Gamecocks foil Georgia again, 38-35

photo Georgia fullback Quayvon Hicks (48) runs for yardage against South Carolina during their game on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014, in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina won 38-35.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - There will be no Palmetto State championship for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia, which dominated Clemson to open the season, succumbed to South Carolina and longtime nemesis Steve Spurrier, 38-35, Saturday night before a crowd of 84,232 at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Bulldogs suffered their fourth loss to the Gamecocks in five years and again will need help in their annual quest for a Southeastern Conference East Division championship.

"You get tired of losing," watery-eyed Bulldogs tailback Todd Gurley said after a 132-yard rushing night. "You get tired. It's the same stuff over and over again -- just getting let down."

The Bulldogs again have been denied an undefeated run through league play, something they last accomplished during Herschel Walker's final season in 1982. Saturday was Georgia's toughest road atmosphere of the season, and it appeared the Bulldogs were going to pull it out following Damian Swann's interception of Dylan Thompson with 5:24 remaining.

Swann's interception set the No. 6 Bulldogs up with a first-and-goal at the South Carolina 4-yard line, but Bulldogs quarterback Hutson Mason was flagged for intentional grounding on the ensuing play. That resulted in a loss of down in addition to a 10-yard loss, and Georgia's chances of at least tying the game were dashed when Marshall Morgan missed a 28-yard field-goal attempt.

"We tried to run a fake toss to Todd with a bootleg out the backdoor to Quayvon [Hicks]." Mason said of the play he most wanted back.

Said Georgia coach Mark Richt: "It's a play that looks good when you put it in, but it wasn't very good that moment."

Spurrier was asked about Georgia's first-and-goal decision to bypass a Gurley run and said, "That was interesting they ran that play."

The No. 24 Gamecocks took over at their 20-yard line with 4:24 left and quickly picked up a first down behind the tandem of Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds, who combined for 159 yards on 31 carries. A 6-yard carry by Wilds on third-and-7 left the Gamecocks facing a fourth-and-inches at their 49 following a measurement.

South Carolina called two timeouts with 1:26 remaining, and then Thompson got the needed inches after the chains came out for a second straight play.

"It was in the same spot it was in the last time, but that shouldn't have decided the game," Bulldogs inside linebacker Ramik Wilson said. "It is what it is."

The Bulldogs dropped to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the league, while the Gamecocks improved to 2-1 and 1-1. Williams-Brice Stadium became the first true road venue in which Georgia has lost three straight times in the Richt era.

"We didn't seize the moment, especially after we got that big turnover deep in their territory," Richt said "To get zero points out of it is very disappointing. No matter what happened throughout the day, that was the moment we had at worst to tie it up, but we were not able to do that."

Georgia's defense was hoping to build on its opening performance, when the Bulldogs held Clemson to 15 second-half yards. Instead, the Bulldogs were torched for 447 yards, with Thompson completing 21 of 30 passes for 271 yards, three touchdowns and one interception that resulted in one large dodged bullet.

Thompson had 240 yards in the first half, when his precision kept the Gamecocks on the field and Gurley off it. South Carolina ran 44 first-half plays to 26 by the Bulldogs, and the Gamecocks had nearly a five-minute edge in possession time.

"Some wins are better than others, and I think this one was better than most others," Spurrier said. "Their kicker hadn't missed a field goal in two years or something, 20 in a row, and then he missed two tonight. Sometimes all you can say is that it was our turn to win and that we were meant to win this game and Georgia was not."

South Carolina will play at Vanderbilt this Saturday, while Georgia will host Troy.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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