COLUMBIA --- The goal line is to Georgia-South Carolina what the goal post once was to Miami-Florida State.

Instead of the phrase "wide right" or "wide left," Gamecocks players, coaches and fans have become uncomfortably accustomed to the cry of "fumble!"

Mimicking the highlight film of goal-line standoffs past in this incongruously grueling Southeastern Conference border rivalry, Georgia's defense once again forced the key turnover on the line that both divides and defines this series.

It is what they expected. It is probably what 83,704 fans packed into Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday expected.

"I think it's crazy," said Georgia defensive back CJ Byrd of the latest in a long line of goal-line plays that have become the norm since Mark Richt took over at Georgia. "Like they said, tradition never graduates. Those guys in front of us years before have done it, so why not us?"

Joining the list of Georgia heroes that includes David Pollack and Thomas Davis and Greg Blue is sophomore linebacker Rennie Curran. On second-and-goal from the 2, Curran's hit divorced the ball from South Carolina's Mike Davis, adding the Gamecock running back to a dubious list that includes Corey Jenkins, Andrew Pinnock, Dondrial Pinkins and Blake Mitchell.

"We watched a couple of the plays like Pollack and guys who have done it before in the past," Curran said. "So we knew how important this game was and how close it always is and how big of a defensive struggle it always is. It never changes."

Trailing 14-7 with 8:04 remaining, the Gamecocks drove 66 yards to the Georgia 2-yard line. Byrd stuffed Davis for no gain on first down. On second, Davis cut left and lunged into a pile toward the goal line and a possible tie against the No. 2 team in the country.

"We just have the mind-set that if it comes down to the goal line, we're going to stop them," said Georgia linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.

To that end Curran scraped down the line and dove in, drilling Davis where the ball met his chest on the 1-yard line. The ball shot forward to the end zone and into the waiting arms of Georgia's Asher Allen.

"It was like a big gold beach ball with diamonds encrusted in it," Allen said of the floating gift that fell in his lap. "It was the prettiest thing ever."

It wasn't so pretty from South Carolina's perspective -- where the home field has brought no advantage in the clutch. Ellerbe was right beside Curran in the scrum and had a clear view into the soul of Gamecocks' frustration that goes as far back as George Rogers' red-zone fumble that sprang Georgia's 1980 national championship season.

"I saw his facial expression when it popped loose," said Ellerbe of Davis. "It looked like disappointment; like, 'Oh not again.' He was sad and I was happy."

It was a play so reminiscent of other plays in the rivalry that they all start to run together. The goal line has been the scene of so much recent drama, be it Georgia's strange inability to cross it often enough on offense or South Carolina's uncanny knack for coughing it up.

In the same south end zone in 2002, Pollack made one of the most defining plays of his career when he stripped an interception right out of quarterback Jenkins' hands for the Bulldogs' only touchdown that day. On the other end of the field in the waning seconds, Pollack stuffed a fourth-down pitch to Andrew Pinnock at the 2 and forced a clinching fumble in a 13-7 Georgia win.

In 2004, on the same field, it was Blue who drilled quarterback Pinkins in the red zone to seal a 20-16 Bulldogs win.

In 2006, Georgia twice stepped up on the goal line in the second half, batting the ball from quarterback Mitchell's outstretched hands through the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1 and stopping the Gamecocks on downs at the 2 to preserve an 18-0 shutout.

"It always seems like in these games the goal line is really, really big and we made plays when we needed to," Allen said.

Was there any doubt it would come down to the same scenario in Richt's fourth visit to Columbia?

"We watched that all week long every day," said Laney alum Corvey Irvin of the goal-line highlight reel Georgia's coaches put together.

"We watched '02, '04, '05, '06. That's what won the game today. If they score it's 14-14 and who knows. Now that's going to be in next year's highlights."

Highlights come at a cost. The drama was so intense Saturday that Georgia linebackers coach John Jancek was shaking uncontrollably as he tried to drink some water on the post-game elevator ride from the press box.

Even the always low-key Richt was spent from the suspense of another nail-biter with the Gamecocks. He's endured two losses to South Carolina at home when the Bulldogs failed to crack the goal line, and was suffering another close call as Georgia was clinging to a slim lead.

"I hate to expect these kind of games because they're gut-wrenching and they go to the wire and they're just no fun for either team," Richt said. "I can say with all honesty that my gut has churned more in this series, and really on this field, than any other times since I've been at Georgia. Our defense knew that they were going to have to rise up."

They rose up again Saturday, eerily similar to the uprights that repeatedly stood on the wrong side of fate for Richt's former employer Florida State against Miami.

"For whatever reason," Richt shrugged.

Indeed, the dividing line in this rivalry is as thin as the goal line.