COLUMBIA, S.C. — Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm said he didn’t need the bulletin board material this week, and neither did many of his teammates.

The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs rolled over No. 24-ranked South Carolina, 41-17, in a game Sports Illustrated tagged as a “trendy upset” pick in the preseason.

Such talk amplified when former Gamecocks receiver Tori Gurley guaranteed a South Carolina victory in the preseason, and then again on the SEC Network on Friday.

Internal push

“For a lot of our guys, we don’t need that kind of outside motivation, it comes from inside,” said Fromm, who was 15-of-18 passing for 194 yards with a touchdown and an interception. “Somebody had to pay for all the preparation we do, and today it was South Carolina.”

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Fromm and the Bulldogs put it to South Carolina with a decisive 21-0 burst in the third quarter, “mashing” the Gamecocks up front, as Fromm put it.

“We pride ourselves on being a four-quarter team, [and] we love late in the game to start moving people and mashing the ball,” Fromm said. “Our guys are just bigger and stronger, and were outlasting their guys, and I think that’s a testament to our strength staff and the way we prepared.”

South Carolina outgained Georgia 191-183 yards in the first half, but Fromm was 6-for-6 passing for 115 yards in the third quarter, engineering three touchdown drives for a 41-10 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Carolina game plan

The Bulldogs had adjusted to a Gamecocks’ game plan that was aimed at stopping the run game.

“Obviously they wanted to out-number us in the box and run some twist game up front, but our guys handled it well,” Fromm said. “Our guys up front took care of business and starting moving people a lot more [in the third quarter] and our backs handled the rest.

“When we took our shots, we hit them for the most part, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Fromm was particularly critical of himself for the first-half interception he threw when pressured heavily on a third-and-10 from the Georgia 35.

“Bad decision on my part, completely uncharacteristic of the way I play, really just careless with the ball,” Fromm said, “and it definitely won’t happen with me again.”

Georgia football QB Jake Fromm