*Leading At Half: Georgia carried a 20-10 advantage to halftime. Georgia won the coin toss and elected to kickoff to start the contest. Georgia jumped ahead 14-0 at one point in the first quarter for its big lead. Georgia is 17-2 under Kirby Smart when leading at the half.
*To The House:Senior DB Deandre Baker collected his first interception of the year and the sixth of his career in the first quarter and returned it 55 yards to the USC 1 before dropping it before crossing the goal line. Senior ILB Juwan Taylor scooped up the fumble and scored, which is still officially called an interception return for a touchdown, to put Georgia up 7-0. This was the fourth defensive score during the Kirby Smart era. Taylor’s touchdown marked Georgia’s first interception returned for a touchdown since Maurice Smith took one 35 yards versus Auburn in 2016. This was the Bulldogs’ first interception returned for a touchdown on the road since Dominick Sanders returned a pick 88 yards at Vanderbilt in 2015.
*Defense Locks Down In Opening Period: The Bulldogs held the Gamecocks to a total of 79 yards, including just seven on the ground and seven points in the opening quarter. USC’s only touchdown came after the Gamecocks went 75 yards on 11 plays.
In the second quarter, the Gamecocks totaled 111 yards to give them 191 on 46 plays in the first two periods. On USC’s second scoring drive, the Gamecocks went 14 plays for 71 yards and kicked a field goal. Richard LeCounteand Monty Riceled the team with a career-high six tackles each in the first half.
*Swift Makes It Two In A Row:Georgia only ran 31 plays in the first half and tallied 183 yards. After the defense scored the first touchdown, Georgia scored its first offensive score at the 11:50 mark in the first quarter to go up 14-0. Junior WR Mecole Hardmantook a handoff 30 yards to jumpstart the Bulldogs and they finished with a 17-yard touchdown run by sophomore TB D’Andre Swift. The drive was four plays for 76 yards in 1:15. This was Swift’s second touchdown of the year after scoring a 15 yarder versus Austin Peay and gives him five in his career.
*Blankenship Booming Kicks: Junior PK Rodrigo Blankenshipgave the Bulldogs a 17-7 lead late in the opening period on a 45-yard field goal and then made a 44-yarder as the first half expired for a 20-10 edge. He is now 3-for-3 on the year and 12-for-18 in his career from 40+. He has started the game with four straight touchbacks on kickoffs and was 8-for-8 on touchbacks during the season opener.
*Points off Turnovers: Georgia is +0 in Turnover Margin, scoring 14 points off two turnovers on the year. Opponents have forced two turnovers and turned them into no points. In the opening period, Deandre Bakertook an interception 55 yards to the USC 1 and Juwan Taylorpicked up the loose ball for the touchdown. Later in the first quarter, Rashad Fenton picked off Jake Frommand returned it 16 yards to the UGA 34. The Gamecocks went for it on 4th-and-9 and did not convert.
*Returning To Action: Senior WR Terry Godwin sat out the Austin Peay game and returned versus the Gamecocks. He finished the half with one catch for 12 yards.
*Captains: Today’s captains were seniors Jonathan Ledbetterand Lamont Gaillardplus junior J.R. Reed.
