Shane Beamer knew South Carolina could go toe-to-toe with Georgia, and on Saturday afternoon in Athens the Gamecocks proved it before falling 24-14.

“We have a group of fighters, (and) you saw that today,” Beamer said. “I know everybody thought this thing was going to be lopsided and out of hand by halftime -- we didn’t. We know we have a good football team.”

South Carolina charged out to a 14-3 halftime lead to put No. 1-ranked Georgia on the ropes in the nationally televised CBS game.

“Nobody came in the locker room and had a celebration because we were winning 14-3,” Beamer said. “We expected to be in that position. We were controlling the game in the first half.”

But as Beamer noted, the Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) deserve credit for how they responded against his Gamecocks (1-2, 0-1) in rallying for the victory.

“We just went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the country,” Beamer said. “We did what we were supposed to do in the first half. Then, second half, give Georgia credit ....

“They showed what a championship team does and why they have won back-to-back national championships coming back in the second half and playing like they did.”

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