ATHENS, Ga. --- Georgia proved Saturday night there is life after Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno.
Joe Cox threw two touchdown passes, and No. 21 Georgia got its season back on track with a 41-37 shootout win over South Carolina in the teams' Southeastern Conference opener at Sanford Stadium.
Georgia overcame an early 10-point deficit and avoided its first 0-2 start since 1996. After scoring just 10 points at Oklahoma State in their first game without offensive standouts Stafford and Moreno, each of whom left school early for the NFL after last season, the Bulldogs scored their most points against the Gamecocks in the Mark Richt era.
"We are a team, and there are no superstars on this team," said Georgia cornerback Brandon Boykin, who returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. "Tonight, there were no superstars on that field. Everybody had to come together and play their part in this game. That's why we were victorious tonight."
With both teams sputtering on offense in their season openers, Georgia and South Carolina were expected to post another defensive slobber-knocker. Instead, Georgia scored 24 points the final 17 minutes of the first half and took an eight-point lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs led by four late in the fourth quarter when South Carolina started its final drive from its own 14. Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia converted three third-down plays and marched the Gamecocks to the Georgia 13 with 57 seconds remaining. Garcia then hit Brian Maddox over the middle for a 6-yard gain. With 32 seconds remaining, South Carolina needed to cover seven yards for the win. Garcia then threw incomplete on third down.
On fourth-and-4 from the 7, Garcia scrambled to the middle and threw on the run incomplete, Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran deflecting the ball with his left hand. With 22 seconds remaining, the Bulldog faithful erupted.
"We only had a couple of seconds and we had no choice but to stop them," Curran said. "This was a street fight. We took a couple of punches, but we wiped the blood off and kept on rolling."
The victory was a coming out party for Cox, the fifth-year Bulldogs quarterback. He confirmed to ESPN on Friday he's been battling nerve-related shoulder problems which puts pressure on his rotator cuff, but showed he's recovered from the flu. Cox fired a strike to a leaping A.J. Green in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass, extending the Bulldogs' lead to 31-23 with nine seconds left in the second quarter.
Cox stayed hot just after halftime. On Georgia's opening drive of the second half, Cox connected with Michael Moore on a 4-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs up by 15.
"Joe looked great tonight," Green said. "Joe's a great quarterback. I'd pick nobody else over him."
Cox and the Georgia offense got a boost from the return team. Boykin set a school record with his 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter. The Bulldogs set a Georgia record for return yardage in a game with 204 by halftime alone.
South Carolina countered with the gunslinging Garcia. Coach Steve Spurrier said he'd unleash his sophomore quarterback, and he did.
Garcia went 31 for 53 for 313 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
The Gamecocks opened the game by turning two Georgia turnovers into 10 points and jumped out to a 17-7 lead midway through the first quarter.
Branden Smith took an end-around reverse handoff and darted 61 yards past the South Carolina defense to give Georgia its first lead at 21-17 early in the second quarter.
South Carolina's Eric Norwood picked off Cox and went 35 yards for a touchdown to pull the Gamecocks within one early in the fourth quarter. But Georgia blocked Lanning's extra point attempt.
Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.
TURNING POINT
After a sloppy first quarter where Georgia trailed by 10 points, Branden Smith gave the Bulldogs their first lead when he took a reverse pitch 61 yards for a touchdown. That early second-quarter score gave them a 21-17 lead -- an advantage that South Carolina's surprisingly effective offense would consistently threaten, but never overcome.
PLAY OF GAME
Although both offenses dominated, a clutch defensive play sealed Georgia's victory -- and for the second year in a row, it was Bulldogs linebacker Rennie Curran who made the win-clinching goal line play. Curran deflected Stephen Garcia's fourth-down pass from the Georgia 7 with 22 seconds remaining, denying the Gamecocks' bid for a comeback win.
-- Morris News Service
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Back 
I was at the game and have to say it was one of the best Georgia/Carolina games I've ever been to! This game had everything! I'm certainly glad that Georgia won, but have to admit that the Gamecock fans shouldn't be ashamed of anything tonight. Sure, the Dawgs have bragging rights for another year, but a true and knowledgeable Dawg fan will have to give their props to the Gamecocks this time around. We were lucky to have won it. Had their extra point not have been blocked, it would've set Spurrier up for a field goal at the end of the game that would've tied it and sent it to overtime! Then, who knows what would've happened?!?!
The Gamecocks out played the 'Dawgs just about the whole game, but the Dawgs knew how to make those big plays when they needed them. The last Carolina drive was all about Dawg defense and the slobber knocking was fierce. The red zone defense made its best stand of the night and closed out a great game with great play. I hated the Dawgs won, but this was a game that will be hard to beat all season. Go 'Cocks!
Congratulations to the Gamecocks on yet another moral victory.
Few football games like the Ga./Carolina game last night. WHAT A GAME and WHAT HEART from both teams. Love my Ga Dogs.
Never a doubt!!! Wellll, maybe, a great game, it is a shame that
someone had to lose, but I am glad the Dawgs came out on top!
The scary part is that this Garcia kid is just a sophomore and we (GA) got deal with him for possibly 2 more years. lol.
I am glad Ga won, but I will say that Garcia kid has a killer QB instinct and I see him going far in the sport.