Nipped!

South Carolina wasted an early double-digit lead and a career night from sophomore quarterback Stephen Garcia in falling to its nemesis Georgia (again) 41-37 Saturday night in Athens.

Billed as a defensive struggle and forecast as a “boring football game” by ESPN’s Lee Corso, the SEC opener for both teams turned out to be must see TV … with a combined 78 points and 728 yards of total offense.  The marathon four-hour game also saw 408 yards worth of returns, including a school-record 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Bulldogs’ Brandon Boykin.

Riding the arm of Garcia, its vastly-improved young quarterback, South Carolina (1-1, 0-1 SEC) raced to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter, but Georgia (1-1, 1-0 SEC) stormed back with 17 unanswered points to take a 24-17 lead.  It would be the first of many “see-saws” in a game that kept everyone off-balance.

After taking a 31-23 lead into halftime, Georgia opened the second half with a 9-play, 80-yard touchdown drive – putting the Bulldogs up by 15 and presumably putting the game out of reach.

But that’s when South Carolina went on another run, reeling off fourteen unanswered points- two field goals, a safety and a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown by All-SEC senior linebacker Eric Norwood.

Georgia’s DeAngelo Tyson blocked placekicker Spencer Lanning’s extra point following Norwood’s touchdown, however, which proved to be the pivotal play of the game.

After Georgia’s Blair Walsh booted a 42-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs up by four with just over six minutes remaining, Carolina took over on its own 19-yard line now needing a touchdown – not just a field goal – to win.

They almost got it, too.

Led by Garcia, the Gamecocks methodically moved down the field on a masterful 15-play, 74-yard drive that landed them on the Georgia six yard-line as time wound down.  In familiar heartbreaking fashion, however, the end zone (and the win) proved a bridge too far for USC.

On fourth down, with just 22 ticks of the clock remaining, Georgia’s Rennie Curran broke up a Garcia pass that would have capped an unbelievable Carolina comeback.

Even more gut-wrenching for Carolina fans?  Garcia had running back Brian Maddox wide open in the flat on the deciding play, but didn’t see him.  No doubt Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier will cringe seeing that replay on film, along with the clip of two Georgia state troopers “fist-bumping” each other behind him after the Dawgs’ last-second victory was sealed.

With the loss, Spurrier dropped to 15-18 in SEC games at Carolina, including a 1-4 record against Georgia.

At Florida, Spurrier was 87-14 in SEC play, with an 11-1 record against Georgia.

At least he finally appears to have a quarterback to work with at USC, though.  Garcia finished the night completing 31 of 53 attempts for 313 yards – all career highs.  He tossed two touchdowns and was picked once, and added 42 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Garcia and the Gamecocks are clearly getting better, but it still wasn’t good enough.  Also, the strength of the Bulldogs’ team is up for debate seeing how No. 5 Oklahoma State – which beat Georgia 24-10 in Stillwater a week ago – was upset by unranked Houston Saturday.

South Carolina will play its home opener next Saturday against Florida Atlantic, while Georgia goes on the road against Arkansas.

Click on the thumbnails below for high-resolution images from the game …

Pics: Travis Bell, Sideline Carolina

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