Pride commeth before the fall and fall comes before winter

Its all relative

Its been pointed out elsewhere, but about 45% of LSU’s yardage came in the fourth quarter when several things happened to make our defensive stats look a bit worse than they really were.

1. LSU had to get desperate and a a little pass wacky to try and make the game close (12 of their 30 pass attempts were in the 4th)

2. UGA’s offense went WAAAAAAAAY conservative to try and milk clock. After going up by 21 points in the fourth, UGA ran 10 times and passed none for no first downs. This got our defense back on the field much more (and more tired) than they would have been otherwise, in theory.

3. Our defense got…how can I put this nicely…a bit disinterested out there. There was a lot of sloppy, uncharacteristic play after the game got a bit out of hand. I would imagine (hope, actually) that had the outcome still been in doubt, the defense would have shored up and made the plays we have come to expect.

In a way, this second half was like the opposite of the offense’s second half against Bama. It looked like the offense of the losing team really took control, but things were already out of hand. Just as, deep down inside, we knew that the UGA offense hadn’t been as impressive as the numbers bore out in the second half against Bama, the UGA defense didn’t play as badly as some of the stats made it look.

by SG Standard on Oct 27, 2008 8:21 PM EDT reply actions

That's a fair comparison

When I tried initially to put a positive spin on the second half of the Alabama game, I was reminded (correctly) that, when the Crimson Tide had to score to put the game out of reach, they did. The same thing happened against the Volunteers last year: Tennessee took a 28-0 lead into the locker room, and, in the second half, Georgia got a defensive stop then marched down the field to cut the deficit to 28-7. The Big Orange then proceeded to mount a long methodical touchdown drive to make it 35-7, and the game was never in doubt after that. The final score of 35-14 is very misleading; it wasn’t 42-14 or even 49-14 because Fulmer called off the dogs.

The same thing is true of last Saturday’s game, which was very much akin to last year’s Florida game. Both looked like shootouts, but, past a certain definite point in the second half, the outcomes no longer were in doubt. At the midpoint of the second quarter, the Bayou Bengals cut the deficit to 21-17. That was the only point in the game, before or after, at which the victory ever really appeared in peril.

Georgia proceeded to score 17 unanswered points to go up 38-17. After that, the Fighting Tigers would cut the lead to two touchdowns, only to see the Bulldogs go back out in front by three touchdowns: 38-24 . . . 45-24 . . . 45-31 . . . 52-31 . . . 52-38. Louisiana State deserves credit for fighting back against Georgia, just as Georgia deserves credit for fighting back against Alabama, but L.S.U.‘s last two (and, arguably, three) touchdowns were trash touchdowns, as were so many of the Bulldogs’ futile late points against the Tide.

By the way . . . the last time Georgia won an apparent shootout in which the ‘Dawgs really were in control throughout the second half was in Jacksonville last fall. After that, the defense became fairly dominant. I’m not predicting that will happen this season, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented.

What I have isn’t pride, it’s faith, based on seven and a half years of quality football during the tenure of the best head coach the Georgia football team has ever had.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Oct 27, 2008 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions

well, not exactly the same as Jax last season

Our pathetic defense last year wasn’t stopping UGA’s offense, but you can’t tell me with a straight face that you felt totally comfortable when UF scored with 9:40 to go in the game to make it 35-30. It wasn’t until Mareno scored with 3:54 in the game, that the UGA fan’s exhaled. Until that point, you were up by less than a TD. While our defense looked like a sieve, UGA’s defense wasn’t exactly on lock down. Florida put 14 points on board from the midpoint of the 3rd quarter. All it would have taken was a fumble or a pick and the momentum swings.

That’s not exactly the same scenario as trading between 3 TD and 2 TD leads.

I am eager to read where all you believe UGA matches up well against UF.

I also still vote Vince Dooley the best coach in UGA history.

by skigator93 on Oct 27, 2008 9:40 PM EDT reply actions

Expounding on the above

I hope nobody gets the wrong message from the above post – I fully concede that UGA had the better team last season and beat us soundly. I was just pointing out that we hung in there pretty late before the game was truly decided.

I also make no excuses for the loss, such as Tebow’s injury, etc. We just weren’t talented enough yet on defense and UGA’s defense was very strong. I think we will give you a much better game this weekend.

by skigator93 on Oct 27, 2008 9:43 PM EDT reply actions

I take nothing away from Vince . . .

. . . but facts are facts.

99 games into his tenure at Georgia, Vince Dooley was 66-28-5, had two S.E.C. championships, had put his teams into action on New Year’s Eve or later three times, and had guided his teams to three A.P. top ten finishes (No. 4 in 1966, No. 8 in 1968, and No. 7 in 1971).

99 games into his tenure at Georgia, Mark Richt is 79-20, has two S.E.C. championships, has put his teams into action on New Year’s Eve or later five times, and has guided his teams to five A.P. top ten finishes (No. 3 in 2002, No. 7 in 2003, No. 7 in 2004, No. 10 in 2005, and No. 2 in 2007).

Coach Dooley won his first national championship in his 17th season in Athens. This is Coach Richt’s eighth season in Athens. Even assuming that a national title is off the table for 2008—-and, obviously, next Saturday’s showdown by the St. John’s River will have quite a lot to say about that—-it’s a pretty good bet that Mark Richt will lead Georgia to a national championship in the next nine seasons.

I will grant that Coach Dooley accomplished more over 25 seasons than Coach Richt has accomplished over seven and a half, but, at the same point in their respective careers, Coach Richt had at least matched Coach Dooley in every category and outperformed him in many.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Oct 27, 2008 10:02 PM EDT reply actions

Also . . .

. . . I didn’t have to exhale. Like Bill Clinton, I never inhaled.

I was fully confident of victory in Jacksonville last year from the get-go.

Heck, I predicted a Georgia win a year in advance and repeated that forecast regularly for 12 months!

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Oct 27, 2008 10:05 PM EDT reply actions

ha

I still don’t believe you were fully confident. For if you were confident then, you are surely much more confident now…..

Also, I respectfully disagree with your measuring stick of comparing the first 99 games of the coaching records (Dooley vs. Richt) to determine which is better. That’s like saying Urban is the best coach in UF history because he won an SEC and national championship his second season. As we all know, if Spurrier never coached at Florida, Urban probably signs at Notre Dame.

Dooley really built the UGA tradition that Richt walked into. Not to take anything away from Richt, but that’s the truth. I wonder where the UGA faithful fall on the Richt vs. Dooley choice? Maybe a better topic for another week!

by skigator93 on Oct 27, 2008 10:45 PM EDT reply actions

My guess is that most Georgia fans . . .

. . . probably still would go with Vince, which is fine; his contributions were myriad, and farther-reaching than just football. I’m looking forward to continuing this argument for the next 20 years, until everyone is on my side of the debate.

Your analogy of Spurrier : Meyer :: Dooley : Richt is inaccurate, though. Steve Spurrier built the Gator tradition as we know it today, both as a player and as a coach. If Graham Spurrier had died childless, you’re right that Urban Meyer would have gone to Notre Dame . . . in which case the Gators would have no national championships, no conference championships, and no Heisman Trophy winners, as Coaches Spurrier and Meyer between them accounted for all of Florida’s successes in those departments.

(That’s not to say there were no good Gator teams outside of those two men; there certainly were . . . 1984 and 1985 spring to mind. There were, however, no national title winners in the major polls—-y’all can count 1984 the way we can count 1946, which is to say, it’s a major stretch—-and no S.E.C. crowns y’all were allowed to keep.)

Before Vince Dooley arrived in Athens, Georgia had been taken to national prominence through Herman Stegeman’s 1920 Southern Conference championship squad, George Woodruff’s 1927 national championship squad, and Harry Mehre’s frequent battles against the Eastern powers of the day in places like Boston and New York City.

Before Vince Dooley arrived in Athens, Georgia had produced a Heisman Trophy winner (Frank Sinkwich), a Maxwell Award winner (Charley Trippi), and the “Peerless Pilot” (Fran Tarkenton). Under Wally Butts, the Bulldogs won four S.E.C. championships, claimed a share of the 1942 national championship, and won two Orange Bowls, a Sugar Bowl, and a Rose Bowl.

Coach Dooley undeniably revived the dormant Georgia tradition, as he took over the program at a time when the Red and Black had posted seven losing seasons in the previous 11 years. There is no doubt that Coach Dooley took over a Georgia football program in much worse shape than the one Mark Richt inherited.

However, it is absolutely false to say that “Dooley really built the UGA tradition that Richt walked into.” Vince Dooley restored a tradition that had faltered, but he didn’t invent it. Besides, Georgia was five years removed from its most recent previous conference crown (1959) when Coach Dooley took over in 1964. Coach Richt inherited a program that hadn’t won an S.E.C. championship in almost 20 years and exactly the same set of circumstances led to the firings of Johnny Griffith and Jim Donnan: namely, three straight losses to Georgia Tech.

Mark Richt broke through a ceiling every bit as real as the one Vince Dooley faced, and, while Coach Dooley’s first recruiting class was made up of high school graduates who had seen the Bulldogs win an S.E.C. title during their early teen years, Coach Richt’s first recruiting class was made up of high school graduates who hadn’t seen the Bulldogs win an S.E.C. championship in their lifetimes.

As for the confidence thing, sometimes you just have a feeling about things. Sometimes it’s wrong, but, when you’re sure, you’re sure. We just have the number of defending national champions, for some reason. While I feel good about this coming Saturday, I don’t have the same certainty, both because that sort of thing doesn’t come around that often, and because this year’s Gator D is significantly better than last year’s. We’re better, but so are y’all. It ought to be a great game.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Oct 27, 2008 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Re:

I definitely agree that I felt better about last year’s game than this year’s game. I have a strange feeling this year. Usually my sixth sense about sports is off, but I’ve been pretty good in recent history when it comes to Georgia\Florida. I was way confident last year for some reason, just that gut feeling, and have expected to compete but lose in close games the last couple years.

Please note that I’m not tooting my horn, if I had to post my picks each week, you wouldn’t want to bet on mine either.

But when it comes to this week, I have a strange feeling this is going to be a 2 score or more win by either team. Could be the ‘Turds, could be the Dawgs in my mind, but it’s gonna be a good game. But I’m definitely not as confident as I was last year.

by UgaBulldog14 on Oct 28, 2008 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Dooley points

You are right that Dooley rebuilt a once proud program instead of building it from scratch. But let’s not forget that football during the 40s was a much different era. The best ahletes and football players were not always on the football field Saturday afternoons – they were often overseas in the real field of battle.

When Dooley took over, UGA was coming off 3 straight losing seasons, and had only enjoyed 1 win over the Gators in the previous 9 seaons. 1959 was your only good season in that recent era – and it appears to be some sort of an anomaly. UGA had losing records in 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962 and 1963. Your only non-losing season in that streak was 1960, when you went 6-4.

Dooley rebuilt a fallen program which might otherwise have gone the way of Vanderbilt and the service academies.

I do agree with you that UF has no Heismans without Spurrier and possibly no championships (although I would like to think that AD Jeremy Foley would have found another coach to lead our team to its first championship, as he has an incredible record of hiring winners to coach our teams across all sports).

by skigator93 on Oct 28, 2008 10:10 AM EDT reply actions