COLUMBIA, S.C. - Georgia freshman quarterback Jacob Eason had the roughest outing of his short college career Sunday.
In the 28-14 win over South Carolina, the 6-foot-5, 235-pounder completed just 5 of 17 passes for 29 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The 29 passing yards are the fewest for Georgia since November 1990, when the Bulldogs had 28 in a 33-10 loss at Auburn.
"He got a little happy feet in the pocket at times," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "It's a growing process. When you go on the road in the SEC, and I've been involved in this conference for 18 years, it's tough, especially on a true freshman. He saw things out there that didn't exist.
"He's growing, and we've got to help him through that with the way we call the game, the way we run the ball and by catching the football."
Eason went 3-of-13 for 14 yards in the first half, with a majority of his misses resulting from overthrows. His interception occurred midway through the third quarter, when a pass to Javon Wims bounced into the air before being claimed by defensive back Antoine Wilder.
With 11:43 remaining in the game, Eason produced his eighth touchdown pass of the season with a 6-yard toss to Isaiah McKenzie that put the Bulldogs up 21-7.
"I'm not going to say that we weren't clicking," Bulldogs sophomore receiver Terry Godwin said. "I just think it was the wind conditions. We weren't used to the wind blowing as hard as it was today. Every time Jacob threw it, the wind caught the ball and took it."
Eason's struggles against South Carolina took place a year after Greyson Lambert completed 24 of 25 attempts for 330 yards and three scores in Georgia's 52-20 rout of the Gamecocks in Athens. Lambert's 96.0-percent completion rate set an NCAA record.
Smart said at no point was it discussed about putting Lambert in for Eason.
Sack happy
The Bulldogs tallied five sacks of Perry Orth after entering Sunday's game with just six this season.
Outside linebacker Davin Bellamy led the way with 1.5 sacks, with Lorenzo Carter, Chuks Amaechi and Trenton Thompson each credited with one. Orth played the entire game, which was a surprise to the Bulldogs, who expected to see some of dual-threat freshman Brandon McIlwain as well.
"That would have adjusted our pass rushing, but they had a pocket passer in there, and we pinned our ears back and went and got him," Bellamy said. "The past two weeks, we wanted to keep those quarterbacks in the pocket, because they want to get outside, but this guy wanted to sit in the pocket and throw the ball.
"It allowed us to go do what what we do. I had asked Coach, 'When are we going to play just a pocket passer?' He said he didn't know if there were any more, but we finally got one. When you know a quarterback is going to be at one spot and one spot exactly, then it makes your job easier."
'Just a debacle'
The Bulldogs were up 14-0 in the final minute of the first half and looking for more, but time ran out on them at South Carolina's 29-yard line.
Georgia had a timeout to spare when Brian Herrien rushed for 12 yards to the 19, but tight end Jeb Blazevich was flagged for holding. The referee started the clock, and the final five seconds ticked off.
"It was just a debacle, to be honest with you," Smart said. "We got some bad information and thought the clock was going to stop on the penalty, and it didn't. We had been talking about kicking a field goal or throwing a Hail Mary, because we didn't think we could kick a field goal from there because the wind was coming at him from that direction.
"The clock started and we didn't call a timeout, so it was just mismanagement, to be honest with you."
Odds and ends
Georgia now holds a 49-18-2 series edge over South Carolina. Sophomore linebacker Roquan Smith had a career-high 11 tackles. Senior center Brandon Kublanow extended his team-leading streak of starting to 31 consecutive games. Terry Godwin's touchdown off a returned onside kick was the first for Georgia since Damien Gary had one against the Gamecocks in 2003. Junior tight end Aulden Bynum made his first start of the season and the second of his career.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.