Bulldogs brace for shootout

ATHENS, Ga. -- Arkansas scored 48 points in its last game and Georgia scored 41, so it stands to reason Saturday night's football matchup between the Razorbacks and Bulldogs will be explosive.

Of course, reason has yet to figure into Georgia's season.

The Bulldogs expected to participate in an opening-game shootout at Oklahoma State but trailed 10-7 at halftime in their eventual 24-10 loss. Last weekend against visiting South Carolina, which had won its opener 7-3 at North Carolina State, the predicted defensive clash blew up instantly.

Each team scored a touchdown within the first six minutes, and Georgia erupted for 31 first-half points in winning 41-37.

"You can't predict it," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said Tuesday. "You can try, but it's very difficult. I would never have dreamed that many points would have been scored last week. You watch their first game and our first game, and both offenses struggled.

"So this game? I don't know. All I can say is fasten your seat belt and get ready for another 60-minute war. I would see no reason why this wouldn't go down to the wire also."

Georgia held Oklahoma State and its offensive trio of Zac Robinson, Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant to 307 yards, yet the Bulldogs allowed South Carolina 427 yards on a whopping 83 plays. The Bulldogs did flex occasionally on defense against the Gamecocks, forcing Spencer Lanning to kick five field goals and clinching the win on linebacker Rennie Curran's deflection with 22 seconds left.

"It's been crazy, but we really haven't done a very good job of taking care of the ball," Curran said. "That affects field position, which affects the offense getting momentum, which ultimately affects the points. We've got to do a better job with the turnover ratio and continue to play hard and fast and limit the penalties."

The Bulldogs turned the ball over three times in their opener and got no takeaways. They lost three turnovers last Saturday night and got only one in return.

Georgia's 41-37 win was the highest-scoring game in the South Carolina series since the Bulldogs prevailed 52-34 in 1970.

"It's been kind of wild," quarterback Joe Cox said. "I know how everybody was expecting our last game to be, especially after how both of our first games went. Everybody thought it would be a defensive struggle, but I'll take it."

While his offense and defense have taken turns shining and stumbling, Richt is very pleased with the improvement of his special teams. The Bulldogs set a program record last Saturday with 252 yards on kickoff returns, and they did it with a unit consisting of six freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and one senior.

Georgia allowed a 74-yard kickoff return to open the second half at OSU but also was better in that area against the Gamecocks.

"I just thought we looked like a fast football team," Richt said. "I watched the TV copy, and everybody was playing hard and fast on both sides of the ball and special teams. We just looked like Georgia should look, but the penalties weren't exciting, and we fumbled one at our 23, fumbled one at our 8, and we had a pick six. We had a punt faked on us and snapped one over our head.

"All those things are bad, no doubt, and could have got us beat, but I'm optimistic that we're not as good as we can be, and that gives us hope. It's exciting."

As exciting as Saturday night in Fayetteville should be, regardless of how many points are scored.