Former player stands by guarantee of South Carolina victory

Sept. 1 vs. Austin Peay at Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs have never played the Governors (an FCS team). Sept. 8 at South Carolina. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks could decide the SEC East in the season’s second week, even if only because it could determine a tiebreaker. Sept. 15 vs. Middle Tennessee at Sanford Stadium. The schools have played once, with Georgia winning 29-10 in 2003. Sept. 22 at Missouri. The Bulldogs have a three-game win streak against the Tigers and have lost once to them. Sept. 29 vs. Te

In July, former South Carolina receiver Tori Gurley offered a guarantee that the Gamecocks would defeat the Bulldogs when the two teams met again, which will take place this Saturday at Columbia.

“That’s something I’m going to guarantee that South Carolina gets the win at home,” Gurley said on the Paul Finebaum radio show in mid-July. “Yes. In Williams-Brice in front of 80,000, on CBS.”

Those comments – which Gurley repeated this week on Twitter -- are obviously resonating much stronger now than when Gurley originally made then, but there was no response, official or otherwise, from the Georgia camp, although it was reported that some four dozen copies of the comments were affixed to a wall in the Bulldogs’ locker room.

LeCounte declined to take the bait when asked about the “guarantee” after Tuesday’s practice.

“I haven’t heard about that guarantee thing,” he said, indicating he knew nothing about the situation. “I just go day by day, getting in the playbook and getting ready to play.”

LeCounte walked that comment back later, indicating was aware of the Gurley’s comments and said it was just a matter of an alum “supporting their team.”

During his time at South Carolina, the Gamecocks were 1-1 against Georgia, losing 41-37 in Athens in 2009 and winning 17-6 in Columbia. After leaving South Carolina, Gurley spent time on NFL rosters with Green Bay, Minnesota, Oakland, Tampa Bay, San Diego, Baltimore, Cleveland and Buffalo. He also spent two years in the CFL with Toronto (2015-16), Winnipeg (2016) and Ottawa (2017).