Fourth quarter blog

1:12 left in game, Georgia down 17-6

South Carolina kicks a chip-shot field goal to basically ice it, barring a miracle.

I'm headed down to the locker room, and will have postgame quotes and thoughts ASAP.

This loss isn't the end of the world for Georgia, but it makes next week almost a must-win if this team wants to accomplish much this season.

2:05 left in fourth quarter, Georgia down 14-6

Georgia's defense could only hold Marcus Lattimore for so long. The freshman has put together another long drive - yes, pretty much by himself - and South Carolina is poised to put it away.

The debate after this one will be how much is this the fault of the Georgia defense, and its poor tackling, and how much is it just that Lattimore is a special player.

It looks to be a mixture of both. Georgia's tackling wasn't that good overall; a couple Alshon Jeffery catches-and-runs come to mind.

When Stephen Garcia was back in the pocket, the Bulldogs were able to do some things. But in head-to-head confrontation at the line of scrimmage, they were out-physicaled.

9:39 left in fourth quarter, Georgia down 14-6

High praise for the Georgia defense. Not only did it force a three-and-out when it badly needed to, but it forced the Gamecocks way backward.

The big play was a 14-yard sack. Now that Marcus Lattimore is being bottled up, the aggressive, blitzing defense is able to rear its head and go after Stephen Garcia. The results are good.

But is it too late? The Georgia offense starts this time at its own 9, after another special teams mistake - a block in the back.

11:49 left in fourth quarter, Georgia down 14-6

The story of this game is shifting from Georgia's inability to stop Marcus Lattimore, to Georgia's inability to capitalize after it finally began stopping Lattimore.

Georgia just went three-and-out, and South Carolina takes over at midfield.

This isn't a huge indictment of the Bulldog offense. The Gamecock defense has been pretty solid the past few years, and there's no reason to think it won't be again this year.

But the Bulldogs sure do look limited without A.J. Green. It has one long play, the pass to Kris Durham, but otherwise it looks unable to break open big plays.

The good news is the defense is back into form. Lattimore has been held to 20 yards in the second half. And Justin Houston is announcing himself, now with three sacks on the day.

Houston absolutely clobbered Stephen Garcia on the previous drive. Houston blitzed from Garcia's right and laid down a hit that brought quite a reaction from the crowd. It didn't bring a fumble, as another Houston sack did, and the Bulldogs sure could have used one there.

Special teams was supposed to be an advantage for the Bulldogs today, but it really hasn't. Branden Smith went negative yardage on a punt return, and was lucky to get back out to the 10. And Drew Butler has been off his game, with some very low punts.