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Sanders continues interception surge Lambert sensational in Georgia romp past Gamecocks Georgia tight ends aid Lambert's big evening Brilliant Lambert leads Georgia to rout, 52-20
Georgia redshirt junior quarterback Greyson Lambert was not lacking for motivation before Saturday night's 52-20 dismantling of South Carolina inside Sanford Stadium.
It was, after all, South Carolina, a program that had defeated the Bulldogs in four of the previous five meetings. It was the Southeastern Conference home opener, and the game was on ESPN.
There was also the 0-for-5 first-half passing performance the week before at Vanderbilt, and some criticism that followed.
"Coming out of the tunnel and seeing all those people, it was just very electric, and I was feeding off of that," Lambert said afterward. "Some of it may have been a chip, but I would just honestly say that I love this game and that I love playing it when we're winning and things are going well. It's a lot of fun."
Lambert had plenty of fun completing 24 of 25 passes for a career-high 330 yards and three touchdowns. His 96-percent completion rate set a new NCAA record, and he connected on his final 20 attempts, breaking the school mark of 19 set by Mike Bobo in the Outback Bowl after the 1997 season.
Bobo was Georgia's offensive coordinator for eight seasons before becoming head coach at Colorado State last December. The Bulldogs were racking up offensive records under his tutelage, but successor Brian Schottenheimer was able to silence some early doubters as well after Georgia shredded South Carolina for 576 yards and 9.1 yards per play.
"The offense just executed," Lambert said. "There was no magic juice that we drank before the game. We were given a play, and we were able to execute it."
Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt said Sunday afternoon that Lambert had a chance to be 25-of-25. His lone misfire was high to tight end Jeb Blazevich in the back of the end zone on Georgia's opening possession.
"If he had hit his checkdown, it probably would have walked in to score," Richt said. "He had Malcolm (Mitchell) coming across about two or three yards deep, and all the coverage went deep. There was nothing but grass."
Georgia, which is 3-0 overall and 2-0 in SEC play entering this week's game against Southern University, remained No. 7 in The Associated Press poll released Sunday. The Bulldogs have scored more than 40 points against Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks in four of the past seven seasons, with Saturday's 52 the high.
Was Saturday night more about Georgia erupting offensively or the Gamecocks being woeful defensively?
"We're struggling on defense, as everybody knows," Spurrier said Sunday afternoon. "We're also struggling on offense a bit, but we certainly made Georgia look awfully good. Time will tell when we play out the schedule, but Georgia looks like a very good team and certainly should have a chance for a big year."
Odds and ends
Sophomore fullback Christian Payne re-aggravated a leg injury during the game. Richt on limiting Pharoh Cooper to one catch for 6 yards: "I don't know if there was a special plan so much as just everybody taking care of business."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.