ATHENS — Well, that certainly was unexpected. The fact Georgia defeated South Carolina wasn’t surprising — they were heavy favorites — but nobody could have seen a 52-17 shellacking coming, especially given it came over their No. 1 tormentor, Steve Spurrier. For my column on the game, click here. My three “Short Takes” follow:
1. Meet Greyson Lambert, Starting quarterback: I had doubts. Fans had doubts. Maybe even coaches had doubts. But Lambert affirmed he was the right choice by Richt and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as Georgia’s starting quarterback, completing an implausible 24 of 25 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns. His only relative misfire was an overthrow on third down from the South Carolina 12 in the first quarter when Jeb Blazevich was well covered in the end zone. Was this really the same quarterback who went 0-for-5 in the first half at Vanderbilt? “I felt confident against Vanderbilt too,” he said. “I just had to go through a rough patch.”
2. Malcolm Mitchell a happy camper: The Bulldogs had no shortage of offensive stars, as you would expect on a seven-touchdown, 576-yard day. But Mitchell was one of the biggest stars with eight catches for 122 yards and a touchdown (exceeding what he had in his first two games: seven for 88 and a touchdown). Mitchell also vented following the Vanderbilt game about the team’s lack of a passing attack and, it follows, his inability to have an impact on the offense. His follow-up comments after the South Carolina game: “Ah, my message. I shouldn’t have said what I said at the time, the way I said it. Because it’s a team; I’ve got to show support. When I read what was stated in that article it seemed like I was bashing the team and that’s something I never want to do. Now if it got him to throw the ball … (didn’t finish sentence). Nah, I’m kidding. But I appreciate him trusting me. That’s the relationship you want to have with your quarterback. And I hope all the other receivers have that trust in him as well, because it’s not just me out there running routes.”
3. The end for Spurrier: Steve Spurrier can retire after the season, secure in the knowledge he will go down as one of the greatest college in college football history. He hasn’t said that he plans to do so but three lousy performances by his team to start the season — an ugly win over North Carolina, a home loss to Kentucky and a lopsided defeat to Georgia — makes you wonder if he wants to stick around. The truth is that the Gamecocks just don’t have many great players. This isn’t a matter of whether Spurrier can still X-and-O with his counterparts. It’s whether he wants to work that hard at 70 years old to recruit the players he needs. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was the last time he will have coached a game in Athens.
•
