Georgia football: What went right and wrong against South Carolina

What else went right

Of course, spreading the ball around wasn’t the only thing the Dawgs did right Saturday. There were other areas where Georgia’s superiority was on full display.

Owning the line of scrimmage

Georgia completely dominated the line of scrimmage. On offense, that meant 242 rushing yards by the five running backs and 271 yards as a team. Even when starting left tackle Andrew Thomas went down with an ankle sprain, true freshman Cade Mays filled his spot and helped lead three more scoring drives.

On defense, Georgia only allowed 54 rushing yards. They’re first string running back Ty’Son Williams only gained 26 yards. The defensive front also led the way for one sack, six tackles for a loss, two hurries and three deflections at the line of scrimmage. D’Andre Walker had a monster performance with a sack, one hurry and a big hit in the backfield on Deebo Samuel.

Lack of penalties

The Dawgs only committed three penalties for 32 yards, as I’m not counting the pass interference called on Deandre Baker when the ball was clearly uncatchable. I can’t penalize Georgia for a mental error by the referees.

Penalties can either kill drives or give life to an opposing team’s possession. Georgia didn’t allow any of that. It’s also worth noting how Georgia’s defense responded to its two penalties.

• The miscalled pass interference was followed by a near interception by Monty Rice, before Baker’s interception that led to a touchdown.
• Actual pass interference on Baker was followed by a six-yard loss by South Carolina.

The other two penalties were on offense, and on Georgia’s worst possession of the game. A delay of game and an illegal block started the drive that ended with an interception. Georgia didn’t commit a single penalty for the final 35 minutes of the game.

Fourth down efficiency

On offense, Georgia only attempted one fourth-down conversion, and they succeeded with a James Cook run in the fourth quarter. South Carolina failed on their one attempt. Immediately after the interception, they only gained one-yard on three downs and attempted a fourth-and-nine, but Jake Bentley’s pass fell incomplete.