Georgia asserts dominance in SEC East, takes out Gamecocks

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Football can be such a simple thing, especially when it works on the raw, primal level of good nature programming.

You’re better. You know it. You get the choice pieces of the kill. The smaller and the weaker scramble down there at the gross end of the zebra.

That was Georgia’s task Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium, to turn an SEC opener against a border-state rival into a lesson in athletic Darwinism. To believe everything being said about this dawn of a new Bulldog Dynasty is to believe that Georgia wins a game like this as a matter of observable science.

Finding their strut in the second half Saturday, the Bulldogs did exactly that, bringing down South Carolina 41-17. It was the kind of show of strength that buttressed every thought that the SEC East is property of Georgia, even though we’re only in the ridiculous heat of early September.

If the Dogs were indeed the deepest they’ve ever been, if their egos could still fit into helmets and pads, if Kirby Smart truly had weaponized the potential that’s always been there in Athens, then expressing dominance should be simply a matter of how much they wanted to do it.

With barely more than three minutes gone in Saturday’s game between ranked foes, the Bulldogs already were up on South Carolina 14-0. They already had scored one touchdown on offense and one on defense. The special teams obviously were underachieving.

A key part of making this whole dominance thing work is maintaining it. Keep it up until all fight is gone. Don’t let the other guy a breath of hope.

The Bulldogs struggled a bit with this concept in the first half. It’s not always easily learning to be king.

For instance, as cornerback Deandre Baker was running up the sideline with his first-minute-of-the-game interception, maybe he shouldn’t have been thinking, “I wonder how soon I can get rid of this football and look really good doing it? I’m going to redefine the modern highlight!”

And then Baker drops the ball before actually crossing the goal line. Fortunately, linebacker Juwon Taylor picked it, getting credit for the touchdown along the way for doing nothing more than sweeping up behind the circus.

In the first half, South Carolina was able to use Georgia’s aggression against it, cutting the Bulldogs lead to 14-7 on a clever little gimmick play. That was receiver Deebo Samuel taking the handoff and throwing it to a lonely Bryan Edwards for a 13-yard TD.

South Carolina hope floated even more when the Bulldogs came out after the ensuing kickoff and immediately took a couple of penalties before Jake Fromm threw deep, into the arms of Rashad Fenton, who plays for the other team. The challenger grew temporarily bold.

For the first half the Gamecocks ran 15 more offensive plays than Georgia, outgained Georgia by a few yards and possessed the ball slightly longer. And still trailed by 10.

The Bulldogs, who had an inspired little drive for a field goal in the final 43 seconds of the first half, began working on the step-on-their-necks part of the gameplan when they took the kickoff to begin the second half.

Their superior players began making a number of superior plays. It became increasingly obvious that Georgia was the only team on the field capable of stopping Georgia this day.

The Bulldogs thought it a good idea to get receiver Mecole Hardman the ball with room to run, and he ran until he ran out of grass for a 34-yard catch and sprint. Georgia 27, South Carolina 10.

On Georgia’s next possession, Hardman broke wide open for a 42-yard gain, leaving it to Evander Holyfield’s kid, Elijah, to carry the ball the final five yards for a touchdown. Just like Seamus McDonagh would not beat his dad, South Carolina would not upset him. Georgia 34, South Carolina 10.

The lead built from there and then fluctuated like the numbers of a bull market. By the close of the third quarter Georgia fans began taking over in the lower sections of Williams-Brice Stadium as the South Carolina people evacuated to somewhere cooler and more hospitable.

Their team had arrived at Saturday thinking a lot of good thoughts. The Gamecocks rose into the rankings this week (No. 24) for the first time since 2014. There was reason to lean on the old theme of South Carolina playing Georgia tight because that’s the way it always has played Georgia.

Not anymore. Saturday made it four consecutive for the Bulldogs, none of the victories being by less than two touchdowns. Between his stays at Florida and South Carolina, Will Muschamp is now 1-6 against the program he used to play for.

The Bulldogs are still working on this dominance thing, obviously. They can get better at it. But they certainly settled quite nicely into the role as the sun dipped low and the shadows grew long in South Carolina.

This story was written by Steve Hummer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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