Cocks Pass First SEC East Road Test

Georgia turnovers help No. 12 South Carolina win on the road

Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga. -- South Carolina gained the upper hand in the Southeastern Conference East by taking advantage of every Georgia mistake.

The No. 12 Gamecocks scored twice off turnovers, including defensive end Melvin Ingram's second touchdown with 3:12 remaining and held on to beat error-prone Georgia 45-42 Saturday, giving embattled coach Mark Richt another galling loss.

South Carolina (2-0, 1-0 SEC) set up another touchdown with a long fumble return, and the 276-pound Ingram scored his first career TD on a 68-yard run with a fake punt. Georgia (0-2, 0-1) got four touchdown passes from Aaron Murray but simply couldn't overcome all the major blunders.

Antonio Allen returned an interception 25 yards for a TD in the third quarter. After Marcus Lattimore put the Gamecocks back ahead, 38-35, on a 3-yard run with 3 1/2 minutes left, one more mistake doomed the Bulldogs.

Freshman Jadeveon Clowney burst through the line without being blocked and threw down Murray, who lost the ball before slamming the ground. Ingram batted it toward the end zone and picked it up there for an improbable two-touchdown performance by the fifth-year senior.

Lattimore had another big game against the Bulldogs, rushing for 176 yards on 27 carries. Georgia piled up plenty of years, with Murray throwing for 248 and freshman Isaiah Crowell rushing for 118. But the Gamecocks got TDs out of all three turnovers by the home team, which desperately needed a win after an opening 35-21 loss to No. 4 Boise State.

Crowell had some big runs but also made a huge mistake, fumbling a handoff around midfield. The ball bounced into the South Carolina secondary, where Stephon Gilmore picked it up and went 56 yards all the way to the Georgia 5. From there, Stephen Garcia scrambled up the middle for a 8-yard touchdown run on an otherwise forgettable day for the senior in his return as starting quarterback.

From there, it went back and forth. Allen's TD stretched South Carolina's lead to 28-20. Michael Bennett hauled in a 19-yard pass for Georgia, and a two-point conversion tied it up. Jay Wooten's 49-yard field goal put South Carolina back ahead 31-28. The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead on Crowell's 15-yard touchdown run.

Finally, Lattimore put the Gamecocks ahead to stay.

After Murray threw for another score, hitting Tavarres King on a 33-yard pass with 2:15 to go. But Ingram recovered the onside kick, and Lattimore ran for the clinching first down.