Georgia seemingly outplayed South Carolina in nearly every facet of the game on Saturday in Athens, but the Bulldogs came up short in the most important category: the final score.
Coming off a loss to Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Georgia was in desperate need of a win. Mark Richt’s bunch looked poised to pull off the feat but turnovers and mistakes allowed South Carolina to eventually come out on top.
“I’ve never seen a game exactly like that one,” former Auburn coach Pat Dye said.
South Carolina managed to score touchdowns on a fake punt, an interception return, a fumble return and punched one in from the 5-yard line off of another fumble return.
Defensive linemean Melvin Ingram was in the middle of almost all the big plays for the Gamecocks, and Dye couldn’t have been more impressed.
“The guy was outstanding,” Dye said of Ingram. “He goes about 275 pounds, and he runs a fake punt back about 70 yards for a touchdown. He outran everybody on the Georgia team.
“Then he picks up a fumble and runs it in for a touchdown. Then he is on the hands team and recovers Georgia’s (final) onside kick by jumping about 6 feet in the air.”
Dye says Georgia should be fine despite suffering the two crushing losses to open the season.
“Georgia has some good young football players in Murray and Crowell,” he said, “but they made some young mistakes with the ball.”
(Image courtesy of Flickr, South Carolina Gamecocks)
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| RK | Team | Record | PV RK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alabama (19) | 12-1 | 2 |
| 2 |  LSU | 13-1 | 1 |
| 3 |  Oklahoma State | 12-1 | 3 |
| 4 |  Oregon | 12-2 | 5 |
| 5 |  Stanford | 11-2 | 4 |
| 6 |  Arkansas | 11-2 | 9 |
| 7 |  Boise State | 12-1 | 6 |
| 8 |  Houston | 13-1 | 20 |
| 9 |  USC | 10-2 | 7 |
| 10 |  Michigan State | 11-3 | 12 |
2011 Final Pat Dye Top 5 Poll
| RK | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama |
| 2 | LSU |
| 3 | Oklahoma State |
| 4 | Oregon |
| 5 | Michigan State |