Athens – A fake punt, a fumble on a sack and an interception were all returned for Gamecock touchdowns as South Carolina edged Georgia 45-42 in Sanford Stadium Saturday. The Bulldogs lost despite 118 rushing yards from freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell, 248 yards and a career-high four touchdowns from Aaron Murray and 184 return yards from Brandon Boykin.
“South Carolina is a tremendous team, and I think Georgia’s a darn good team if we don’t help the opponent too much,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt. “I saw an awful lot of fight from our guys, I saw some outstanding plays at crunch time, I saw banged-up guys sucking it up and going – all the ingredients of a very good football team. But very good football teams don’t turn it over the way we did.”
In a game that ended up with the exact inverse of the score from 2009 at this same stadium (45-42, Georgia), both teams had a myriad of big plays and big mistakes. After taking a 38-35 lead with 3:28 remaining, Murray was sacked and Gamecock freshman lineman Jadeveon Clowney caused him to fumble, which Melvin Ingram returned five yards for a score. Now up 45-35, Carolina controlled the game.
“This was a good win for us,” said Gamecock head coach Steve Spurrier. “Give Georgia credit, they outplayed us but we were fortunate to win. That’s how football is sometimes. We had some big plays and had a few defensive scores, which helped us out a lot. I think Melvin Ingram deserves a lot of credit for making some huge plays. He’s a heck of an athlete.”
Up 6-0 in the first quarter, kicker Blair Walsh missed a 33-yard field goal for the Bulldogs. That missed kick would come back to haunt the Dawgs. After a 26-yard touchdown pass to Rantavious Wooten, Georgia led 13-7. But Carolina shocked everyone in the stadium on their next possession when defensive end Melvin Ingram took a fake punt 68 yards for a touchdown.
During the fake punt, Richt threw his play cards and headset about 20 yards onto the field. It would be an understatement to say that was out of character for Richt.
But with his team now 0-2 and the media putting him on the hotseat, Richt needs to pull himself and his team together to finish this season strongly. There are still big rivalry games left and he and his staff’s jobs to coach for.
Loading ...
