
But the Gamecocks (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) drove 66 yards in nine plays to earn the first prominent victory away from home of coach Lou Holtz’s three-year tenure.
Georgia (1-1, 0-1) couldn’t stop Petty on three straight third-and-10 plays. He threw to Ryan Brewer for 19 yards and freshman Matthew Thomas for another 32 to reach the Bulldogs 16.
After two straight plays failed to gain and Georgia expecting the Gamecocks to settle for a field-goal try, Petty threw toward Scott at the goal line.
The 6-foot-3 senior leaped shoulder-to-shoulder with 5-11 cornerback Bruce Thornton, wrestling the ball away to turn a possible interception into the winning score.
Georgia had its chances to atone for an embarrassing 21-10 defeat last year in Columbia, which snapped South Carolina’s 18-game losing streak in the SEC and propelled the Gamecocks to a surprising eight-win season.
Terrence Edwards, who had a miserable night, dropped a sure touchdown pass. Billy Bennett missed one field-goal attempt and had another blocked.
Bennett still accounted for all of Georgia’s points on three field goals, the last set up by Thornton’s 29-yard return of a fumble recovery with South Carolina trying to run out the clock.
The play began when Petty threw a seemingly safe pass to Watson coming out of the backfield. The running back was hit by Will Witherspoon as soon as he turned upfield, the ball spinning loose.
Thornton, a former running back, picked it up and took off down the sideline to the South Carolina 10. Georgia, switching from David Greene to Cory Phillips at quarterback, got to the 1 before bogging down with a couple of critical penalties.
That forced Bennett to kick another field goal and cost Georgia a chance to build a more comfortable lead.
After Petty’s touchdown pass, Phillips remained at quarterback instead of Greene, a redshirt freshman who was bothered by cramps on a humid night.
Phillips’ first pass was intercepted by Jeremiah Garrison to seal the victory for the Gamecocks, who struggled on offense much of the night.
Watson took the opening kickoff and quickly silenced the crowd of 86,520, scooting down the right sideline for a 66-yard return. Lenny Williams delivered the key block, a crunching blow that had the Georgia bench calling for a clip.
The Gamecocks needed only six plays to reach the end zone from the Georgia 31. Petty converted a third-and-5 with a 10-yard pass to Carlos Spikes, and Andrew Pinnock finished off the short drive by powering over for a 1-yard touchdown just 2:46 into the game.
For the rest of the first half, the South Carolina offense was nonexistent. The Gamecocks managed just one first down and 14 yards on their next five possessions, going three-and-out four times.
Georgia piled up a 183-45 advantage in first-half yardage but settled for a pair of field goals by Bennett, who connected from 45 and 38 yards.
The Bulldogs squandered a couple of other scoring chances. Bennett missed a 44-yard attempt and Edwards dropped a pass in the end zone late in the first half.
Edwards had at least three drops in the game, but that one was especially critical when Greene, on the very next play, threw a pass up for grabs to avoid a sack and was intercepted at the goal line by Willie Offord.
Bennett attempted a 37-yarder on Georgia’s first possession of the second half, but it was blocked by Langston Moore.
