Georgia coach Mark Richt's Bulldogs face another tough early-season test Saturday when they travel to SEC East foe South Carolina.South Carolina looked more like South Carolina in Saturday night's 33-23 win over East Carolina, but can the Gamecocks look like they have in recent years when Georgia visits Williams-Brice Stadium this week?
After getting humiliated by Texas A&M 52-28 on Aug. 28, a setback that obliterated South Carolina's 18-game home winning streak, the Gamecocks got back on track at least to some extent. South Carolina was outgained by ECU 453 to 441 and led the Pirates just 30-23 early in the fourth quarter before embarking on a 10-minute, 33-second drive that culminated with Elliott Fry's 20-yard field goal with 1:30 remaining.
"Oh, I feel better -- I felt better when we won the game," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday afternoon. "For a while there, it didn't look real good. East Carolina went down the field on their first two possessions, but somehow or another we forced field goals and were only down 6-0. Then we were able to put a little drive together and score and get ahead, and at halftime we were ahead.
"We've got a long way to go. It was encouraging in terms of the effort. Guys played with some enthusiasm, but we've got a ways to go to be a decent team this year."
South Carolina has been beyond decent the past three years under Spurrier, posting the first 11-win season in program history in 2011 and matching it in 2012 and '13. Yet if the No. 24 Gamecocks lose this Saturday to the No. 6 Bulldogs, they would be saddled with two losses in mid-September for the first time since 2008.
The Gamecocks already have allowed 1,133 yards this season, having been shredded for 680 by the spread attack of the Aggies. Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill completed a staggering 44 of 60 passes for 511 yards in the opener.
"Obviously in the first game they struggled, but I thought they overall played very well on defense last night," Georgia coach Mark Richt said Sunday. "I just see a team that had one rough day and got back on track and I'm sure will be getting better as time goes on."
Georgia will pose another kind of challenge with junior tailback Todd Gurley, who rushed 15 times for 198 yards in the Aug. 30 opener against Clemson and strengthened as the game progressed.
"It is completely different from three or four wide receivers just about every play to maybe two backs and a pro-type team," said Spurrier, who won his 200th game Saturday as an SEC coach. "I don't know whether or not we can match up that way. We have to find out. If we can play with a lot of fire and emotion, you've got to believe that we have a chance."
The Gamecocks held Gurley to 13 carries for 39 yards two years ago, when South Carolina rolled 35-7. Gurley rebounded last year with 30 carries for 132 yards as the Bulldogs prevailed 41-30 inside Sanford Stadium.
South Carolina junior counterpart Mike Davis, who rushed for just 15 yards against Texas A&M before leaving with bruised ribs, had 18 carries for 101 yards against ECU. Richt was asked Sunday if tackling Gurley in practice could prepare his defense for Davis.
"Davis is a big, strong, physical back with good speed, and obviously Todd is that kind of guy for us," Richt said. "We didn't tackle a whole lot in camp. We really tackled in two scrimmages, and that was about it. Our No. 1 defense didn't get many shots at tackling Todd. They probably got more chances at tackling a guy like Nick Chubb, who's a big, ol' strong joker, too."
Odds and ends
Richt said that redshirt junior receivers Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley were doubtful for Saturday's game. ... The Georgia-South Carolina game will be this year's debut telecast by CBS, with kickoff set for shortly after 3:30.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.