Ranking the 14 tremendous Georgia football wins by importance

Head Coach Kirby Smart celebrates winning the College Football Playoff Championship. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
Head Coach Kirby Smart celebrates winning the College Football Playoff Championship. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images) /
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Zamir White runs with the ball against South Carolina. (Photo by Steven Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images) /

850. . . . South Carolina. 10. player

The 10th most important win for Georgia football came in Week 3 when the Dawgs beat South Carolina 40-13 in front of a sold-out home crowd.

This win moved Georgia to 3-0 on the season, and even though the Gamecocks scored 13 on the Dawgs’ stout defense, it was enough of a wake-up call for them to hunker down for the remainder of the long SEC stretch.

We chose to put the South Carolina game here because winning your first conference game is vital to win the SEC East. Georgia came into this matchup to avoid what happened the last time South Carolina was in Athens, and they just manhandled the Gamecocks.

The Dawgs gave up two first-quarter field goals to the Gamecocks, but that defense kept them out of the endzone until later in the game when the backups came in for the starters.

JT Daniels returned to start against the Gamecocks as he went 23-of-31 for 303 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. After sitting out the UAB game, Daniels was back in his starting role, and he played like fans all expected him to.

This game wasn’t much of a competition for the Dawgs as both sides of the ball proved they were far more dominant, and eventually, the Gamecocks bowed down to them.

The Georgia defense pressured the Gamecocks’ quarterbacks 26 times, and it was at this point people started to realize what happened against Clemson wasn’t just a fluke. This group was that good.

It didn’t matter that it was early in the season — a 27-point victory over an SEC East foe will raise some eyebrows. The South Carolina game became a moment that showed the fans the 2021 season would be different.