Second quarter blog

End of half, South Carolina leads 14-3

Georgia's offense is looking mighty ineffective as the half ends. And it's defense is looking like it has no answer against the SEC's next great running back.

Halftime couldn't come soon enough for the Bulldogs.

An errant kickoff gave Georgia the ball at the 40, with plenty of time to at least get in field goal range. (With Blair Walsh, they were already pretty close.)

Instead the Bulldogs went three-and-out, after a questionable run call on second down.

Georgia gets the ball to start the second half. It has to start making some things happen on offense, and get South Carolina's defense on its heels. Otherwise, it has to hope for not just one Gamecock mistake, but several.

1:34 left in second quarter, South Carolina expands lead to 14-3

This just isn't looking very good for Georgia. At all.

South Carolina now has a two-score lead, riding the feet of Marcus Lattimore, whose looking like a national freshman of the year candidate. Lattimore is now beyond the 100-yard mark, and the first half isn't even over. He also just ran for his second touchdown, and Georgia's defense is showing little sign of being able to stop him.

In fact, every time they hold him to one or two yards, they celebrate. That's not good.

So it's back on the Bulldog offense, which hasn't looked too great the past few drives either. Without A.J. Green, the offense of Aaron Murray and company is looking limited.

In more bad news for Georgia, senior fullback Shaun Chapas was taken to the locker room with an ankle injury. His status was announced as out of the game "for now."

5:38 left in second quarter, still South Carolina up 7-3

The defenses have clammed up in the second quarter. Georgia's offense is now leaving the field after its second straight three-and-out.

You're starting to see the absence of A.J. Green rear its head. All it would take is one big play from him to break things open. Or he'd be a great option to continue one of the first three drives.

The good news for Georgia is its defense has adjusted well. Darryl Gamble, who didn't start, has come in and made an impact, batting down a third-down Stephen Garcia pass.

The bad new for the Georgia defense is it's still having trouble with Marcus Lattimore, who is now up to 86 rushing yards. The only saving grace is the Gamecocks haven't been handing him the ball on every play - or even the majority of plays the past two drives.

It's still early, but honestly it feels like Georgia is lucky only to be down 7-3. It needs a break, or a big play, at some point.

9:46 left in second quarter, South Carolina still up 7-3

Georgia goes three-and-out on its second drive, as Aaron Murray is sacked on third down. It was largely a coverage sack, as Murray, rolling out, had no one open to throw it to.

Then after the play Tavarres King and South Carolina's Chris Culliver were charged with offsetting personal fouls. King and Culliver were both suspended last week, so I guess they were just getting some aggression out. That's fair.

Washaun Ealey has 40 yards on seven carries. Carlton Thomas has one carry, but Caleb King hasn't carried. That twisted ankle may be more serious than thought.

11:04 left in second quarter, South Carolina still up 7-3

Georgia’s defense got a little help there.

South Carolina missed a 51-yard field goal, ending its second drive, and allowing Georgia’s offense some decent field position.

South Carolina drove back into Georgia territory, but had third-and-7 at the 33. The Gamecocks changed the play at the line, but should’ve called timeout. Instead, with the play clock almost at zero, Stephen Garcia called a quick snap, which he bobbled, and ended up losing a yard.

Then the Gamecocks, after sending the field goal team out there, called a timeout – and sent the field goal team back out there.

Even before that, I think the Gamecocks may have out-thought themselves by deviating a bit from the first-quarter gameplan.

After running the ball up the gut successfully the first drive, South Carolina came out and passed three times. It almost failed, but a fortuitous spot on third down helped.

Mark Richt, perhaps sensing that momentum was important at that point, decided to call a timeout to get a review of the spot. Frankly I thought it was a good challenge, but hey, how can I be right and the officials on the field and in the booth be wrong?

The Gamecocks drove downfield, but got stalled. If you’re Todd Grantham, how happy are you that they didn’t keep trying to run it up the gut every play?