Oct. 6, 2012

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2

GENERAL

• South Carolina extended its winning streak to 10 games, the longest in school history.
• Steve Spurrier now has 250 career wins, including both his time as a college and professional coach.
• The Gamecocks posted their third consecutive-win over Georgia, for the first time in school history.
• South Carolina now has its first 6-0 start since the 1988 season. This is only the third time (1984) in school history the Gamecocks have started the season 6-0.
• The Gamecocks posted their biggest margin of victory ever in the series vs. Georgia. The previous high mark was 17 points, which was set during the 1903 season. This was also the largest margin of victory against an SEC team since defeating Kentucky 54-3 on Oct. 8, 2011.
• South Carolina extended its winning streak against SEC Eastern Division rivals to 12 straight games. Their last loss in the Division came at Kentucky in 2010.
• Tonight’s attendance was 85,199 breaking the Williams-Brice Stadium record attendance of 85,000 against Clemson Nov. 17, 2001.
• Tonight’s captains for the Gamecocks were junior quarterback Connor Shaw, junior tailback Marcus Lattimore, senior spur DeVonte Holloman and senior defensive end Devin Taylor.

OFFENSE

• Sophomore wide receiver, Bruce Ellington had his first touchdown of the season on a 20-yard reception from Shaw with 12:28 remaining in the first quarter.
• The Gamecocks posted 21 points in the first quarter, the most first quarter points since they scored 28 in the opening set vs. Troy on Nov. 20, 2010.
• A 62-yard catch in the third quarter by senior wide receiver D.L. Moore was the longest of his career.
• Lattimore has scored in seven straight games with a touchdown in the third quarter. He has scored at least one touchdown in 21 of 26 career games played and is tied for 15th in SEC history with 39 total career touchdowns.
• Lattimore rushed for 109 yards, his 11th career 100-yard game and third against Georgia.
• Lattimore has now rushed 88 times for 467 yards and four touchdowns in three games against the Bulldogs.

DEFENSE

• Holloman had his second interception of the season and sixth of his career during the first quarter on a pass deflected by sophomore defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles.
• The Carolina defense held Georgia to only seven points after the Bulldogs had posted 40-plus points in each of their first five games this season.
• Georgia averaged 536 yards per-game total offense through their first five games. The Gamecocks held them to less than half of that.
• The Gamecocks held Georgia running back Todd Gurley and tailback Keith Marshall to just 76 total yards combined.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Junior wide receiver, Ace Sanders had a 70 -yard punt return, his second career punt return for a touchdown. His first came in 2011 against East Carolina.

Shutout Avoided: Thanks to a 12-play, 75-yard TD-drive that consumed 4:22 late in the fourth quarter, Georgia avoided its first shutout since the 1995 Alabama game. Sophomore Ken Malcome accounted for 45 yards rushing on five carries on the scoring drive including a 3-yard TD run. However, tonight marked the first time since the 2009 LSU game in Athens that Georgia failed to score in the first half. That year, the 14th-ranked Bulldogs trailed fourth-ranked LSU 6-0 and lost 20-13. Georgia came in tonight leading the SEC in scoring offense at 48.2 points a game while USC ranked second in the league in scoring defense at 11.2 points.

Top 10 Contest: Tonight was a Top 10 matchup for the first time in series history with USC at #6 and Georgia at #5. Under Mark Richt, the Bulldogs are now 3-5 in top 10 matchups.

Win Streak Ends: Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) saw its streak of consecutive wins in the regular season end at 15. Prior to tonight, the last time Georgia lost a regular season game was last year against then #12 South Carolina in Athens 45-42 on Sept. 10. Tonight, Georgia trailed 21-0 at the half which marked the largest halftime deficit since the 2008 Alabama game in Athens when the Crimson Tide led 31-0 en route to a 41-30 victory over the Bulldogs.

Geathers Blocks Field Goal: Junior nose Kwame Geathers blocked a 33-yard field goal attempt by Adam Yates in the third quarter. It was the first field goal block by a Bulldog since the 2009 Independence Bowl when Geno Atkins had one against Texas A&M. Earlier this year against Florida Atlantic, Geathers blocked a PAT.

Jones Gets Another Sack: Junior All-American OLB Jarvis Jones registered a sack to give him 5.5 for the year and 19 in his Bulldog career after leading the SEC last year with 13.5. Jones finished the game with four tackles including two TFL for minus nine.

Another Catch For TK: Senior Tavarres King registered a catch in his 21st consecutive game. He finished with 1 catch for 16 yards.

Points off Turnovers: South Carolina got 7 points off 1 Bulldog turnover. Aaron Murray had a pass tipped that resulted in an INT (DeVonte Holloman) on Georgia’s first drive at the SC30. It was Murray’s fourth INT of the year and second straight week off a tipped pass. Bulldog opponents now have 43 points off 10 Georgia miscues this season. Murray finished tonight 11-for-31, 109 yards.

Last Time: South Carolina’s Ace Sanders returned a punt 70 yards for a TD, the first to do that against the Bulldogs since the 2011 SEC Championship game when LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu took one 62 yards in Atlanta.

GameDay: Georgia is now 3-10 in games when ESPN GameDay is on-site including 3-4 in an opponent’s stadium.

For Starters: Junior QB Aaron Murray started his team-leading 33rd consecutive game while senior Shawn Williams has a team-high 13 consecutive starts in a row on defense.

Captains: Junior QB Aaron Murray, senior CB Sanders Commings, senior LB Christian Robinson and junior OT Kenarious Gates served as captains tonight.

Up Next: Georgia has an open date next Saturday before returning to action Oct. 20 at Kentucky. The game time has not been set.