From The Field: Georgia vs. South Carolina 2022

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From The Field: Georgia vs. South Carolina 2022

If Georgia keeps dominating opponents like they crushed South Carolina (and their first two victims), I will run out of superlatives very soon. The Gamecocks and their fans, perennial winners of off-season championships, were unceremoniously slammed back to reality by a bunch of Dawgs who don’t have time for pretenders. Georgia raided the Chicken House leaving only scattered bones, feathers and eggshells.

Beating Georgia is a dream for Carolina fans, and most years, that dream becomes a nightmare as the Bulldogs now lead the series 54-19-2. Carolina thought this season would be different, with their transfer quarterback trashing Smart’s vaunted pass defense. The Cocks believed their defense would limit Georgia’s offense, precipitating a fourth-quarter shootout that their high-level transfer quarterback would win going away. Wrong!

 

 

 

 

Several media outlets have asked if these Dawgs are better than the 2021 national champs, but I’m unsure how one would answer that question. The teams are different, and the competition has changed. However, one thing has not changed: Kirby Smart and his staff have filled their roster with some of the nation’s most talented players and turned those highly-ranked individuals into a team. A team always beats a collection of individuals … Saturday was a prime example.

Pundits often point to South Carolina’s fan loyalty because they fill their stadium even when things are not going well. On the flip side, those same extreme loyalists know how to desert their team when it becomes apparent that the gambling line is an optimistic estimate. Whole sections of Williams-Brice Stadium emptied in the third quarter, including the student sections.

Empty home stadia are beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Those loyal South Carolina fans can hurry back to their coops to cluck away about their fantastic recruits and newfound coaching excellence until another summer rolls around. Ripping July from the calendar is the annual signal to emerge from the shelter of their offseason fantasyland, strutting, and clucking. However, September follows, and fowl are always on the Dawgs’ menu, de-spurred, roasted, and smothered.

 

 

 

 

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Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.