UGA Football

Gametime 2012 – Georgia at South Carolina

by
Kevin Kelley
Oct 4, 2012

Georgia hopes to contain Marcus Lattimore on Saturday. Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

On Saturday, the 5th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs travel to Columbia to take on the 6th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in a huge SEC East showdown. The game will be televised by ESPN at 7 p.m. ET.

Georgia enters the game 5-0 overall (3-0 SEC) and ranked 5th in both major polls. Last week, the Dawgs beat Tennessee 51-44.

South Carolina has the same record as Georgia, 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are confident after back-to-back SEC wins over Missouri (31-10) and Kentucky (38-17). USC has also beaten Vanderbilt, East Carolina, and UAB.

The Bulldogs have dominated the series against the Gamecocks, leading 46-16-2. But South Carolina has bragging rights after defeating Georgia two straight seasons and three out of the last five.

Georgia is seeking their first 6-0 start since the 2005 season. That year, the Bulldogs won their first seven games and finished the season 10-3 and SEC Champions.

The Dawgs will be without wide receiver Michael Bennett, who tore his ACL in practice Tuesday and is out for the year. Bennett led the Bulldogs with 24 catches for 345 yards and 4 touchdowns.

As pointed out by ESPN’s Chris Fowler, UGA is 0-9 since 2008 vs. SEC teams that finish ranked and 0-9 the last two years vs. all ranked teams. Hopefully the Dawgs can reverse that trend this weekend.

Fowler and ESPN GameDay will broadcast live from Columbia beginning at 9 a.m. on ESPNU and continuing at 10 a.m. on ESPN.

Georgia at South Carolina:

Date: Oct. 6, 2012, 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Broadcast: Brent Musberger (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Heather Cox (reporter)

Inside the numbers:

Georgia has won 15 consecutive regular season games. It’s the second longest active streak behind LSU (18).
The 15 game regular season winning streak is the longest ever under Mark Richt.
Georgia leads the overall series against South Carolina 46-16-2.
Georgia leads the SEC in scoring offense (48.2 points per game).
Georgia is ranked 11th in Total Offense with 536.00 yards per game.
Georgia is ranked 8th in Scoring Offense with 48.2 points per game.
Georgia is ranked 55th in Total Defense with 370.2 yards per game.
Georgia is ranked 46th (tie) in Scoring Defense with 22.0 points per game.
Georgia is ranked 55th (tie) in Turnover Margin (+1 ratio).
Georgia is ranked 90th (tie) in Fewest Penalties Per Game (38 for 237 yards).