Georgia shows signs of life (for those still paying attention)
Tavarres King's second touchdown catch made the score 35-0, and the rout was on. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
ATHENS – It’s best to not get lost in the blur of “what-ifs.”
What if the first opponent was 1-AA roadkill and not a ranked team? What if Georgia had a week to work out flaws before playing Boise State? Or an easy game to prep for South Carolina? Then would they be leading the SEC East today? What if Marcus Lattimore had suddenly declared before last week’s game, “On second thought, I’m going to save my legs for equestrian. Away with you, Mr. Spurrier”?
It’s just not worth it.
Georgia dug a deep hole, and it’s going to be a while before anybody will be able to see light again. The hole didn’t get any deeper Saturday. But otherwise, we saw what we already knew: The Bulldogs are physically superior to Coastal Carolina. They rule over all Chanticleers. Say it loud, say it proud. They led 21-0 after roughly 17 seconds and 38-0 one series into the second half, when all starters headed for Barcaloungers.
They won 59-0. If they can do this to Coastal Carolina, imagine what they could do to Liberty, and Presbyterian, and Stony Brook. Big South: You are the gum under the SEC’s shoe.
“All right. We got a victory,” coach Mark Richt said.
It was the first time Richt he could use those words in a postgame news conference in nine and a half months.
Georgia had not won a game since beating Georgia Tech on Nov. 27. Since then, Athens had witnessed various forms of suffering, anguish and humiliation: A lifeless defeat to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl. A body slam by Boise State in the season opener. A woulda-coulda-shoulda loss to South Carolina.
“This probably won’t turn a lot of people’s heads,” quarterback Aaron Murray admitted.
But a win was needed for some kind of cleansing. Or exorcism. The Dogs just aren’t feeling the love these days, and they know it will take a long series of victories — or at least one in Florida — before they feel it again.
Even one of the team’s cheerleaders could be overheard as the final seconds ticked down, “Yay! We’re 1-2!” the words dripping with sarcasm.
The good? There is a pulse after an 0-2 start. A 59-0 win takes a certain level of effort and pride, even if the marquee reads: Godzilla vs. Bambi. It was the Dogs’ most lopsided victory since a 70-6 win over Northeast Louisiana in 1994. Richt can only hope it’s a greater launching pad than it was for Ray Goff 17 years ago.
But some of the negative vibes around the program also were reaffirmed. There were about 10,000 empty seats in Sanford Stadium at kickoff. Attendance (tickets distributed) was announced as 91,946, which is the first non-sellout (by 800) in the Mark Richt era. Georgia had sold out 64 straight. The last non-sellout came in Jim Donnan’s final game against Georgia Tech in 200.
We can quibble about how close the number was to listed capacity. But bottom line: When the most popular sports property in the state fails to sell out for the first time in 11 years, it’s significant.
So it was a little surprising when Richt said, “I don’t think it’s a big deal. It was just about taking care of business.”
For players, that last part is true. But externally, confidence will build again only if Georgia can string together wins over the next four weeks: at Mississippi, Mississippi State, at Tennessee and Vanderbilt. It would create some momentum going into the Florida game.
“Our goal is to go 10-0, and that started today,” Murray said.
“I’m sure most people just view this as as somebody we should have beaten,” cornerback Brandon Boykin said. “But a game like this, just getting the shutout, gives us confidence.”
OK: What if? What if Georgia had played Coastal Carolina first?
“I wouldn’t have wanted that,” Boykin said. “I wanted to play a tough team at the beginning of the year. That game showed us what we needed to do to get ready for South Carolina. We played better last week because we had a rough time with Boise.”
In other words, this is your team. The schedule wasn’t going to change that. Now it’s about making the headache go away. We’ll know more over the next few weeks.
By Jeff Schultz
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556 comments Add your comment
Beast from the East
September 18th, 2011
6:56 am
Rainey for Heisman!
Ohio State
September 18th, 2011
7:08 am
Poobear,
If he is such a great coach, why are his assistant coaches he hired here and he keeps here too long, so bad ?
And, if he is such a great coach, why has he lost more than 4 games a season after 2005 ?
More than 4 games a season losses, is not great sir. Not close. And, this is not over 3 seasons, but over now 6 seasons. The only remaining opponent he has who is ranked this morning is # 16 Florida. Are you going to make excuses for him and his staff losing that game, again ?
Apologist
Ohio State
September 18th, 2011
7:19 am
bugsquacher September 18th, 2011 3:08 am
“But what does it really mean? Does it mean we are a contender in the SEC? Probably not. Does it mean we can contend with second tier divison one teams? Probably. Is this where the Dawg Nation wants to be?”
I believe quite honestly, that yes, sir, this is exactly where the RICHT-0-FILES want to be. Able to beat some of the second tier division one teams, but not all of them; able to beat none of the top tier division one teams. If they wanted to be anywhere else, say actually in 11 seasons having been considered that season ourselves a top tier division one team who beat a top tier division one team – any of the 11 seasons to-date, then we would have done that – only Mark Richt never has done that.
Yet, according to the Richt Apologists, Mark Richt is the greatest coach in the history of football.
(1) He understands NOTHING about motivation
(2) He never has shown the 1st clue about hiring an assistant coach
(3) He never has shown the 1st clue about firing an assistant coach, either
(4) He cannot beat his 1 rival
(5) He is content with all this
(6) Not 1 year when he is supposed to have had great year, did he beat any team finishing in the AP Poll Top 10.
(7) He has never understood discipline
(8) Beating Coastal Carolina by 59 to nothing means NOTHING
Reality
September 18th, 2011
7:21 am
Enjoy it Mutts….you still will be 6-6 or 5-7 and GT will clean your clock in November….
Get Real
September 18th, 2011
7:25 am
What UGA fans fail to understand is that we don’t give a crap what you did in the past. You all are hung up on a three year period (80-82) that happened THIRTY years ago. What about this year? You are 1-2. All of these posters on here that talk about how they have been alive so long. You are irrelevant. Get over it.
Ohio State
September 18th, 2011
7:34 am
PACIFIC PAPA! September 18th, 2011 5:30 am
“Frankly, I’m amazed that anyone would believe that God, Jesus, whoever would favor us over others. Afterall, if we are all God’s children, then we’re all alike, like it or not. So, please, cut the crap about praying to Jesus for the DAWGS and asserting that He loves Georgia better than South Carolina. Astounding.”
“Some of you may be right that Richt will be UGA’s coach for many years. I doubt that but we will see. I’ve tried to figure what happened that has caused us to be in such ill repair. My son laughed and said “dad, we’re on the downs because CMR is not a good coach.” Saban, Miles, Meyer weren’t coaching in the SEC then. Therein lies the difference. I wish Richt no ill, I just wish he were gone. He has worn me out to where I have lost interest, no, my passion for Georgia football. I long for that passion to return. The BullDAWG nation, so-called, is badly split. I have a friend who says “if we’re in the third tier. That means we are the seventh team in the SEC in recruiting. We beat out Ole Miss, Miss. St., Kentucky, Vanderbilt”
THAT ABOUT SUMS IT UP.
Buckeye
September 18th, 2011
7:38 am
Appears we’ll be joining the dogs in
Others Receiving Votes
Buckeye
September 18th, 2011
7:39 am
On the bright side,
The Commodores are for real. Can’t wait to see the dogs get whipped in NashVegas!
Ohio State
September 18th, 2011
7:50 am
Running back Jordan Hall and defensive backs Travis Howard and Corey Brown received impermissible benefits at a charity event they attended earlier in the year and were suspended for NCAA violations. Six other Buckeyes were already suspended for NCAA violations- including running back Dan Herron, wide receiver DeVier Posey, offensive tackle Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas, who all will miss five games as part of their involvement in an investigation that led to the departures of quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel, who is now replaced by Luke Fickell. Terrelle Pryor stand-in at QB Joe Bauserman connected on just 2-of-14 passes for 13 yards in defeat as Ohio State was 4 of 17 passing for -0- TD only 35 yards in the air, and threw an interception in a 6-24 blow-out loss to Miami of Florida, who just had lost giving up 32 points in a loss to lowly Maryland. Neither Maryland nor Miami of Florida, obviously are ranked. Neither is Ohio State, now. Others receiving votes ? You mean for NCAA PROBATION major infractions ?
dmr
September 18th, 2011
7:58 am
Georgia played good, not great. We made some mistakes that still need cleaning up. Schultz’s “WHAT IF” column could really be turned around in many ways. What if Tech had actually played a real football team in their first three games? What if Florida had in It’s first two? What if SC had lost at home to NAVY? What if Lattimore had only run for 195 yards last night? What if, what if, what if.
Honestly, who gives a damn about “what if”? We should only care about WHAT IS. Richt and Company have a chance to put a nice little run together here. On the road in Oxford, doesn’t look as daunting at the moment, but for a program with youth and struggles, any SEC road contest is a test.
The Coastal Carolina win in its own right is a building block. How you may ask? Any team that is trying to get back to prominence starts by beating the teams they should beat and doing it well. Georgia many times in the past had struggled to just drop the hammer. They did it Saturday and began on another building block, which was developing depth. Many kids that played yesterday were playing high school ball just 1 year ago.
Don’t blow the win out of proportion. But, don’t diminish the importance for a team trying to find Itself. Georgia could have won the game or lost the game. They chose to win. If you’re a complaining fan about that, then you don’t need to be a fan.
Look at the record of LATE
September 18th, 2011
8:03 am
CMR’s last three or four years have been uttelry miserable and are not why he is paid $3.6 million.
Get over it CMR lovers ………………….. he is paid to win the majority of his games.
Next !!
UGA class of 71 & 73
Kool-AidDrinker
September 18th, 2011
8:09 am
We have just won a big game and now we should be playing for the SEC title after we run the table , including wins overt UF, UT, AU and GT. I’ve got us winning out and a BCS bowl victory to boot. Mark gets a contract extension. Great to be a DAWG!
NewbombTurk
September 18th, 2011
8:26 am
Someone tell Georgia Tech it’s time to stop practicing and start their football season.
Keyboard-bravado-is-whack
September 18th, 2011
8:33 am
Can they change thepolicy so that you have to log in via Facebook or twitter so that people can’t hide behind their fake names?
dawgfan75
September 18th, 2011
8:34 am
We wann’t no kitty cats! We wuz dawgs!
Ace
September 18th, 2011
8:37 am
Well UGA has become Buford and they act the part.
Joey
September 18th, 2011
8:52 am
Rainey for Boyfriend of the Year!
Sorry Beast, I had to throw that in . . .
RedandBlackDAWG
September 18th, 2011
8:55 am
Enter your comments here
» SEC: Same old Florida, but a brand new Vanderbilt John Clay's Sidelines
September 18th, 2011
8:57 am
[...] Bulldogs show some signs of life, writes Jeff Schultz of AJC. [...]
The Cupcake City
September 18th, 2011
9:03 am
Classic Cupcake Victory (for those still paying attention).
This probably won’t turn a lot of people’s heads (except knuckleheads).
The Cupcake City
September 18th, 2011
9:06 am
. . . . The Dawgs: 59
.The Cupcakes: zero
RedandBlackDAWG
September 18th, 2011
9:06 am
bBuckeye and ohio state,
At least if UGA were to lose to Vanderbilt, which isn’t likely, they would not have lost out of conference to an ACC team. I am sure you showed your disdain to Miamai this week, or in the osu blog, if they have one. At least Vanderbilt is in the SEC. Does it really make you clowns feel proud that you can get onto a blog about UGA, and spout garbage after your team was shown for what it really is? You have an anemic offense, at best, and your conference is not yours to win this year. You might even lose about 3 more games, with the new members and Michigan whipping your butts. If you want sympathy or an audience for your worthless rants about UGA, try your own teams blog, as I am sure they will supply you with an audience. I don’t care if you are from Georgia or not, you will get no sympathy here from UGA fans. Only the other rat turds from other schools that come onto these blogs to insult another team. You were lucky to beat Akron, so you would be best served by keeping quiet and hoping somehow, your team starts playing.
GO DAWGS and GATA
RedandBlackDAWG
September 18th, 2011
9:14 am
Schutz,
As you can now see, there are plenty of both negative people and UGA fans that must care about the UGA and how they do. It is a shame you can’t write a more meaningful article, but it appears you can’t. Ban me if you wish, because quite frankly, your articles aren’t worth reading, only responding to. Maybe you can just write articles for an AJC Blog, called, “I hate UGA and like irritating their fans with worthless articles designed to disparge UGA and gather negative comments”.
Tech Rules This State
September 18th, 2011
9:19 am
Wow……all those empty seats at Sanford Stadium….looks like the bandwagon rednecks are jumping ship leg humpers!!!!!!!. That will get Mr. Richt fired for sure and he can spend ALL his time at the tanning salon. Good game anyway against a high school team…..good practice when you see the Yellow Jackets high school boys run all over your sorry butts in Atlanta in a few months……better watch a lot of Kansas film boys…it is coming your way soon!!!!!!
doug dawg
September 18th, 2011
9:26 am
well, good folks. last time i checked there were about 120 teams in the running for the ‘mythical national championship.’ and it is mythical. now, we dawg fans bitch, carp, and moan about wins, apparently, as well as losses. wonder if even fans of the winner of the mnc bitch, carp, and moan. i’ll bet some of them do. margin of victory not big enough? too many mistakes? play calling could have been better? why did we kick a field goal rather than throw for the end zone on 4th down? and on and on and on and on. all spoiled brats; yes, even, and maybe especially, dawg fans, like i am. we have a team and coach which have averaged almost 10 wins a season over the last ten years; and still we moan. and complain. not to mention that 9 of those wins have been over gt. what do any of us want? the mnc? well, about 119 fine schools will just have to wait ’til next year, too, as they say. there are many, many ways to calculate winning.
Jordan
September 18th, 2011
9:33 am
http://isportsweb.com/2011/09/18/bulldogs-destroy-coastal-carolina/
Peter
September 18th, 2011
9:36 am
Beating Coastal Carolina!? That should bring respect to the Dawg Nation. Hopefully, we’ll have Agnes Scott on the schedule next year. I’m completely embarrassed. We’re still 0-2.
RedandBlackDAWG
September 18th, 2011
9:38 am
Tech rules this State,
Surely you are joking right? Less than 2000 empty seats which means there were still 40K more than saw you beat up on Kansas. When UGA plays you in your stadium, there will still be half as many fans at full capacity as will be at almost any UGA game at home. Get used to it, my friend, the only place you might rule is Atlanta. UGA is still the flag ship university and rules the state of Georgia. Until you can beat them consistently on the scoreboard, (and that is what counts, the score), you will always be a second fiddle in this state. Try harder next time with your painfully stupid and your completely fabricated status of your institute.
GO DAWGS and GATA
StatesBurr
September 18th, 2011
9:38 am
Man….. Tired of reading the BS on the blogs. Just back and forth BS. No football talk. Crazy…
Let the "BIG" Dawg eat!!
September 18th, 2011
9:42 am
If Fl. had of played Boise and Carolina the first 2 weeks they would be 1-2 now also. All the lovefest for Fl. is a joke. They beat a .500 team Tenn.by 10 points, which was the line. Tenn, is 3 or 4 years away, with a marginal coach, and Fl. had the benefit of ironing out all of their flaws against 2 junior high teams. If UGA had the same schedule Florida had, it would be 3-0 now also. Fl. will get their asses handed to them when they play Bama in the swamp, and LSU, and S.C. on the road. Florida has one playmaker on offense,a 175 lb. speedster, and their Q.B. is in the same category as Murray, he has beaten Tenn. So what? Neither Q/B. has ever won a big game by bringing his team from behind in the 4th qtr. So, why all the love for an average Fl. team that beat a below average Tenn. team by 10 points. There isn’t a dominant team in the East, and UGA has as good a chance as Fl.or S.C. to win the east. As i said earlier, Fl, will lose possibly 3 SEC games, and S.C. has only one of the top 3 teams from the West to play,So, i still think it is S.C’s eastern title to lose. They will beat Fl. in Columbia, just like they dominated them last year in the swamp. So, the only hope for UGA fans is for someone other than an SECW team to beat them. Don’t see that happening. UGA blew their biggest chance by gift wrapping a game to S.C. What if they didn’t do that? If a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his ass. What if Richt and bobo were gone? That is a better question.
bamaguy
September 18th, 2011
9:43 am
To look at the SEC East standings and see Vanderbilt two slots above Georgia is just not right.
Buckeye
September 18th, 2011
9:46 am
redandblackdog,
Thank you for directing your energy our way. An with such passion.
You’re just another loser dog who touts conference (in this case Vandy no less) when your team sucks.
Go Clemson
SEC!
SEC!
Go BYU
SEC!
SEC!
Go Conf USA
SEC!
SEC!
Go Mountain West
SEC!
SEC!
Buckeye
September 18th, 2011
9:48 am
redandblackdog,
Losing out of conference to an ACC team?
Um, excus, me, was I dreaming that I watched Clemson crush Auburn yeterday?
Good argument, dog.
ClinchPanther
September 18th, 2011
9:52 am
Why Jeff, whatever do you mean? Your sarcasm reeks of mockery. Are you essentially an adversary in a cloak? It appears to all reasonable partakers of your most sardonic attempt of journalism that you may be a bit invidious of all things Bulldawg? The piteous side of your latest writing does nothing to advance your plot. Surely you will try harder tomorrow, and maybe even induce some that you do in fact belong on a sports page. If not, then Cynthia Tucker can probably use you.
World Be Free
September 18th, 2011
9:54 am
Stendek, I can’t believe you are trolling the Dogs like you used to troll the Thrashers. Get a life you loser.
Tech Rules This State
September 18th, 2011
9:55 am
Red & Black Dawg – I just think its funny that UGA fans give Tech hell for not filling up their stadium, but when you don’t fill up yours – its strangely quiet. Tech will never have the fan base that Georgia does, but that does not stop the Yellow Jackets from fielding competetive teams and being a worthy opponent to UGa every year. Do we win every year – no. But the way UGa looks down their noses at Tech is ridiculous, but probably won’t stop until we do win about 6 or 7 in a row. I think Florida now considers Auburn or Tennessee a bigger rival than Georgia cause you cannot seem to beat them ever. And then when you do…..you do something really stupid like dance in their end zone…..they will never forget that classless show of nonsportsmanship and they will be putting a beat down on you every year for the forseeable future until Mark Richt is gone and maybe you attract a better coach
Pitiful Buckeye Passing Game
September 18th, 2011
9:55 am
I was dreaming Miami crushed Ohio State after they barely escaped cupcake Toledo.
RedandBlackDAWG
September 18th, 2011
9:57 am
Buckeye,
It seems to me you were commenting negatively about UGA were you not? I could care less about Auburn except when they play us. I could care even less than that about osu, except when a few meaningless, instigators of negative comments feels the need to insult UGA. You haven’t got a leg to stand on so you once again, try and change the subject. What you need to do is at least defend your comments when your team is capable of backing up your words and not be so quick to change the subject. It shows weakness of character on your part.
World Be Free
September 18th, 2011
9:59 am
There’s alotta detractors because the Dogs are not a very good team in a conference that requires goodness or even greatness to win. All the same reasons that have been noted for sometime.
South Carolina was not bad yesterday, they just faced a very underrated team that plays togh for 4 quarters. Do you expect anything less from academy players? Keep Navy off your schedule, Army too while you are at it. They are not SEC teams, but they are much improved over the past decade.
Congrats to Vandy for 3-0; not a bad thing cuz you want to keep your future bosses happy.
bamaguy
September 18th, 2011
10:00 am
I love the way some UGA fans refer to the truth as “negative comments” and “UGA bashing.” We have all endured down times, no team is always on top. What amazes me, from the outside looking in, is that the men in charge seem to have accepted mediocrity. Any other top tier SEC school would have fired Richt at the end of last season, and you have Vince Dooley defending him. But if this is what you want . . . . . .
Alabama fired a good coach for a better one, Auburn fired a good coach for a better, Mississippi State fired a good coach for a better one, Tennessee fired a good coach for a better one (ok, one that bolted after one season, but at least they tried).
Buckeye
September 18th, 2011
10:02 am
Ok redandblackdog,
Time to go out and go potty and pee on your own campus?
all I remember is that Victory Formation
September 18th, 2011
10:04 am
over a cupcake team from Myrtle Beach.
loel
September 18th, 2011
10:09 am
I said to my family before Saturday’s games,” I would rather have Georgia’s 0-2 record and their team than Auburn, GA Tech, Fla State, and yes Boise State’s perfect records and their team. Keep writing your junk. The wise and informed rise to the top. The talent on Mark Richt’s team is just awesome and by the way he recruited this team.
Mexdawg
September 18th, 2011
10:13 am
Jeff this sets up the Hot Seat Bowl next week with a high probability that the loser will be looking for a new job by the end of the season.
Little Jimmy
September 18th, 2011
10:14 am
Dawgs got it figured out now!!! Oklahoma will lose to Texas. LSU will continue to win out. Dawgs will run the table from here on out. We’ll beat LSU in SEC championship and then we’ll get another crack at Boise State for the National Championship!! I don’t wanna hear you non-believers, but you just remember you heard it heard first. Go Dawgs!
smartest quote
September 18th, 2011
10:16 am
“This probably won’t turn a lot of people’s heads,” quarterback Aaron Murray admitted. This is the smartest thing Murray has said so far this year!
10,000 empty seats
September 18th, 2011
10:18 am
Vandy is ahead of UGA in the SEC standings…..
10,000 empty seats
September 18th, 2011
10:18 am
Fire Bobo!
Furman Bishop
September 18th, 2011
10:20 am
I am starting to think that GA Tech might give Richt a hell of a lot more then he might like. Add that game to the “maybe” column. Richt still has a chance to lose five and make a lot of fans happy.
Numberwang
September 18th, 2011
10:20 am
Hey Jeff -
Noticed you slathered a little extra negativity and sarcasm over this meaningless article.