ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs opened the SEC portion of their schedule on Saturday in Athens as they welcomed South Carolina into town.
No. 2 Georgia has romped to another dominating win with a 40-13 blowout of South Carolina.
The Dawgs, ranked second in the country, still had a major question mark hanging over things as to who would play quarterback, but JT Daniels returned to the lineup and threw for 303 yards with three touchdowns.
Earlier this week Coach Kirby Smart said presumptive starter Daniels, dealing with an oblique tweak, was not 100 percent. His backup Stetson Bennett torched UAB last weekend in a 56-7 blowout, but Smart said he also has his own lower back issues.
The coach said after practice Wednesday that Daniels, Bennett and third QB Carson Beck (who completed 4-of-10 passes last week for 88 yards, a touchdown and an interception) had all been taking reps. As of Saturday morning, the team still hadn't announced who would start.
The Bulldogs' fearsome defense nearly made it three straight games without allowing a TD, finally giving up its first of the season with just under 11 minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs improve to 3-0 on the season in their first SEC game. South Carolina drops to 2-1 in its conference opener, though the Gamecocks could take a degree of satisfaction from Luke Doty's 36-yard TD pass to Josh Vann.
The UGA defense has been the talk of the country through the first two weeks of the college football season, most impressively in holding Clemson to just three points in the season opener before making UAB miserable last week in a sort of quasi-shutout (the Blazers' lone TD came on an interception return in the fourth quarter.)
The basics
- Who: No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs
- What: SEC opener vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
- When: 7 p.m. ET
- Where: Sanford Stadium, Athens
- TV: ESPN
- Tickets: Available on secondary markets for $49 at the low end