Let’s get the obvious out of the way – Georgia easily handled a shorthanded opponent and took advantage of mismatches at several positions due to players that were injured or had opted out. But the situation was similar a week ago, and Georgia had to fight until the last possession against Mississippi State. Saturday’s much easier result against South Carolina is progress if only because of how Georgia took care of business this time. They took control of the game with 21 first quarter points, held off South Carolina’s attempt at a comeback, and closed the door in the second half.

If last week’s game was about the emergence of J.T. Daniels and the passing game, the win at South Carolina was about the resurgent running game. Mississippi State bottled up the Georgia rushing attack, but it didn’t take long for the Dawgs to show that things would be different in Columbia. An early seam pass to McKitty warned South Carolina about selling out to stop the run, and Georgia’s four-headed tailback position took over. Three of the four tailbacks had carries longer than 22 yards, and all four rushed for at least 77 yards. Edwards got most of his carries in the fourth quarter and was instrumental on Georgia’s final possession that consumed the last nine minutes of the game. The running game was bolstered by a much better performance from the offensive line – especially the interior of the line. Ben Cleveland was the SEC OL of the week, and Hill and Shaffer were much better. The line is still chasing consistency, but this was about as good as it gets.

Though the running game was dominant, fans still wanted to see whether J.T. Daniels’s debut was a fluke. He wasn’t asked to do nearly as much and completed 10 of 16 attempts for 139 yards. 71 of those 139 yards came on two long completions to McKitty and Arian Smith. Otherwise Georgia’s explosive plays came from the running game, and the pass was primarily used to move the chains. After spreading the ball around last week, only five Bulldogs caught passes against South Carolina, and for the first time in a while no tailbacks caught passes out of the backfield. They were a little busy running the ball.

Daniels played well and under control. His lone interception was no shame – just a nice play on a tipped pass that could have been caught. He had another pass in the second half that was a much more likely candidate for an interception, but fortunately that forced pass was dropped. Daniels picked a bad time to have his worst sequence of the game. Following a South Carolina touchdown, Georgia gave the ball right back on a three-and-out that featured two bad plays from the quarterback. First Daniels underthrew an open Burton on a sideline route. The play likely would have scored if Burton were hit in stride, but the ball fell harmlessly behind the receiver. On third down Daniels simply held the ball too long and took a sack. It was an issue we saw last week, and he’s still learning timing and decision-making.

So we’ve seen Georgia break 30 points in each of the past two games with unbalanced offense. Balance for its own sake isn’t the objective, but the next step is for the offense is to put these pieces together in more of a cohesive attack. We know the running plays are there, and now we know the elements of a big passing game are in place. There won’t be much of a test until the Missouri game is rescheduled, but the Vanderbilt game should be a chance for continued progress and not a perfunctory effort to run out the clock.

Georgia’s defense, and its coaches, had to feel more comfortable going against South Carolina’s offense after playing the unconventional Mississippi State offense a week earlier. We know that Mike Bobo is a capable coach of offense, but his scheme is nothing unfamiliar and more along the lines of what Kirby Smart has made a career out of defending. Take away some of South Carolina’s top receivers, and the Bulldog defense felt a lot more at home against a physical run-based Gamecock offense. Kevin Harris, the SEC’s leading rusher, was limited to 53 yards and 3.1 yards per carry. Dual-threat QB Luke Doty carried the ball 15 times (including sacks) and ended up with a net of -15 yards. Without having to respect South Carolina’s deep threat, players like Lewis Cine could look to attack and make plays closer to the line of scrimmage.

That doesn’t mean it was a clean game for the Georgia defense. Poor tackling was an issue all night and helped South Carolina’s first half scoring drives. A missed tackle allowed the Gamecocks to convert a fourth down that led to a scoring opportunity. Doty was able to complete 18 of 22 passes even without a dynamic receiver like Shi Smith, but Georgia’s pass rush was at least able to keep Doty from becoming too comfortable in the pocket. South Carolina’s tight end was not Kyle Pitts or even Hayden Hurst who was a particular thorn in Georgia’s side while at South Carolina, and that’s fortunate. The Gamecocks had success working TE Nick Muse against Georgia’s linebackers. Muse came into the game with 294 yards all season and added 131 yards on 8 receptions.

• Jalen Carter became a sensation for his role as a fullback in the Auburn and Tennessee games, and this win showed what fans have to look forward to from Carter the defensive lineman. He and Travon Walker are two of the more athletic defensive linemen Georgia has seen. The line is still missing the physical presence of Jordan Davis in the middle, but Logue and other young players have held their own.
• Special teams won’t get much attention in a lopsided win, but Georgia’s advantage there was impressive. A 50-yard punt, solid coverage, several touchbacks, a long punt return, and a blocked extra point only made things easier for the rest of the team.
• Welcome Arian Smith! The freshman has been recovering from offseason surgery, but his potential was on full display as he blew by a defender to get open for an easy touchdown reception. That’s just one more weapon for this passing attack.
• Yes, Prather Hudson is still on the team. He entered the transfer portal after the 2019 season but remained with the team. He moved to defensive back and has been a regular on special teams, but the coaches gave him another carry at tailback on the final drive while Edwards caught his breath. Hudson had a nice 7-yard run around the right side that moved the chains and kept the drive going.
• I was surprised to see that this series was 5-5 over the past ten games; surely Georgia had a better decade than that against South Carolina. I shouldn’t be surprised – South Carolina won four of five in the early part of the 2010s even while Georgia won two division titles. Last season’s upset pulled things back even after Greyson Lambert’s record-setting performance in 2015 began a run of success for Georgia. Now the Dawgs have won five of six including the last three in Columbia. Georgia has outscored the Gamecocks 86-33 in the past two games at South Carolina.