The conventional wisdom is that South Carolina always plays Georgia tough. Thankfully, the end result is usually a victory for the Dawgs and the 2017 game was no exception.
 
 
Bulldawg Illustrated’s Murray Poole observed in his game story:
 
 
This was a football game where the Bulldogs whipped the Gamecocks (6-3, 4-3 SEC) badly in the statistics battle, piling up 438 total yards to South Carolina’s 270, but couldn’t cash but three touchdowns and a Rod Blankenship 20-yard field goal against the stubborn Gamecock defensive unit.
 
But with the Bulldog defense shutting down the Carolina run game to the tune of 43 net yards and forcing Gamecock quarterback Jake Bentley to throw the ball 36 times (he completed 21 for 227 yards and SC’s lone touchdown), the Gamecocks could manage just the one touchdown and a Parker White 25-yard field goal. And 10 points by an opposing offense is hardly ever going to be enough to beat this Georgia team.
 
And too, the Bulldog secondary picked off two of Bentley’s passes, the first interception coming from J.R. Reed with four seconds left in the first half and snapping Bentley’s string of having thrown 152 consecutive passes without an interception. Malkom Parrish got the second pick of Bentley at the Gamecock 45 in the waning seconds, enabling the Bulldogs to effectively run out the clock.