The Last Time: Georgia at South Carolina

I am so glad college football is back, and I still can't decide if I prefer the off-season stress that comes with a big, name-brand opener like the 2011 meeting with Boise State or the 2016 game against North Carolina, or if I prefer an appetizer like Ausitn Peay to ease me back into the season.

Welcome to South Carolina week, the first of what I suspect to be at least four stressful we-might-actually-lose-this-week game weeks this year.

Georgia took care of business against the Governors last week, putting together a ho-hum 45-0 performance against a hapless FCS foe whose coach graciously shortened the hell-fire-temperatured fourth quarter to 10 minutes. South Carolina likewise took care of business against a lesser opponent, dispatching Coastal Carolina, 49-15.

So with all that behind us, let's get to the fun.

The last time...

1) These teams met:

I vividly remember walking out of Sanford Stadium with my family after the Bulldogs beat the Gamecocks 24-10 in Nov. 2017, and my father predicted that the headlines would describe Georgia's victory as "workmanlike" or doing the "yeoman's work."

Lo and behold, he would be right.

Though the win came by a mere 14 points — the closest home game of the season — it was never in doubt, as the Bulldogs built a 21-7 lead into the third quarter and continued to pound away at the South Carolina defense.

Georgia ran the ball 53 times for 242 yards, all the while limiting the Gamecock offense to 270 total yards (and only 43 on the ground).

I suspect Will Muschamp was angry at some point.

2) Georgia won four in a row in the series:

A win Saturday would be the Bulldogs' fourth in a row, which is a bit of a turnaround in the series when you consider South Carolina won four of five between 2010-14.

That would make the 2018 seniors the first class since the class of 2006 to finish 4-0 against the Gamecocks.

The Class of '06, featuring standouts like WR Sean Bailey, TE Martrez Milner, OL Daniel Inman, DE Quintin Moses, LB Tony Taylor and ROV Tra Batte, remains the most recent group to finish with a sterling record against South Carolina, winning 31-7 in 2003, 20-16 in 2004, 17-15 in 2005 and 18-0 in 2006.

Thus far, the Class of '18 has wins of 52-20 in 2015, 28-14 in 2016 and 24-10 in 2017.

3) South Carolina lost a one-possession conference game:

While glass-half-full Gamecock fans say last year's 9-4 record is a springboard to even better things this year, glass-half-empty fans have pulled out a somewhat sobering stat. Read into it what you will.

Last year, South Carolina played in seven games decided by eight points or less.

The Gamecocks were 7-1 in those games, with the lone loss coming in Week 5, a 24-17 slobberknocker against Texas A&M.

4) Georgia had four consecutive double-digit wins in the series:

Yeah, I know this might be a bit of a cop out considering how close it is to No. 3, but since I'm the one writing this blog, I get to make the calls. (Plz don't click away thx.)

The previous three games in the series have seen the Bulldogs win by 32, 14 and 14. Another double-digit win Saturday would make a four-year run the likes of which we haven't seen since Vince Dooley was roaming the sidelines and someone not named Herschel Walker was wearing No. 34.

From 1960 through 1977, Georgia never lost to South Carolina, going 13-0-2 across that stretch, and it just so happened that a four-game streak within that time period meets this criteria.

In a four-game stretch that included a bit of gap (games played in '69, '70, '71 and '74), the Bulldogs beat the Gamecocks by 25, 18, 24 and 38.

5) South Carolina surrendered four passing touchdowns in a game:

With the amount of weapons Georgia possesses in the passing game, it's not a stretch to think that Jake Fromm and Justin Fields could pile on a few passing touchdowns if the offense gets into a rhythm, so keep an eye on this one.

Here's a hint: It happened in 2017, when the Gamecocks faced the likes of Drew Locke at Missouri, Brandon Allen at Arkansas, Fromm at Georgia and Kelly Bryant at Clemson.

Here's another hint: None of those guys I listed had four passing touchdowns.

The team that did?

Vanderbilt.

Kyle Shurmer finished 27-for-49 for 333 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. South Carolina won 34-27.

6) Georgia did not have a turnover in a conference road game:

In 2017, the Bulldogs made it through only two games all season without turning the ball over — the 38-7 smackdown of Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and the 28-7 win over Auburn in the SEC Championship a week later.

That means every conference road game featured a turnover.

In fact, Kirby Smart has yet to coach a conference road game that didn't see the Dawgs turn it over at least once. Therefore, to answer this stat, we need to dive all the way back to the tail end of the Mark Richt era.

On The Plains, Richt got one final notch in his belt against the Tigers, watching Isaiah McKenzie score two touchdowns in an ugly, sloppy 20-13 win, giving Richt a final record of 10-5 against Georgia's oldest rival.

Since then, road games against Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Auburn have all featured at least one Bulldog turnover.

7) South Carolina beat a ranked opponent:

So back to that 2017 season. 9-4 is pretty solid right? Well, maybe not as solid as you'd think, considering the Gamecocks failed to beat any ranked opponents, going 0-2 in such games. (I'm not counting FCS No. 7 Wofford, either, but it's there if you want it.)

To find this stat, let's jump back to 2016, when South Carolina brought misery to one of the programs that I most enjoy seeing miserable: Tennessee.

In a game that ultimately cost the No. 18 Volunteers a shot to rematch Alabama in the SEC Championship game, true freshman Jake Bentley fired two touchdown passes, and Carolina hung on for a 24-21 upset victory in Columbia.

Will Mushcamp has still never lost to Tennessee as a head coach. Yes, THAT Will Muschamp is currently 7-0 against Big "Brick By Brick" Orange.

Since that fateful, delightful evening,  the Gamecocks are a dismal 0-5 against ranked opponents.

8) A Georgia quarterback beat South Carolina twice:

This is one is both telling in how the series has gone, and how the Bulldogs quarterback position has done in the not-too-distant past.

The last Georgia signal caller to beat the Gamecocks twice?

David Greene.

"Greenie" lost his first start in the series, a klunky 14-9 game a week before the Hobnail Boot in Knoxville (Yay! More misery!), then proceeded to win three straight between 2002-04.

Since then, no Bulldog quarterback has led the team to more than a single victory against South Carolina, though Fromm has a chance to change that.

9) South Carolina had a 100-yard rusher against Georgia:

You'll see in the stat above that Aaron Murray only beat the Gamecocks once, 41-30 in his senior season with one of the finest performances I can remember by a quarterback in Sanford Stadium. Murray finished the day 17-for-23 for 309 yards and four touchdowns against a South Carolina team that went on to win 11 games.

And every bit of it was needed too, as the Steve Spurrier-coached Gamecock offense was no slouch that hot September afternoon, cranking out 454 yards, including 149 on the ground from runningback Mike Davis.

Since that game, no South Carolina player has topped 100 yards against the Bulldog defense, with the closest effort coming in 2014, as Brandon Wilds finished with 93 yards in a 38-35 Gamecock victory.

BONUS: Georgia FAILED to have a 100-yard rusher in this game:

We have to go back to a dark night in the Bulldog Nation, the 35-7 beatdown that was handed down in Columbia, South Carolina in October 2012.

The leading rusher for the Dawgs that night was Ken "Boo" Malcolm, who collected a mere 45 yards and Georgia's only touchdown when the game was already out of reach.

Since then, however, the Bulldogs have produced six 100-yard rushers in five games, including a pair of them in 2016 (and very nearly a third, what with Brian Herrien's 82 yards that day) as Nick Chubb and Sony Michel eached topped the century mark.

10) Georgia lost a game to the SEC East:

The Bulldogs are currently riding a seven-game winning streak against the East, dating back to the Florida game of 2016.

That game saw a hapless Georgia offensive line utterly incapable of blocking the Gators defensive line, as Florida pulled away, 24-10, in a game that really never felt as close as the scoreboard might indicate.

Since then, the Bulldogs are undefeated against their division rivals, including a perfect 6-0 mark in 2017.

By extension, that means Fromm has never lost to the East, either.

***

This is the part of the show where I make a prediction. I didn't last week because, well, it was Austin Peay. We all knew what was going to happen.

This week, the oddsmakers like Georgia by 10 on the road in Columbia.

Having seen this movie a bunch, my gut says to take the Gamecocks and the points, figuring it'll be close.

But knowing what I know about how insanely talented Georgia is (not to mention all the puzzle pieces we wisely kept under wraps against the Governors) compared to everyone else in the East, 10 seems pretty close.

I like the Dawgs to cover — keeping in mind that it doesn't have to be an insane level of dominance to cover, either. 27-17 could be a nice, solid win that covers the spread without a necessarily awe-inspiring performance.

Watch out for that Sandstorm, though.

Prediciton: Georgia 31, South Carolina 17