Georgia's preseason is over

ATHENS -- After routing Georgia Southern and Central Michigan, the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs face their first serious test Saturday at South Carolina.

It's also the real start of a brutal schedule that includes five opponents ranked in the top 15 of this week's Associated Press poll.

The Gamecocks were ranked until an upset loss at Vanderbilt sent them tumbling out of the AP poll. Still, they've had two extra days to get ready for Georgia, which averaged 50.5 points in its first two wins but knows this will be a huge step up in the degree of difficulty.

South Carolina certainly has more top-level athletes that either Georgia Southern or Central Michigan, and the Gamecocks will have more than 80,000 fans cheering them on at raucous Williams-Brice Stadium.

Georgia is still smarting from last year's 16-12 loss to South Carolina.
The Bulldogs failed to reach the end zone and were forced to settle for four field goals. The Gamecocks scored the only touchdown late in the first quarter, then turned things over to their defense.

Without that loss, the Bulldogs would have won the SEC East and gotten a shot at LSU in the league championship game. Instead, it was Tennessee, which held a tiebreaker edge over Georgia.