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
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 17th, 2011
8:24 pm
Glad to see RB Ken Malcolm get to run today
Oh thats right he got to come in for one play
Hey Richt glad Malcolm is in your dog house when we need a backup RB
just another player on the bench that could contribute but your trying to prove your stupidity
What moving company do you prefer. I hear Mayflower is a good company
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
8:24 pm
dawgforlife – It’s the economy. When I was making 50 cents an hour at the dime store, I used to attend Georgia games for a dollar and sit on the wooden bleachers down on the north side of the west end.
JAWJeRDAWG
September 17th, 2011
8:25 pm
@ Michael and Rotten in Denmark
It’s fans (sic) like you that Georgia doesn’t need. How can you even begin to say that you hope that UGA loses all our remaining games so CMR will be fired!
That’s just pitiful; even worse.
td
September 17th, 2011
8:25 pm
For all you so called UGA fans that want change, get a clue. You all were on here thinking a very good freshman class was going to step on the field and turn a 6-7 team into a SEC champion? Clueless. You really think another coach is going to be able to come in here and get better athletes then what Adam’s and his special admissions committee is going to let in here? Clueless. Adams is not going to let UGA go out and buy a team like Auburn did last year. They can not get the same athletes admitted like LSU and Alabama because Adams will not let them in school.
I bet you all are the same ones that went out 3 years ago and voted for “hope and change”? How is that working out for you right now. Like I said some of you are clueless and really need to stay in a book more and off the Internet running you mouths about things you have no understanding.
ILOVEUGA
September 17th, 2011
8:25 pm
Keep complaining!!! It’s what you “fans” do best!!!
GO DAWGS!!!
td
September 17th, 2011
8:28 pm
JAWJeRDAWG
September 17th, 2011
8:25 pm
Excellent point. They can not be UGA fans or if they are hen they are CLUELESS.
1eyedJack
September 17th, 2011
8:28 pm
Damn Delbert, you’re a fossil.
Bjohndawg
September 17th, 2011
8:28 pm
Ahh
1980
that was a good year!
Go dawgs
sic um
sic somebody!
I’ve drank to much and just fell off
my steel metal chair!
I see chic -fil-as. Falling from the skies
Sally
September 17th, 2011
8:29 pm
Re: title of your article, Mr. Schultz: I’m a Georgia alum, and I’m paying attention. I’ve been paying attention for decades and will keep paying attention. It’s my school and my team – and those young men out on the field are someone’s son or brother or grandson or boyfriend. If I had a son playing, I would appreciate loyalty from the fans, so I’m not going to bail on them just because everything is not perfect. Go Dawgs!
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
8:30 pm
With splinters in my butt.
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
8:31 pm
Lattimore may have to go over 300 yards for S.C. to win this one.
microphone assasin
September 17th, 2011
8:31 pm
if the blog name contains the words “columbus” or “calhoun” the opinion is usually of poor or no value…just an observation…
Bjohndawg
September 17th, 2011
8:32 pm
Lol D
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 17th, 2011
8:32 pm
td
Moron or is it td
Anyway UGA ranks #4 in putting players in the NFL since 1999
UGA ranked #2 in recruiting behind USC
The players have been there
Stay off your bong and you might come back to reality
Get the right coach and you will see a total difference in UGA
Get a clue
Athens Dawg
September 17th, 2011
8:33 pm
SC better be worried about that dogfight their in with “Navy”. I thought SC was the best team to ever play the game?
Hairy Dawg
September 17th, 2011
8:33 pm
I knew the Dawgs had the talents. We just were in experienced against Boys Eez and Visor Boy chickens. This game showed true Dawgs. Now that we regain some swggering we can unload the whooping can in Miss. They lost big time to childs play Vandy. Haha!
I also watched Gaytors vs. Orange Pumkins. They both look like sloppy poor coached teams that have penalties and center snapping problems. Dawgs got the talent to dispaly dominants over Dooley Boy and traitor Muschumps with flabby Wise.
Go win today Coach Richt!
Go Dawgs!
UGAKev
September 17th, 2011
8:33 pm
TD, Hope and change has worked out pretty well so your sarcasm has turned to stupidity.
Hairy Dawg
September 17th, 2011
8:36 pm
Good win today Coach Richt!
microphone assasin
September 17th, 2011
8:36 pm
add the word “athens” to the above list…thanks…
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
8:36 pm
If Richt can’t get to the Dome this year with this EZ schedule then maybe next year with a super EZ and perfectly set up for a East title
Sat, Sep. 01 Buffalo Athens, Ga.
Sat, Sep. 08 South Carolina * Columbia, S.C.
Sat, Sep. 15 Florida Atlantic Athens, Ga
Sat, Sep. 22 Vanderbilt * Athens, Ga.
Sat, Sep. 29 Tennessee * Athens, Ga.
Sat, Oct. 06 Alabama * Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Sat, Oct. 13 Kentucky * Lexington, Ky.
Sat, Oct. 27 Florida * at Jacksonville, Fla.
Sat, Nov. 03 Ole Miss Athens, Ga.
Sat, Nov. 10 Auburn * Auburn, Ala.
Sat, Nov. 17 Georgia Southern Athens, Ga.
Sat, Nov. 24 Georgia Tech Athens, Ga.
* Conference Games
1eyedJack
September 17th, 2011
8:39 pm
UGAKev, thanks, I’m still laughing. I think I pulled an oblique.
td
September 17th, 2011
8:39 pm
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 17th, 2011
8:32 pm
I have been a UGA fan probably longer then you have been alive. A great many of those NFL players are on the defensive side of the ball before 2006 (I think UGA did pretty well then) and a lot of those athletes could not get into UGA now. Go back and check out what has happened to our prep school kids since Adams and his special committee? How many players have we had to turn away? How many did we not even recruit and they went to SC, Auburn or Alabama?
You are the one that needs to get a clue and if you do not like what is going on then my friend then go and find another team to cheer for and stay off the blogs because you tend to make yourself look foolish.
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
8:39 pm
5150 UOAD – Nice strategy by McGarity with that Ga. Southern game on Nov. 17th.
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
8:40 pm
How many CUPCAKES is UGA allowed to play in a Year?
Buffalo, Fla Atlantic, Vandy, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Ga Southern, & Tech
UGA should sleep walk to a Bowl game.
Richt would really get another 5 yrs based on the 2012 schedule.
Trojan
September 17th, 2011
8:41 pm
Jeff, If UGA’s attendance dropped by 50,000, it would still out draw Tech. Can’t you not be so biased?
1eyedJack
September 17th, 2011
8:42 pm
5150, you better google that again.
td
September 17th, 2011
8:43 pm
UGAKev
September 17th, 2011
8:33 pm
TD, Hope and change has worked out pretty well so your sarcasm has turned to stupidity
I guess you are a CMR detractor? Like I said clueless.
Trojan
September 17th, 2011
8:43 pm
Are you the token writer whose only goal is to be anti UGA?
Dawg Gone It Man
September 17th, 2011
8:44 pm
Who cares if they beat Crappy Coastal Carolina ? When they play teams that are good they lose. I think my high school team could possibly beat Coastal Carolina…
boots
September 17th, 2011
8:45 pm
I was at the game today, and the fans were behind the team and CMR. Yes, there were some empty seats, but there were not that many. As someone who has attended most games since 1986 when I entered UGA, there are always empty seats for a cupcake game. The team played very well, and there were no injuries. I think it was a good win and a nice turn towards a good season. Go Dawgs!
Dawg Gone It Man
September 17th, 2011
8:46 pm
Athens Dawg, if Navy beats SC then that only means that they are much better than UGA.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 17th, 2011
8:46 pm
td
I guess Adams was the reason we had a top 5 recruiting class last year right
I guess UGA ranking #2 for the last decade behind USC just stopped in 2006 right
Oh and some of these dream team players we just signed and Im not going to name them but they wouldnt be qualifying at ND or GT much less Michigan and Stanford
Keep on drinking that kool-aid
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
8:47 pm
1eyedjack
That is STRAIGHT from the UGA Site w.georgiadogs.com go look for yourself.
1eyedJack
September 17th, 2011
8:50 pm
Sorry 5150, I thought you were talking about this year. But you knew what I was thinking and don’t go thinking that I don’t know that you knew what I was thinking.
By the way, that’s still a full SEC schedule.
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
8:51 pm
4th and 2 on the 5 and NAVY stops Lattimore for a 2 yard loss……………
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
8:52 pm
What was the Vegas line on Navy-S. Carolina?
td
September 17th, 2011
8:52 pm
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 17th, 2011
8:46 pm
Again why do you keep rooting for a team that you can not stand? I think it has more to do that you hate what the man stands for instead of how the team is playing? I hope CMR coaches at UGA for another ten years and he will win more championships in the next 10 years.
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
8:54 pm
D.D i don’t know…………….but I would think at Least 10
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
8:55 pm
4 & 15 Navy for a first down. CRAZY.
richmondDawg
September 17th, 2011
8:56 pm
Anyone else here ever get the feeling that stendek, tideroll, 5150UOAD, Rotten, etc, etc, etc all have the same ISP#? Shultz, perhaps you could look into it? Just saying?
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
8:58 pm
USC with a Pick to save the 24 to 21 win with 1 min to go.
NAVY is BETTER than UGA? say it ain’t so…………….
microphone assasin
September 17th, 2011
8:59 pm
add the word “richmond” to that list as well…
layinlow
September 17th, 2011
8:59 pm
Well my prediction was exactly right. I said last week after all the pollyanna Richt lovers in our fan base were celebrating a loss to South Carolina at home, that the Gamecocks were WAY overrated and that should greatly diminish this silly moral victory. As I write this South Carolina is fighting tooth and nail at home to hold off Navy! South Carolina will lose at least 4 games this year. After watching Vanderbilt stomp Ole Miss today I am now worried that we will lose to them on the road. Time for change.
5150 UOAD
September 17th, 2011
9:00 pm
richmondDawg Jeff knows we are all different people.
JAWJeRDAWG
September 17th, 2011
9:00 pm
Well, unless lightning strikes Columbia in the next minute, SC has won their game; barely 24 – 21.
Whoever would have thought it would have been that close. Wonder what the Vegas line was?
1eyedJack
September 17th, 2011
9:02 pm
I’m sure it was more than 3.
Athens Dawg
September 17th, 2011
9:02 pm
SC ain’t good at all. That’s a sorry football team. I know people say “Well that must make UGA even worse.” No it doesn’t. Sometimes you have to look deeper than wins and losses. SC is not a good football team.
td
September 17th, 2011
9:03 pm
This may be SC year. To win the SEC you have to have the ball bounce your way a couple times during the season and they have this year already.
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
9:03 pm
Man, Lattimore carried that team again.
1eyedJack
September 17th, 2011
9:04 pm
SC didn’t deserve to win tonight either.