A.J. Green says Georgia ready to ’shock people’ in Auburn
A.J. Green had two touchdowns. Later, he had a message for Auburn. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
ATHENS – On the same day Georgia commemorated the 30th anniversary of the 1980 national championship team, the current incarnation of the Bulldogs had to embrace something significantly south of that: bowl life.
When a team starts 1-4, even Birmingham starts to look like the promised land.
But forget Birmingham or Nashville or Memphis. There’s an opportunity for the Dogs to celebrate something far more significant a third-tier bowl game — and certainly more tantalizing than Saturday’s 55-7 win over a Division I-AA punching bag, Idaho State.
Hello, Auburn.
“I know we’ve got a chance to win,” A.J. Green said Saturday. “I feel like they haven’t faced anybody else like me and [quarterback] Aaron [Murray] with our offense. We’re really going to show them. We’re going to shock a lot of people.”
This might be the first time in recorded history a player on a 5-5 team has thrown down the gauntlet against potentially the best team in country. But you’ve got to admire the spunk.
Georgia’s quest this season has long since been reduced to that of a spoiler. Embracing that is the Dogs’ best chance for mental and physical survival.
Last week’s overtime loss to Florida hit this team hard emotionally.
Green: “I still carry it with me.”
It was a foregone conclusion they would beat Idaho State. The Bengals are bad even by I-AA standards, having now lost eight straight and 33 of their past 36. Put it this way: Idaho State (No. 206 in Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings) entered the week ranked lower than even Georgia State’s opponent (Lamar at 204), and lower than the first-year Panthers (185).
Idaho State accepted a $525,000 payment in exchange for the likelihood of getting pounded. That’s precisely what happened.
Upsetting Auburn (10-0) wouldn’t nearly make up for losses in Starkville and Boulder and every other headache associated with this season. But it would ease the pain of the big picture. Imagine being jobless and then hitting a $10,000 scratch-off lottery ticket..
Green again: “A lot of people are probably going to favor them. But that’s just talk.”
“They’re going to be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation, and we haven’t beaten a ranked team all year,” Murray said. “Our last two games [against Auburn and Georgia Tech] are against teams with winning records. We can still salvage a lot.”
Murray threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Green caught two of those scores and finished with six receptions for over 100 yards. Each played only one possession in the second half.
The Dogs, however, were not without some early hiccups. They started this game like their heads were somewhere else. Jacksonville, probably.
Georgia’s first three offensive possessions produced only two field goals and a punt. Some fans booed, particularly when coach Mark Richt chose to go for three points on fourth-and-2 from the Idaho State 20 on the opening possession.
The score was only 6-0 after the first quarter. I’m not sure, but I think I saw Todd Grantham give Mike Bobo a choke sign.
But any sense of drama left the building in a 35-point second quarter. A partially blocked punt set up the Dogs at the Idaho State 43. Six plays later, Caleb King ran in from 3 yards out. Bacarri Rambo had an interception and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown soon after. Then came another interception, this by Brandon Boykin, and one play later Murray threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Green. Georgia scored 21 points in 2:15. The rout was on.
Here’s the big picture in the SEC: Seven teams are bowl eligible. Georgia isn’t one of them. An upset of Auburn would change that. It also would give the Dogs something significant this season: a highlight.
It’s an obvious long shot. But a team clings to what it can.
♦
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1,074 comments Add your comment
Vivid Video
November 6th, 2010
9:47 pm
TrishaDishaWarEagle- can we film it when you service Cam?
cattle dawg
November 6th, 2010
9:47 pm
No wonder Cam hasnt bought anymore brand new laptops for $10.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:47 pm
“i heard that.’
Do you always believe everything you heard, Kat?
kgtech
November 6th, 2010
9:47 pm
UGA offered nothing for Newton intsead they are paying a coach 750000 year to
give a choke sign to a 20 year old college athelete.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:48 pm
cattle dawg
You should be concerned about your entire UGAY team getting arrested.
Headley Lamar
November 6th, 2010
9:48 pm
The SEC has had a nice run for the past 4 years or so with a good team or two each year- but not so much before then – winning 4 of the prior 14 NC’s. But somehow SEC fans now believe that it has become your birth right to send at least one team to the NC(if not both).
I love this argument. That the SEC has had a nice little run that is about to be over. We have won 6 of the last 12 NC’s BTW.
If that were the case why do we have the most players in the NFL? Could it be because they arent biased and just want the best players?
Katherine
November 6th, 2010
9:49 pm
TrishaDishaWarEagle
November 6th, 2010
9:47 pm
@CNR notice who is not here tonight???
The sad reality of a Bama defeat is that there will be a spike in wife/sister beatings in Tuscaloosa tonight.
WAR!!!!!!!!!!!DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WAR CAM EAGLE, TOO!!!!!
Trisha…you are making yourself look like a inbred idiot by saying that stuff…don’t embarrass yourself….oh wait you already did by stating nothing before you were born mattered.
WAR CAM EAGLE, TOO!!!!!
Beast from the East
November 6th, 2010
9:49 pm
Trisha,
Don’t make fun of our most famous alumnus. LOL!
History Major
November 6th, 2010
9:49 pm
A.J. made a tactical error boasting, and he has made errors before. However, on the field he is a great stringbean who can stretch to reach anything thrown his way. He also catches what is thrown, and is able to run after he catches it. If Coach Richt gets the ball to him on enough plays, Georgia just might win. I’ve seen games in which the most brilliant star was seldom used. Make that mistake this Saturday, and you lose.
Travis McGee
November 6th, 2010
9:49 pm
A.J. is suffering from a mild concussion. Auburn will spit the Dawgs out like sunflower seeds!
And, so it goes. . . .
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:49 pm
“notice who is not here tonight???’
Yeah, the bammer fans are crying in their trailer parks tonight. Oh well.
JB
November 6th, 2010
9:49 pm
We still leave receivers to open…..Cam rolling out will expose that I’m afraid…….
JB
November 6th, 2010
9:50 pm
Lot’s of folks on this blog this summer Said Bama would lose three games this year. Might happen…..
Headley Lamar
November 6th, 2010
9:50 pm
Cam gets a 50,000 dollar bonus BTW for beating Bama
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:50 pm
“you are making yourself look like a inbred idiot by saying that stuff…don’t embarrass yourself….oh wait you already did by stating nothing before you were born mattered.”
How can you tell if someone is inbred by their comments?
Katherine
November 6th, 2010
9:51 pm
come on cam…you know i’m right
do-dah do-dah
November 6th, 2010
9:51 pm
crabapplejoe all schools have a couple of “buy out games”- but the SEC has turned that into an art form. Go back and look at the non conference schedules of SEC teams over the years. If you want a really interesting exercise- go and find when the last time Florida played a non-conference regular season game outside of the state of Florida. It may take you awhile.
Headley Lamar
November 6th, 2010
9:52 pm
The SEC has 22 players on average per NFL team
Mountain West has 8
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:52 pm
“come on cam…you know i’m right”
No, I know you’re not that bright. That, I do know.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:53 pm
“Mountain West has 8″
How many national titles does the MW have in the past 80 years?
Red Panty Raid
November 6th, 2010
9:53 pm
If you think you’re beating Auburn you’re nuts. Keep talking. You’ll convince yourself you’re national champs soon. Suit up your arrogance, that’s the only way you stand a snowballs chance. UGA sucks.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
November 6th, 2010
9:53 pm
Katherine, there is no way I made myself look like a UGA fan..sorry..never gonna happen..
But in all fairness, I did see a championship team in Athens today..but they were all 50 years old, 30th anniversary of UGA’s heyday..
Katherine
November 6th, 2010
9:53 pm
LOL ok
do-dah do-dah
November 6th, 2010
9:53 pm
I’m a Bama fan- and I think we will lose against Auburn also. I never expected Bama to repeat.
Beast from the East
November 6th, 2010
9:53 pm
Give the Bammers a break. They’ve had a great team the past few years. It’s tough as hell to repeat as NC’s. They’ve had a bullseye on their backs all year.
Mad Hatter
November 6th, 2010
9:54 pm
do-dah do-dah- you are so right on about Jeremy Foley’s scheduling philosophy- it’s sad. Too bad McGarity is bringing it to UGA. Cancelling the Oregon game was embarrassing.
Katherine
November 6th, 2010
9:54 pm
trisha…you made yourself look like and idiot by saying A) nothing that happened before you were born mattered and B) war………damn……eagle…..LAME
Headley Lamar
November 6th, 2010
9:55 pm
How many national titles does the MW have in the past 80 years?
Im arguing against the MW not for it.
Read the post.
The SEC has 22 players per NFL team
MW has 8 per NFL
Therefore SEC is much better than MW.
Headley Lamar
November 6th, 2010
9:56 pm
Cancelling the Oregon game was embarrassing.
They didnt cancel it. Oregon wanted out too. They mutually agreed not to play.
“Georgia and Oregon have agreed to cancel a home-and-home football series that was scheduled in 2015 and 2016.
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said today that the decision was a mutual one between him and Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens.
On Georgia’s end, the move reflects McGarity’s preference to have seven home games each season. The 2015 game was to have been played in Eugene, Ore., and the 2016 game in Athens.
Since both schools wanted out of the series, no buyout was involved, McGarity said.”
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:56 pm
“UGA has no college of Engineering”
They have a college of Lady GaGa. No wait, that’s South Carolina.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
Headley Lamar
My point is that the MW doesn’t have any national championships in the past 80 years.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
“hahaha this guy is definitely a loser”
Yes, indeed you are.
do-dah do-dah
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
Mad Hatter Or Tn cancelling their game with NC this year. Or Auburn cancelling their game with FSU in Tallahassee years ago. Real classy.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
Enter your comments here
bgdawg
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
@ kathrine same for florida when tebow was at florida, cam will leave in at most a year and a couple games from now after that who else is there? hope AU can hold on to cam for as long as they can cuz after he leaves its back to bulldawg dominance baby
ARdawg
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
@Buford Pusser
Jezzsus dude. Are you always wound this tight all the time or just since Virginia Tech broke it off in your butt last Thursday night?
Katherine
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
trisha…uga has a very good law school and school of journalism as well….not everyone wants to be an engineer..
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:57 pm
“you made yourself look like and idiot by saying A) nothing that happened before you were born mattered and B) ‘
Does it make you feel big to call other people an idiot and inbred, Kat?
Katherine
November 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
*to use hope
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
“Or Auburn cancelling their game with FSU in Tallahassee years ago.”
Uh, that was over 15 years ago. Try again.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
Katherine
You sure are thin skinned for someone who goes around insulting other people.
Mad Hatter
November 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
Headley Lamar- that’s cool but it’s still a shame- and notice that it’s a mutual decision between McGarity and Oregon’s brand new AD- who is from the SEC (Kentucky) which means maybe Oregon is changing their scheduling philosophy as well.
Beast from the East
November 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
No one likes watching their team playing patsies, but if you want the dollars that go with 7 home games then you have no other choice. It’s purely a financial decision.
do-dah do-dah
November 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
I’m expecting the SEC to all end up with 8 homes games each year like Auburn this year.How in the world did that happen???
Gary
November 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
55-7 beatdown, Georgia layed down the wood today.
Great game on sepc teams, defense, and offense.
Cam Newton Rocks
November 6th, 2010
9:59 pm
“Give the Bammers a break. ”
Uh……..NO!
TrishaDishaWarEagle
November 6th, 2010
9:59 pm
@Katherine..that’s just a greeting
Bulldogs sniff each others butt as a greeting, Tigers say war eagle..or war damn eagle!
bgdawg
November 6th, 2010
9:59 pm
@ kathrine everything you say is true. i am a hs student and might have to go out of state just because uga accepts only so many georgia students, i take multiple AP courses and still might not get accepted into UGA
jack wagon from mamby pamby land
November 6th, 2010
9:59 pm
Headley Lamar
November 6th, 2010
10:51 pm
Thirty miles south of Auburn, whistle-blower James Gundlach sits in his ten–acre back yard and talks about the more than 100 hate e-mails he has received.
“What they’re saying is, ‘We know we’re cheating. Anybody who points out that we’re cheating deserves to be trompled down, punished, hurt, die,’” Gundlach says. “Nobody has threatened to kill me, but people have said they wished I would die. There are people out there who will violently defend their team’s right to cheat, and that’s a very sad commentary.”
KInda sounds like some Dawg fans who got so upset with the AJC sports writers for writing about the terrible off field year the Dawgs are having.
DawgNole
November 6th, 2010
9:59 pm
“Not really”?
You’re in denial, Cam Rocks.
There is no more cowardly (or arrogant) program than Auburn’s.