Gamecocks mauled by top-ranked Bulldogs, fall 48-7

Sep 17, 2022 - 7:32 PM

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The South Carolina Gamecocks had nothing to muster against the firepower of the Georgia offense and the suffocating Georgia defense, falling 48-7 to the top-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in Columbia.

The game got off to a troubling start quickly for the Gamecocks, as the Bulldogs took a 14-0 lead in about five minutes and never looked back, only punting for the first time as the first half wound to a close and UGA held a 24-0 lead.

Things didn’t get any better in the second stanza for South Carolina, despite UGA pulling many of its starters. While the Gamecocks were able to avert a shutout courtesy of a late touchdown pass from backup Luke Doty to Traveon Kenion, the Bulldogs easily outscored the 26-point line and rained misery onto the soldout Williams-Brice crowd on an otherwise beautiful day.

Genuinely — and unfortunately — there just isn’t anything else to say about this one. The Gamecocks (1-2, 0-2 SEC) ran into the buzzsaw of a far superior team, and while they probably could have performed a little better (offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield remains the weakest link of the coaching staff and it’s glaringly obvious, in case it wasn’t already), this wasn’t a winnable contest unless a cornucopia of good fortune broke the Gamecocks’ way. It’s time to reset for Charlotte next week (7:30 p.m., ESPNU), get another breather with S.C. State the next, and prepare for the grind of the SEC schedule.