Georgia Bulldogs

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Planning to contain South Carolina’s dual-threat quarterback Connor Shaw and actually doing it are two very different things.

Georgia learned that on Saturday night as Shaw’s running and throwing ability allowed the No. 6 Gamecocks to easily drive for touchdowns on their first two possessions en route to a crucial 35-7 win against the fifth-ranked Bulldogs.

“He played an outstanding game,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “We did nothing to make it tough on him as far as decision-making or to have to drop back and throw and make a bunch of plays that way. They threw when they wanted to throw.”

The Gamecocks came out wanting to throw, and Shaw got the job done, completing 5 of 7 passes for 100 yards in the first quarter, including a 42-yard bomb to Damiere Byrd where the receiver made an acrobatic catch by snatching the ball away from Bulldogs safety Bacarri Rambo. That set up a 20-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington moments later.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Georgia fans doubtlessly feel like they've been here before. The last time the Bulldogs played a regular-season game with ESPN GameDay in town -- in 2008 against Alabama -- Georgia seemed stumbled out of the gate and trailed 31-0 at the break.

Saturday's game against No. 6 South Carolina was a repeat of that ugly start as the Gamecocks went up 21-0 on the fifth-ranked Bulldogs in the game's first 10 minutes and coasted into halftime with a three-touchdown lead. Let's review what happened:

Stat of the half: 177-39. Georgia came into Saturday’s game as the most productive offense in the SEC, but the Bulldogs struggled mightily as South Carolina jumped out to a 21-0 lead by outgaining Georgia 177 yards to 39 in the first quarter alone.

Player of the half: Connor Shaw. South Carolina’s quarterback executed two impressive touchdown drives in the first quarter, capping them with scoring passes to Bruce Ellington and Rory Anderson. He finished the half 5-for-9 for 100 yards passing, plus he rushed seven times for 50 yards.

What’s working for Georgia: After struggling to find a pulse in the first quarter, Georgia finally held its own in the second -- although it was down by three touchdowns by that point. The defense held South Carolina to 34 yards of offense in the second quarter and the offense drove to the Gamecocks’ goal line before failing to score on fourth down.

What’s not working for Georgia: There are plenty of choices to point to here. In addition to its struggles at the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball, Georgia also gave up a 70-yard punt return touchdown to Ace Sanders. A general lack of composure existed for the Bulldogs in the first quarter and that resulted in an enormous early deficit.

ATHENS, Ga. -- Such is life in football that when a player is injured, his teammates can’t afford to dwell on his absence for too long and the next man in line must step in to take his place.

For the first time this season, Georgia’s players dealt with such a scenario on Wednesday when they learned that Michael Bennett -- the team’s leading receiver with 24 catches for 345 yards and four touchdowns -- will miss the rest of the fall after tearing his right ACL at the end of Tuesday’s practice.

“Michael getting hurt was just a very sad thing,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, whose fifth-ranked Bulldogs face No. 6 South Carolina on Saturday. “We were having quite a good practice yesterday. It was the very last play and I was thinking what a good day it was, what a good practice it was and then that happened.”

Bennett was blocking cornerback Devin Bowman when his knee buckled and popped audibly. Although he was able to walk off the practice field as coaches and teammates gathered for the end of practice, a post-practice MRI confirmed the UGA training staff’s fears that Bennett would miss the rest of the season after already surpassing his 2011 production in the first five games of 2012.

“I saw him go down, but then he got up and started walking and everybody thought it was going to be all right,” senior receiver Marlon Brown said. “I told him to call me that night and he called me and told me what happened. It just [stinks] for him.”

Although Richt said Bennett’s absence will be costly because of the toughness and work ethic he helped instill in the team, he and the Bulldogs can take solace that receiver is one of the deeper positions on the roster. Brown (68) and Tavarres King (61.4) both rank in the top to in the SEC in receiving yards per game. And other wideouts like Malcolm Mitchell, Rantavious Wooten and Chris Conley have performed well in big games.

Richt said Mitchell -- who spent most of his time at cornerback this season prior to Saturday’s win against Tennessee after totaling 665 receiving yards last season -- will continue to be available on defense. And he is not ready to burn freshman Blake Tibbs’ redshirt yet, either.

“I think we’re still going to be fine,” Richt said.

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Our SEC position rankings continue with a look at schools' wide receiver and tight end groups.

Past rankings:

• Quarterbacks
• Running backs

On to the league's wide receiver/tight end groups:

1. Tennessee: The Vols are equipped with two of the top wideouts in the league with Da'Rick Rogers, who was second in the SEC in receiving last year, and Justin Hunter, who might be the SEC's top deep threat. It sounds like Hunter will be 100 percent this fall after his ACL injury last year. Junior college transfer Cordarrelle Patterson is big, fast and possesses the big-play gene. The speedy Zach Rogers is back and is so is talented tight end Mychal Rivera.

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