ATHENS, Ga. - An expected October cakewalk through the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division trio of Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky hasn't gone as planned for the Georgia Bulldogs.
After opening the month with a 43-14 win in Knoxville, the Bulldogs committed four turnovers and didn't record any during Saturday's shocking 20-17 double-overtime loss to South Carolina inside Sanford Stadium. The differential in miscues negated the 468-297 advantage Georgia compiled in total yardage, and it certainly scissored the impressive 15-game winning streak the Bulldogs had assembled against SEC East foes.
Georgia hosted the Gamecocks as the nation's No. 3 team, but the Bulldogs tumbled to No. 10 Sunday in the latest Associated Press poll.
"I don't think this hurts our season," redshirt junior right guard Ben Cleveland said after the game. "If anything, it gives us more of a drive to go out there and not feel this way again, so maybe it will help us."
The Bulldogs went 7-1 in SEC play each of the past two seasons and now must sweep Kentucky, No. 9 Florida, No. 22 Missouri, No. 11 Auburn and Texas A&M to equal that feat. They will begin their rebounding efforts against visiting Kentucky this Saturday in a game that will be televised by ESPN with a 6 p.m. kickoff.
Georgia was 9-0 and No. 2 in the AP poll two years ago when it was thumped 40-17 at Auburn, which resulted in a drop to No. 7. The Bulldogs were 6-0 and No. 2 before last season's 36-16 loss at LSU, which dropped them to No. 8.
After losing as a top-five team to an unranked team inside Sanford Stadium for what is believed to be the first time ever, the Bulldogs have a steeper climb this year but have more of the season to work with as well.
"I've been a part of a lot of good football teams that have lost a game," Georgia fourth-year coach Kirby Smart said. "For us, it's really not about this game anymore. We're going to look at the tape and get better, because it's about the next game. In the SEC, they're all like this.
"I know people will find it hard to believe that Georgia, the No. 3 team in the country, just played a tight ballgame and lost to South Carolina, but Kentucky has a good football team, too. Everybody we play has good football players."
Georgia was as much as a 24.5-point favorite against the Gamecocks, marking the biggest spread in series history. The projected cruising never occurred, and now the Bulldogs must move on after arguably the most stunning setback in Sanford's 90-year history.
"It's not the time for us to grow apart," junior quarterback Jake Fromm said. "It's time for us to come together, so we've got to make sure everybody is on the same page moving forward. We've got to look back at what we did well and what we didn't do so well, and I'm sure we'll find that there was more that we didn't do well.
"It comes down to being able to execute. We kept moving the ball to the plus side of the field, and then we couldn't execute and didn't make the plays we needed to make."
Odds and ends
Fromm's first three-interception performance of his career resulted in him dropping from ninth to 24th nationally in passing efficiency. The Bulldogs (5-1, 2-1) opened Sunday as 27-point favorites against the Wildcats (3-3, 1-3).
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.