The Game That Broke the SEC East Wide Open
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina had to let it ride in its game Saturday afternoon against Georgia if it wanted to have any hope of winning the SEC East, and head coach Steve Spurrier's crew hit the jackpot, albeit with a lot of help from Mark Richt and the Bulldogs.
With the 38-35 win, the Gamecocks broke the SEC East wide open.
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Georgia kicker Marshall Morgan set an SEC record by hitting his 20th consecutive field goal early in the game, and then missed his final two—including a 28-yarder that would have tied the game late in the fourth quarter.
If play-calling issues hadn't popped up, he probably wouldn't have been in that position to begin with.
After a pick by Damian Swann set the Bulldogs up in the Gamecocks red zone, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and head coach Mark Richt chose to pass on first down rather than hand off to Heisman Trophy contender Todd Gurley—who had already racked up 131 yards on the night.
Georgia's seemingly annual flaw was exposed on Saturday, as the Bulldogs defense was lit up to the tune of 447 yards—271 through the air—and routinely left South Carolina wide receivers running free with nary a defender in sight.
"The whole game, coach called some great stuff," Gamecocks quarterback Dylan Thompson said. "Guys were open."
They were open all day, especially early. Thompson connected on 10 of his first 11 passes, including several over the middle to receivers who were running free. That got him into a groove, as South Carolina built a 24-13 lead at halftime.
A win for Georgia would have further fueled the Dawgs' early-season hype train and put them two games ahead of South Carolina—with the head-to-head tiebreaker—for the coveted trip to the SEC championship game in Atlanta. But, that would have been way too clean for the topsy-turvy SEC East.
So who's the favorite now?
Not South Carolina, according to Spurrier.
"Nahhhhh," he exclaimed in the postgame press conference. "We're just happy to get the win."
Thompson took the same stance as the Head Ball Coach regarding the landscape of the division.
"I don't know," he said. "We always want to win the one against Georgia. There's so much running through my mind right now."
The truth is, nobody knows.
South Carolina certainly has a puncher's chance, so does Georgia. And defending champ Missouri hasn't missed a beat despite significant roster turnover.
In one night, and perhaps with one missed kick or ill-advised play-call, the entire landscape of the SEC East changed.
In 60 short minutes, the favorite came back and said "we're not dead yet," and kept the SEC East wide open for everybody—itself included.
Buckle up.
It's going to be a wild ride.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report and co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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