Well, that was painful. For the last half decade South Carolina has garnered success on the football field by fielding a stout defense and a competent offense. That went out the window Saturday night. A Georgia offensive line that was abysmal last week played like road graders this week. When Todd Gurley wasn't running through or around the defense Aaron Murray was converting third downs.
In reality we should have seen this coming. Georgia was backed into a corner by last week's embarrassing loss. They were a preseason Top Five team for a reason. They showed why tonight. All week no one picked them to win.
Then there was South Carolina. They were picked to go into Athens and win. Some people thought it would be a big win. No one seemed concerned with the youth on defense. No one was worried about the secondary. They should have been.
Credit belongs to Georgia, but the shortcomings of the Gamecocks were many. The defense was unable to cover for very long and, in a more basic failure, the defense couldn't substitute properly. Play after play was run while the defensive line tried, and failed to get set. The offensive game plan was unimaginative. If Carolina had a decided advantage up front, why oh why did they throw so much?
USC was beaten in every phase of the game. They didn't roll over and die, but they didn't stay within single digits of the bulldogs. Now Carolina has to win and hope that Georgia stumbles. Twice. Is there any chance that happens? Maybe, they've already lost once, but do they really strike you as a three loss team?
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