Georgia proves only it also can lose a close game to Florida
Aaron Murray led rally but had too many mistakes in his first Florida game. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
JACKSONVILLE — It wasn’t humiliating. Is that better? After two mostly miserable decades in this rivalry and consecutive dismemberings of 49-10 and 41-17, should it feel better to know Georgia walked off the field and could have won?
“No — it’s a loss,” Akeem Dent said.
“An L is an L,” A.J. Green said.
“This kind of hurt more,” Washaun Ealey said.
Georgia came close Saturday. That shouldn’t be the objective.
Maybe comebacks say something about a team’s character. Maybe the Bulldogs grew up a little in the second half. Maybe the quarterback won’t have early-game jitters next time. Maybe one year again, they’ll actually beat Florida.
But this program should not be about gauging the degree of severity of losses.
They lost in overtime 34-31. They showed remarkable resolve by rallying from a 21-7 halftime deficit to tie it twice, the last time at 31-31 with 4:36 left in regulation. That’s certainly more resiliency and substance that the past two Georgia teams showed in Jacksonville.
A.J. Green's 15-yard touchdown sent the game into overtime.
But here’s the reality check. This is not a great Florida team. It entered with its worst regular-season losing streak in 22 years. This is certainly the worst team Urban Meyer ever has fielded. It’s so bad that a 4-4 Georgia team on the wrong end of a lopsided rivalry was favored.
The Dogs lost anyway. That makes 18 in the past 21 years.
“I really don’t look at it like that,” said athletic director Greg McGarity. “College players have a two- or three-year window. They weren’t here the whole time.”
He is right about that. The real problem is that the one-year view is no better.
At 3-4 in the SEC, they are dead in the conference race.
At 4-5 overall, they are clinging only to mathematical possibilities for a lower-tier bowl.
The Liberty Bowl never should be the objective.
Green has been through three of these Florida games now. He probably won’t go through a fourth. The NFL calls. But it will take some time to forget this one.
“I swear I thought we were going to win this,” he said.
The loss dropped Georgia to 4-5 and Mark Richt to 2-8 against Florida. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
The comeback started with a field goal in the third quarter, making it 21-10. The Georgia scored touchdowns on its next three possessions. Murray, after completing only 5 of 14 passes with two interceptions in the first half, went 13-for-21 with two touchdowns in the second.
And we wondered: “Where did this team come from?”
“We were clicking on all cylinders,” Green said. “We had the momentum.”
Trailing 31-24, Murray drove the Dogs from midfield with under seven minutes left. On third-and-goal from the 15, he found Green in the middle of the end zone to tie the score. The teams went to overtime.
One more Murray mistake decided it. He tried to hit Green in the corner of the end zone, but the pass was tipped by linebacker Jelani Jones and intercepted at the 11 by safety Will Hill. (He nearly returned it for a touchdown but was pushed out of bounds at the 4-yard line by Tavarres King.)
Murray on the interception: “I’ve just got to learn from it. I wish I could take that throw back.”
The Gators got the ball back and ran three plays before Chas Henry’s game-winning 37-yard field goal.
Green, as a member of the field-goal block team, had a close-up view.
“I felt like I was going to block it,” he said. “It was real close.”
How close?
“I could feel the wind from the ball. Then I turned around and thought, ‘Dang.’ I was hoping a bird would fly down and knock it down.”
That just doesn’t happen in this rivalry. Things go wrong. Meyer justifiably gets torched for deciding to bring “Time To Die” guy, Chris Rainey back from suspension for this game.
What happens? Rainey scores the game’s first touchdown on a 20-yard run.
But this was less about Rainey than it was about Georgia. The Dogs are better than they were at 1-4. But not a lot. Beating Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky doesn’t prove a lot. Nor does losing close. It just makes for a little more pain and a little less humiliation.
♦
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1,166 comments Add your comment
BIll
October 30th, 2010
11:00 pm
Thanks, SavannahDawg
Fake Urban Meyer
October 30th, 2010
11:00 pm
Stop bad mouthing CMR. He had not done anything to anybody.
will
October 30th, 2010
11:01 pm
I always wonder how much $$$$ the real blog screamers have lost on a game. Also, how much alcohol has been consumed.
Neither one of these teams is really very good. Both have a lot of work to do. Hope that South Carolina wins the East Division, so that a decent rep is in the championship game. The cycle is in the best teams are in the West Division. That will change.
Whether Richt stays or goes? If he goes, then how much lee way, will all the “he has to go” give the new coach. One week. Maybe.
Exactly who will this new coach be? I already know the answer. Anyone, just anyone just get rid of Richt. Jump up and down and pout. Pout some more. Have some more alcohol and wake up tomorrow.
Headley Lamar
October 30th, 2010
11:01 pm
Well why dont you compare Richts last 5 years with Donnans last 5 years. Not a lot of difference my friend
But thats just it. Richt DID have the first 5 years. That track record earns you time wether you like it or not.
jtdawg
October 30th, 2010
11:01 pm
Outsider – I always love comments coming from those who obviously understand what a sleeping giant this program is. The talent in this state is enough to scare anyone in any conference, if we can just get the righ stuff in – so keep flapping your gums in hoping you can convince some of these idiots that we should “just shut up and support our 8-4 program…”
To all of you so called windbag Dawg fans who think it’s ok to be Red and Blank punching bags…. take YOUR frikken jerseys off and keep your damn money to your self. Pack your sorry arsed UHAUL and take it back to whatever yankee state you came from… this is OUR home, OUR state and OUR school. Just because we don’t accept mediocrity like you do doesn’t mean we don’t support our school, program or it’s players, you mindless jacklegs.
Go look in the mirror and ask yourselves why you can’t make anything real of your lives.. oh that’s right, because the sun shines tomorrow and mediocrity will will never make me unhappy… la la la….
Mr. Dawg
October 30th, 2010
11:01 pm
Embarrassing.
BROKE DAWG
October 30th, 2010
11:02 pm
Can any of ya’ll spare some change so I can get a cup of coffee or some oxy contin? Thanks in advance.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
October 30th, 2010
11:02 pm
@ole ball coach..
Click Clack!!
I hope spurrier(who I personally like because of his not give a damn what others think, attitude) kicks the gators in the teeth and wins the SEC East while they have this opening..
Alan
October 30th, 2010
11:03 pm
Ok, can Richt finally bench Aaron Murray and give Logan Gray or Hutson Mason a shot? Murray doesn’tr deserve to start after throwign 3 interceptions and fumbling away another turnover.
If Murray starts the next game, Richt has lost his common sense.
Kyle
October 30th, 2010
11:03 pm
Yeah fire Richt….NOT! A 94-32 record and people think, well darn he’s 2-8 vs. Florida. What do you think you can just bring in a new coach and say “beat the gators”..?!?? And what if that new coach couldn’t do it and the streak continues, do you fire him too? Texas lost their 4th game…are they a “midlevel” program now too?! There’s just sooooo many qualified candidates out there to come in and put up 50 points on UF each year(hint of sarcasm).
You freak shows on here remind me why I never respond to these blogs. The AJC and Shultz should just take them down. This is the 1st and last time I’ll ever post on here. All of you waste your time on here typing childish comments….how freakin lame.
Gator Man
October 30th, 2010
11:03 pm
We run your State!!!!!!! get used to it suckers.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!
YALL AINT NOTHING BUT SOME CHUMPS!!!!!!!!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!
Phil
October 30th, 2010
11:03 pm
“And for you LOSERS that are calling for CMR’s head, I will repeat: who do you have lined up that would do better?”
I think Jim Harbaugh from Stanford would do better. They play tough, physical, smash smouth, smart football. And if he had recruting access to the to players Richt does, the sky is the limit as to what he could do.
UGA Fans mad...Ticked Off With Everybody
October 30th, 2010
11:04 pm
When you wake up Sunday Morning nothing has changed. GATORS BEAT UGA AGAIN! NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT !
Fake Urban Meyer
October 30th, 2010
11:04 pm
@TrishaDishaWarEagle, keep hoping. We will see you all in the championship game and break up your toys.
5150 P.O.A.D.
October 30th, 2010
11:04 pm
Florida saved the Dawgs from backing into the SECCG and getting Hammered by Bamma or Auburn for the second time in one year. DAWGS be happy your pain will end fefore the Holiday season even starts. You can party and not worry what the dawgs will do to spoil your Holiday Cheer.
Jim
October 30th, 2010
11:04 pm
I have been a Georgia football fan for 30 years— I am done with this team–done with Richt–done with this program–bunch of thugs–garbage cordinators–clean house house and start over.
Mr. Dawg
October 30th, 2010
11:04 pm
JT, were no 8-4 punching bags. Try 6 and 6
jellybeandawg
October 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
Headley Lamar ,
Yes, and it bought him 5 more years. How long will you continue to use the first 5 years as an excuse, and what relevance does that have for what is happening today????
jtdawg
October 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
Headley – you are flat wrong and you know it. Rich has had 10 YEARS to get it right, and even when he has teams that SHOULD win, he can’t even get this team out of its OWN way.
Murray has NEVER made that many boneheaded, frozen mistakes this year yet. You think maybe Richt, just like every year, had him as tight asa polar bear’s hiney about this game???? The rest of them looked the same way… The UF-UGA locker room for the Dawgs is just pure poison right now and needs a severe change.
Enjoy being Floridas BEYOTCH. You and others like you aparently revel in it…. Me, I’m sick on my stomach about it.
ROZEMAN
October 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
I agree with you Phil
ckgator
October 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
A little drawing for y’all.
To remind you….
Who won….
AGAIN…..
\..,….,.”<
Go Gators!
Steve Spurrier
October 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
Thanks Trish, we’ll give it out best shot.
Sec Step Child
October 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
TrishaDisha…
was not trying to offend you, I just think it was a funny statement, I personally know Tommy and the last three years of Tommy’s tenure he felt anything but love from many many people at Auburn. He even stated it publicly last year. Now Chizik put together a great staff and has done an average job with a great great quarterback and we will see how long the love last after his two best recruits( Newton and Malzhan) are gone.
That was all I was saying.
Fake Urban Meyer
October 30th, 2010
11:06 pm
If we did not beat the dawgs, I would be scared to go outside. I think that would be one of the signs of the second coming….
Mr. Dawg
October 30th, 2010
11:06 pm
Dawg Nation,
Are you satisfied with who we can win against?
TrishaDishaWarEagle
October 30th, 2010
11:06 pm
@fake UF run defense..ok ..no SEC team has ever run for 800 yrds in a game before..that could be cool to watch CAMco cut loose.
jellybeandawg
October 30th, 2010
11:07 pm
Will you continue to use ” WELL LOOK WHAT HE DID IN HIS FIRST 5 YEARS” as an excuse for another 5,10,15,20 years? At what point does that crutch not become a valid argument for you apologists anymore??
archangeladidas
October 30th, 2010
11:07 pm
Its amazing how before the game no one said anything about firing CMR. All you losers could talk about was Urban this and Urban that. Now after another lost to the GATORS thats some how shocking to you all, you want to fire your coach. 18 out of 21! GO GATORS!!!
carlton smithee
October 30th, 2010
11:07 pm
Well,I guess…there go the beards!
BIll
October 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
jellybeandawg
Yes, Dan Mullen has done a great job at Miss State, (which is just about an impossibility, so hats off to him!)
But that’s 1 and a half years of a track record, and only over .500 this year, so who really knows long-term, right?
Who else in the handful that you mentioned?
TrishaDishaWarEagle
October 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
@sec..I say we should make a pledge to pay Malzhan whatever his best HC offer is, plus a shiney new mercedes
Jay
October 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
At this point, I have to think Bobo checked his brains at the door.
In reviewing the Florida=Georgia game for the last 9 years, until 2010, you’d find mabye 3 real keys to winning the game if you looked at the stats for Georgia that almost always worked:
1- Have a 100 yard rusher (Nope)
2- Win the 1st quarter (nope)
3- Have the Georgia tight end gain more yards thsn the Florida TE (yep)
Just either, poor strategy, or poor execution. Either way Bobo’s the blame.
Fake Urban Meyer
October 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
Coach Spurrier, keep on hoping. The East is ours. We run this. USC and UGA are cut from the same cloth and we have the scissors.
Corch Myer
October 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
jtdawg It’s sad that your life is so shallow that the loss of a football game just jacks your jaws like that. You really need to get another outlet for your life. You also need to learn something about the game of football.
Sniff Sniff
October 30th, 2010
11:09 pm
Is that a wet dawg I smell? Geez, you flea bags need a bath. It’s Saturday night, so go ahead and get your weekly washing done.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
October 30th, 2010
11:10 pm
ciao..
Fake Urban Meyer
October 30th, 2010
11:10 pm
Ya’ll could show me some love by offering the UGA job to me. I will say “NO” but I may start feeling sorry for you all.
Tweets that mention Georgia proves only that it also can lose close to Florida | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
October 30th, 2010
11:11 pm
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Fake Mark Richt
October 30th, 2010
11:11 pm
My $5.00 hair cut, fake tan, RayBans looks great on TV. I am working on the bald spot too.Relax Dawg Nation.
A.C.
October 30th, 2010
11:12 pm
Fake Urban – I see your point; still disagree.
Everyone calling for a coaching change – I agree; I think it’s just time for a new direction. However, Richt is not the ONLY problem with the Georgia/Florida game. The MAIN problem is a pathetic UGA administration being afraid to change; being afraid to shake things up when they see Florida OWN this game nearly every year for TWO DECADES. I don’t care if UGA used to beat Florida all the time in Jacksonville before 1990. GEORGIA DOES NOT BEAT FLORIDA IN JACKSONVILLE ANYMORE. It’s a big problem, and we need to do something about it. Home & home.
Our Stadium is Bigger Than Yours
October 30th, 2010
11:12 pm
And we do have 84,000 rednecks that will follow a loser.
No questions asked.
GTBob
October 30th, 2010
11:12 pm
UGA just isn’t quite at the level of Florida yet. Florida’s bad teams are better then UGA’s bad teams. Florida’s good teams are better then UGA’s good teams. There is just an overall higher level of play and coaching at Florida right now. I’m not sure what could be done to change that, if anything could.
Steve Spurrier
October 30th, 2010
11:13 pm
Dear Fake…….Now way you lizards win the SEC. Go on back to the swamp.
Fake Urban Meyer
October 30th, 2010
11:13 pm
FMR, I was wondering when you would show up. I have been defending you against the haters.
GR82BAG8R
October 30th, 2010
11:13 pm
Yes, I do think Georgia will beat Auburn – - and Tech. And Trish, wait until you see how your 2010 Coach of the Year coach performs with the players he recruits before you give him a Paul Hewitt contract….
BOBBY JACKTARD
October 30th, 2010
11:13 pm
AIN’T LIFE GRAND! IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT AND GOOD TO BE A GEORGIA BULLDOG. GOOOOOOOO DAWGS. SIC EM WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!
jellybeandawg
October 30th, 2010
11:13 pm
Bill also:
Chris Petersen, Gary Patterson, Troy Calhoun Paul Rhoads, and Kyle Whittingham would be excellent options. Lots of good coaches out there really.
Our Stadium is Bigger Than Yours
October 30th, 2010
11:14 pm
Want proof? Count the rednecks at the Idaho St game
Aaron Murray crying on the side lines
October 30th, 2010
11:14 pm
Bobo hugging and a kiss for Murray.
Fake Urban Meyer
October 30th, 2010
11:14 pm
Gators love chicken!!! Everyone is alway talking about things tasting like chicken but there is nothing like the real thing.