Rapid Reaction: Georgia relies on run game to offset Eason's off-day, top South Carolina
Georgia ended its two-game losing streak with a 28-14 victory at South Carolina in a rare Sunday afternoon game.
The Bulldogs started quickly on offense, marching down the field for a touchdown on their first possession, but settled into a defensive battle for much of the afternoon, relying on its run game to offset freshman quarterback Jacob Eason’s worst performance.
Georgia made enough plays down the stretch, however, and left Williams-Brice Stadium with its second SEC victory. Terry Godwin returned an onside kick for a touchdown in the final minutes to make the margin more impressive than it seemed.
What it means: After a heart-breaking loss to Tennessee, Georgia rebounded with a win. That’s no easy task for a first-year coach, but Kirby Smart’s squad improved to 4-2 with a respectable road victory.
Unless Tennessee and Florida have massive collapses, the focus for Georgia should be on improving a young squad. There were some mental lapses and inconsistencies Sunday, as the Bulldogs appeared to take their foot off the pedal after building an early lead, but it provides more valuable experience for the team.
What I liked
Georgia: The Bulldogs were clearly determined to run the football against South Carolina and they had plenty of success. Georgia’s first touchdown drive was almost exclusively done on the ground as Nick Chubb and Sony Michel combined for 64 yards, including a 15-yard score by Chubb.
In the first half, Georgia gained nearly 200 yards and had a nice mix of Chubb, Michel and Brian Herrien. Both Chubb and Michel eclipsed the 100-yard mark in the game, and Herrien came very near to joining that club.
Georgia finished with a season-high 327 yards rushing.
Similarly, the Bulldogs’ run defense was extremely impressive. South Carolina ended the first quarter with zero rushing yards and only mustered 20 in the first half. It was a strong outing in all facets for the defense, which forced three turnovers, but the run defense really set the tone.
South Carolina: There weren’t many positives for the Gamecocks, but they did a good job limiting Georgia’s passing game. South Carolina’s pass rush made life hard for Eason, and Darius English once again had an impact.
Fans got a glimpse of what the offense is capable of on a solid 90-yard drive that included a good balance of run and pass. A 39-yard connection between Perry Orth and Deebo Samuel jump-started the drive and was the type of explosive play the Gamecocks have been missing.
What I didn’t like
Georgia: Eason struggled mightily on the road against Ole Miss, and the freshman still doesn’t look comfortable in hostile territory. He missed several throws that should have been completions and looked shaky going through his reads. The run-heavy focus might have prevented Eason from getting into a rhythm, and a dropped pass by Isaiah McKenzie in the end zone certainly didn’t help, but fans didn’t want to see him have that type of outing.
He finished 5 of 17 for 29 yards. He threw one touchdown and was intercepted once in the red zone. It was a career-low for completions and yards. His previous lows were 8 completions and 131 passing yards.
South Carolina: As has been the case this season, the Gamecocks’ offense was largely ineffective against Georgia. South Carolina mustered only 31 yards in the first quarter and 108 yards in the first half. Orth was fairly efficient, but the offense failed to stretch the field vertically. Any momentum the Gamecocks built was undone by turnovers. Outside of South Carolina’s 90-yard scoring drive, the offense never really looked threatening until the latter stages of the fourth quarter.
Who’s the man: Nick Chubb and Sony Michel each played a big role for the Bulldogs, so it’s only fitting that they share this honor. Both players eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in the third quarter and showed just how dangerous Georgia’s running game can be when both players are healthy.
What’s next: Georgia returns back home for a noon kickoff against Vanderbilt, while South Carolina will enjoy a bye week.
Eason really needs to work on his deep ball accuracy.
Good game South Carolina, its never easy at Williams-Brice, good luck the rest of the year
On a side note, why is big tits brent still calling games?
I know Patterson has yet to see the field, but I think everyone can stop the whole “Eason is better than Patterson” talk.
I didn’t know there was any talk about that. The only thing that’s certain is that however many completions and yards Eason has, it’s that many more than Patterson has. Shea will go through his growing pains next year.
I’m quite confident that he won’t have a performance anywhere near as bad as 5-17 for 29 yards. That is awful.
So is going without an Sec championship for over 50 years
and yet OM de-pantsed UGA on national TV a couple weeks ago
For the first time in 10 meetings, top schools are consistant. Ole miss has a good couple years then they suck again for 20 or so.
I’m so tried of these Ole Miss fans! Yes you beat us very badly! Just like we beat you very badly in 2012, 2011, 2007, 2002, 2001 and 2000. I can keep going if you want me to. That was only ole miss 13th time winning in 46 tries and first time in the last 12 games. So enjoy this brief history of relevants because it won’t last for long!
Sorry, but the days of us being the doormat of the SEC are over.
Good game, congrats on the win.
Also it sucked it was against us, but great to see Chubb back.
My assessment from watching this game is,
Georgia is definitely having some growing pains as expected when having a new coaching staff. I think Eason will improve. He making typical freshman mistakes and next season he should be much better.
South Carolina, poor South Carolina. The only positive for them would be defense. Any team coached by Muschamp will have a pretty good defense. Their offense is terrible! Which I know they are a young team but there can’t be much hope at this point in the season for any SC fan, that this team will turn a corner. Maybe next season. If the offense is still terrible next season, SC fans should be very worried.
Ultimately, I’d rather be in Kirby’s position rather than Muschamp. Good luck to both teams.
Georgia clearly looked like the better team all game. No question there.
Happy to see our pass rush looking good, not surprised Georgia elected to mostly run the ball, or that they were so successful. Our run defense has been pretty shoddy.
Gotta get something going on offense. We shot ourselves in the foot repeatedly when we had the ball. Good defense can only take us so far. At some point, we’ve got to score more than 14 points in a game. Was hoping to see more rotation at quarterback, especially in the first half when Orth wasn’t being very productive (not that I blame Orth, but McIlwain sparked the offense against Vandy and maybe could have done it again today, or at least avoided some of those sacks).
Good game Georgia, a well-deserved win.
I think Muschamp said it best why did Georgia even throw it 17 times? Honestly I think they could have run it every single play and been more effective. SC simply doesn’t have the bodies up front.
It’s not really a losing .streak. at two games. Close maybe half a season would be a winning or losing streak. And even in the league of defense.defense.defense, nobody is running past anybody else at the rate of one touchdown per quarter. Maybe we could headline this .GA ran past SC every now and then. . Muschamp did have a good line when he said .he didn’t know why they thru the ball (as much as they did) (to paraphrase). On the idea that the race is over and TN an FL would have to collapse ??? That sounds like wishful thinking after as few as 2 league games. It’s interesting that GA had a win over MO with a minute to play… then TN turned around the next week and had a no.time left, gift of stupid defense, win over GA….don’t you think? I’m seeing a lot of close games in the east and not a lot of difference. I think we can expect changes in contenders. Are we sure i.e. SC, Vandy, ,Kentucky, are playing there best game yet? It might take a rule changing meeting however to make FL (or LSU) put their loss up on the board.
UGA fans wanted to know why eason wasn’t on the all SEC watch list….. Any more questions?
You’ll be watching him on Sunday unlike the freshmen at Bama
The kid had a bad day,it happens.There will be many more great days than ones like this.He is getting his lumps now but don’t kid yourself he is a baller.