COLUMBIA, S.C. – The plan was to tie it up.
Georgia’s longest drive during Saturday’s 17-6 loss to South Carolina covered 75 yards on four plays late in the third quarter with the Bulldogs trailing 14-6, but it didn’t produce any points.
It began with an 11-yard pass from Aaron Murray to fullback Fred Munzenmaier and continued with Murray’s 55-yard strike to Kris Durham and 7-yarder to Logan Gray. It ended with a false start at South Carolina’s 3-yard line and a Washaun Ealey fumble at the 4 that was scooped up by cornerback Stephon Gilmore and returned out to the 14.
“The way the game was going – it was moving fast with both teams running the ball, so we were fixing to go for two,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “We had a two-point play ready, but unfortunately we fumbled the ball.”
Ealey’s gaffe was the biggest in a day of missed offensive opportunities for the Bulldogs, who were held under 10 points for the first time since a 24-6 loss at Auburn in 2004. Georgia had not scored so few points against South Carolina since a 2-0 loss in 1904.
“It was huge for momentum,” Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt said. “The ball came out, and it changed everything. Not only did it come out, but they were able to recover it and take it out to wherever they did instead of recovering it on the 1 or 2. We might have kept them back there and gotten the ball right back.”
The Bulldogs knew they would be without suspended receiver A.J. Green, but starting tailback Caleb King also was held out after his ankle didn’t respond well enough following last week’s win over Louisiana-Lafayette.
Ealey had six carries for 32 yards on Georgia’s first possession, which ended with a 27-yard Blair Walsh field goal, and finished with 19 carries for 75 yards. The Bulldogs had a first-and-10 from South Carolina’s 16 on their first drive and went with play-action that left Murray with room to run, but he tried to force a pass across the middle to tight end Orson Charles that fell incomplete.
“He probably should have run it,” Bobo said. “It was probably us talking last week about him running the ball too much. He wants to try and do it exactly right, and you’ve got to be careful what you tell him.”
Said Murray: “I should have trusted my feet a little bit more.”
Murray completed 14 of 21 passes for 192 yards in his first road start despite a first half in which he went just 4-of-8 for 32. The Bulldogs had 73 yards in the first half and produced a much more respectable 180 after intermission, with Georgia coaches being less conservative with their quarterback.
Richt admitted those reins will have to be loosened further if the Bulldogs are to keep pace with their next foe, Arkansas.
“In the second half we were more inclined to call just whatever the heck we thought we needed to call,” Richt said.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6524.