Reviewing Keys to the Game - South Carolina edition

1. Rushing stalemate. Take away the 68 yard fake punt and Georgia actually rushed for almost exactly the same number of yards as Carolina. Those yards count though and made a huge difference in the game. Georgia's defense did a great job of stopping the run for 3 quarters, games last 4 though. Crowell gives Georgia its best running threat since Moreno graduated. It does not matter if he starts or not, he will get as many carries as he can handle. Hopefully that gets up to around 25 real soon.

2. Give Murray a chance. Only two sacks allowed, a great improvement over the first game. The one big one cost Georgia the game. Improved but still not where it needs to be. Hopefully the line continues to improve and it is possible we have faced the two best pass rushing teams we will all season.

3. Expect the unexpected from Spurrier. Spurrier did stick to running the ball with Lattimore but broke out the fake punt and that proved to be huge. Georgia got burned by this and it cost the team the game.

4. Field position. This went mainly to special teams and Georgia did a great job in not allowing Carolina good field position. Special teams did let the team down though by missing a field goal that proved to be the difference in the game. Special teams also gave up the fake punt TD. Overall special teams still not proving to be the advantage for Georgia that you would expect given the talent.

5. Fast start. Again the defense got off to a great start. Again the offense did not take advantage of this. Georgia's defense stoned South Carolina the entire first half. The offense had the chance to really get the team rolling with 3 drives inside the Carolina 25. Score a TD on 1 or two of those drives and get points out of all three drives and it would have really put Carolina on its heels. A bigger lead may have also forced Carolina into a situation where Lattimore would have been less of a factor. Georgia must take advantage of its chances to score and it did not do that.

All in all Georgia was much better than they were in week 1 but had too many negative plays that cost them the game. For as good as they looked at times they still have not learned to play 4 consistent quarters. At their best they can compete with anyone in the country. The fact that they don't know how to play their best for 4 quarters in a row is why they are 14-14 in their last 28 games.