By any name, USC gets Georgia's attention

ATHENS, GA. — Georgia defensive end Demarcus Dobbs probably thought he was giving South Carolina its proper due on Saturday when he was asked about a different, far-off opponent.

But Dobbs ended up doing the opposite Saturday.

“(Tim) Tebow is a great athlete, Heisman winner and everything, but that’s further down the road,” Dobbs said. “We have to worry about Blake Mitchell and company next week.”

To be fair, the 283-pound Dobbs might still have been a bit winded from his 78-yard interception return for a touchdown — one of several big plays in No. 2 Georgia’s 56-17 thrashing of Central Michigan, after which attention turned to the Gamecocks.

South Carolina handed Georgia one of two losses last season; the other was Tennessee, in a situation that Georgia coach Mark Richt compared to USC’s present.

“Now South Carolina’s wounded, and they’re mad, and they’ve got a couple extra days to prepare,” Richt said, alluding to the loss Thursday to Vanderbilt. “And the last time we ran into a team like that, we lost 35-14 or whatever it was to Tennessee. So we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Richt had another interesting observation after watching Thursday’s game: Vanderbilt had better team speed. But he quickly pivoted to complimenting his next opponent, calling USC “big and strong and physical” on defense.

While Dobbs was a year behind on the Gamecocks’ quarterback, Georgia signal-caller Matt Stafford practically named USC’s entire starting lineup.

“South Carolina’s got some personnel that looks pretty out there on defense,” he said. “You’ve got (Jasper) Brinkley. You’ve got Captain Munnerlyn, I feel like he’s been there for nine years. Every time I look up, he’s making plays. You know (Eric) Norwood and (Clifton) Geathers and (Cliff) Matthews up front. They’ve got some players. So you know it’s gonna be a test for us.”

Two years ago, Stafford saw his first action as a college player in a win at Williams-Brice. Last year, he was at the helm when the Bulldogs were stunned at Sanford Stadium by Mitchell and the Gamecocks.

That, and the fact both teams figured to be ranked and unbeaten next week, enticed CBS to pick up the game for its prime 3:30 p.m. slot. But the luster was lost when USC was upset at Vanderbilt on Thursday.

Georgia (2-0) has done nothing to diminish the matchup. It put up 552 yards of offense against Central Michigan, which barely lost the Motor City bowl to Purdue last year.

Bulldogs tailback Knoshown Moreno showed why he will be the most talented tailback to come through Williams-Brice in some time.

During the third quarter, he hurdled a crouching defender. The crowd grew silent while watching the replay, roaring again when it showed Moreno completely clearing the player.

Moreno did that once before, two years ago during practice.

“And I redshirted him anyway,” Richt said.

“He’s not like the other ones,” the coach said later. “There’s something about him.”

Moreno also showed his physicality while running for a 52-yard touchdown. He stiff-armed a defender about 25 yards out and fell forward into the pylon after being pushed hard.

Moreno finished with 168 yards and three touchdowns. Stafford also did his part by throwing for 213 yards and two touchdowns.

“I wouldn’t expect those numbers to continue against a defense like South Carolina,” Richt said. “But I really hope we’ll be more productive than last year.”

Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.