Shortly before my family and I sat down to supper on New Year’s Eve, my wife, Susan, asked me what I wanted to drink with my evening meal. Reflexively, I told her I wanted a Coke.

When we had members of our extended family over for Christmas, however, my in-laws brought some soft drinks with them, including a twelve-pack of Fresca. My son, Thomas, who is five years old and whose status as a mojo savant has been confirmed repeatedly through several successive football seasons, asked me whether I wanted a Fresca instead. Without thinking much about it, I took him up on his suggestion.

After we had finished eating, I sat there at the kitchen table for a few more minutes when my eye spied the empty Fresca can, along the side of which were emblazoned these words: "Original Citrus."

Then it hit me: Thomas intuitively had done it again. Just before kickoff of the Chick-fil-A Bowl---an Atlanta-based postseason game featuring an Atlanta-based rival team---I had chosen the definitive Atlanta-based soft drink until my son talked me out of it, convincing me instead to drink a beverage billed as the original citrus on the night before the Bulldogs were to take the field in the Capital One Bowl . . . or, as it previously was known, the Citrus Bowl.

From that moment forward, I had no doubt that Georgia Tech would lose, Georgia would win, and order would be restored to the universe . . . or, at least, to the Peach State, which is near enough to being the whole cosmos to suit me.

If you buy the idea that Thursday’s game was a referendum on Willie Martinez, you are free to come to one of two conclusions. If you prefer to see the glass as half-full, it is clear that the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator put together as effective a game plan against Michigan State as he had against Hawaii a year ago. If you prefer to see the glass as half-empty, it is equally clear that, if the ‘Dawgs are given four weeks to prepare for every opponent and Georgia joins the Big Ten or the W.A.C., Willie Martinez is our man. Against S.E.C. opposition with a game every Saturday, not so much . . . although my confidence would be bolstered by a public announcement that Coach Martinez TiVo’d the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Nevertheless, credit must be given for a stout defensive effort. The Spartans spent much of the first half in Georgia territory but managed only six points before the break. A first-quarter interception thrown by Matthew Stafford set up M.S.U. with first and 10 at the Bulldog 12 and a personal foul penalty halved that distance. Sparty picked up three yards on the next three plays and settled for a field goal.

Later in the opening period, a forced fumble was recovered by Michigan State on the Red and Black’s side of the field. The ‘Dawgs held, turning first and 15 into third and 24, when a borderline roughing the passer call give the Big Ten team a fresh set of downs at the Georgia 36 yard line.

By the way, as many times as Brian Hoyer was put on the ground on New Year’s Day, how could the announcers not use the phrase, "Down goes Hoyer!"? (Associated Press photograph by Michael Conroy.)

It was the sort of situation in which the Georgia D has folded this season; it was, in fact, the sort of situation in which the Georgia D has given up a play that covered whatever number of yards separated the line of scrimmage from the end zone. Instead, Asher Allen threw Keshawn Martin for a six-yard loss back to the 42. Javon Ringer’s second-down carry yielded a four-yard setback to the 46. An incomplete pass made it fourth and 20.

Overall, the Spartans held the ball for exactly 30 minutes of clock time, won the turnover battle, and picked up nearly as many first downs (16) as Georgia (19). Even so, though, M.S.U. was limited to a 25 per cent conversion rate on third down (4 for 16), managed only 236 yards of total offense, and averaged less than one yard per carry (34 rushes for 31 yards). Ringer picked up 47 yards on 20 attempts and never carded a scamper of longer than 21 feet.

There were, as there too often are, foolish penalties (7 for 53 yards) and long stretches in which Stafford simply appeared off his game. (From his vantage point on my living room couch, my brother-in-law opined that the Georgia quarterback was simply trying to get out of being drafted by Detroit.) Knowshon Rockwell Moreno had more receiving yards (63) and touchdowns (1) than rushing yards (62) and touchdowns (0).

Smart second-half adjustments saw the Georgia offense improving significantly, as the ‘Dawgs got away from attacking the middle and began using screens and going after the perimeter. Kris Durham had a moment or two at which he looked like he could be in the passing game what Brannan Southerland was in the running game. With six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, Michael Moore took up the slack when A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi were held in check.

Bad breaks and dumb luck (particularly in the kicking game) appeared for a while to be conspiring against the Classic City Canines, whose no-huddle attack worked like gangbusters for the first four plays of an eight-play opening drive that looked at the outset like the prettiest initial series ending in three points ever . . . or, at least, since the 2005 Outback Bowl. After that, though, it looked like a typical 2008 Georgia effort, in which the ‘Dawgs looked great in one phase of the game but only intermittently good (at best) in the others.

There is no denying that the Red and Black were lucky to be trailing only by a field goal at halftime. The opening possession of the third quarter gave little cause for confidence, as a 24-yard kickoff return and a 16-yard drive were squandered on a penalty and a punt. It wasn’t that I ever doubted that the ‘Dawgs would win---again, the Fresca on New Year’s Eve and the resulting Chick-fil-A Bowl win for the good guys left me certain of a Bulldog victory---but I had my doubts whether the Red and Black would win any way other than ugly.

Then an Aaron Bates punt went 53 yards and took a favorable bounce for the Great Lake State Gladiators inside the five. Moreno went 10 yards on first down and caught a five-yard pass two plays later. Stafford’s next five passes went to Moore for 16 yards and a first down, to Green for 12 yards, to Durham for 13 yards and a first down, to Caleb King for 11 yards and a first down, and to Moore for 35 yards and a touchdown. After that, the outcome never really was in question.

The 2009 Capital One Bowl resembled the 2005 Outback Bowl in ways more profound than the similarity of the Bulldogs’ opening drives in the two Sunshine State season-enders. We knew that beloved players, including an established starter under center, were or probably were playing their final game in silver britches, and we felt a profound sense of disappointment at the thought of what that season might have been.

That feeling has pervaded most of this autumn. It will rear its ugly head anew as I sit down to watch the national championship game in which my alma mater’s football team does not appear. That depressing sense of opportunity lost will weigh me down throughout most of the coming offseason. Even with Thursday’s victory, this will be a cold hard winter in Bulldog Nation. For now, though, I am going to enjoy a game which, however imperfect, ended in a Georgia win. That’s enough, at least---if only---for the moment.

Go ‘Dawgs!

All right, let’s start with the good news.

The Bulldogs started strong by leaping out to a 14-0 lead on the road, converted 40 per cent of their third downs, averaged almost five yards per rush, rolled up 520 yards of total offense despite holding the ball for barely 25 minutes of clock time, incurred only five penalties for 58 yards, and scored 42 points on a Kentucky defense that had given up more than 24 just once all season long.

Matthew Stafford had statistically his best day as a Bulldog, completing 17 of his 27 pass attempts for 376 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Knowshon Rockwell Moreno averaged 5.6 yards per carry, rushed for 123 yards while hauling in three passes for 40 yards, and found the end zone three times. Mohamed Massaquoi snagged eight passes for 191 yards and a touchdown, A.J. Green went up and grabbed the game-winner in the back of the end zone, and Michael Moore once again proved reliable in the clutch with two catches for 68 yards.

Also, the Bulldogs won.

That brings us to the bad news.

The Wildcats, who are as injury-riddled as the ‘Dawgs (if not more so), held the ball for nearly 35 minutes, converted eight of 17 third downs (usually in short yardage situations) and two of three fourth-down tries, and scored 38 points, all with a wide receiver at quarterback. Randall Cobb---no, not Randall "Tex" Cobb; we’re playing S.E.C. football here, not searching for Nathan Arizona’s baby---ran the ball 18 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns while hooking up on 12 of his 20 passes for 105 yards and, mercifully, one crucial interception.

Of course, the fact that the ‘Cats did all this to the ‘Dawgs while amassing only 331 yards of total offense is more than a little telling. Due to the increasingly ludicrous offense-boosting kickoff rules, the Blue and White began their first scoring drive from their own 40 yard line after Blair Walsh’s kickoff went out of bounds. The second quarter possession on which Kentucky tied the game began at the home team’s 33 yard line when the Red and Black turned the ball over on downs.

The Wildcats’ third quarter field goal was set up by Tony Dixon’s 28-yard kickoff return out to the U.K. 35 to begin the second half. The home team took the lead when Danny Trevathan blocked Brian Mimbs’s punt to give the Bluegrass State Felines custody of the pigskin at the Georgia nine yard line. Mimbs’s next punt went just 18 yards, setting up Kentucky at the Bulldogs’ 29 yard line. The ‘Cats scored three plays later.

I’m not picking on Mimbs, I’m just saying. (Associated Press photograph by Mary Ann Chastain.)

After Georgia scored to reclaim a 35-31 lead, Winston Guy broke a 96-yard kickoff return to set up another three-play touchdown drive. The Red and Black’s next two drives appeared promising until Massaquoi fumbled in U.K. territory, but both turnovers could be classified as what appellate courts call "harmless error": Kentucky took over on Georgia’s 49 yard line and the Wildcats’ 38 yard line, respectively, yet those two first and tens turned into a fourth and 15 at the Kentucky 46 and a fourth and eleven at the Georgia 35, producing no points.

From there, Massaquoi atoned for his earlier miscues by taking Stafford’s first pass on the Bulldogs’ final drive for 78 yards to the U.K. seven yard line. A foolish (albeit apparently accidental) facemask penalty on what otherwise would have been a game-sealing fourth down stop by the Georgia D gave the Wildcats new life, which Demarcus Dobbs proceeded to snuff out with the pick that at long last ended all doubts as to the final outcome in the final minute.

Kentucky moved the football more than they should have, but they seldom had to move it much. As was the case in Jacksonville last weekend, the initial blame for the opposition’s unsightly point tally must be laid at the feet of the offense that gave the ball away and the special teams that set the other team up with good field position. There is plenty for which to blame the defense, but, when a new U.K. quarterback who hasn’t put a lot on film is set up with field position ranging from good to great in his home stadium all afternoon, even a solid defensive effort is going to be made to look bad.

Consequently, I’m more concerned about the kicking game than I am about the defense. The Wildcats began three of their five first-half drives at or in back of their own 30 yard line; that trio of possessions produced no points and, on average, lasted four plays apiece and generated fewer than 20 yards each.

Kentucky never had to drive the length of the field. The Wildcats’ longest drive was 67 yards. Only two of their 13 possessions went for more than 50 yards. Just four U.K. offensive series covered as many as 35 yards of real estate. Had the Blue and White started in the neighborhood of their own 25 or worse as often as the ‘Dawgs did, Georgia would have won the game by at least two touchdowns.

As I noted earlier, the last two Saturdays have borne a disconcerting resemblance to the middle years of the 1990s, when beatdowns by the St. John’s River and shootouts in the Bluegrass State were the norm. I have to admit that it starts to look more like the rule than the exception when three straight opponents hang 38 or more points on the Bulldogs, but a couple of asterisks have to be appended to those tallies: Alabama hung 41 points on Georgia at home and every one of them accurately reflected the prowess of the opposing offense. The last three games were played in Baton Rouge, Jacksonville, and Lexington, and, in every one of them, the numbers artificially were inflated by garbage time yardage after the game was decided (at L.S.U.) or by offensive and special teams miscues (against Florida and at Kentucky).

There are problems in need of correcting; maybe there even are changes that need to be made among the members of Mark Richt’s coaching staff. Right now, though, we in Bulldog Nation have more immediately concerns. The Red and Black are 8-2, with two games remaining in which they may earn a New Year’s Day bowl berth, a top ten ranking, and a sixth ten-win season in a seven-year span.

Considering all of our lofty preseason expectations, that might not sound like much for which to play. I suspect a similar sentiment was heard in Tallahassee near the end of the 1992 season that was Florida State’s sixth straight ten-win campaign with nary a national championship to show for it . . . until the ‘Noles, with Mark Richt as their quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator, proceeded to finish No. 1 in the nation twice in the next seven years.

Forget about all that for now, though. Next Saturday, the Bulldogs will renew the Deep South’s oldest football rivalry when they travel to the so-called Loveliest Village to face an Auburn team that was tied with Tennessee-Martin---not Tennessee, but Division I-AA Tennessee-Martin---with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Now, as ever, there is nothing wrong with being a Georgia Bulldog that beating Auburn can’t fix.

Go ’Dawgs! Auburna delenda est!

Now, that was more like it!

It’s not that last week’s performance was bad; quite the contrary. It’s just that the win over Georgia Southern seemed to fall somewhat short of the hype. Saturday’s victory between the hedges, though, represented both a step up in the weight class of the opposition and a step-up by the Bulldogs, who looked yesterday like what they will be on my BlogPoll ballot tomorrow . . . namely, the No. 1 team in the nation.

From the booth, Mike Bobo called one of the best games of his brief career as his alma mater’s offensive coordinator, methodically building a 21-0 lead before Demarcus Dobbs’s 78-yard interception return appeared to break the game wide open. After the Chippewas clawed back to within two touchdowns on their first drive of the third quarter, Georgia did not hesitate to go for the kill; two plays, 62 seconds, and one 52-yard Knowshon Rockwell Moreno run later, the Red and Black had resumed a comfortable 35-14 lead.

From there, it was all Bulldogs. Central Michigan managed only a 30-yard field goal as the Classic City Canines pounded out three more touchdowns. An inopportune fumble on a poor center-quarterback exchange to second-stringer Joe Cox probably deprived Richard Samuel of his second score of the game, but that was one of few flaws exhibited by the ‘Dawgs on this day.

On the other hand, one of the flaws exhibited by the officials was their apparent ignorance of the fact that this is holding.

Much-ballyhooed double-threat signal-caller Dan LeFevour got his passing yards because Willie Martinez gave them to him in a swap the Georgia defensive coordinator was happy to make in the course of holding C.M.U. (Coach Martinez’s last stop on the road to Athens, incidentally) to 59 rushing yards and 2.7 yards per carry. Matthew Stafford, not hitherto known in these parts as the second coming of Fran Tarkenton, ran for more yards (25) than LeFevour (19), including a 22-yard scamper on third and long deep in Bulldog territory to sustain a scoring drive.

Stafford’s run produced one of 25 Red and Black first downs and represented one of the nine conversions the Athenians managed on a dozen third-down tries. The Chips, by contrast, saw their high-powered offense limited to 17 first downs and a mere half-dozen conversions on 15 third downs. Four of Central Michigan’s first five drives failed to produce so much as a single fresh set of downs.

The Bulldogs racked up 552 yards of total offense and demonstrated impressive balance in the process, throwing for 289 and rushing for 263. Moreno could do no wrong, averaging over nine yards per carry, collecting 168 yards and three touchdowns in 18 rushes, and at one point causing me to wonder whether Larry Munson was up in the booth yelling, "He’s jumping over people!" Moreno added 30 receiving yards on three catches for good measure.

Samuel made the most of his eight touches, racking up 44 yards and a score . . . which, based upon the third-string tailback’s reaction to the late turnover, was one touchdown too few in his book. When Caleb King’s 4.0 yards-per-carry average brings up the rear among the Bulldog backs, the ground game has had a good day.

Let’s not slight the passing attack, though. Cox came into the game late and the offense barely missed a beat. The backup quarterback threw five passes for five completions and 76 yards. Aside from a drop by Kris Durham over the middle, the ‘Dawgs looked sharp through the air all day. A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi lived up to their billing and both Michael Moore and Israel Troupe had good games.

No, the game wasn’t flawless. Georgia was set back 70 yards on nine penalties, although much of Central Michigan’s limited success came on some questionable no-calls by the officials. The special teams were not as strong as we have come to expect, as the directional kicks Blair Walsh has been instructed to make yielded more and bigger returns than are acceptable. I agree with the always insightful SG Standard: if we can put it out the back of the end zone, why don’t we?

These, though, are decidedly minor quibbles. Georgia closed the deal in dominant fashion, producing a game which was fun not only for the fans but (judging by the dancing on the sidelines during a T.V. timeout and by the good-natured ribbing dished out by Dobbs during the postgame show) also for the players.

On a day on which Southern California and Louisiana State both took the afternoon off (the latter, by necessity; the former, by design), Ohio State struggled mightily with overmatched Ohio (Ohio) in the national game of disinterest, and Florida led depleted Miami (Florida) by six points after three quarters before classlessly leaving Tim Tebow in the game to tack on trash (and trashy) points at the end, there appeared to be no genuine challengers to Georgia’s standing atop the sport outside of a couple of strong performers in the Big 12. (No, Texas and Texas Tech, I’m not talking about you!)

Nothing personal, coach, but . . . a 28-13 halftime lead over U.T.E.P.? Really?

Beyond that, here are a handful of other random observations regarding the Saturday just behind us:

• I have attended both games this season as one-half of a father-son outing, but, because I went to the Georgia Southern game with a five-year-old and to the Central Michigan game with a 65-year-old, I was able to stay all the way to the end this time. When the Redcoat Band struck up "Krypton Fanfare," I was reminded how right my wife is when she says that, rather than own the fourth quarter, she would rather own the first, second, and third quarters and leave the fourth period to the scrubs. Better that than sleepwalking through the first 15 minutes or more and needing to turn it on late like some teams I could name.



• Speaking of the Saurians, does Tim Tebow not see the cognitive dissonance between being the sort of football player who writes Bible verses on his eyeblack and being the sort of football player who plays for Urban Meyer? Can the Gator Golden Child quote me chapter and verse on the part where Jesus said, "Blessed are they who leave their starters in during the final minute of the fourth quarter so they can run it up, for they shall inherit the earth"? Who knew that Florida would one day hire a coach that made us long for the graciousness and dignity of the Steve Spurrier era?



• While we’re on the subject of running it up, I hope no one thinks Georgia did that by hanging half a hundred on the Chippewas. As I pointed out earlier, breaking 50 on C.M.U. is hardly novel for a B.C.S. conference team playing at home and the fourth-quarter offense was pretty much straight up the middle; it only got out of hand because Samuel came to play (which is to his credit) and there’s only so long Michiganders can be expected to hold up in Georgia humidity. Here’s how much the ‘Dawgs weren’t trying to run it up . . . by the end of the game, we had a white guy "possession-type receiver" out there returning punts!



• Here’s how the postseason coaching dominoes are going to fall: Tommy Bowden will be fired; Bobby Johnson will replace Coach Bowden at Clemson; Skip Holtz will replace Coach Johnson at Vanderbilt; Steve Spurrier will replace Coach Holtz at East Carolina. Hey, it’s bound to yield better results than the last time he replaced a Coach Holtz at a directional Carolina.



• No, I’m not talking trash to South Carolina. The Gamecocks always bring their best game to the confrontation with Georgia, and they will have two extra days to prepare, a strong incentive to right the ship after losing to Vanderbilt, a very stout defense, and a home field advantage that no Bulldog fan could deny is genuine and daunting. The good news is that this is likely to be a defensive struggle in which the first team to 20 wins. The bad news is that, the last time the ‘Dawgs scored 100 or more points in a two-game span was against Vanderbilt and Kentucky in 2002. The next week, Georgia lost to Florida by a 20-13 final margin. The Red and Black will have to be extremely wary heading into Columbia.



• I always enjoy seeing national championship Georgia squads from other sports being honored at halftime of a football game, but it’s a little odd to see what other Bulldog teams look like. The men’s tennis team looked like any eight guys selected at random from a fraternity block of seats in the student section and, as a guy sitting in front of me pointed out, the equestrian team must be second only to the football team as the Georgia squad having the most members. "There’s 40 girls out there," the fellow in the row before me noted, "and that means there’s got to be 40 horses, too."



• I was disappointed in the presentation of the football lettermen holding their reunions. The groups were introduced by team year without further embellishment. Between the 1998, 1988, 1983, 1978, 1968, 1958, and 1948 teams, there were some accomplished squads out there, but only the "Wonderdogs" received special mention. There were two S.E.C. championship squads, a ten-win Cotton Bowl championship squad that narrowly missed out on a national title, and Vince Dooley’s final team out there. Those guys deserve more credit than they were given on Saturday.



• I was mildly nonplussed that the televisions in the Tate Center were showing Boston College-Georgia Tech and Auburn-Southern Miss before the game. At the time, Ohio State was locked in a real battle with a M.A.C. team nowhere near as good as the one the ‘Dawgs were getting ready to throttle. We need to start thinking of ourselves as a national program. The Tate Center televisions ought to be showing us the Buckeyes’ and the Trojans’ struggles. Do you think U.S.C. fans are following U.C.L.A. games more intently than, say, L.S.U. games?



• In week one, the preseason favorite to win the A.C.C. was manhandled by an average or slightly above-average S.E.C. squad on a neutral field. In week two, the successor squad to take over the position of A.C.C. frontrunner needed a last-second 41-yard field goal to avoid being upset on its home field by a below-average S.E.C. squad. Is the S.E.C. that good or is the A.C.C. that pitiful? Is it fair to treat the A.C.C. champion as this year’s "B.C.S. buster"?



• If you even thought about being impressed by Florida’s 26-3 home win over Miami in a game in which the Gators managed seven offensive points in the first 45 minutes of play before cheaply pouring it on at the end, I would remind you of the following outcomes from the Hurricanes’ previous dozen outings: Oklahoma 51, Miami 13; Virginia 48, Miami 0; Virginia Tech 44, Miami 14. Pouring it on in the fourth quarter to beat the ‘Canes at home by 23? Please. The only thing remotely impressive about last night’s game in Gainesville was Erin Andrews.

It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog.

Go ‘Dawgs!