Sept. 12, 2008

South Carolina vs. Georgia

| Live Audio | Post-Game Presser

General Information

Game Notes | Gameday Central

The South Carolina Gamecocks (1-1, 0-1 SEC) continue their Southeastern Conference slate when they welcome the nation’s second-ranked team, the Georgia Bulldogs (2-0, 0-0 SEC) to Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday, September 13. Game time is set for 3:35 p.m. ET and a national television audience will be watching on CBS with Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson calling the action. The Gamecocks are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 24-17 loss at Vanderbilt last Thursday after blanking ACC rival NC State, 34-0, in the season opener. The Bulldogs have posted easy non-conference wins over Georgia Southern and Central Michigan to open the season.

GAMECOCKS AND DAWGS

This is the 61st meeting on the gridiron between South Carolina and Georgia. Georgia holds a 44-14-2 lead in the all-time series, including an 18-7-2 advantage when the teams have played in Columbia. The Gamecocks posted a 16-12 win in Athens last season, snapping a five-game Bulldog winning streak in the series. Carolina’s last win in Columbia was a 21-10 victory on September 9, 2000.

IT’S USUALLY CLOSE…

Five of the last seven meetings between these two schools have been decided by six points or less. The Gamecocks won by five (14-9) in 2001 and by four in 2007 (16-12) , while Georgia posted a six-point win in 2002 (13-7), a four-point victory in 2004 (20-16) and a two-point triumph in 2005 (17-15).

…AND LOW SCORING

The winning team has not scored more than 20 points in any of the last four games between these two schools and just once in the last seven battles.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

South Carolina extended its winning streak to five games and snapped a five-game losing streak to Georgia when it went into Athens and came away with a 16-12 win on Sept. 8, 2007. The Gamecock defense stepped up to the challenge, keeping Georgia out of the end zone. It was the first time Georgia had been held without a touchdown at home since Carolina’s 14-9 win in 2001. South Carolina won both sides of the line of scrimmage, outrushing the Bulldogs, 140-128. Ryan Succop hit all three of his field goal attempts, matching his career high, and scored 10 of the Gamecocks’ 16 points, earning SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

BEST SEC ROAD WIN

The 2007 victory at 11th-ranked Georgia marked the highest-ranked SEC opponent that Carolina had defeated on the road since joining the league. The previous best win came over 14th-ranked Georgia in the 1993 season.

GOING FOR TWO IN A ROW

The Gamecocks are looking for back-to-back wins over Georgia for the first time since 2000-01. They have won back-to-back games against the Bulldogs just five times previously in a series that has been contested 60 times and dates back to 1894. USC has never won three in a row in the series.

THE LAST TIME AT WBS

12th-ranked Georgia shut down South Carolina’s rushing game en route to posting an 18-0 win in Columbia on September 9, 2006. It marked just the second time that a Steve Spurrier-coached team was blanked – the other came during his first year as a collegiate coach in 1987 when Duke lost 7-0 to Rutgers – a span of 193 games. Blake Mitchell completed 16-of-22 passes for 156 yards, but Cory Boyd and Mike Davis combined for just 34 yards on 15 carries. The Bulldogs got three field goals from Brandon Coutu, a nine-yard TD run from Danny Ware and a safety from Charles Johnson. Georgia had 387 yards of offense (198 rushing and 189 passing) to Carolina’s 255. The Gamecocks were 0-for-3 in the redzone.

THE HBC AND GEORGIA

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier owns a 12-3 record against Georgia. He was 11-1 while in charge of the Florida Gator program, with his lone loss coming in the 1997 season. He is 1-2 in three tries as the head coach at South Carolina. His squads have scored 30 or more points in nine of 15 contests against the Bulldogs.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND

The Gamecocks have 14 players on their roster who hail from the state of Georgia. The list includes Eric Norwood (Acworth), Addison Williams (Atlanta), Jonathan Williams (Augusta), Terrence Campbell (Austell), Yvan Banag (Buford), Carlos Thomas (College Park), Kenny Miles (Lawrenceville), Ryan Broadhead (Leesburg), Chris HaIL (Lovejoy), Kenny McKinley (Mableton), Ladi Ajiboye (Riverdale), Nate Spurrier (Snellville), Jared Cook (Suwanee) and Jasper Brinkley (Thomson).

PLAYING A RANKED FOE

Georgia comes into this week’s game ranked second in both national polls. The Gamecocks are 5-9 in their 14 previous games against ranked opponents in the Steve Spurrier Era. Here’s a year-by-year breakdown:

2005: Carolina was 2-1 against ranked opponents, knocking off No. 23 Tennessee and No. 12 Florida after losing to No. 9 Georgia.

2006: Carolina was 1-5 against ranked opponents with their lone win coming against No. 24 Clemson. They had losses against No. 12 Georgia, No. 2 Auburn, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 12 Arkansas and No. 6 Florida.

2007: The Gamecocks were 2-3 against ranked opponents, winning over No. 11 Georgia and No. 8 Kentucky, but suffering losses to No. 2 LSU, No. 17 Florida and No. 15 Clemson.

PLAYING THE BEST

South Carolina has played 30 games in its history against teams ranked in the top-5 in the country, posting a 1-29 record in those contests, including losses in each of their last 21 opportunities. They are 1-10 at home against top-5 teams, 0-18 on the road and 0-1 at neutral sites. The lone win was a 31-13 win over North Carolina on October 24, 1981. Their most recent game against a top-5 team was a 28-16 loss at No. 2 LSU last season. This is the third straight year in which USC has played a top-5 team. They also lost to second-ranked Auburn by a 24-17 count in Columbia on September 28, 2006.

AND DEFEATING THE BEST

South Carolina’s best win over a ranked opponent came in the 1981 season when they knocked off No. 3 North Carolina by a 31-13 score. It’s the only win over a top-5 opponent in school history. Here are the other top wins:

THE LAST TIME OUT

South Carolina went to Nashville on Thursday, September 4 to open SEC action against Vanderbilt. The Commodores came away with their second-straight win over the Gamecocks, this time by a 24-17 margin. The Gamecocks took a 10-3 lead into intermission after holding Vandy to just 50 yards of offense in the first half, but the Commodores used a couple of mistakes in the kicking game to gain some momentum and scored 21 consecutive points to take a 24-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Gamecocks scored midway through the final stanza, but were unable to come up with the tying touchdown, as Vanderbilt defeated a Steve Spurrier-coached team for the second-straight time after 14 consecutive losses.

THE NUMBERS LIE

South Carolina held the advantage in just about every category against Vanderbilt except the scoreboard. The Gamecocks outgained the Commodores, 325-225 while running 14 more plays (68-54). USC was 6-of-15 (40 percent) on third down plays while VU was just 2-of-10 (20 percent). Vanderbilt did hold the advantage with a plus-2 in the turnover margin and had four fewer penalties than the Gamecocks.

SEC OPENER NOTES

* South Carolina dropped its conference opener for the first time since the 2005 season. That 2005 team was 0-3 in league play before running off five straight SEC wins.

* Chris Smelley posted career highs with 23 completions and 39 pass attempts. His previous highs were 19 completions and 37 attempts, both against Mississippi State on September 29, 2007. Smelley also had a career-long rush of 24 yards.

* Before leaving with right hamstring injury, wide receiver Kenny McKinley set the school record for consecutive games with at least one pass reception, catching a pass in his 35th straight game. He also caught his 16th career touchdown pass, giving him sole possession of sixth place in school history.

* Sophomore Chris Culliver logged a 50-yard kickoff return, the longest of his career.

* The Gamecocks had a field goal blocked for the first time since the November 11, 2006 game at Florida.

THE POLLS

The Gamecocks opened the 2008 season ranked 26th in the preseason Associated Press poll with 84 points, just one point behind Pittsburgh, and were 27th in the USA Today/Coaches Preseason Poll with 64 points. The Gamecocks opened as the seventh-highest ranked SEC school in both preseason polls behind Georgia (1st in AP, 1st in USA Today), Florida (5/5), LSU (7/6), Auburn (10/11), Tennessee (18/18) and Alabama (24/26). After a season-opening win over NC State, the Gamecocks jumped to No. 24 in both polls, but fell back out of the polls after last week’s loss at Vanderbilt.

FOR STARTERS

The Gamecocks officially return 18 starters from the 2007 squad (six on offense, 10 on defense and one specialist). The returning offensive starters are OG Seaver Brown, OG Lemuel Jeanpierre, WR Dion Lecorn, WR Kenny McKinley, OT Jamon Meredith and OT Justin Sorensen. The returning defensive starters include DT Ladi Ajiboye, S Emanuel Cook, DT Marque Hall, LB Cliff Matthews, CB Captain Munnerlyn, DE Eric Norwood, LB Rodney Paulk, LB Marvin Sapp, FS Darian Stewart, and CB Carlos Thomas. Senior Ryan Succop is the returning punter and placekicker. The list does not include middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley, who started all 13 games in 2006 and the first four games of the 2007 season before suffering a season-ending knee injury, or defensive tackle Nathan Pepper, who started 12 games in 2006 and each of the first three games in 2007 before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

NEW STARTERS

Two Gamecocks, redshirt junior quarterback Tommy Beecher and sophomore fullback Patrick DiMarco, made their first collegiate start in the season-opening win over NC State. Sophomore left tackle Jarriel King earned his first collegiate start at Vanderbilt.

RECAPPING 2007

South Carolina won six of its first seven games, including an impressive win at then-No. 11 Georgia and a win over No. 8 Kentucky, to climb to No. 7 in the AP poll and sixth in the BCS standings, before dropping each of their last five games to finish the season at 6-6, 3-5 in the SEC. Four of the six losses came to teams ranked in the top-25 in the country at the time of the contest.

TOUGH TIMES

The Gamecocks had one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2007, facing five ranked opponents during the regular season. According to the NCAA, Carolina’s schedule was ranked as the ninth-toughest in Division I football. Eight of South Carolina’s 12 opponents in 2007 played in a bowl game, with five of those teams posting victories.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Gamecocks defeated three teams in 2007 that went on to win its bowl games. Carolina knocked off Georgia by a 16-12 score, Mississippi State by a 38-21 margin and Kentucky by a 38-23 advantage. Georgia routed Hawaii 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl, Mississippi State defeated UCF, 10-3 in the Liberty Bowl, and Kentucky defeated Florida State, 35-28 in the Music City Bowl.

MORE TOUGH TIMES AHEAD

The Gamecocks will face four of the top nine teams in the country in 2008, according to the preseason polls. Georgia was the top-ranked team in both polls. The Bulldogs make their way to Columbia on Sept. 13 in a nationally-televised CBS contest. Florida entered the season ranked fifth in both polls. Carolina will travel to The Swamp on Nov. 15. LSU was seventh in the AP poll and sixth in the USA Today poll. The Bayou Bengals will visit Columbia on Oct. 18. Clemson began the season ranked ninth in both polls. The Tigers will host the Gamecocks in the final regular-season game of the `08 campaign on Nov. 29. In addition, the Gamecocks will play Tennessee, ranked 18th in both preseason polls. The Vols come to Williams-Brice Stadium on Nov. 1.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks will take a break from SEC action next Saturday, September 20, when they host the Wofford Terriers in a 7 p.m. kick at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks lead the all-time series with Wofford, 17-4, including a 15-2 mark at home. The series between these two Palmetto State schools dates back to 1895. South Carolina has won each of the last 14 meetings between the two squads, with Wofford’s last win coming in the 1917 season. The teams last met in 2006, with South Carolina holding on for a hard-fought 27-20 win. UNDER COACH SPURRIER Head coach Steve Spurrier is 22-17 in his fourth season in Columbia. He recorded the most wins by a Carolina head coach in his first three seasons (21), topping Joe Morrison’s mark of 20 from 1983-85. The most wins for a South Carolina coach in his first four seasons with the program is 25, recorded by Warren Giese from 1956-59 (7, 5, 7 and 6 wins).

WINNING MORE OFTEN

The Gamecocks have posted four consecutive seasons of at least a .500 record, going 6-5 in 2004, 7-5 in 2005, 8-5 in 2006 and 6-6 in 2007. It’s the first time they have accomplished that feat since 1987-90 (8-4, 8-4, 6-4-1, 6-5). The last time they went five or more consecutive seasons with a .500 record or better was from 1928-34.

GAME CAPTAINS

The Gamecocks select captains for each game: NC State: PK Ryan Succop, LB Eric Norwood, RT Justin Sorensen, DT Nathan Pepper. Vanderbilt: WR Kenny McKinley, DE Jordin Lindsey, LB Jasper Brinkley.

WORKING OVERTIME

The Gamecocks have played just two overtime games in their history, both at Tennessee. They dropped a 23-20 decision in Knoxville on Sept. 27, 2003, then fell by a 27-24 score on Oct. 27, 2007, also at Neyland Stadium. Every other SEC team has played at least three overtime games since the rule was established in 1996.