COLUMBIA, S.C. – More and more Lattimore added up to a long afternoon for Georgia.
Touted freshman tailback Marcus Lattimore was unstoppable on South Carolina’s opening possession and never let up, rushing for 182 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries as the No. 24 Gamecocks topped the No. 22 Bulldogs 17-6 Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. Lattimore also had 16 yards on a reception, giving him 198 of South Carolina’s 354 total yards.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the story of the game was,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Marcus Lattimore was certainly the most dominating player in the game. We knew he was an outstanding back, so I can’t say I was shocked that he would have a performance like this.
“I think history will prove that he’s one of the best in our league for years to come.”
Georgia did not allow a 100-yard rusher last season, but Lattimore reached that mark with two minutes left in the first half. The 6-foot, 218-pounder from Duncan, S.C., scored from 2 yards out on the next play to put the Gamecocks up 14-3.
Lattimore’s rushing total was the most by a Gamecocks player since Derek Watson ran for 215 yards against Eastern Michigan in 2000.
“We knew coming into the game that their ends were playing wide and that we could just gash them up the middle,” Lattimore said.
New Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said Lattimore is a good player but the Bulldogs made him a good player, too. South Carolina faced a third-and-12 at its 19-yard line on the opening drive, but Lattimore picked up 16 yards on a draw to set the tone for the day.
Grantham was coaching against an SEC foe for the first time since spending the past 11 seasons in the NFL, and Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier couldn’t let Lattimore’s showing go without a little gig.
“That little inside zone play – the NFL doesn’t run that play,” Spurrier said. “That’s a new scheme, I guess. I’m sure they knew we would run it, but they certainly didn’t stop it much.”
Lattimore picked up 50 yards on 10 carries during the opening possession, in which the Gamecocks marched 79 yards on 16 plays while consuming eight minutes and two seconds. The time of the drive was the longest in Spurrier’s 65-game reign as coach.
Georgia answered with a 13-play, 60-yard drive that ate up 6:20, but the Bulldogs stalled at the South Carolina 10-yard line and had to settle for Blair Walsh’s 27-yard field goal.
South Carolina missed a chance to go up 10-3 at the 11:12 mark of the second quarter when Spencer Lanning came up short on a 51-yard attempt, which would have been a career long, but Georgia’s offense began to struggle and closed the half with three straight three-and-outs. The Gamecocks had a 228-73 advantage in total yardage at halftime.
Lattimore was held in check during the third quarter, rushing seven times for 23 yards, but he had eight carries for 58 yards in South Carolina’s final drive that culminated with a 24-yard Lanning field goal with 1:12 remaining.
“He’s a good running back, as we all could see, but we also did a poor job of tackling,” Bulldogs outside linebacker Justin Houston said. “Our main focus next week should be tackling, because we did a poor job of that.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or at (423) 757-6524.