Initial Impressions: Georgia Bulldogs Fall to South Carolina Gamecocks
by T Kyle King on Sep 11, 2010 3:16 PM EDT
in Football
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Print(Author’s Note: Because circumstances prohibit me from updating the Mark Richt Victory Watch, I offer instead initial impressions from today’s game, offered by a guy who hasn’t checked the game day open comment thread since before kickoff.)
Since C&F expressed concern that we might try to use it as an excuse, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way from the beginning: A.J. Green’s absence did not cost the Georgia Bulldogs this game. The South Carolina Gamecocks were without Weslye Saunders, whose career against the Red and Black suggests that the missing receivers were offsetting losses.
What happened in Columbia this afternoon was that two tough, evenly-matched teams played a clean, well-officiated game, and the better team won. What we saw largely was what we expected to see. We knew Stephen Garcia had matured, but we didn’t know how much. We knew Marcus Lattimore was the real deal, but we didn’t appreciate to what extent. We knew to expect a defensive struggle, and we largely got one. We knew there were questions about the Bulldogs’ defense up the middle, and we saw that there remains work to do in that department.
The only meaningful surprise was with respect to South Carolina’s supposedly suspect offensive line, which acquitted itself much better than expected (particularly in the first half). While I would love to blame the Bulldogs, I believe it was more a case of the Gamecocks playing well than the Athenians playing particularly poorly.
Yes, the ‘Dawgs still have work to do on their tackling, but Lattimore is a quality back and the defense was on the field for quite a while. Yes, Aaron Murray is a redshirt freshman quarterback, but his potential is obvious and his development is encouraging. It was disturbing that Georgia squandered all three of its time outs early in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs are moving forward, if only incrementally, in such areas as turnovers and penalties.
Ultimately, the lesson of this game is that both teams are who we thought they were, and that the Red and Black are not as far along as we had hoped they were. The future is bright with Aaron Murray at quarterback and Todd Grantham at defensive coordinator. It just so happens that the future is not now.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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Bad tackling
and poor playcalling at opportune times cost you that game today.
The defense did not give full effort, that would disappoint me more than anything if I was a UGA fan. Bad angles and no effort lead to bad tackling. Lattimore is a good hard runner but he should not have had 37 carries and 182 yards on you, maybe not even half that.
You paid too much attention to the ESPN halftime report.
The defense was out on the field for a lot of snaps in a hot location on a sunny day in September in the South. They were gassed toward the end, yet they still kept Lattimore out of the end zone at the end. The players are still adjusting to a new scheme, which accounts for some of the bad angles, but lack of effort is ESPN halftime show crap.
Go 'Dawgs!
haha
you pussycats will learn otherwise come november
by Gamecockrock on Sep 11, 2010 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions
You are on crack. Our defense played great.
We held the “vaunted” Spurrier Gamecock offense, which was supposed to be peaking this year with a senior QB and a top notch RB, to 17 pts. And that was with all our three and outs giving you the ball back – on a short field all 2nd half.
Our defense played great.
Our offensive line cannot run block.
Our offense sucks.
Our O-coordinator is horrible.
It's not "you," it's "them"; DrB is a Clemson fan. (For him, this was a meteor game.)
I don’t get the disdain for Mike Bobo. Other than the wildcat, what did he do that he shouldn’t have done? What didn’t he do that he should have done? I thought he brought Murray along well, given the givens.
Go 'Dawgs!
My biggest beef with Bobo...
… is that he makes the most head-scratchingest play calls sometimes… and I’m not really speaking about just this game, but in general.
He seems to be committed to calling an equal number of pass and run plays, even when a situation clearly calls for more running or more passing. That’s one of the reasons the Tech game last year was so remarkable… it was virtually the first time in his entire career as OC when he just said, “Ok, damn the offensive balance, let’s just run the freakin’ ball.”
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions
The hand-off out of shotgun with about 1:20 left in the half on 2nd and 7 around our 40 was a horrific, mind-boggling play call. I am still trying to figure that one out.
It seems like Bobo is just picking ’em out of a hat at times.
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Thats what I was commenting on
Bobo was too committed to balance when the front they show dictates the opposite call.
I was encouraged by Murray's performance.
No INT’s, only took one bad sack before the final play of the game.
And on defense, we saw a few issues transitioning to the new scheme and remnants of Willie’s arm-tackling coaching rearing its ugly head… it’ll just take time to fix that.
Overall, I agree… I saw what I expected to see.
Good job, South Carolina. If you’re ever going to have a special year, this could be it.
Murray also
Made some really good judgment calls in just throwing the ball away, something I believe Garcia still lacks.
That game was won on the legs of Marcus Lattimore, not Stephen Garcia.
Good point.
Clearly, Murray is going to work out well for us in the long term. It’s just tough to go into Columbia to face a South Carolina defense and win.
He didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but neither did Quincy Carter, David Greene, or Matthew Stafford in their freshman outings against the Gamecocks. Unlike those three, though, he didn’t throw a pick.
Go 'Dawgs!
no td
Murray didn’t throw a td cause the ball was taken out of his hands in the redzone on every play except the qb draw he did Coach Bobo ran the ball for 6 plays inside the 10 yard line when Murray was showing time and time again he was capable.
by Ray Leon Roberson on Sep 12, 2010 5:06 AM EDT up reply actions
Was impressed by Murray as well
nice to see his composure in a hostile environment. If this is what we can expect out of him in road venues in the future, color me significantly optimistic about his potential. Was especially pleased to see how well he took care of the ball. Even later in the 4th when things were getting a bit more desperate, he was still making the right calls to throw balls away when no one was open.
The play-calling on offense was again suspect, but most of all, it was Ealey’s fumble that caused most everything to just fall apart. That was the turning point of the game.
I thought the defense was just gassed during the end of the game. If anything, it’s not the tackling so much as it continues to be blown coverages on play-actions and passing plays (Rambo, I’m looking at you).
This isn’t an unexpected loss, however, and it wasn’t so terrible that we can’t recover from it.
Well said, CAJason80.
Based upon what we’ve seen from Auburn, Florida, Georgia Tech, and South Carolina so far this year, it is no stretch to say the Gamecocks may be the toughest team we face all year. As the defense comes together and Murray develops, we’ll improve, while the competition may not. I’m more encouraged than discouraged by today’s game.
Go 'Dawgs!
i
agree we do have the ability to run the table from here on out
by Ray Leon Roberson on Sep 12, 2010 5:08 AM EDT up reply actions
Don't Pound on Rambo too much...
He’s the best tackler we have in the defensive backfield. He’s pretty much the only one I saw today stuff and take Lattimore down by himself. And a HOUSTON plug…another sack for him. What is that, 12 in 13 starts?
Outside of that CAJason, you’re spot on. I have never…NEVER, like Bobo as a play caller, not because he’s incompetent, but inconsistent. I’ve never seen a team (looking back, I can say UGA teamS) that can look so anemic offensively against a good defense, and explosive and lethal the next against a better defense. Mindblowing and frustrating…
by Inteljumper on Sep 11, 2010 11:44 PM EDT up reply actions
i believe
Houston had 3 sacks and Lattimore is just a beast he was just dragging our d-lineman for anywhere from 2-5 yard every time they hit him
by Ray Leon Roberson on Sep 12, 2010 5:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Still a Bobo fan?
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Other than the two uses of the wildcat, I see no reason not to be.
He stayed committed to the run as long as it was possible to do so and put Aaron Murray in a position to succeed.
Also, he has a goatee, which you have to love.
Go 'Dawgs!
Not me.
Bobo sucks.
I have been saying for 2 years that Bobo is not a good enough O-coordinator for a national title caliber team.
It would be fine if we had a head coach who was an offensive genius/de-facto O-coordinator (like Urban Meyer). But we don’t have that.
We have such uninspired, unoriginal play calling that it is just boring as hell to watch and incredibly predictable. The only time I have hope for our offense is when our QB is audible-ing.
Sorry
Cut that short, do you not remember Richt when he first came out of FSU?
Besides I bet that there are a lot of Florida fans that are saying the same thing about their offensive coordinator.
Yes, I do remember Richt out of FSU. Lets not forget FSU had an awesome offense when he was O-coordinator.
Lets also not forget that when Richt was 0-coordinator, we had a PERFECT RECORD in games where we held the other team under 20 pts. PERFECT.
Now we are 63-7 when we hold the other team to under 20.
Since Richt gave up O-coordinator, we’ve lost 7 of those games.
Florida's OC
Is terrible and has been in over his head since he took over. You could see the deterioration of our offence when Mullen left for MSU and Addazio took over. Talk about some had scratching plays? How about a 5 yard pass on 3rd and 7? How about staying in the shotgun despite 12 bad snaps in a single game?
We finally ran the power I today (first time in the Meyer era) and it worked every single time. I’ll bet Addazio goes back to the shotgun again next week.
Also, I wish that that radical church would burn that page of the playbook containing the option play shovel pass to the TE. We run that play at least 6 times a game and it never works anymore. Addazio remembers that it worked in 2008 so he keeps running it.
Spurrier is no longer an offensive master – becaues he doesn’t have the talent at USC To run his offense. He finally realizes that USC is a strong defensive team and is willing to use power football to win games instead of throwing it all over the field.
Jim Donnan did the same thing with that dadgum bubble screen . . .
. . . that never worked after Champ Bailey left.
Go 'Dawgs!
Defense wins championships.
Steve Spurrier wasn’t a good enough offensive coordinator for a national title-caliber team until he got Bob Stoops. Anyone who’s relying upon offense to win games, much less titles, is setting himself up for disappointment.
Go 'Dawgs!
i am relying on about 75% less 3 and outs that dont continually put our D behind the 8 ball week after week
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
How many defenses are we going to see that are as good as South Carolina's?
Last year’s game gave some folks short memories. We always play this kind of game against the Gamecocks, and we almost always have. It happens. Judging a Georgia offense by the South Carolina game is like judging Willie Martinez’s defense by last year’s Tennessee Tech game. It’s not a representative sample.
Go 'Dawgs!
Uhhhhhhh
Southern Miss scored 13 pts.
We scored 6.
Sorry, our offense played like shit, and Bobo is horrible.
That suggests to me that South Carolina has a pretty good defense.
Let’s see if we score more than six against Arkansas next week before hanging Mike Bobo in effigy, shall we?
Go 'Dawgs!
NO MIKE BOBO MUST DIE OMG FIRE RICHT
Obviously, we’re going 1-11 this year.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I hated Bobo three years running, so I feel I am not on a bandwagon
In fact, I wanted Bobo gone before Willie at one point. Until our offense can consistently stay on the field it becomes extremely difficult to evaluate our D. ANd our D, for all the horrible tackling, did fine today. THey were in good position. CTG was ready for the plays and made good adjustments.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
compromise?
I don’t want him gone or anything, but can we make him run the stadium, as decided in the game thread?
Southern Miss would have only had six too...
if it weren’t for a touchdown in garbage time.
Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina
by The Feathered Warrior on Sep 11, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Kyle, we didnt score a TD. That wasnt anything to do with the D. ANd our D stopped thm the second half.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Once again, tankertoad, last year's game gave you a short memory.
We never score offensive touchdowns in Columbia, and our offenses generally turn out to be fine. Even last year’s season-long debacle was due to execution, not play calling.
What happened to your onetime affinity for good old-fashioned hard-nosed rock-ribbed Georgia football? :)
Go 'Dawgs!
I am talking about last year. I am talking about today. Today - we did not move the chains. We did not score a TD.
that will not win games. I completely remember the debacle last year as well as other close games and I am very proud of us keeping them from lighting us up. but that doesnt forgive the complete lack of creativity. I would be happy if we won 17-6. Thats a good win as you allude to with my affinity for game control. But if you are on the receiving end of it, you got controlled.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
The current, hip term is...
OWNED! We got owned offensively today. However, I encouraging sign…the rollout/bootleg by Murray. After last week, I was afraid CMR and Bobohead were going to shoestring him. Now, they need to do that more…and design some plays around his unique athleticism!
by Inteljumper on Sep 11, 2010 11:52 PM EDT up reply actions
To be fair here, we had a great opportunity to put it in the end zone but a false start and a fumble by one of our best players ruined it. That’s not on Bobo.
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions
and that has been happening for 3 years. TOs and Penalities hurting us for 3 years.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
We were even in turnover margin, . . .
. . . and we had fewer penalties than the opposition. The defense, in particular, is getting much better at avoiding flags.
Although our one fumble occurred at the most inopportune time, so did theirs, so the errors offset one another. Today’s result is disappointing, but we’re getting much better in those areas.
Go 'Dawgs!
I agree. It was the untimeliness again that hit me so hard. Worst times for penalites (third down or red zone).
And Although penalities may have been a push, I think USC made up for it in the later part of the game.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
House Mother here
Love you both boys, now kiss and make up, it breaks my heart to see you disagree.
/end house mother
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
lol
is there something wrong with him? Like perhaps he needs Derek Dooley to teach him some things?
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
it wasnt so much the false start
as much as it was the play calling afterward
and please tell me why we call the same play back to back i mean if you get the snap off and the whistle the play dead theyve already seen what your going to do so dont do it again
by Ray Leon Roberson on Sep 12, 2010 5:20 AM EDT up reply actions
I disagree on the Stoops thing
Spurrier and Florida were plenty good enough to win a national title in 1995 (while Stoops was at KSU), but just happened to run into what I believe is the best team in NCAA history in the ’95 Huskers.
The point is that great offense with suspect defense always comes up short . . .
. . . in the national championship game. The 1995 Gators are but one example of that.
Also, evidence that the ‘95 Gators weren’t good enough to win it is that they didn’t win it, and didn’t come close. They got blown out in the bowl game.
Go 'Dawgs!
no arguing that
but I can argue that the ‘95 team was surely good enough to beat at least half the national champion teams of that decade. They just happened to run into that particular Nebraska team. Even with Stoops and a much beter defense, they stlll don’t come close that year in my opinion.
he committed to boring, uncreative, repetive runs. He still called big passes on first down. He still under utilized the TEs and FBs. He tried pass plays down the middle against a 3 man rush. He waited to call the draw, then called it at an obvious
time with a short field. He didnt get the ball around the corners enough. It looked exactly like last year,but luckily Murray is already smarter than Cox and put it in the stands a few times.
Boring, uncreative, bad timing, lack of working the game, the field, lack of predicting and out witting the defense.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
You know who else's offenses were boring and uncreative?
Vince Dooley’s. Tom Osborne’s, too. How’d those guys work out for their schools?
Go 'Dawgs!
And do you think those guys, running those offenses in the modern era, would win? Hell no. They’d get their asses beat.
Bama's offense last year wasn't exactly new fangled
"I want anything wearing red and black to tear the head off anything that isn't." - Lewis Grizzard
You can’t deny that the entire sport has evolved MASSIVELY in those years.
Spread offenses. The 3-4 defenses. Etc.
You think the 3-4 defense was invented after 1997?
You do realize Marion Campbell was running the 3-4 in Athens in 1994, and that it was not new then, right?
The sport is cyclical. Single wing. Wing T. Triple option. The whole world works in circles, and everything tries to be round.
Go 'Dawgs!
Don't try to be rational and reasonable.
Most of the people posting right now are irrational and upset, and want to stay that way.
Don’t muddy the situation with facts.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions
You're right, and I don't mean to be mean . . .
. . . to tankertoad and Muckbeast, who are regular commenters and valued members of the community.
I just think this proves that things are never as good as they seem (last week) or as bad as they seem (this week). We’ll be fine. I’m as encouraged as I’ve been after a loss in a while.
South Carolina is a good team. We may not play a better team all year. Give the Gamecocks their due, and keep getting better.
Go 'Dawgs!
Oddly enough, I completely agree.
I’m as encouraged as I’ve been after a loss in a while.
I hate losing, and I especially hate losing when I have to admit that the other team was, in fact, the better team. With that said, I feel about as good as it’s possible for me to feel when I have to admit that South Carolina was just a better team than we were on this day.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I wouldn't go that far.
I understand it’s an emotional time because we just lost, but this statement is just incorrect.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions
he also only won his NC with Erk and Hershell as you like to point out )
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
My point precisely.
Good defense, good special teams, and a good running game still win championships.
Go 'Dawgs!
and Lindsey Scott, and Herschell, and some type of offense.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Yes.
Specifically, a type of offense in which our starting quarterback completed one pass in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame, and that while trying to run out the clock in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. :)
Go 'Dawgs!
an offense that had an amazing run game )
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Right.
A boring, predictable, unimaginative, traditional running game.
You’re doing a great job of making my point for me, my friend. :)
Go 'Dawgs!
my point is we had an offense that was on the field, controlled the field and clock, and today we didnt, at all
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
and that running game had blocking, and it worked and today it didnt.
It worked in 80, it didnt work today. Time to get out of the box.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
+1
This, however, I totally agree with.
The wildcat thing that we do also needs to be done away with. We clearly don’t do it well, and everyone knows where we’re going when we run it, so please scrap the damn thing.
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions
We still have the Falcons to play tomorrow
Here’s hope that the Falcons win
by thefirstgenesis on Sep 11, 2010 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
"Bad day for the state" is one way of putting it.
“At least we don’t have to listen to the dadgum Tech fans brag” is a better way of putting it.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 11, 2010 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Of course....
They’ll probably still brag. Most of them aren’t exactly in touch with reality
"I want anything wearing red and black to tear the head off anything that isn't." - Lewis Grizzard
My take....
The O-line flat out SUCKS! They are pathetic and are offensive to watch. For a line with that was supposed to be the best in the conference if not the country they played like warmed over dog-sh*t. Stacy Searles needs to get this crap fixed and fixed THIS WEEK. The playcalling was predictable, I wish they had turned Murray loose earlier.
Our D didn’t play that bad, but they arm tackling was maddening to watch and we are soft up the middle. That is where our D is vulnerable and you can bet that is where we are going to be attacked in the future.
Credit to South Carolina, they are a good team and who know Cock fans this may finally be THE year.
I don't think the O-line sucks.
Our pass blocking again this week was generally exceptional. Every time that Murray was in trouble, it was because he couldn’t get rid of the ball within a few seconds due to covered receivers or, you know, being a freshman on the road in the SEC.
Our run blocking was again suspect, which is not helped by the fact that our O-line basically wasn’t able to practice together as a unit the entire offseason due to injuries. Hopefully, once the line gets more chemistry as a unit, the run blocking will improve. As of now, though, that’s the only part that I think is poor.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions
our pass blocking was good when SCAR dropped back. its easy to block 5 on 3.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Our pass blocking was very good all game...
… not just when USC was in a prevent in the 4th quarter.
Murray had about 5 solid seconds to chuck the ball on every single pass play.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t know about the chemistry thing, man. This just sounds like a weak excuse to me.
These guys are all upperclassmen with multiple starts under their belt… I mean this is essentially the same unit that we played with last year. And they were mediocre to bad at run blocking last year as well (up until the last few games of the year against crap defenses…)
They do pass block pretty well, but the line is and has been overhyped. The run blocking has to improve dramatically if we’re going to get anywhere.
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
These stats gives us a pretty good idea of what our O-line is all about. They do a fine job in pass protection but are decidedly mediocre at run blocking.
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
You make some good points, get swoll yunel, . . .
. . . both in this comment, and in your 4:13 comment above. I think the better term than “chemistry” would be “familiarity.” Injuries prevented all five linemen from practicing together before, and they’ll have the opportunity to play together now. That offers some hope.
Go 'Dawgs!
Look. The Offensive Line doesn't suck. Don't ever talk about the word "suck" in that manner.
The O-Line is atrocious. There is absolutely no excuse for a veteran OL to be completely and utterly incapable of creating anything remotely resembling room to run up the middle. Our offense is ineffective SOLELY because we can’t run the ball. You can argue against that until your blue in the face, but we weren’t running the ball against that team. Everyone knew that. I knew that. You knew that. And USC knew that. The only one that didn’t get it is Bobo. But I really don’t expect him to get it.
We will lose 6 games this year. Accept it now or you will be let down as the year progresses.
That was optimistic VDawg, btw. It's funny. I have been down on this team and rightfully so for the last
3 years. And it’s always: look at the bright side, wait until next year, a new coach will solve the problem, etc. I’m not going to say it. I’ve had enough ridiculing. But deep down inside, you all know what’s ultimately going to have to happen for this team to compete again…
They loaded up the box.
We had a freshman quarterback making his first start on the road against a real team without our best receiver. Other defensive fronts won’t be as good, and A.J. Green will be back in another couple of games.
We’re not losing six games this year. We’re losing four. :)
Go 'Dawgs!
from VD:
1) First down, long bomb. Second down, toss sweep. Third down, play action pass. SAVE US DREW BUTLER.
2) First down, draw up the middle. Second down, draw up the middle. Third and long, incomplete pass. SAVE US DREW BUTLER.
I concur.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Yup. That was our offense.
Unfortunately, the insane suckitude of Willie and Fabris hid the fact that Bobo was just as bad.
Bobo’s stats benefited from the fact that we got in so many track meets do to how bad our defense was.
Has our offense EVER been feared as long as Bobo has been O-coordinator? No.
After 5 years, if you can’t put together a single season where your offense is feared, you gotta go.
I'm at work now and have had a few moments to decompress
South Carolina played well at home. They had one turnover and some penalties which should have killed some first quarter drives (the first one, in particular). I think Bobo played too conservatively in the first half, but when he let Murray drop back, good things happened.
Our tackling in the first half really concerned me. Grantham made some half-time adjustments. However, after Ealey’s fumble (which I think would have changed the complexion of the game if he had scored a TD), the offense became deflated.
Congrats to South Carolina. They deserved to win this game.
Aaron Murray is going to be a good one.
Kris Durham is an important piece of the puzzle.
Marlon Brown had some nice catches, but sorta disappeared late.
The offensive line will improve.
But I gotta say I am really upset about clock management again. Turns out, we didn’t need those time outs….but burniing all three within 8 minutes of a half is unacceptable.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
So the offensive line won't improve?
"I want anything wearing red and black to tear the head off anything that isn't." - Lewis Grizzard
They'll improve
maybe by next week. Give Sakerlina some credit. They jammed the middle. We had the edge, but didn’t pursue it enough IMO.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Well said, DavetheDawg.
In fact, I’m going to post this comment and sign off for a while.
Anyone who is in doubt needs to read DavetheDawg’s comment, and chill.
Go 'Dawgs!
+1
Pretty much what I feel like. Kudos to Sakerlina, they deserved it. I saw enough from this game to remain optimistic with our players, and even our defense, given the adjustments made in the second half. We’ll recover from this.
I’ll reserve judgment on the offense (as I always do) until well after the South Carolina game, because this game is almost never an accurate barometer of the effectiveness of our offense over the course of the year.
Precisely.
For instance, the fact that we only scored ten points against South Carolina in 1980 in no way indicated that we weren’t a good team that year.
Go 'Dawgs!
Another thing...
I guess Drew Butler must have had trenchfoot or something today. Very odd.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
sometimes we get spoiled. If it continues, I would be concerned, but I am sure he will kick 500 pts this week in practice and tweak it.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
my rational and calm thought:
When your offense can not run, and can not score a TD, it doesn’t matter if the D sucks or the ST sucks or the opponent is great. Any offense anywhere has to be able to move the ball, and score a TD or they will lose to everyone significant. Whatever the reasons (blocking, play calling, running, fumbling), we have to do better on Offense. USC scored 3 pts in the second half. 3 points. 3 points. UGA didnt score at all.
That is not a statement of a great opponent D, or a bad UGA D, that is a statement of a very poorly performing UGA offense.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
James Madison is about to upset Va. Tech
I guess Boise State ain’t too pleased about that one.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
13th ranked Va. Tech
Here is your App. State metaphor… not N. Dakota State beating a crappy Kansas team that not even Ga. Tech could beat. (or Jax State beating an Ole Miss team that was picked to finish 6th in the West.)
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions
ACC ACC ACC
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Anything to cause the BCS computer to 'splode is a good thing.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Until we are playing dominant defensive football
we are going to lose some games.
A dominant defense will bail out offenses that are having trouble.
A dominant defense creates turnovers and puts those struggling offenses in short-field situations where they can score.
This will not happen overnight. We’ve got some players, but perhaps not the right mix just now to optimize the 3-4.
I think we’ll see steady improvement on defense, with some lapses at times…but I do agree with Kyle. South Carolina’s defense is well-coached and have the kind of long-armed dudes that can affect a game like this. We still had our chances and did not execute…it’s that simple (and those chances were precious few, but they could have changed the game).
It’s game #2 under a new philosophy and regime. We failed. Think of it as a teaching moment.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
IMOP
Saw no heart or intensity.Alot of the defense seemed unsure.Team unity means more than jumping off the high dive.
I agree that they seemed unsure.
In their defense, it was only their second game under a new scheme. They’re entitled to be unsure.
Go 'Dawgs!
I’m sick of 5 years of “teaching moments.”
5 years of lackluster, uninspired offense that nobody is afraid of.
I thought the same thing - i am sick of "rebuilding years" we have had 3 years of rebuilding, when do we get "built"
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
2008 wasn't a rebuilding year.
It was a disappointing year.
2010 is a rebuilding year because we have a freshman quarterback and a new defensive coordinator.
When do we get built? Sometime around the halfway point of 2010, heading into 2011.
Go 'Dawgs!
The freshman quarterback and the new defense weren’t the problem though.
What happened to our dominant OL full of experienced players?
What happened to our great running game?
What happened to an offense full of weapons?
Bobo has to Gogo.
Your first question is a valid one.
The answer to your second question is that South Carolina stacked the box.
The answer to your third question is that A.J. Green was suspended.
When A.J. Green is back and Aaron Murray matures, the offense full of weapons will return, which will open up the running game, particularly against weaker defenses than South Carolina’s (read: every defense we will face for the rest of the season).
Go 'Dawgs!
Driving back from the game now and typing on phone
Initial thoughts:
1) That play is called a zone read, tg. They run it in college. Learn to defend it.
2) Hard to win games when your defense is utterly incapable if getting off the field on 3rd down and you fumble inside the opponents 10.
3) I will never attend another game in Columbia. After game I had a beverage dumped on my head, at least 10 young men jump in mine and my sisters faces screaming “F**k the Dawgs”, one old man wave bye to me telling me “you better get used to this”, and one man that I said “good game” to as we made eye contact to which he replied by shoving his hat in my face and yelling for me o respect it. It was at that time that I reminded him if which orifice he most represented. I’ve been to every SEC stadium outside Gainesville and have never been treated like that, win or loss. I now consider gamecock fans to be the worst in the conference and I will gladly rooting for any team that plays them. Those fans today should be ashamed of themselves for the way they acted. The team played a great game and they deserve the win. Their fans, however, are clearly not used to this winning thing and acted accordingly. Enjoy your Bama and Florida beatdowns during your annual October swoon, gamecock fans. You earned them by showing your asses today on what should have been one of the biggest wins in your pathetic programs history.
http://hobnailboot.wordpress.com/
by AuditDawg on Sep 11, 2010 4:25 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Take heart, AuditDawg...
Sakerlina might just being going on probation soon.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Aside from South Carolina’s first and last drives, I feel Grantham had the defense in the right spots to shut down Lattimore. The defenders were there, but a combination of poor tackling and hard running is what made the difference. You can’t fault the defensive scheme for that.
Sic 'em Dawgs
by ClassicCityDawg on Sep 11, 2010 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions
concur
I saw players in right spots after the first two SC drives. We just sucked at tackling – and at times flat motivationally.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Agreed, ClassicCityDawg.
Also, the defense was on the field for 35 minutes against a punishing ground game. That’ll wear anybody out.
Go 'Dawgs!
I used to read T Kyle say the gamecock fans were the most ridiculous or something
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Their students are a little rowdy
but I found the balance of their fans quite accomodating on my 3 visits to Columbia. I will admit I’ve never had to deal with a defeat there however. That’s surprising because alcohol shouldn’t have played too large a role in an early game….
Sorry about the people you encountered after the game. It would be nice if there was a mechanism for revoking fan memberships.
Every fan base has them.
I had a similar experience in Columbia in 2000, but not in 1996, which leads me to believe it’s more “this could be the year!” euphoria than an indictment of the group as a whole. No worries.
Go 'Dawgs!
Sorry about your encounters
It happens everywhere. My sister has had no desire to return to Sanford since college because of a horrible experience there. Details aren’t important, but it was bad enough I was angry her UGa date did not get into a fight over it.
by GwinnettGamecock on Sep 11, 2010 7:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I know a UGA fan who will never return to Columbia
but not because of the fans – he had an extra ticket he tried to sell to an undercover cop and spent the entire afternoon in the pokey – missing the game!
Hey Gwinnett
I appreciate the sentiment, I really do. But the “It happens everywhere” argument ceases to hold water about your own personal feelings after it happens to you. I want everyone to know that I was completely lucid when posting that, I had no alcohol yesterday. Aggravated? Yes. Drunk? No. That was the most piss poor I’ve ever seen a group of fans and I’ve left both Kentucky and Knoxville losses. So with all due respect, I will never return to Columbia. I’m going to post something a little longer at my blog, but that’s all I have to say about it right now.
http://hobnailboot.wordpress.com/
Yeah, that was probably it.
USC fans just aren’t used to winning, so when they do against elite teams it is with pride and arrogance, and I apologize for any crude behavior. I think way too many people here are prideful, arrogant, and boastful about a lot of things, and I hate it. I really don’t know how 92% of us South Carolinians can be Christians like we claim. It sure doesn’t show. I do know that for a heart wrenching fact.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Sep 11, 2010 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Man, Karma is a bitch isn't it?
CMR had a chance to show some balls and kick that little punk, #3 off the team, and prove that he is in control of the program, but instead, he showed more weakness, and then Ealey ultimately puts the dagger in the game by giving it up. Going to be a long season for the Dawgs. CMR has run his course. At least we aren’t Gtu today.
wow
"Sometimes I think it is a great mistake to have matter that can think and feel. It complains so. By the same token, though, I suppose that boulders and mountains and moons could be accused of being a little too phlegmatic."
-Kurt Vonnegut, "The Sirens of Titan"
by Bravely going forward on Sep 11, 2010 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Fred
I can see that you and I might now get along.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
*not
not get along. Just like my keypad. We fight alot.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
You can deny reality if if makes you feel better, but just like the Goff/Donnan days, the inmates are running the asylum
and once that has started, the program cannot recover.
Oh, things must change and they will with McGarity on board
but calling Ealey a punk is a bit harsh, don’t you think? The reality of our transgressions are not lost on me…so don’t assume I am denying one damn thing.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Well, he promised the coaches straight up not to drive again,
then drove, HIT A CAR, GOT CAUGHT by a uniformed officer and walked away because he did not have time to deal with it. Were he to put on a UF uniform today and you were looking at the situation from an objective perspective, I cannot imagine not deeming him a punk.
Yes, good grief, we all make tons of stupid mistakes at 21, but his was most egregious in that he flat-out lied to the coaches’ faces and yet, the coaches did not dole out any real punishment for it.
I just don’t see how it’s much different than Donnan letting Qu*ncy continue playing even after TONS of stuff was going on behind the scenes. Anyway, just my two cents, I have been wrong plenty of times before.
Really
Were he to put on a UF uniform today and you were looking at the situation from an objective perspective, I cannot imagine not deeming him a punk.
Hardly. We all know that Urban only recruits choirboys.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
The Ealey fumble was a bummer, but I think you’re overreacting just a bit here….
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Huh?
I’m not seeing the connection between Washaun Ealey bumping a parked car while driving on a suspended license and fumbling.
Are you suggesting our running game would have been better without both Caleb King and Ealey?
Go 'Dawgs!
We looked quite small on defense today. I know we were all aware of this coming into the season trying to install a 3-4, but it was really disconcerting watching SC man handle us on the line and stuff it on us up the middle for 5-6 yards a pop. Lattimore is legit, but the tackling today was horrific. I finally lost it on that drive towards the end where we had two different linemen close in on Lattimore and both completely whiff on the tackle. It seemed like that was happening all day long.
What exactly are our DBs doing when they launch past stationary receivers catching screen passes? Who teaches this one? How about go and wrap a guy up instead of trying to make a big hit…?
I will say the defensive adjustments in the 2nd half were very encouraging, and I felt overall they did quite well. If WIllieMart was in charge of this one we would’ve lost by 30.
SC was just better than we were today.
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:30 PM EDT reply actions
I think the defensive adjustment in the 2nd half is proof that our new D coaches are solid, and what we have growing on defense is really special.
In the second half, we held their “vaunted” offense to 3 points, and that 3 was on their LAST drive.
Problem was, we scored ZERO.
If I’m not mistaken, more than half of Lattiemore’s yards came on the first drive, and the last drive. The defense is to blame, but on the first drive they were dealing with stuff they hadn’t seen on film at all, and on the final drive they were worn out from so many 3 and outs.
lattimore is flat-out ridiculous
"Sometimes I think it is a great mistake to have matter that can think and feel. It complains so. By the same token, though, I suppose that boulders and mountains and moons could be accused of being a little too phlegmatic."
-Kurt Vonnegut, "The Sirens of Titan"
by Bravely going forward on Sep 11, 2010 4:39 PM EDT reply actions
One of those backs you'd better gang tackle
or hit low. We adjusted in that regard later in the game (until the defense wore down on the last drive).
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
or something…man, he killed us
"Sometimes I think it is a great mistake to have matter that can think and feel. It complains so. By the same token, though, I suppose that boulders and mountains and moons could be accused of being a little too phlegmatic."
-Kurt Vonnegut, "The Sirens of Titan"
by Bravely going forward on Sep 11, 2010 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Right.
This is one of the reasons why I’m not worried. What other teams are we going to face that have that good a running back and that good a defense?
Go 'Dawgs!
If UGA has to improve, it has to be on offense
The last time that UGA didn’t score a touchdown in a single game was in 2007 and it was against SC at home. Had we won that game, we would had gone to the SEC championship and most likely the NC. Now it is the same team that held us without a touchdown. The times when we played Florida during the past several years, we lost all of them but 2 when we couldn’t even get past the 21 points on offense. The 2 wins against Florida was in 2004 and 2007 when UGA SCORED on the Gators. The truth is Georgia is not a big offensive team and that has to change.
by thefirstgenesis on Sep 11, 2010 4:39 PM EDT reply actions
Reasonable response to the game.
The season’s young. I think we’d all do well to remind ourselves that we knew the new defensive staff and scheme would take some time. The wildcat things were puzzling. Murray looked awesome to me. Lattimore beat us. Athens and UGA > USC and Columbia; the game didn’t change that part.
by NCT on Sep 11, 2010 4:53 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I think we have to be careful with the “Athens > everywhere else” stuff, lest we start sounding like Ole Miss fans. “Oh yeah, we may lose, but we sure as shit party better than you!! The Grove! wooo!”
I just want our team to win football games.
by get swoll yunel on Sep 11, 2010 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Have you ever been to The Grove?
It’s one of the few places I’ve ever been to that actually lived up to the hype.
Sic 'em Dawgs
by ClassicCityDawg on Sep 11, 2010 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Have you ever been to Columbia?
Pretty much anywhere > Columbia.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions
With that said, though...
… you do have a good point about the “never lost the party” bit. I, for one, think the Grove would be even better if Ole Miss didn’t suck.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions
I'd worry about the "Athens > everywhere else" bit . . .
. . . if Mark Richt’s road record wasn’t what it is (which is to say, very good).
Go 'Dawgs!
I'm never okay with a loss
However, I saw some very encouraging things on both sides of the ball. Aaron Murray looked very poised, and it’s going to be fun to watch him develop as the season goes on. Defensively, it finally looks like we have the pass rush we’ve lacked since Marcus Howard graduated. I think we sacked Garcia about 5 times. That bodes well for next week when we face a team that airs it out on almost every down. That being said, the run blocking was what Charles Barkley would call trbl, and the remnants of the Willie era reared its ugly head in the form of shoulder-bumping from the DBs and a couple of the LBs. We have to get better, but we have some things to build on.
Sic 'em Dawgs
by ClassicCityDawg on Sep 11, 2010 4:59 PM EDT reply actions
I doubt we'll face a better back for the rest of the season
and that shoulder bumping crap is going to get some dudes benched, or maybe eaten.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
defense what defense???
Really people? The defense looked ridiculous……….I am appalled to see a Georgia team with no defense to speak of, we looked pitiful on defense and it made us look bad. What happened to “the best offense is a good defense” ??? Georgia has always been known for a strong defense and that is clearly no longer the case.
another thought...
When we lost to ‘Carolina in ’07, I was distraught. We were the better team, yet failed. We beat ourselves. Stafford missed open guys on wheel routes, TE’s in the flats, etc. It’s well documented.
Today, we were not the better team. There is much work to do.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
I agree...
I was just going to comment on the similar start to the 07 season…and that one turned out pretty well.
I agree with several others that SC was probably just the better team today...
A few things:
Others have mentioned this and I’d have to agree—what’s up with our run blocking? The 0-line situation is borderline bizarre.
I was very pleased with Murray.
After adjustments at half, I was also very pleased with the defense.
Without A.J. playing and with that absolute beast of back Lattimore for SC, we just got beat by the better team today; however, if Ealey doesn’t fumble…who knows!?
How 'Bout Them Dawgs!
until the A gap is closed for business
EVERYONE will run inside on us. Period.
Until then, we bleed Time Of Possession
for the rest of the season.
by please before I die, Falcons on Sep 11, 2010 6:26 PM EDT reply actions
Wow...
everybody is having a bad day today.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Today is the national day of mourning...so I guess that explains it
by thefirstgenesis on Sep 11, 2010 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions
No...
… they parked their trailer in Macon. Simple as that. Pretty routine occurrence around here. Not related to the game or to the events of nine years ago today.
by College Buddy on Sep 11, 2010 7:08 PM EDT up reply actions
By the way...
…with regard to the game, the defense did hold USC to just a field goal in the second half. I saw the bad tackling, predictable playcalling, and ultimate loss too, but that should be commended at least. Halftime adjustments certainly weren’t CWM’s strong suit.
by College Buddy on Sep 11, 2010 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions
I am all for CTG praise. I loved him before. In the next years as the current players get more time, and he gets more of his recruits, it can really gel.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
willie martinez is having a good day. Now I really want to throw up.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
The announcers for that game
just mentioned how great he is and how he was a scapegoat in Athens…I’m not sure what they were implying, but I suppose that Mark Richt needed to go instead. I disagree.
yea, that was awful. CTG and CSL are a much better combo than CWM and its game one basically.
If we had a veteran QB, AJ Green, and CWM defense, this would have been another shootout.
Its a start.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
(By that, I'm not being a smart-aleck, by the way.
I’m saying I think we’re nearing consensus.)
Go 'Dawgs!
its all good Kyle, I think its good when we disagree sometimes - we refine our thoughts and get a different take
and I always said we agree so much its the 3% we dont that makes it interesting.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Fair enough.
I’m looking forward to future arguments in which you contend Georgia will go undefeated because of its stellar offense and I contend Georgia will go undefeated because of its exceptional defense. :)
Go 'Dawgs!
Just walked in the door from Columbia,
Maybe I was just exhausted from hiking five miles through an industrial park to climb within 5 rows of the top of that belly up cockroach thing they call a stadium. . . . . .
But after skimming the comments I am not sure they were showing the same game on TV that I saw in the stadium.
1. I cannot understand what they do in practice that they cannot wrap up on a tackle.
2. Thought, just like last week that O line is great on pass protection and sorry on run blocking.
3. Don’t think AJ’s absence cost us the game but if he had been out there in double coverage other receivers would have been much more open.
4. Boise can use heat and a 12n start as an excuse, Georgia cannot.
5. One particular DB seem to have no idea how to cover a receiver and should have been pulled no matter how fast he runs.
6. Will not comment on USC fans, didn’t really see many of them since I was sitting in the UGA section - but I have zero tolerance as a southerner for fans of any school, particularly MY school dropping F-bombs in front of ladies and children and calling OUR players pieces of $hit.
7. Ambiance in stadium is more like Euro techno disco than SEC football game.
8. And did I mention about the inability to wrap up on a tackle.
9. Playcalling seemed uninspired but if immaterial if defense can’t tackle, QB doesn’t see open receivers, players can’t catch balls, players can’t hold on to balls, and did I mention about the tackling. . . . . . .
We have some work to do.
I do like Murray.
Houston was todays star IMHO.
(Can you tell I am REALLY in a bad mood?)
Thank you,
and I was probably unfair to criticize Murray for not seeing open receivers, when he didn’t have my “top of the stadium” vantage point.
But that tackling . . . . . . . .
well, Logan was standing in the endzone doing jumping jacks one time. he moved more than Cox ever did, as his head and feet move more, he will see more.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
No apologies necessary, hbtd.
Seriously, you gave a reasonable analysis in which you kept your frustration in check. It was good stuff.
Go 'Dawgs!
I think I saw a missed tackle at one point.
Your team should work on that.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Sep 11, 2010 10:01 PM EDT up reply actions
yea, and that article completely lost all credibility with the 30 pieces of silver line. Its crap, and you are likely a troll.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
SWRT, I just sent you a warning, but I wanted to let the community know I had done so.
You’re welcome to participate in the conversation, but not to use the comment thread for the sole purpose of pimping your own stories . . . particularly when they are as over the top as that one.
I agree with tankertoad . . . “30 pieces of silver”? That isn’t just preposterous, it’s offensive.
Go 'Dawgs!
I promised a Gamecock fan friend of mine something a few years back...
…right after they hired the OBC. He was all giddy and excited, spouting off how they were going to start competing for SEC Championships. I promised him that South Carolina would NEVER win a conference championship, even with Spurrier (mostly due to the fact that they are in a small state and have to split recruits with Clemson, and partly due to the fact that UGA, UF, UT would all have to be down, PLUS a weak SEC West champion).
Thankfully, I did not wager anything on that (we were in sunday school at the moment). How safe do y’all think this promise stands? I hate eating crow. Especially crow that tastes like fightin’ chicken.
Vandy will get 'em...
Remember, Robbie Caldwell knows his way around a turkey’s anatomy. And a Gamecock is just a smaller version of one of those…
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
That Coach Richt
is quite pudgy, I observed today. Granted, our coach – “Chizick” or whatever his name is, looks like quite the dork himself, but Coach Richt definitely needs to walk around the block ten times per evening. And stay away from sweets.
Congrats
non sequitur of the day award.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
nice post game take. you forgot to mention he is on the hot seat.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
This may be the first time I have smiled today.
Maybe he should have had to park where I did today and sit up in the upper deck.
Bowden is his good friend. )
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
The man just turned 50...
…and is in pretty damn good shape for 50, too. Hope I look like that at 50 (would probably be an improvement!)
follow up from my pregame take:
I dont think we can afford to be in a shootout. 1) they are dangerous 2) we need more experience to handle the speed and intensity. A RSFR is not the right guy for a shootout either.
We will have to pass, I get it. But this would be a good time to get it on like the GT game last year: run over them. Us Georgia fans likes us some running, even if the pass is working. Running will be hard to come by, but will help our QB and keep them off the field.
I have some good vibes about our STs this year. That could be the difference maker.
We can’t get way behind – I dont think we can make up large gains right now.
Murray needs extra protection – if he starts getting knocked around – it aint good. He is just to young right now for that stuff.
We may as well unleash the playbook – a win is worth it and you got to practice it sometime.
Shootout – didnt happen. That was good.
Running game “hard to come by” – yep. Check. And we needed it to help the play action.
Special Teams – not what I would like ideally, but also didnt hurt us.
Cant get behind – yep. Very hard with what we have to make up several TDs. But we did keep it within 8 for a while.
Murray protection – much better than I expected. This helped us a lot to stay in it.
Playbook – I dont want to debate with Kyle anymore – but I dont think we “unleased” the playbook at all.
I couldnt get a feel for a score, but I think my takes were in the ballbark.
To be positive: IF USC has a miracle year, this wont hurt so bad. ANd good on them, it’s been a while. Also, since TKK asked, I cant honestly think of a running back we face like that, or quite that defense. I can forsee shootouts in a lot of games, and we really will need ball control and big passes for that. Murray is on track though.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
He was wearing pumps.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
They were probably NCAA average or so, which is why I dont think it hurt us. We are pretty spoiled here and I would like to believe he just had an off day, for him.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
It almost looked like he was kicking a 'dead ball'
leg fatigue?
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
honestly
Bob Davie ranted so much he rarely focused on what was happening on the field…so much so that I literally turned down the volume. Pam Ward is starting to look pretty good as an announcer, it was that bad…
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
The announcers were the worst I’ve heard in years.
I swear its like they didn’t even want to be at the game. They spend 90% of their time talking about shit not related to what was going on down on the field.
They need to worry less about their pre-game research and talk more about the actual game. Or shut up.
Bob Davies said plenty...
…that had little to do with the game. Like coordinator salaries. He had to be interrupted by the play-by-play guy. So we could hear about the actual game, you know.
I can't wait for Jesse Palmer and Craig James to butcher one of our games.
but maybe we’ll dodge that bullet since we don’t do Thursday nights.
Decided while watching that great WVU/Marshall game last night
that Rod Gilmore and Friday coverage kicks Thursday coverages’ butt.
Bob Davies
may be the only announcer in America that actually makes me pine for Thom Brennaman.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
I tell you who is on the hotseat: Rich Rodriquez
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
i will settle with a ND loss every day
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Totally, . . .
. . . although I increasingly think of Michigan-Notre Dame as a “meteor game.”
Go 'Dawgs!
UT Oregon on / Alabama on tap
and if you arent rooting for Bama, you’re a yankee.
Kyle, Open an open game thread please.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Game delayed b/c of lighting for the moment.
Tennessee got 2 quick field goals, though… leading 6-0
by vineyarddawg on Sep 11, 2010 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks, vineyarddawg.
The evening comment thread is up and running.
I’ll be there after a while. I still have to review our game thread (what fun!) and watch tonight’s “iCarly” premiere guest starring Jane Lynch (Nick is big around my household).
Go 'Dawgs!
there is an open game thread up, so we dont litter this anymore with non UGA talk
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
LSU/Vandy is on ESPNU
This should be entertaining, too… Jordan Jefferson has already fumbled twice, and there’s 7:45 left in the 1st Quarter.
Content with not being relevant
I’m not upset that GA lost, didnt know what to expect so wasn’t surprised. I am upset how GA has lost it’s relevance. It is apparent that Richt has lost his voice of influence over this program. Look at the past 3 yrs with penalties, suspensions, conduct, arrest n how GA has lost games. We looked like a soft team today n have for several yrs. I love Richt n he has done great things at UGA, but he has takebn this program about as far as he is going to take it. You can’t be the SEC East house maid to FL for 8 yrs n now a house maid to a cock.
by UGARegimechange on Sep 11, 2010 7:25 PM EDT reply actions
How often we also forget that Mark Richt is 7-2 over South Carolina the last nine years.
Also, as I outlined in Too Much Information yesterday, if you divide the 63 Georgia-South Carolina games into sequential nine-game increments, we’ve never beaten the Gamecocks more than seven times in any of those nine-game stretches. At worst, Mark Richt is a typical Georgia coach against South Carolina; “house maid” is unfair and more than a bit silly.
Go 'Dawgs!
thats house maid to a cock. yucky metaphor.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Who cares?
The history of the UGA/USC series means absolutely nothing beyond the last 4 years or so. Absolutely nothing. The dynamics of the respective programs and college football in general are radically different than 20 years ago. There is virtually no predictive value in the histories of these series.
No one's saying it has predictive value.
However, we’ve finished nine-year stretches against South Carolina with a 7-2 record against the Gamecocks before, and we weren’t on the verge of becoming anyone’s “house maid” in any of those instances, either. I think it’s fair to say that, if we’ve previously finished 7-2 stretches against the Gamecocks without the sky falling any of those other times, the sky probably isn’t falling now, either.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 11, 2010 10:05 PM EDT up reply actions
You keep making excuses and I'll keep it real
We should be 7 and 2 over SC in the past nine years. If Richt was going to do it, he would have done it already. We have been on a slide for the past 3 yrs and this yr looks like it will be another yr of avg GA football. Let’s also mention that we are 2 and 7 against FL over the past 9 seasons. If you like second thats great for you, but GA sits in a talent hotbed and there is no reason they should accept runner up yr after yr. I’m not calling for Richt to be fired because of this loss, I wasn’t even surprised that we lost. I think his style of coaching has run it’s course and it’s time to raise expectations in dawg town. If you never raise the bar, we’ll never continue to grow.
by UGARegimechange on Sep 11, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions
You know, I've generally considered UGA fans to be a little more sane and level-headed than most SEC fans over the years.
Some of you people are really starting to make me question that assumption after this game, though. I almost chose not to respond to the criticisms of GoonerDawg, UGARegimeChange, and others because they seemed so foolish as to not even require a response. The more I hear the themes they discuss repeated, however, the more I feel it necessary to say something.
Mark Richt has reached a plateau and cannot take the Georgia program any further? Really? Because we lost to South Carolina? Really?
Only the most short-sighted, ADHD-addled, massively unrealistic set of expectations could even begin to point to the conclusion that Mark Richt’s potential has “run its course.”
The man isn’t freakin’ Gerry DiNardo. Georgia is still one of the premier programs in the SEC. The fact that we had a 5-loss season in 2009 doesn’t change that, and the fact that we lost to South Carolina in 2010 doesn’t change that, either. Did the fact that Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe in 2007 mean that it wasn’t a premier program anymore? How about Nick Saban’s 7-6 record in his first year? Did that make Alabama a perennial also-ran and runner up?
You’re pissed because Georgia doesn’t win every game, and you expect to win the national championship every year. Ok, fine… I get it. But just admit that that’s what you want, and don’t project those expectations into a thinly-veiled set of accusations that “his style of coaching has run its course,” and that Georgia has “become a house maid.”
You want to win the national championship every year, and if your team doesn’t win the national championship, you want the coach to be fired. See how simple that is to admit? Now, since I’ve already lost your attention because you have the attention span of a 4th-grader, I’ll address everyone else reading this thread. This type of attitude, while certainly feeling good and making for very expeditious bitching after a loss, is exactly the opposite of the philosophy one should take when building a program to be a powerhouse over the long term. It’s insipid arguments like this that make men like me and MaconDawg start drinkin’ heavily the Thursday before a game.
Programs are built over years, not weeks or even months.
You know what… I’m not even going to bother with the rest of the “long-term winning program built on character” spiel. It’s been repeated over and over again on this blog, and every time Georgia loses a game, people come on here spew the same ignorant counter-arguments. I’m just going to say that Mark Richt is building the kind of program that will ensure that Georgia is an SEC power for decades to come, and leave it at that. If you think otherwise… well, then you are just plain wrong.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 12, 2010 1:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Still Sucks
I knew we were going to lose this game, but it still sucks. I was disapointed with the defensive performance in the first half, but the offense really needs to improve. Who would have thought that we would not have put it in the endzone and the reason for that would not be the freshman quarterback! I was pleased with the defensive adjustments in the second half, but digging out of a hole when your offensive is sputtering is work the best defense in the country couldn’t do. Its not an excuse but I will say that I think having AJ would have helped us. Still, that first half just killed us. We seem to have a program issue with first half performances in the past few years. I think we will get better, but it needs to happen quickly.
It really sucks losing to these guys in particular. SC fans are the worse when they win. They have no idea how to be humble in victory, perhaps because they’re so unused to it. They have a good team this year, but we all know how they fold down the stretch. October is coming, Gamecocks.
Amen, brother.
They are the sorest winners I know. And I dread going to church tomorrow and work on Monday.
This is a perfect example of your natural pessimism preventing objective analysis. . .
I guess its your schtick, but UGA played terribly today. Poor fundamentally. Poor preparation. Poor effort.
Today’s effort was shockingly bad. The Mark Richt era is coming to an end sooner rather than later, and that is a good thing for all parties involved.
and where is your objective analysis? I didnt agree with T Kyle completely, but I didnt have to make it personal. And provide "objective" evidence CMR is getting fired.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Alright. . .
First, I didn’t mean to make it personal, and I guess I expressed myself poorly if it came across as such.
Second, I believe that UGA’s effort was decidedly poor. We were manhandled on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Southern Miss did a better job against USC’s OL than we did. Our tackling continues to be poor. Our OL has been underwhelming for multiple seasons, and that trend continued today. Our coaches admit after the game that they should have opened it up with Murray a bit more. We were losing by two scores in the 4th quarter, and couldn’t run the ball behind an experienced OL. What was there to lose by opening it up today?
Third, the last part is a prediction. 10 years is a long time, and we have been lapped as a program by at least two teams in the SEC.
Again, didn’t mean to be personal.
no drama. I have a lot of agreement in what you just wrote - although I think CMR will be at the helm through 2011 easily. If 2011 goes bad, then I can see 2012 being a probation year, but not 2011.
and USC hasnt lapped much of anyone yet. This good be a banner year, that is yet to be determined. And it will take next year to see if it sticks.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Well officiated?
Kyle – If you really thought this game was well afficiated then I have no reason to read this blog any longer because you have lost your F’in mind. There were several horific calls that absolutely extended SC drives and a couple that led directly to SC scores. The SEC should be embarassed by the lack of credible officiating in this game. I’m not saying the Dawgs couldn’t have played better, but if the officials were even remotely competent the Dawgs would ad a much better chance at winning the game.
There were a couple of bad spots.
They offset one another. Beyond that, there were a number of good no-calls, which was a refreshing change from the ticky-tacky officiating we’ve seen in the past.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 11, 2010 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Nothing offset that +2 yard spot they got when Richt challenged, and how in the hell did the challenge fail. That led to a TD, if I recall.
Then there was the bullshit offseting “personal fouls” because they didn’t want UGA to extend their drive.
I hate complaining about officiating, but the SEC officials still want to hold it against us regarding that 2007 TD celebration at Florida. They need to get over it already. I’m sick of getting screwed.
Well
The one spot was awful mainly because it was reviewed. It is unforgivable to spot the ball wrong after review. On top of that picking up the flag on an obvious offensive pass interference that very well might have been an interception and a blatant holding (I mean right infront of the ref) that was absolutely ignored. I have no problem if you don’t want to blame the refs for the loss. The Dawgs did plenty on there own to cause tto lose the gamehat. But to call it well officiated is just flat out wrong.
you could make a good argument - and we were all upset for a variety of reasons, but
saying “you have lost your F’n mind” loses all chances of your argument looking sound rather than an attack.
I thought the bad spot was a very bad call, especially as it was reviewed. Also, the offseting PFs was very weak.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Well Darn
I guess my argument isn’t sound. It doesn’t matter, because I doubt I could sway anyone who thought that game was “well officiated”.
P.S. I don’t think Kyle has really lost his mind. It’s sarcasm. Lighten up.
Yes, there were some bad calls. I just meant we didn't get a lot of ticky-tacky calls like we usually see.
I would respectfully suggest that focusing upon two words in a posting consisting of five substantive paragraphs in which those two words are not central to the overall gist of what I wrote may involve missing the point.
We’re all mad, and I hope my track record makes it clear that I’m more than happy to entertain alternative points of view and engage in civil and reasoned debate, but let’s try not to miss the forest for the trees, please.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 11, 2010 11:45 PM EDT up reply actions
i shut up, but you said it. I dont think F bombing the blog owner is light humor
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Really?
I guess I was just being playful then. I really meant no offense. I was merely trying to express my shock that Kyle would make that claim. I am truly sorry I offended y’alls refined sensibilities. I’ll work on my eloquence.
Don't worry about it, Prov.
We were all frustrated. I try to allow a little more latitude after a loss than I otherwise would, because I understand what’s really being expressed, and I know it’s nothing personal. No harm, no foul. We’re good.
Go 'Dawgs!
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