How upsets of Tennessee, Clemson give South Carolina football a blueprint vs No. 1 Georgia

COLUMBIA — Outside of the building, almost no one believes South Carolina football has a chance when it faces No. 1 Georgia in Athens with the Bulldogs entering as a nearly 28-point favorite.

Georgia (2-0) has routed the Gamecocks (1-1) in two meetings under coach Shane Beamer by a combined score of 88-20. South Carolina's 48-7 loss in 2022 was the worst margin of defeat in the history of the series, and the Bulldogs went on to win a second consecutive national championship.

South Carolina only has one win over a No. 1 team in program history, a 35-21 victory over Alabama at Williams-Brice Stadium in 2010. The Gamecocks are also 2-6 in road SEC games under Beamer, and they have not won a conference opener since a 31-13 win over Missouri in 2017.

However, South Carolina is no stranger to accomplishing the unbelievable after ending 2022 on historic back-to-back wins over then-No. 5 Tennessee and then-No. 8 Clemson. Could the Gamecocks pull off another miracle on Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS)?

The last time South Carolina beat Georgia

Georgia was the No. 3 team in the country when the unranked Gamecocks came to Athens in Week 7 of the 2019 season. South Carolina came away with a thrilling 20-17 double-overtime victory, but it wasn't so much a win for the Gamecocks as it was a loss by the Bulldogs. Georgia gave up four turnovers — three interceptions and a fumble — without forcing any, and it also gave up 60 yards on six penalties.

South Carolina didn't even play particularly well, gaining just 16 first downs on 297 total yards to Georgia's 30 on 468 yards. Quarterback Ryan Hilinski was playing through a knee injury suffered in the second quarter, and he was eventually replaced by then-freshman Dakereon Joyner.

"I was like 18 years old running around out there like a chicken with my head cut off," Joyner, now a sixth-year senior running back, recalled with a smile. "I was just out there trying to make plays, and the environment was unreal. It's one of the craziest games I've played in my career."

What the Gamecocks did perfectly was capitalize on mistakes. They failed to score on their lone red zone attempt but returned the first interception of the game for a 49-yard touchdown to take a 17-10 lead at halftime. They tied the game after Georgia went up 10-7 on what was then a career-long 49-yard field goal by Parker White and blocked the Bulldogs' 53-yard attempt at the end of the first half. Both kickers missed their first field goal attempts in overtime, and White eventually hit one just from 24 yards out to end it.

How the Gamecocks upset Tennessee, Clemson

First and foremost, the Gamecocks need a nearly-perfect performance from quarterback Spencer Rattler. He had the best game of his career in South Carolina's 63-38 win over Tennessee last season, passing 30-of-37 for 438 yards and six touchdowns. Though he was less spectacular the following week against Clemson, Rattler still out-performed his season averages in passing yards and touchdowns.

The Gamecocks could do no wrong in their win over the Vols, rushing for over 150 yards for just the third time against a Power Five opponent, scoring 25% of their passing touchdowns for the season and holding Biletnikoff Award winner Jalin Hyatt to 65 receiving yards. If South Carolina is going to test Georgia, it'll likely look a lot more like the Clemson game.

Just like their 2019 upset of the Bulldogs, the Gamecocks used chaos to their advantage. South Carolina won the turnover battle with two forced fumbles and an interception and held QB D.J. Uiagaleilei to just 8-of-29 passing. The team also took big risks, calling a 65-yard deep shot on a 4th-and-1 conversion and connecting for a 72-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that cut Clemson's lead to two points. With Georgia's first-year starting quarterback and several inexperienced players in its offensive and defensive line rotations, it's up to the Gamecocks to exploit those potential holes.

Why Dowell Loggains believes in South Carolina

South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains wasn't on staff for the Gamecocks' top-10 upsets last season, but he remembers a Chicago Bears win over the Minnesota Vikings in 2016 as the biggest upset he has ever been involved as a coach. Loggains was the Bears' offensive coordinator and helped lead the 1-6 Bears to a 20-10 victory on Monday Night Football against the 5-1 Vikings.

"We were a bad football team ... but the guys played really well, and played to the max of their abilities," Loggains said. "We played a really good team and we didn't turn it over. We made them earn everything. To pull upsets off ... when you play teams like this, it really is about you."

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Loggains was often an underdog during his 16 seasons in the NFL, serving as offensive coordinator for the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins under Adam Gase and as quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns when Johnny Manziel was the starter. As for Saturday, Loggains believes the Gamecocks have a roster capable of putting up a fight.

"We all know that (Georgia) is really talented. They're the No. 1 team in the country and they've won two national titles, but you have to make them earn everything," Loggains said. "You can't give them things, and if you do then it gets lopsided real fast because they're talented, well-coached team. They deserve everything they've done and they've earned it, so we've got to make sure they have to continue to earn it."

Follow South Carolina football beat reporter Emily Adams on X @eaadams6 and subscribe to The Greenville News for exclusive Gamecocks content: https://subscribe.greenvilleonline.com/offers.

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This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football has blueprint to upset No. 1 Georgia