Team tackles turnover issues

ATHENS, Ga. --- There was plenty of preseason talk about Georgia wanting to get its hands on more turnovers. It turns out that keeping the ball away from the other team is the bigger issue so far.

After tying for the third-fewest turnovers in the Southeastern Conference last season, Georgia has lost six in its first two games -- tied for 104th in the nation.

Against South Carolina on Saturday, Eric Norwood intercepted a Joe Cox pass and returned it for a 35-yard touchdown, and the Gamecocks scored 10 points off fumbles they recovered at Georgia's 23- and 8-yard lines.

In two games, opponents have scored 26 points off Georgia turnovers.

"Turnovers can kill you, but finding a way to win after having that many turnovers, that's huge for us," Cox said.

Georgia held off South Carolina 41-37 after the Gamecocks scored touchdowns on only two of seven trips inside the Georgia 20. They settled for four field goals, and Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran broke up a fourth-down pass at the goal line in the closing seconds.

"The lucky thing is our defense has played good to come back and help us and especially the special teams," running back Richard Samuel said.

Georgia is last in the SEC and 114th in the nation in turnover margin at minus-five. The Bulldogs' defense has forced just one turnover, and the team has lost four fumbles. Only Hawaii and New Mexico have more in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

"I think that's going to happen with us just being in the second game, just being young on offense," cornerback Brandon Boykin said. "I think we're going to learn from these mistakes."

Freshman Branden Smith fumbled at the Georgia 5-yard line when he returned a South Carolina kickoff from five yards deep in the end zone.

"It was just a mistake," Smith said. "It happened to pop out of my hand. I'm not making excuses. It was just a freshman mistake."

Smith redeemed himself with his 61-yard touchdown run on a reverse, and he later returned a kickoff 48 yards.

Samuel said Georgia's coaches stress ball security in practice.

"There's a real emphasis," he said. "We go through at the beginning of practice the points of pressure and toting the ball securely and also, when we're going through traffic, how to cover the ball and protect the ball. Protection is the main thing for us."

Added coach Mark Richt: "We worked as hard as we can fundamentally, and we'll continue to do that. That ball is shaped a certain way and it will bounce this way and that way. Sometimes you get a better bounce than other times."

Or get a player who hustles to make the recovery -- like when running back Carlton Thomas jumped on a fourth-quarter fumble by Cox after a crushing blindside hit by Stephon Gilmore. That kept alive a drive that ended with a 42-yard Blair Walsh field goal.

"Carlton Thomas might have saved the game right there," Richt said.

"That was really big," Boykin said. "I don't think many people realize how big that was for the game, but I saw that as like the turning point of the game. If we don't get that, ain't no telling what would have happened in that game."

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier had similar thoughts.

"Their player made a great recovery," he said. "They had one guy going for it and we had a couple of guys behind him, but the guy came up with it and they made another long field goal."

Georgia got the win, but it will work to correct its turnover troubles this week.

"We've definitely created some good, positive momentum, and we want to build on it," Richt said. "And we want to do better at some things that can get you beat and could have got us beat, but didn't get us beat. We also want to build on the things that helped us win."