ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia fifth-year senior kicker Rodrigo Blankenship entered Saturday afternoon's football game against South Carolina a perfect 11-for-11 on field-goal attempts this season.
One possession into the contest, Blankenship was 12-for-12 after drilling a 50-yarder.
Blankenship's day worsened sharply from there, as a 53-yard attempt was blocked at the halftime horn and a 42-yard attempt in the second overtime was wide left, securing South Carolina's 20-17 upset of the No. 3 Bulldogs inside a shell-shocked Sanford Stadium.
"I don't know," a solemn Blankenship said when asked if his final kick felt good. "I just need to get back in the film room and see what happened on it, get a closer look and get a second opinion. I feel like I didn't do my job today."
A Southeastern Conference foe had never taken Georgia into overtime in Sanford Stadium since its implementation in 1996. When asked if the overtime sessions provided any added nerves, Blankenship said, "No, sir. I don't think so."
Georgia drove the ball to South Carolina's 38-yard line late in regulation, but an illegal shift on the Bulldogs resulted in coach Kirby Smart eschewing a lengthy Blankenship try for one final offensive snap.
"That was going to be in range, but the penalty pushed us back," Blankenship said. "With them blocking one earlier, we didn't want to risk that again."
A four-year starter, Blankenship had missed only 11 field-goal tries in his career before Saturday. He will not be lacking in support moving forward.
"He's made so many critical field goals," Smart said. "We're going to show confidence in Hot Rod, because he's a worker, and we believe in him. You've got to be able to make those field goals, and Rod knows that, and there are other games we wouldn't have won without him."
Said right guard Ben Cleveland: "Nobody is going to be 100% all the time. Rodrigo can't hold his head about that, because it shouldn't have come down to that situation in the first place."
Allowing sacks
Quarterback Jake Fromm was sacked once in Georgia's 5-0 start and wasn't even hit in 30 dropback opportunities during last weekend's 43-14 win at Tennessee.
That was not the case Saturday, when the Gamecocks tallied three sacks for 11 yards.
"They did a good job with the twists and just attacking," Fromm said. "Their guys played really, really hard, and you've got to commend them on that."
Bulldogs left tackle Andrew Thomas gave credit where credit was due, saying, "They just played better than we did."
A bright spot
Georgia sophomore punter Jake Camarda had 25- and 27-yard punts against Notre Dame and an 18-yarder last week in Knoxville, but midway through the first quarter Saturday he launched a 66-yarder that rolled dead at the South Carolina 7. He added a 59-yard punt early in the third quarter that resulted in a touchback.
Camarda averaged 57.7 yards on three punts, placing two inside the 20.
"He punted the ball well today," Smart said.
Odds and ends
This was Georgia's third overtime game in Sanford Stadium, with the previous two occurring against Georgia Tech (2014) and Georgia Southern (2015). Georgia's defense has yet to allow a third-quarter touchdown this season. Linebackers Tae Crowder and Monty Rice tied for the team high in tackles with 12. Backup running back Brian Herrien couldn't play Saturday due to back spasms that developed late in the week, and defensive back Mark Webb (knee), guard Justin Shaffer (neck) and receiver Lawrence Cager (ribs) had to leave the game. The Bulldogs still hold a commanding 51-19-2 series lead against South Carolina.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.