Smart offers no regrets on opening onside attempt

ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs couldn’t be accused of coming out passive Saturday afternoon against South Carolina.

On the opening kickoff, Georgia attempted an onside kick, but the ball was recovered at midfield by the Gamecocks’ Caleb Kinlaw.

“We were watching film of them earlier in the week and looked at film from them last year,” Bulldogs kicker Rodrigo Blankenship said, “and we thought if we lined up a certain way that we would go ahead and do it. We had made that decision pretty early in the week.

“I thought it was a pretty good ball, and it got a great hop and went 11 or 12 yards like it was supposed to. We just didn’t recover it.”

The Gamecocks quickly capitalized with a 16-yard pass from Jake Bentley to Bryan Edwards to Georgia’s 34-yard line and got as far as the 29 before stalling. The failed onside attempt did not cost the Bulldogs any points when Parker White missed a 46-yard field-goal try.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart said “because it was there” when asked afterward about his decision at the start.

“I want to be aggressive at the University of Georgia,” he said. “We’re not going to change what we do, and we believe in what we do. Football is an aggressive game, and we’re not going to sit back and play on our heels.

“People are going to give us their best shot, and we want to give them our best shot.”

stiffening defense

South Carolina went 3-of-6 on third-down conversions in the first half, but the Gamecocks were just 1-of-6 after intermission.

“It seemed like we started playing with more intensity,” Smart said. “We were certainly harping on it. We had some batted balls and some tighter coverage, and what’s crazy is that the longer distances were the ones we gave up and the shorter ones we played better.”

Junior inside linebacker Roquan Smith led Georgia with nine stops, including 1.5 sacks.

Lengthy marches

Georgia’s three touchdown drives Saturday occurred on possessions of 11, 10 and 10 plays, and the Bulldogs also had a 15-play, 65-yard drive in the fourth quarter that marked a season high in plays and ended with Blankenship’s 20-yard field goal that capped the scoring.

“I was proud of the toughness and the effort and the grind and the physicality with which they played,” Smart said. “That was a really good drive, and if we had cashed that in with a touchdown, it would have been one of our best drives of the year.”

Entering Saturday’s game, Georgia had just four possessions measuring 10 or more plays in its 38 touchdown drives.

Odds and ends

The Bulldogs won a third consecutive meeting with the Gamecocks to extend their series lead to 50-18-2. … Representatives from the Peach, Citrus, Outback and TaxSlayer bowls attended Saturday’s game. … The New York Times also had a representative to watch the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings. … Blankenship is among 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award. … Senior reserve tackle Aulden Bynum started as a tight end, marking his first start of the year and fourth of his career.