Skip to main content
Partner logo
Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Gamecocks+

Sept. 10, 2010

GAMEDAY CENTRAL

Gameday Information | Parking Information | South Carolina Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader | Georgia Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

Twitter Updates: @GamecocksOnline | GamecocksOnline Facebook Page

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS

  • Game Sponsor: Verizon
  • Giveaway: 7,000 rally towels in the student section
  • Gamecock Village (at NEW LOCATION in the parking lot of the Biscuit House): South Carolina softball team signing autographs, Coke Zero Music Tour, inflatables, live pregame broadcast

ON THE AIR
National Television – ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Play-by-Play: Mark Jones
Analyst: Bob Davie
Sideline: Quint Kessenich

Gamecock Radio Network
Network Broadcast begins at 9 a.m. live from Bojangles’
Flagship: WNKT-FM 107.5 The Game
Play-by-Play: Todd Ellis
Analyst: Tommy Suggs
Sideline: Terry Cousin

Satellite Radio
XM Radio Channel: 199
SIRIUS “Best of XM” Channel: 220

SportSouth Replay: 8 p.m., Sept. 12
Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra
Analyst: Brad Muller

SETTING THE STAGE
• No. 24/25 South Carolina opens its 19th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference as it welcomes longtime rival No. 22/19 Georgia to Williams-Brice Stadium for a 12:01 p.m. kickoff Saturday. The game is set for a national television broadcast on ESPN2. This is the first time since 2003 that both teams enter the contest as part of the nation’s Top 25.
• The Gamecocks are 1-0 after a dominating 41-13 victory over Southern Miss last Thursday. Georgia also enters at 1-0 after a 55-7 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette last Saturday.
• This is the 104th consecutive year in which the University of South Carolina has fielded a football team; the school did not compete in 1893 or 1906. Carolina owns an all-time record of 535-536-44.

THE SERIES
• Today is the 63rd football meeting between South Carolina and Georgia. Georgia leads the all-time series 46-14-2, including a 19-7-2 mark in Columbia. The Bulldogs have won the last two and seven of the last eight in the series.
• South Carolina’s last win in the series came in 2007 in Athens. The Gamecocks’ last win in Columbia was a 21-10 victory in 2000.
• Only Clemson (107) has faced South Carolina more times than Georgia (62). Only Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Vanderbilt have more meetings with Georgia than do the Gamecocks.

THE COACHES

South Carolina: Steve Spurrier (Florida `67)

  • Overall: 178-68-2 (21st season)
  • at South Carolina: 36-28 (6th season)
  • vs. Georgia: 12-5 (1-4 at Carolina)
  • in SEC Openers: 13-4

Georgia: Mark Richt (Miami (Fla.) `82)

  • Overall: 91-27 (10th season)
  • at Georgia: Same
  • vs. South Carolina: 7-2
  • in Columbia: 4-0

QUICK HITS
• South Carolina begins its 19th season of competition in the Southeastern Conference. The Gamecocks are 7-11 in league openers since joining the SEC prior to the 1992 season. Of those 18 previous SEC openers, 15 have come against Georgia.
• The Gamecocks have won nine out of their last 10 home games, dating back to a win over Tennessee on Nov. 1, 2008.
• OL T.J. Johnson was named the SEC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week after the Gamecocks’ victory over Southern Miss on Thursday. Johnson led a line that paved the way for 449 yards of total offense, averaging 6.9 yards per play.
• The Gamecocks are 7-15 against ranked opponents in the Spurrier Era, including a 2-3 mark during the 2009 season. One of those wins came over Georgia (2007). Georgia has been ranked all six years of the Spurrier Era when facing Carolina. Carolina is 6-9 under Spurrier when it is ranked; 1-3 in contests when both teams are ranked.

A SOUTH CAROLINA WIN OVER GEORGIA WOULD…

  • Move South Carolina to 2-0 for the first time since the 2007 season.
  • Bring South Carolina’s all-time football record back to .500 (536-536-44).
  • Be the first home win over Georgia since 2000.
  • Give Steve Spurrier his 106th victory over an SEC school as an SEC coach, tying him with John Vaught (Ole Miss) for the second-most all-time in SEC history.
  • Move South Carolina to 8-11 in SEC openers.
  • Give South Carolina a 10-1 record in its last 11 games at Williams-Brice Stadium.
  • Be the Gamecocks’ second straight win over a ranked opponent (#15 Clemson on Nov. 28, 2009).

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT: GEORGIA
The Georgia Bulldogs are in their 10th season under Mark Richt, who carries a 90-27 record as the Bulldog head coach. The Bulldogs finished 8-5 last season, tying for second place in the SEC Eastern Division and winning the Independence Bowl over Texas A&M 44-20. South Carolina has faced Georgia every season dating back to 1958 with only five interruptions, skipping only the 1965, 1972-73, and 1989-90 seasons.

GAMECOCKS AND BULLDOGS
This is the 63rd meeting on the gridiron between South Carolina and Georgia. Georgia holds a 46-14-2 lead in the all-time series, including a 19-7-2 advantage when the teams have played in Columbia. The Bulldogs took a 41-38 victory in Athens last season, their second straight victory in the series. The Gamecocks’ last win in Columbia came in 2000.

AN OLD RIVALRY
After Saturday, Georgia and South Carolina will have met 63 times on the gridiron. No team except Clemson (102) has faced South Carolina more times in intercollegiate football competition. On the other side, Georgia, a charter member of the SEC, has faced only seven schools more times times than they have the Gamecocks (Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Vanderbilt). The series dates to 1894, a 40-0 Georgia win in Columbia – the second game in the history of South Carolina football and the ninth in UGA annals.

USUALLY CLOSE, USUALLY LOW-SCORING
Seven of the last nine meetings between these two schools have been decided by seven points or less. In addition, the winning team has failed to eclipse the 20-point plateau in five of the last six games; last year’s offensive shootout in Athens notwithstanding:

  • 2009: Georgia 41, Carolina 37 (Athens)
  • 2008: Georgia 14, Carolina 7 (Columbia)
  • 2007: Carolina 16, Georgia 12 (Athens)
  • 2005: Georgia 17, Carolina 15 (Athens)
  • 2004: Georgia 20, Carolina 16 (Columbia)
  • 2002: Georgia 13, Carolina 7 (Columbia)
  • 2001: Carolina 14, Georgia 9 (Athens)
  • 2000: Carolina 21, Georgia 10 (Columbia)

…EXCEPT FOR LAST YEAR’S SHOOTOUT
Last year’s South Carolina-Georgia game in Athens, with 78 combined points scored, marked the second-highest scoring game in the history of the series that dates back to 1894. The highest was a 52-34 Georgia win in 1970. Carolina’s 37 points were the most a Gamecock team has ever posted against the Bulldogs.

TIES WITH GEORGIA
• The state of Georgia provides the third-most Gamecocks of any state, behind only South Carolina and Florida. A total of 17 active Gamecocks hail from the Peach State:

• Georgia wide receivers coach Tony Ball was a volunteer running backs coach for the Gamecocks in 1987.
• Georgia DL Kwame Geathers, a native of Georgetown, S.C., is the brother of former Gamecock DE Clifton Geathers, now a member of the Miami Dolphins.
• Two other Bulldogs hail from the Palmetto State – WR A.J. Green (Summerville) and DE Dexter Morant (Manning).

SPURRIER VS. GEORGIA
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier owns a 12-5 record against Georgia. He was 11-1 while head coach at Florida with his lone loss coming in the 1997 season. He is 1-4 in his five tries while in charge of the Gamecock program. His squads have scored 30 or more points in 10 of 17 contests against the Bulldogs.

SPURRIER VS. RICHT
Steve Spurrier has faced Georgia’s Mark Richt six times as a head coach, winning two of those contests. He won the 2001 meeting in his last season as head coach at Florida, then is 1-4 since taking over the Carolina program in 2005. Richt was also an assistant at Florida State from 1987 to 2000, in which time Spurrier went 5-8-1 against the Seminoles.

GAMECOCKS IN SEC OPENERS
The Gamecocks begin their 19th season of competition in the Southeastern Conference. They are 7-11 in their previous 18 conference openers, 15 of which have come against these Georgia Bulldogs. They are 5-10 when opening the league slate against the `Dawgs, and 2-1 when facing a different opponent.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Gamecocks have an all-time record of 247-177-14 (.580)at Williams-Brice Stadium since its original construction as Carolina Stadium in 1934. Under Steve Spurrier, the Gamecocks are 24-12 (.667) on their home field. South Carolina has won two in a row at home and nine of its last 10, dating back to a victory over Tennessee on Nov. 1, 2008. In that 10-game stretch, Carolina has outscored its opponents 282-157, with an average margin of victory of 12.5 points per game.

GAMECOCKS AS A RANKED TEAM
Under Steve Spurrier, the Gamecocks have been a ranked team heading into 15 contests. Carolina is 6-9 in those opportunities when appearing in the national rankings.

  • 2009 (2-2)
  • Oct. 10 – #25 Carolina 28, Kentucky 26 (Columbia)
  • Oct. 17 – #2 Alabama 20, #22 Carolina 6 (Tuscaloosa)
  • Oct. 24 – #23 Carolina 14, Vanderbilt 10 (Columbia)
  • Oct. 31 – Tennessee 31, #21 Carolina 13 (Knoxville)
  • 2008 (0-2)
  • Sept. 4 – Vanderbilt 24, #24 Carolina 17 (Nashville)
  • Nov. 15 – #3 Florida 56, #24 Carolina 6 (Gainesville)
  • 2007 (4-4)
  • Sept. 15 – #17 Carolina 38, S.C. State 3 (Columbia)
  • Sept. 22 – #2 LSU 28, #12 Carolina 16 (Baton Rouge)
  • Sept. 29 – #16 Carolina 38, Miss. State 21 (Columbia)
  • Oct. 4 – #11 Carolina 38, #8 Kentucky 23 (Columbia)
  • Oct. 13 – #7 Carolina 21, North Carolina 15 (Chapel Hill)
  • Oct. 20 – Vanderbilt 17, #6 Carolina 6 (Columbia)
  • Oct. 27 – Tennessee 27, #15 Carolina 24 (OT) (Knoxville)
  • Nov. 3 – Arkansas 48, #23 Carolina 36 (Fayetteville)
  • 2006 – Not ranked
  • 2005 (0-1)
  • Nov. 19 – Clemson 13, #19 Carolina 9 (Columbia)

LAST TIME IN COLUMBIA
Knowshon Moreno’s sliding 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter lifted the Bulldogs to a 14-7 victory over the Gamecocks on Sept. 13, 2008, in Columbia. Reshad Jones sealed the victory for the Bulldogs, intercepting South Carolina’s Chris Smelley’s pass with 13 seconds left inside the Georgia 10. South Carolina had three chances in the fourth quarter to tie things up. The Gamecocks drove to Georgia’s 2 midway through the period. But linebacker Rennie Curran smacked the ball free as tailback Mike Davis tried to leap the pile and it bounced into the arms of Georgia defensive back Asher Allen. South Carolina got to Georgia 17 in the final minute before Smelley was intercepted by Jones to keep the Gamecocks winless against teams ranked in the top two. The Gamecocks’ scoring play was a 34-yard touchdown pass from Smelley to Moe Brown in the second quarter.

NEW STARTERS
Four Gamecocks made their initial career starts vs. Southern Miss on Sept. 2:

Related stories