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South Carolina ends five-game skid to Georgia

Sep 9, 2007 - 3:14 AM ATHENS, Georgia (Ticker) -- Georgia's hatred for the "Ol' Ball Coach" was renewed Saturday.

Cory Boyd tallied 88 total yards with a touchdown and South Carolina's defense did the rest en route to a 16-12 victory over 11th-ranked Georgia.

After dominating the Bulldogs during his reign as Florida's coach, Steve Spurrier could not get a win over Georgia in his first two seasons with South Carolina.

Spurrier, who holds a 12-3 career coaching record against the Bulldogs in his career, helped the Gamecocks snap a five-game losing streak to their Southeastern Conference foe.

"This was the first one we have won against Georgia since I have been here," Spurrier said. "Somehow or another we scored 16 points - it was a wonderful win. It wasn't a shocker - we thought we would win this game."

Boyd scored the game's only touchdown in the first quarter when he juked a defender at the line of scrimmage and then scampered into the end zone from nine yards out to give South Carolina a 7-0 lead.

Boyd finished with 76 rushing yards on 14 carries and Mike Davis added 55 more on nine attempts.

After Brandon Coutu knocked through his fourth field goal with 4:42 remaining, South Carolina (2-0, 1-0 SEC East) rushed for three consecutive first downs, but the drive stalled after Kenny McKinley was taken down in the backfield on a reverse on 3rd-and-4.

Georgia (1-1, 0-1 East) took over at its own 20-yard-line, but its potential winning drive ended when Matthew Stafford's deep pass deflected off the leg of cornerback Captain Munnerlyn and into the hands of linebacker Jaspar Brinkley for the interception.

"This feels great," Brinkley said. "This is a stepping stone to get to the SEC championship, and what we did tonight we could do all season."

South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell passed for 174 yards. His favorite target was McKinley, who hauled in seven receptions for 102 yards.

"This game shows we can win the big game," Mitchell said.

The Gamecocks' defense held Stafford to 19-of-44 passing for 213 yards.

"We missed too many opportunities to make plays that could have made all the difference in the game," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "To be truthful, I don't think it was because of a lack of effort out there. It was just a lack of ability to make plays when they were there."

"We just have to make plays, that's what it boils down to," Stafford added. "We have to keep working hard and move on."

Freshman running back Knowshon Moreno collected his first 100-yard rushing performance with 102 on 14 carries for the Bulldogs, who trailed, 10-3, at the half after the teams exchanged field goals in the second quarter.

Ryan Succop, who did both the kicking and punting for South Carolina, made field goals of 41, 35 and 34 yards.