Oklahoma State Cowboys 24, Georgia Bulldogs 10
by T Kyle King on Sep 6, 2009 10:04 AM EDT
in Football
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PrintManic Kyle is dead. Manic Kyle went to his reward sometime during the final three quarters of Saturday’s game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Oklahoma St. Cowboys.
I never should have let myself become overconfident . . . by which, of course, I mean confident. I’ve been dour all offseason, but I allowed myself to be convinced that everything would turn out all right. I should have known better.
If I hadn’t known that before the game, the trip to Stillwater should have reminded me. My brother-in-law, Travis Rice, is a native Texan who was raised, was schooled, and lives in Georgia, but his family hails from the Sooner State. Trav and I arranged to stay with his relatives, and we began the journey on Friday by driving to Birmingham, flying to Memphis, and changing planes in an airport in which you can (but I did not) purchase an Elvis Presley chess set for $65.00. (The pawns were blue suede shoes.)
While we were waiting to board our connecting flight from Memphis to Oklahoma City, Trav spotted a tall guy in shorts and said, "That guy kind of looks like Dan Patrick." We looked at him further and realized he was Dan Patrick, with whom we shared a plane to Oklahoma. (I had the fleeting thought that, if the plane went down, the eighth or ninth paragraph of the story of Patrick’s death in some Southern media outlets might mention me as an incidental victim of the crash.)
We were picked up at the airport by Travis’s father and stayed at the home of Travis’s uncle. We stopped at Chick-fil-A on the way to campus and we arrived in time to visit the tailgaters in RVs, catch up with one of a couple of old friends who were in town, and take a tour of the area.
My initial impression---bolstered somewhat by the subdued novelty of the tailgating scene, the fact that a little over 50,000 constituted a record crowd, and the omnipresent orange at what originated as an agricultural school---was that we were visiting the essential equivalent of Clemson in the Frank Howard era, but, although interactions among opposing fans sometimes have been heated between supporters of the Bulldogs and the Tigers, the Oklahoma State people could not have been nicer or more hospitable.
The nice-guy-to-jerk ratio among OSU fans was far and away the most favorable I have ever encountered in an opposing fan base. Unfortunately, the only jackass Cowboys fan I came across was two seats down from me. He didn’t say a word until the Pokes went up by two touchdowns---he didn’t even so much as clap prior to that point---but, once the outcome was no longer in doubt, he wouldn’t quit running his mouth, mocking our fight song by pretending to mistake it for "I’ve Been Working on the Railroad" and going on about how he thought this was supposed to be a tough opener.
Despite the fact that this clown obviously was a fair weather fan (his seats were in the visiting section, for crying out loud), I still shook his hand afterwards, congratulated him, and wished Oklahoma State good luck. He replied, "Go ‘Cocks." I informed him which bodily orifice he most closely resembled.
Other than that guy, though, we crossed paths with nothing but the most unfailingly decent folk. (When I was complaining to Trav about the one jerk on the way out of the stadium, another OSU fan overheard me, turned around, and apologized on behalf of the one bad fan I had encountered. Our hosts were as hospitable and as gracious in victory as we could have hoped.) Nary a catcall nor a jeer was heard anywhere in Stillwater, before or after the game.
In other words, the trip went, and my Saturday began, as perfectly as possible. That was a bad sign.
I’m not just being dour---although make no mistake; I am being dour---because I remember another day that went about as well as it could go, right up until kickoff: Georgia’s 2008 game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. How’d that work out for us?
Actually, that comparison is a bit unfair. Last year’s Alabama game was a disaster from the get-go. The showdown in Stillwater began as well as it could have begun for the visitors. (I use that term, by the way, because that was the term the public address announcer in T. Boone Pickens Stadium used, almost without exception, when referring to the Red and Black. Come on, buddy; at least take the time to learn our name. This game was kind of a big deal.)
At the outset of the game, the Bulldogs drove the field for the opening score and managed to stop the Cowboys. The initial playcalling on both sides of the ball was solid and Joe Cox had moments that looked positively David Greene-like. Richard Samuel was a handful of high-steps away from breaking some big ones and the ‘Dawgs were dominant through most of the first two quarters of play . . . but they never distanced themselves when they had the chance. The Classic City Canines failed to capitalize on their opportunities, proving unable to mount another first-half scoring drive and missing multiple chances at potentially game-altering interceptions.
The Pokes went into the game with question marks, which they transformed into exclamation points. The ‘Dawgs went into the game with question marks, as well, but (as Travis pointed out) Georgia’s were turned into semicolons. The passing game was never in synch; seldom did the quarterback and the receiver both perform well on the same play, and Cox threw several passes that ought to have been picked off. For reasons not known to me or to anyone else with whom I spoke, we got away from the running game much sooner than circumstances required.
After the game, an old friend of mine from college sent me a text message noting the similarity of this game to one played in Athens eight decades ago. Then, too, a team called the Bulldogs went on the road for the dedicatory game in an upstart program’s stadium, and lost. Then, the arena was Sanford Stadium and the visiting eastern power was Yale; on Saturday, Oklahoma State made a comparable breakthrough.
Saturday’s result was a combination of Georgia playing poorly and Oklahoma State playing well. The Cowboys looked like a quality team; certainly, they deserve to be the highest-ranked team that goes by the initials "OSU." The Red and Black looked like a club that could make my 7-5 preseason prediction seem optimistic. There were no fluke plays or bad bounces to which we can attribute this result. The better team won. What we have to get next to is the idea that ours was not the better team.
A few ancillary points in closing:
- As inclined as I may be to blame it all on Willie Martinez, the Georgia defense was not the problem in Stillwater. Two turnovers put the defense in dire straits, but the players responded well and played much more disciplined football. Of the three phases of the game, defense unquestionably is the one in which Georgia performed the best. If you’d told me beforehand that the ‘Dawgs would hold the Cowpokes to 24 points despite being on the wrong end of the turnover margin, I’d have danged sure told you we were winning a football game.
- The bathrooms in T. Boone Pickens Stadium are labeled "cowboys" and "cowgirls." As Trav pointed out, we can’t very well get away with mascot-specific lavatory labeling in Athens, given what the signs on our women’s restrooms would say.
- For all the perception that we in the South are overly enamored of our Second Amendment rights, folks in the Big 12 love them some firearms, especially when it comes to shooting them off during football games.
- We need to get comfortable with the idea that 0-3 is a very real possibility.
- I’m not going to say anything about the penalties. They might not have changed the score, they certainly didn’t change the outcome, and it was a well-officiated game.
- Whatever Oklahoma State is paying that new defensive coordinator is a bargain.
- If Oklahoma State can find kicker who can put kickoffs in the end zone, so can we. If Mark Richt wants to make a job offer to the Cowboys’ special teams coordinator, that’s all right with me, too.
- I haven’t checked the game day open comment thread yet---I’m still in Oklahoma---so I don’t know whether my cousin has yet quoted my uncle, but, just in case he hasn’t, it needs to be said: don’t lose with seniors. Every available option needs to be considered at every position from which we did not receive an acceptable level of production on Saturday.
- Just for the record, I am a man and I am 40. That is all.
- That "Cowboys Forever" song sounds like it was recorded by the Jonas Brothers.
- Oddly enough, 24-14 probably would have been a more representative final score for both of the 21st century series meetings between these two teams than the actual margins of victory were. Both in 2007 and in 2009, the games were won comfortably by the home team, but not as decisively as the scoreboard showed.
- Depressive Kyle is on duty. Consider this your official announcement that I will be optimistic when I am given tangible on-field evidence that optimism is warranted, but not a moment sooner. Otherwise, I’m really looking forward to 2010.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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A few notes
1. I think the bathroom joke would have been funnier had you left off the explanation, but you know your audience better than I do.
2. The Oklahoma State defensive coordinator was from Miami. In spite of this weekend’s showing (except VPI, who lost, but looked pretty good doing it), the ACC really is a strong defensive league.
3. If it’s any consolation, Tech looked asleep yesterday. I’m glad they didn’t play anyone better. The stats look good, but don’t let that fool you.
The Oklahoma State Defensive Coordinator (Bill Young) is NOT from Miami….he spent ONE season – albeit LAST season – at Miami. Coach Young is actually a former player and alumni of OKLAHOMA STATE, and spent a good portion of his career as a defensive coordinator/coach in the Big 8/Big12 (O-State, Kansas, OU, Iowa State).
by CanadianCowboy on Sep 7, 2009 7:08 AM EDT up reply actions
The English Language
If he was in Miami, and he didn’t go from Miami to Oklahoma State, then why isn’t he still in Coral Gables?
Maybe this will help
Il est allé de Miami à Stillwater, même s’il était quelque part d’autre précédemment.
by NCT on Sep 7, 2009 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions
My 2 cents....
I posted this on the Senator’s site but I’ll post it again:
There are some serious problems in the program that need to be addressed and that’s going to require some people to take off the blinders and be realistic:
1. Mark Richt is getting outcoached and outworked on an increasingly regular basis. He isn’t going against Phil Fulmer and Chan Gailey anymore. Does ANYONE out there doubt that Saban and Meyer are better in-game, instinctive coaches? Richt’s best bet is to outprepare opponents during the week, and that obviously ain’t happening.
2. There is a major accountability problem. NO ONE on the staff has any since of urgency during a game or any other time. They coach like people that know their jobs are safe no matter what. To see the coverage nightmare of last year replay itself yesterday was maddening. Do you think that would happen at Florida, Alabama, LSU? Loyalty will get you so far and then it will get you fired. Ask Jim Donnan and Quincy Carter.
3. Can we be honest about Richt’s offense at FSU for once? I’ve put up with this myth for 9 years and I’m sick of it. Richt’s offense, by his own admission, has never been overly complicated. I have a copy of the playbook from the 1994 FSU offense and the 2004 UGA offense. They are basically identical. I also have a copy of Donnan’s playbook from 1998. It is about 3 times as thick.
The offense relies either on superior talent(FSU) or perfect execution(David Greene). The play action out of the I is great if you have a huge talent advantage where you can get serious separation. But, if you’re playing comparable talent, those passing windows are very, very small. Cox can’t get the ball out quick enough. It’s obvious.
4. Jan 1, 2006 vs. WVU. Any mystique or toughness or intangibles that Richt had built during his first five years died in the Dome that night. We haven’t been the same since.
5. Evans is going to have to man up with regards to assistants. UAB did us the biggest favor we could ever ask for by taking Calloway. We’re not going to get that lucky again. Aside from Gardner, b/c of his recruiting, and Searles, no one wants any other coach on our staff. That is very, very telling.
6. I love him, but Richt has peaked and we’re either on the plateau or on the downward slide. We backed into two SEC championships b/c Florida couldn’t get its shit together. That’s not happening again. He is getting outrecruited, outworked and then turned inside out on gameday. He would have been PERFECT for that UVA job he was offered. He is a great, great ACC coach, but he’s soft and he’s not a-hole enough to go up against Saban and Meyer.
I felt it starting to crack against AU in 2005, then 2006 had me really worried. 2007 was a recovered fumble from being a nightmare and last year was the most uninspiring 10 win season ever. Richt’s dam is about to break this year though. It’s going to be a rough, rough ride.
Fan up guys, our boys are REALLY going to need our support this year.
Congratulations....
You’ve just legitimized Paul Finebaum.
Behold, this year's College Gameday Sign:
"Joe Cox -- He circumcises ANGELS!"
Defense
The only complaints I have about defense are thus:
The Dez Bryant Score up the middle: He got behind us and there were 3 white shirts over the field not covering anyone. Our coverage in the secondary was poor on that game.
The quick snap score. He had all week/year to prepare UGA for Hurry up offenses. UGA has ran them in the past we should know how to prep for it.
The sky ain't falling just yet
We’re 0-1.
One game folks. 24-10 loss to the #9 team in the nation, and the sky is falling all of a sudden? Now we’re hearing that Mark Richt is past his peak? I didn’t think we played bad. I thought our D was pretty darn good. They laid the freaking wood last night. The O needs improvement, but Joe Cox had flu symptoms and Caleb King was out.
And Oklahoma State’s new D coordinator last year showed GREAT improvement in his first year at Miami. They’re a good team, period. No shame in losing this game. I thought our boys looked good. Joe Cox has next game to prove he should stay the starter, but I’m not ready to throw him under the bus. I thought Orson Charles looked good and I think Branden Smith is gonna end up being a great player.
We’re 0-1 folks. We still got showdowns in the Border Bash in 6 days, we got a top 10 LSU, #1 Florida, a Pac-10 opponent that might be top 25 when they get to town, @ Arkansas, a game against a likely Top 25 Georgia Tech where we want revenge from last year. We still get to stomp Lane Kiffin’s face in (if we can score some points…).
0-1 folks, looooong season to go. If you’re gonna lose, lose in Week 1.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
I don’t understand the value of this gnashing of teeth I’ve seen out of fans regarding coaching mistakes and coaching personnel issues. Unless you’re “dating” a recently retired coach or have a similarly fat checkbook, it just doesn’t matter what you think (and even if you are, it still shouldn’t matter, because we aren’t Auburn, whom I also hate). We want out coaches and players to do well; we hope they do; it feels good when they do; it hurts when they don’t. I guess there are folks who can make a conscious decision to stop being a fan if choices aren’t made to their liking; I don’t understand them. That’s not to say I think there’s anything morally wrong with being that kind of fan: I just don’t understand it. I do think it’s probably not healthy to be an angry fan.
It might turn into a long, disappointing season or things might get identified, worked on, and improve. Like the lady sang in that Hitchcock film, que sera sera. Getting worked up over it is about as useful as getting worked up over the fact that it rained on the day you planned a picnic.
(says the guy who barely touched the Internet for two weeks after last year’s Florida loss)
Welcome back to the dark side
0-3 is not only a very real possibility… I’d say it’s at least a 50/50 shot, if not better.
My prediction had Georgia going 1-2, and this game was the 1.
Let’s hope we can get the offense whipped together soon!
I’ve been reading for several years but just signed up, you do a great job. First of all I don’t think anybody should be on the ledge, this is not a great team, if anybody was expecting it to be its your own fault if you are disappointed, at the end of the day though we lost to a top 10 team on the road and it wasn’t a blowout. One thing I will say is that since you were at the game Kyle you probably couldn’t tell but we really really got shafted a couple of times by the officials once was on that 4th and 2 inside the ten they had, the refs gave them a healthy half a yard on that (old Neyland stadium style) spot and they still only made it by three inches, that was a HUGE blow, they went on to score a TD. Also the helmet to helmet call on Reshad Jones late in the game was complete crap, as the color guy said “if they’re going to call that we might as well have them play two hand touch”, it went from 3rd and long outside lock field goal range to 1st and ten inside the 20 for the pokes, it was nothing short of a game changer. There were some positives in the game, the defense was hitting better than I have seen them do in several years, the tackling was much better and we played well enough to win on that side of the ball. With that said, our defensive coordinator is still a liability and he does not seem to grasp the concept that putting pressure on the quarterback is not optional if you want to beat teams with a potent passing game, I understand that he likes to get pressure with only the front four but if you can’t get the needed pressure with four you’ve got to have a plan B. Finally, I also have no idea why we quit running the ball when we had the lead. I think its about 50/50 whether or not we’ll beat South Carolina, I hope we can get that one and improve and then we’ll see where we can go from there.
by Unfrozen Caveman Dawg on Sep 6, 2009 11:48 AM EDT reply actions
Joe Cox looked lost there and when option #1 wasn’t there he panicked. Also, no reason to go away from the run so early, as you said. It was working and Cox was not.
That said I thought the D did great in this game and played easily well enough to win. Between the 2 turnovers and the punt return they had 3 short fields to work with, and from the first quarter on the offense did them no favors and gave them no help. And you have to give Bryant at least one crazy play like that, I don’t think that is what lost it. The offense sputtering and giving OSU great field position all day and sticking the D in a hole is what lost this one.
Frustration on so many levels...a few questions for my Dawg Brethren
It’s hard to convey this in a post that won’t read like a Tolstoy novel, so here’s the Cliff’s Notes:
Does anyone out there feel that Joe Cox was compromised by his illness? I do. I don’t think he’s that lethargic. My gosh, he moved all day as if he were wearing ankle weights.
Does the coaching staff feel such an obligation, perhaps out of loyalty, to let an ineffective QB to just continue? Do they not trust Logan Gray?
Why did we stop running the ball? I’ll never understand this strategy, or lack there of. Actually, did we have an offensive strategy in this game?
Next week is huge, folks. I’m putting Saturday behind me now.
I was a freshman in 1980. No wonder my GPA never recovered.
Joe Cox may have been an overrated commodity coming out of high school.
At the time he was at Independence High School the vast majority of Charlotte’s high school talent wanted to go there and play for a championship. Thus, he didn’t face a high level competition week in, week out. Moreover, his STARTING TWO WRs were Mo. Mass and Hakeem Nicks (of the NY Giants). How hard is it to put up gaudy numbers when your throwing to two future first day NFL Draft picks?
by charlottedawg on Sep 6, 2009 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Things are Alright
BTW, I’m fairly new to the site. I’ve been going to UGA games since 1980 and graduated from there in the late ’90’s. My good friend Jason Pye turned me on to y’alls page and I’m really glad. You do a wonderful job and like I said on his page, anyone who references the ’82 Clemson game had gotta be the real deal.
A few observations:
I think it’s safe to say that OSU was better than a lot of us gave them credit for and perhaps we weren’t as good as some had hoped (at least not yet)
You gotta be pleased w/ the defense. Without the turnovers and special teams breakdown, we might have won the damn thing w/only 10 points!
Obviously the offense needs some work but I think we can get there.
I think of Dooley’s words of starting w/ a strong opponent being a good thing because you “have no illusions” about your football team. You know what you got and what you don’t and what you have to work w/ and work on.
Finally, this BS the NCAA is trying to do w/ protecting “defenseless” players is absolute CRAP!!! That call when we had them stopped deep in our territory very well cost us the game I thought. He didn’t hit him w/ his helmet and he didn’t hit the receiver on his helmet—what’s the damned penalty??!! They need to nip that stuff in the bud super quick—Is this not football? Is a killer (and legal) hit now punished? Something’s gotta be done about that. And BTW, you’ll notice that an OSU safety did the same thing to us on our next drive and it didn’t get called. Well, they were Big 12 refs…
Oh—one more thing. At least we’re not in the ACC:
Two losses to FCS teams, Maryland gets blasted, Wake loses to a bottom of the pack Big 12 team and VT doesn’t get it done. It could be worse.
Good game Georgia
1st off, I just want to say that I hope Sturdivant is OK, it was sad seeing the kid have to go off the field under those circumstances and knowing that a knee injury has already dampered his career last season. Hoping he is back healthy soon.
Secondly, I know the stats may not show it (from last year) but the Cowboy defense was better than indicated and most of us fans thought that it was just a matter of time before it “gelled” and became what it could be. With Bill Young at the helm, he was the final piece of the puzzle that just made the whole thing fall into place.
The Georgia defense did as good a job as anyone at stopping our offense. That being said, I think our offense wasn’t hittng on all cylinders yesterday and the continuous mistakes (penalties) during crucial times kept us from being as effective as we expect.
I am very pleased to read your impression of our fan base, it’s a point of pride with us. Maybe it’s been the years of travelling to some of the other B12 schools, where jackassery abounds and seems to be endorsed by the majority of fans. (Yes, Texas Tech and ou, I’m talking about you, maybe not exclusively you, but you’re at or near the top.) With the new stadium and new outlook, I am glad to see that our fans have kept their heads on straight and will still try and keep our own “jackasses” in line when they cross it.
Good luck the rest of the year, and not to be completely unbiased here, I do have to say it was nice to return the favor your team paid to us a couple of years back. A win against Georgia is something to brag about as few teams earn it.
“A win against Georgia is something to brag about as few teams earn it.”
I hope that still rings true, but after what I saw yesterday, that might be a thing of the past (at least for this season).
Congrats to OSU for the win and I hope you guys go out and vindicate our loss by proving how good you are. But from this vantage point, both of those teams we saw yesterday belong outside the top 15 (UGA looks like a borderline top 25 team, we would probably compete for the Big East title). Cox had ages to throw the ball and still couldn’t do any good. Needless to say, if you do that against Texas or OU (or Texas Tech or Mizzou for that matter), your defense will get eaten alive and your offense had better perform much better than they did yesterday.
by FisheriesDawg on Sep 6, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks, lawboy87
The loss notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Stillwater and you should be very proud of your program and the people who support it.
Thanks for stopping by. Good luck the rest of the season.
Go 'Dawgs!
Time for a few words from "unc", Kyle!
As you know, we (meaning your auntie and I) usually go on one “road trip” game per year. At first, we thought about Okla State, but, upon “googling” Stillwater, Okla, we decided that the thought of going that far to see the Dawgs lose and have nothing else to do for a few days required us to reevaluate. So, we decided on a return trip to Fayetteville__first, because I thought we had a better chance against the Hogs and , secondly, because it is only a 1 – 1 1/2 hour drive to Branson and the lake country of Missouri. The next time you think about going to an “away” game, call your “unc” for some friendly advice.
RICHT HAS SQUATTED! He knows Cox does not have the arm nor the legs to play quarterback in the SEC, so he is now playing “not to lose.” (I know I posted this during the game, but it is still true.) It’s time to build for the future by playing any and all other QB’s on the roster__particularly Gray and Murray. Oops, forgot Murray is a true freshman, and everyone knows a true freshman can’t play quarterback for a big time team like Southern Cal, for example.
eh.
Never commented here before, but felt the need to do so for the first time. After last year, and now this year, I can say for sure that I am an “angry fan.” Actually, no, I wish I were an angry fan— that was last year. Now I’m just an unsurprised, mildly disappointed fan who is less interested in putting money into the UGA/football machine than I was in the past.
A football team is not a movie, or an album. It isn’t something static, something you can pull out of the media closet in 30 years and it sounds as good as it did when you were seventeen. It is a dynamic, constant-changing program. Being a fan means that you support how that organization allocates its time and money.
My family has spent the equivalent of two undergrad and one (in progress) law degree on the University. When the administration makes a decision that lessens the quality or appearance of my degree, I am disappointed. I will not donate money in the future to an administration that will fund marble stairs while refusing to pay for long distance phone calls….but I digress. As time wears on, I put more and more money into this football junket. I expect the same return. UGA athletics (while no Alabama) spends money like big boys (I know this because the tech firm where I work is constantly getting asked back over to the coaches’ offices to install one more fancy thingamagig). Now naturally I wouldn’t feel this way if we were talking about some backyard game, or a bunch of ten year olds, or even some pitiful school like Western Carolina (family are alums; I can call them pitiful), but frankly, football is a business. And as a shareholder, I don’t like to see them squander talent and resources that are allocated to them. Do I want them to hire some jerk like Saban? Well, no. But I’m tired of seeing them squander talent that they have to use. And I feel like that talent will be less and less available (did anyone else see Green’s post-game interview? He looked shell-shocked. Good for the recruits to see talent crushed like that) the more we play like this.
That was the most juvenile we looked in a long time. Not even the theatrics of the post-blowout UA comeback last year. OSU’s quarterback was literally wolfing down baconators, just hanging out reading the NYT. There was no threat from our D whatsoever. I give Joe Cox one more opportunity, post flu-like-symptoms, to look anything like what we did in the first 10 minutes of the game. If not, let’s cut ties and start developing some of the talent we have on the sidelines, who actually have the time left to become assets to our team. Players like Samuels and Green deserve as much. Our obvious distrust of Cox was palpable— running the ball like hell until it was absolutely impossible not to throw; we were down 2 touchdowns when he started throwing, and it was clear at that point how unprepared he was.
Alls I can say is this— last year was the year of “Fire Willie” and it sounds like this is the year of “Fire Bobo.” If that’s the case, why aren’t we looking to the person who put this program together? Can’t fire your OC/DC if you can’t trust the head coach to make better picks. I’m a UGA fan, so naturally I detest cocky jerks like Saban and Meyer, but football is a business, and I simply cannot watch us squander opportunity, talent, and money any longer.
The sky might not be falling, but the ceiling is getting closer
UgaMatt hit on one particular subject I had posted earlier on David Hale’s blog. Highlighting mostly that the coaching has become a concern at Georgia. Our offense continues to struggle. Why? Do we not have the athletes? I think we do and if we don’t why are we recruiting them? I dare to blame, again, – being young and inexperienced. We may not have a senior laden team but we do have an experienced team. Posted from David’s blog. Here’s how I see it.
We have had no consistency in our offense. We seem to play with no confidence, always relying on one or two people. I understand trying to get the ball in the hands of your playmakers, but in this league ALL your receivers and running backs should be playmakers. Is that not why we recruited them? Coaching makes a difference. Florida plays with confidence, Alabama is now playing with confidence, it’s that quite confidence that tells you when you walk on the field that you are superior to your opponent and they know you are. That confidence comes from the coaching staff. Call Meyer and Saben cocky, arrogant, whatever, but they give off a confident aurora to their players and those players play with that confidence.
One game you say, we played this same team two years ago, and won, has their talent become superior, I think not. I haven’t seen OSU in the top ten recruiting for the past five years. I’m realistic, I know we are going to play better teams and we’ll lose some games but we seem to be giving the coaches a pass and accepting this complacency. I think CMR is an excellent man but his coaching, along with his coordinators, has become mediocre, stagnant and predictable.
Almost a coach Jon Fabris
I can’t believe anyone is letting this numb skull off the hook. He has lost the plot once again.
He is deciding on the day of the game which kicker will do kick offs! Great way to burn out a kids leg don’t you think?
Directional kicks…please don’t let him bring these back MR! Use your brain NO ONE does those type of kicks. AND obviously from this weekends multiple games I watched MOST kickoff are to the ez. In it or close to it.
Put this has been on the bench CMR ! Find your nuts and make a decision for the sake of our team.
This year FIELD Goals will make us or break us since Cox can’t get us into the EZ.
Please please please get a brain.
What about 2007?
I think a lot of the anger today is a carryover from last year’s disappointing season.
Let this season play out before we start the doom and gloom. Right now we are still in position to win the SEC. Will we? Doubtful, but crazier things have happened. Oklahoma State could win the National Championship and UGA could win out.
Remember 2007, that wasn’t THAT long ago when we were blacking out Auburn and Hawaii in a BCS win. I think we all thought last year was our year, and it wasn’t. It didn’t work out. We’ll get there.
I'll say right now, if THIS UGA team wins out
it WILL be the craziest thing ever to have happened. The problem is, yeah, carryover from last year, but what gives you hope from that performance? I used to take pride—a couple of years ago—that even when we lost we lost CLOSE. About the only game we were not in at the end between 2002-2006 was the 2004 SEC championship game against LSU. When behind by two scores we rallied like hell and made it competitive. Remember the Sugar Bowl against West Virginia? Unprepared, shell-socked, and then we kicked their tails around the field for the better part of 2 1/2 quarters to come within a fake punt of winning it.
Then came 2006. OK, we have QB issues, I get that. But then we don’t show up in ’07 for that Tennessee game. And then last year.
What gives? This sort of downturn is what makes me afraid the program is slipping or already has. When you used to NEVER lose by more than score, and now being out of it at the end is commonplace—yes, three times in 10 games, seven times in 30 or whatever it is, is commonplace!—that concerns me. I can handle losing to Auburn 31-30. I can’t handle losing 51-33, 49-10, 41-30, 24-10 and the like, and I don’t get what the program is doing about it.
Truth
Too early to become quite so dour. With how we looked yesterday 7-5 is pretty possible, but give me one of those 7 as a win against UF, and hell, I may be okay with this season.
by knowshon loves legos on Sep 6, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions
When was the last time we only scored 10 points?
I hope we circle the wagons and correct our issues that I saw yesterday—listless, uninspired offense and atrocious special teams, etc.—but if this is going to be what I strongly suspect—a rebuilding, not reloading year, then I think we need to put our best efforts towards that front. If that means throwing Aaron Murray in their, or you know, actually getting Marlon Brown in the game (what was up with that?), then so be it.
Some times, it looked like we were at a practice yesterday with the way we were running plays; as if we weren’t following some plan but were instead trying things out to see how it looked. I tell you what, if we could only muster 10 points yesterday we better be prepared for some more bad against Carolina. Their defense was sick on Thursday night, and though their offensive ineptitude was on par with ours their defense at least caused turnovers. I’m thinking 14 as an over is too high for that game.
UGABulldog14's glass
is half-full. It won’t be at the end of September.
Possibly
Or maybe talk to me in a week after the Carolina game….I might not be a happy camper if we lose that one.
Once again, as I stated MANY times prior to yesterday,
Joe Cox AIN’T no D.J. Schockly, so enough of these “he’s waited his turn” excuses.
Richt needs to change...
The secret to sucessful organizations is the ability to change routinely to move forward. Unfortunately, Mark Richt has remained stagnant while the other programs have changed. Richt is a wonderful man with respectable values, yet he seems to lack the heart to do what is necessary to succeed. He has lacked the fortitude to think outside the box. He has tried to force his way of operating upon personel who are incapable of performing up to that standard. The offense he and Bobo are running requires a big arm, yet Cox lacks that big arm. If Cox is the man, he needs an offense he can succeed in. Great coaches put players in situations that allow them to succeed. Perfect example is Saban and Alabama last year. Wilson was put into a system that allowed him to succeed. Alabama lived by the run behind a big o-line. Wilson was required to manage the game and wait for the one homerun that presented itself in the course of the game. If Richt insist on status quo, he needs to let one of the young big arms play (Stafford 06). The defense looked much better, played with passion. Hopefully Richt will reevaluate his options before South Carolina rolls in, proving the kind of coach we all thought he was in 2003-05.
How do you explain
The celebration? The AU black out? I get that Richt is a vanilla man who may seem like he’s standing still…. but he’s not. He gets it. Those things may have been gimmicky, but he realized that SOMETHING had to change. He tried something new, something bold, something ‘not Richt-like’. Maybe the 2008 UA game scared him. Made him realize gimmicks won’t always work. But if he still has that thought process, that little voice telling him that something isn’t right and something needs to change/be different, then there is still a chance to see great change in this team. Let some games play out before jumping to the conclusion that he’ll never be different. He’s shown flashes of it. I’d say after LSU you could make a real good decision about what Richt is going to do about his team.
by knowshon loves legos on Sep 6, 2009 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Come on, people
Just calm down. I honestly cannot believe that after one game I’m reading posts from people (that are not trolls) about the “decline of the program” and insinuating that CMR has “lost his touch.”
Our defense was excellent this game, and the offense and one kickoff coverage lost the game for us. The freakin’ sky isn’t falling, the freakin’ ceiling isn’t “getting closer”… we just lost a freakin’ game against a team that was better on that day.
In 8 years under CMR, Georgia has gone 82-22. During that time, we’ve achieved 6 10-win seasons, 2 SEC Championships, 5 Top-10 finishes, and at least once got legitimately screwed out of the BCS National Championship Game.
And because we had a poor start in 2007 and an incredible number of injuries and lost the plot on defense in 2008, all of a sudden “the program is in decline?”
Just stop… stop before you embarrass yourself and write something that will make you look back in a few years and blush because you wrote something that stupid and short-sighted.
Mark Richt has done and is doing a spectacular job, and the Georgia program is on the right track, and has been since 2001. Anyone who thinks otherwise is, quite simply, dead wrong. We could go 7-5 this year and that would still be the case.
Amen brother!
Well said and much needed! Folks need to calm down.
To Hell with Tech (and Florida and Tennessee....and Tim Tebow)
by Marshmanslim on Sep 7, 2009 12:51 AM EDT up reply actions
People saying the program is in decline need to look at the comments
From the 2007 Tennessee Game thread.
Not saying we’ll turn it around like we did that year but to think that we’ll look the same in Week 2,7, or 12 as we did on Saturday is not only wrong-headed but without basis in the Richt era. We may not win out but this team will improve vastly.
Behold, this year's College Gameday Sign:
"Joe Cox -- He circumcises ANGELS!"
by RedCrake on Sep 7, 2009 2:25 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
For the record....
If we go 0-3 to start the season, I’ll eat my hat….Literally.
I’ll post pictures and everything.
Such is the belief I have in CMR getting this ship righted in the next 2 weeks.
Behold, this year's College Gameday Sign:
"Joe Cox -- He circumcises ANGELS!"
Still in Stillwater
Agree totally with the sentiments about our offense. If the flu is truly the culprit, we will know this weekend. If not, sit Joe NOW. Play a QB who can help us win and one we can develop. A small point of contention: I watched CMR on his weekly show and his answers to our offensive issues were weak. He said that Logan did not play more because the packages he had for him were for the red zone and we weren’t in there enough! HELLO! I think you helped your critics rather than silencing them coach. Play Joe some against SC but get Logan in there. Please.
Our program & their fans
There are things that concerned me Saturday which really have already been pointed out. I do not believe that one bad game necessarily means our program is in decline. In every game, we have at least a 50% chance of winning – regardless of the outcome of any prior games, however you want to slice them. (If you flip a coin 99 times and all 99 times it comes up heads, what’s the probability that it will come up heads on the 100th flip? still 50/50.)
But since this is football and not coin flipping, there are a couple of fundamental things we should have done better before last Saturday and if we don’t do better now, we’re in big trouble for SEC play. I was a bit concerned that several of our players received IV fluids at half time. Do we not practice & play is much hotter temperatures on a regular basis? Did we fail to properly hydrate in the days leading up to the game? Seems like a simple thing we should have gotten right.
Catching the ball – no excuse for the number of dropped balls we saw Saturday, none. It’s not like I was on the field trying to catch the ball (I can’t catch to save my life, that’s why I went to accounting school and not the NFL) – these are athletes who do this nearly every day, guys – just catch the ball k? It’s fundamental and we saw it both in our receivers not catching the ball & our defense missing opportunities for interceptions. Watching the ball go right through their hands was painful.
OSU fans Kyle – I couldn’t have been more than 4 people away from you all game (I think I was the only girl not obviously with the band, her husband, father or boyfriend – I brought my son and I am by far the bigger football fan.) I remember the discussion about the “Go cocks” comment. Unfortunately, on the walk back to the car, my son & I either found the same jerk, or the other jerk OSU fan – who hollered as he hung out of the SUV window – “get the $%^& outta my town.” You can probably imagine how well that went over with my son. As I told him at the time, the problem the jerk had, is that OSU so rarely wins a game, he simply did not know how to behave in that situation. By & large OSU fans have historically been well mannered and well behaved despite the fact that I make no bones about my UGA loyalties while living amongst them in Oklahoma for the last 10 yrs. They are usually just happy I’m not an OU or Texas fan.
All that said, I was thrilled just to be able to see my beloved Dawgs play in person as I am every time they make a rare appearance out here. Hopefully, I’ll see y’all in Fayetteville. Til then, GO DAWGS!!!!!!
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