Thumbs up, thumbs down: South Carolina dominated by No. 1 Georgia at home
South Carolina dropped its second game in a row, losing to No. 1 Georgia 48-7 on Saturday.
Here’s what went wrong — and also right — for the Gamecocks.
THUMBS UP
Nick Emmanwori: With the injuries to the defense, Emmanwori stepped up for South Carolina. He ended the game with 14 tackles and continues to be a factor on defense. The true freshman safety now leads the team in tackles through three games.
Kai Kroeger: Kroeger made some of the best plays for South Carolina on Saturday. He executed a fake punt with a 20-yard completion to Traevon Kenion. He also helped the defense with field position on a few occasions. He made a 41-yard punt that put UGA at its own 9-yard line, leading to the Bulldogs’ first punt of the day.
Schedule eases up (some): As bad as the last two games were for the Gamecocks, they were two of hardest — on paper — on the 2022 schedule. Both Georgia and Arkansas are both top-10 teams. While South Carolina will face more ranked teams down the line, it should match up better with its remaining opponents.
Women’s basketball makes a cameo: Dawn Staley and the women’s basketball team were recognized at halftime for their national championship win last season. Some of the players also hung out with fans in Gamecock Village before the game. The Gamecocks begin their regular season on Nov. 11 against Maryland at the moment, unless they lock in an opponent for Nov. 7 where the BYU game was canceled.
THUMBS DOWN
Allowing big plays: Georgia had no issues moving the ball down the field, finishing with five plays of 20 or more yards. In particular, USC’s defense struggled to contain tight end Brock Bowers. Bowers finished with 121 yards and two touchdown receptions, and he also ran in a 5-yard TD in the first quarter.
Third-down conversions: South Carolina struggled mightily to move the chains, but specifically on third down, as the Gamecocks went 4-of-13 on the day. The team did not convert on any of its third downs in the first half — aside from a pass interference call late in the second quarter. Too many drives stalled out for USC, and even drives that had long gains didn’t yield much success.
Passing defense: Stetson Bennett made easy work of the Gamecocks defense — both in the secondary and between the front seven. Many receivers and running backs managed to take short catches and turn them into long gains. Other targets found ways to get open deep, making it easy for Georgia to score on eight of its 11 drives Saturday. Bennett exited the game in the third quarter, finishing with 284 yards passing and two touchdowns through the air.
Depleted crowd: By halftime, the student section was cut in half — and then some. Fans cleared out of the stadium with the Gamecocks trailing 24-0 after 30 minutes of football. Additionally, the game was nationally televised on ESPN. By the end of the game, there wasn’t an overwhelming advantage of USC fans over Georgia fans in the stands.
This story was originally published September 17, 2022 at 3:47 PM.
