ATHENS — Mykel Williams made it very clear this was a different Georgia defense in the second half than what South Carolina faced in the first half.
After the Bulldogs scored their first touchdown of the game on their opening drive of the third quarter, Georgia forced an immediate 3-and-out from the South Carolina offense.
Williams put South Carolina in an impossible position after he notched a sack. It was one of 3.0 on the afternoon for Georgia, but Williams set the tone for what was about to come in the second half.
“I wouldn’t say nothing changed. I would say we really woke up. We were kinda sleepwalking through the first half,” Williams said. “They come out hot and got on us fast. We just came and woke up in the second half.”
After scoring touchdowns on the first and last possessions of the first half, South Carolina had three punts, two interceptions and a turnover on downs on its six second-half possessions. The Gamecocks were awarded no points, on the Georgia defense showed no mercy on their soul.
Williams now has 2.0 sacks on the season. Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Nazir Stackhouse also came down with sacks on Saturday. The Georgia crowd also deserves some love, as the Gamecocks finished the game with 5 false start penalties in what was a 24-14 Georgia win.
You can’t fault South Carolina for wanting to have an advantage in trying to block Williams. He harassed South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler constantly. In the second half, Rattler completed just 6 of his 24 pass attempts. He finished the game 22 of 42 for 256 yards.
He had a touchdown pass to Juice Wells on the opening drive of the game. But Wells injured his foot on the play, depriving Rattler of a key playmaker. And with no ground game to speak of — South Carolina had 53 yards on 16 carries — that made things even more difficult.
Georgia took advantage, as they suffocated the life out of South Carolina’s offense. Rattler, who played better than his stat line, was picked off on his last two drives.
The pressure provided by Williams and others absolutely had something to do with it.
“I think that’s definitely a blessing to have him being able to do what he can do,” Georgia defensive back Tykee Smith said of Williams. “This year, I think we’re getting on the right path and being able to finish. I’m proud of him and the game he had. Being destructive and helping the back end. Him being disruptive helps the back end.”
Smith grabbed one of the interceptions, while Dan Jackson had the other. Kamari Lassiter and Malaki Starks also had multiple pass breakups on the afternoon.
Georgia was without starting safety Javon Bullard, as he is dealing with an ankle injury. David Daniel-Sisavanh got the start in his place on Saturday.
While the secondary stood tall in the second half, it was the pressure from up front that helped halt the South Carolina offense. The Gamecocks had only 98 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes of action.
Williams felt South Carolina divert more resources to try to slow him down. But the sophomore defensive end was so locked in that it didn’t seem to matter.
“I did notice the chips and the extra guys,” Williams said. “But that’s just part of the game. It comes with it when you are effective.”
Smart has raised concerns over the offseason about whether or not Georgia has a dominant, game-wrecking defensive lineman.
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Williams certainly looked the part on Saturday for Georgia. And the Bulldogs likely don’t pull away without his herculean effort.
“Really good pass rush from him. He’s our most dynamic rusher,” Smart said. “You probably saw it better than me. I was watching the coverage but I felt like he was back there a lot. He’s going to have to be effective for us to get pressure.”
