Georgia vs. South Carolina: How Bulldogs' Loss Will Shake Up Week 4 Rankings
No team emerges from an SEC battle unscathed.
That line of thought was amplified in Saturday's meeting between No. 6 Georgia and No. 24 South Carolina, which the Gamecocks won 38-35, as it was the week's lone showdown between ranked opponents.
With widespread implications as to how the Week 4 rankings would look—not to mention playoff resumes down the line—it seemed only right that the game was decided by a fourth down that measured out like this, per CBSSports.com's Chip Patterson:
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Here is a look at how The Associated Press Top 25 stacked before Saturday's SEC showdown:
| 1 | Florida State Seminoles (38) |
| 2 | Oregon Ducks (16) |
| 3 | Alabama Crimson Tide (1) |
| 4 | Oklahoma Sooners (2) |
| 5 | Auburn Tigers |
| 6 | Georgia Bulldogs (1) |
| 7 | Texas A&M Aggies (2) |
| 8 | Baylor Bears |
| 9 | USC Trojans |
| 10 | LSU Tigers |
| 11 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| 12 | UCLA Bruins |
| 13 | Michigan State Spartans |
| 14 | Mississippi Rebels |
| 15 | Stanford Cardinal |
| 16 | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| 17 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
| 18 | Wisconsin Badgers |
| 19 | Kansas State Wildcats |
| 20 | Missouri Tigers |
| 21 | Louisville Cardinals |
| 22 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
| 23 | Clemson Tigers |
| 24 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
| 25 | BYU Cougars |
Obviously, all of that goes up in flames.
After a thrilling proclamation to everyone that a playoff berth might be a reality, thanks to an opening-week win over then-ranked No. 16 Clemson 45-21, Georgia coach Mark Richt certainly looks something akin to a prophet now. Before the trip to Columbia, he had cast a gloomy outlook on the heavyweight battle.
“I got a feeling this game could get a little bloody,” Richt said, per ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough. “I think both teams are tough, physically. … Before it’s over, it may get down to a bit of a fistfight.”
Indeed.
Hutson Mason, despite throwing for 191 yards and a pair of scores, made a litany of costly mistakes in a hostile environment, which did much to nullify the efforts of back Todd Gurley, who gained 131 yards and a score on the ground.
A missed field goal in the final frame with just minutes left on the clock by Georgia's Marshall Morgan, right after an interception by his defense, kept things at the final score. The Bulldogs then failed to stop the aforementioned fourth-and-short conversion to see their rank and playoff chances take a serious hit.
As Jason McIntyre of TheBigLead.com noted before the spot, the playoff implications, above all else, were most important:
When it comes to ranks, the Bulldogs seem sure to fall to No. 12 at the very least. Right below them in the current ranks, Baylor took care of Buffalo 63-21, and others such as USC and LSU seemed sure to follow suit and get a promotion.
For South Carolina, the season-defining win sets up nicely. The schedule after Georgia has always been quite soft thanks to a visit to Vanderbilt, a home stand against Missouri and a trip to Kentucky before a bye and a visit from Furman.
Clearly, the rank that just shot up the charts right along with rejuvenated playoff chances will only continue to swell and make up for that season-opening 52-28 loss to Texas A&M.
Further helping the Gamecocks' surge up the charts is a slew of upsets on the weekend, including Virginia Tech suffering a letdown a week removed from upsetting Ohio State, losing to East Carolina 28-21.
No. 21 Louisville looked uncomfortable at best at Virginia, as it continues to pick up the pieces after Teddy Bridgewater's departure, losing 23-21.
Outside of the unexpected loss to what is clearly a very good Aggies team, Gamecocks fans can go ahead and claim this is all going according to plan.
Next week, the Bulldogs return home and welcome a winless Troy squad to town, which should allow the team to suffer any inevitable hangover and still emerge with a win. Even better, Knox Bardeen of FoxSports.com offers some encouraging news:
The Gamecocks, surely riding high, hit the road for yet another SEC encounter, albeit one that seems a bit easier than Saturday's game, with the opponent being 1-3 Vanderbilt—barring a letdown, of course.
In what was a down week from a mile away, the polls needed a major upset to go down in order to pique interest on the path to Week 4.
South Carolina served up the biggest of all.
Stats via ESPN.com. AP poll via The Associated Press.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
