Georgia gets needed win but leaves room for improvement
Isaiah Crowell rushed for 147 yards but felt Georgia should've scored more touchdowns.
OXFORD, Miss. – Since the first two games of the season adjusted everybody’s expectations, let’s start with this: Georgia won a game on Saturday. Over an SEC opponent. On the road. These things aren’t taken for granted any more, not after a 2-6 stretch in the conference on non-hedged fields.
So in that sense, the Bulldogs’ 27-13 win over Mississippi was a step forward. It just wasn’t quite the sledgehammer maybe some had hoped for.
This was Ole Miss, one of the worst teams in the nation. It lost to Vanderbilt 30-7 last week. One group among the program’s normally relatively staid fan base, whose greatest focus generally is on picnicking in The Grove, even was moved to purchase full-page advertisements in five area newspapers. In so many words, they asked the school’s administration to strap coach Houston Nutt to a catapult and fire him into the gulf. Even angry Georgia fans haven’t gone that far when it comes to Mark Richt.
So the bar should’ve been set high Saturday for the Bulldogs. In many ways, they dominated an inferior opponent. They killed in real estate. The final yardage totals: 475 to 183. First downs: 25-8.
If this was Monopoly, the Dogs had hotels from Pacific Avenue thru Boardwalk, while Mississippi was mortgaging Baltic.
But the fact that Georgia struggled to score touchdowns and put this game away reaffirmed some of the team’s flaws. The Dogs scored three touchdowns (in the first six possessions). Then they fizzled. By game’s end, they had attempted five field goals (Blair Walsh missing three).
Richt accurately summarized, “When we get a defense tired, we need to stick a fork in them, and we weren’t able to do that.”
A road SEC win is better than losses to Boise State and South Carolina and a win over some pipsqueak from Myrtle Beach. But to beat Mississippi State, Florida, Auburn – maybe even Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky – Georgia will need to be better. Because every other conference opponent is better equipped than the Rebels to make you pay for a mistake.
Some of what happened could be attributed to the usual: dropped passes, missed blocks, etc. But some of it is on Richt. He didn’t send a great message to his players at the start of the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-1 from the Rebels’ 30, he sent in the field-goal team. The Dogs led 24-13. It seemed like the perfect time to try to pound the opponent for a yard and pass up a 48-yard attempt (hardly a sure thing). Richt played it conservative. Walsh missed.
Question: When a team starts the season 0-2 and the only win thus far has come over Coastal Carolina, shouldn’t there be a more aggressive approach?
Players tried to convince Richt to go for the first down. He later explained, “What I told them was if you want to get a first down, do it in the first three downs.”
Oddly, on the Dogs’ next possession, Richt took a huge gamble when he decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Dogs’ 44. Richard Samuel “made it by a thumbnail,” Richt said. (He later second-guessed himself, saying he should’ve punted.)
Georgia never was in danger of losing this game. It just never had the look of a wrecking ball, which is what you would’ve hoped for. Ole Miss had two touchdowns called back by penalties. Richt conceded, “It was a two-score [lead], and all it would’ve taken was one big play for them and it could’ve gotten really nasty and ugly, but the defense never allowed them to do that.”
There were positive signs. The defense was solid, allowing only one touchdown. Isaiah Crowell is turning into a game-changer. He rushed for 147 yards on 30 carries, including a 29-yard gain on third-and-9 from the Georgia 2 that launched a 99-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter that Richt called “the biggest play of the game.”
But even Crowell, after the biggest day of his young career, found himself talking about flaws.
“I’m happy with how the team played, but I thought we could’ve played better in the second half,” he said. “We should’ve scored [more] points.”
By Jeff Schultz
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719 comments Add your comment
Ramblin on and on and on and on..............
September 25th, 2011
1:05 pm
uga = the joke of the S.E.C.
1eyedJack
September 25th, 2011
1:06 pm
Georgia dominated the game both offensively and defensively. Special teams need some serious work though and we need to get better at pass protection.
Next week we quell those calls for Dan Mullen.
Troll responses not welcome. Bandwaggoners, screw you. All of ya’s can go hug a hyena.
2012!
September 25th, 2011
1:27 pm
Georgia is a young team and has a lot of injuries. 2012 will be the year. Fla and USC should be down and Tennessee will be mediocre as usual. Ga wins the SEC east in 2012—take it to the bank!
Bamma Ramma
September 25th, 2011
1:30 pm
Bama’s going down to the swamp and lay a good beatdown on UF. They will not be able to handle Kirby Smart’s mean, nasty D, filled with future NFL stars! Demps and Rainey? They’ll fold like a house of cards against the Bama D! Bama 30 Fl 13!!!!
ga gator
September 25th, 2011
1:30 pm
2012!, Don’t get me wrong, I go to all the UGA games with my wife and root for them except in Jax, but your post is classic!
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
1:30 pm
1eyedJack……………Dominated every aspect of the game EXCEPT the SCORE. If UGA is that good and Ole Miss that bad, then why didn’t UGA put up 50 and play MASON in the BLOWOUT it shoould have been?
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
1:32 pm
who is 2112?
ga gator
September 25th, 2011
1:34 pm
Bamma Ramma, typical redneck rant from a bama fan. Bama is the easily the best team in the SEC but the game will be closer than you think as our D will handle your running game and your QB will have to be better than he has played yet. Our problem will be driving the football against the best D in the conference. If I was a non homer betting man (unlike you) I would say Bama 17-UF 13.
Dream Team 3
September 25th, 2011
1:34 pm
With a couple of more dream team type recruiting classes, UGA will have the same talent as Alabama and Lsu and will be winning the SEC. Richt should get a few more years to turn it around.
ga gator
September 25th, 2011
1:36 pm
Dream Team 3 Richt’s recruiting classes average has been 2nd only to Southern Cal and what has it got you?
Beast from the East
September 25th, 2011
1:38 pm
“Georgia is a young team and has a lot of injuries. 2012 will be the year. Fla and USC should be down and Tennessee will be mediocre as usual. Ga wins the SEC east in 2012—take it to the bank!”
Sorry to inform you, but UF and UT are two of the youngest teams in the country. Better get ‘em both this year, or you may have lost your chance for several years to come.
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
1:38 pm
2112 is the End of the World on the Mayan Calendar. 2112 is a Rush album.
5150 is something more than the title of a Van Halen album.
BIG MIKE
September 25th, 2011
1:47 pm
You Jack Wads don’t know a darned thing about football. That becomes more and more apparent everytime I read some of these so called critiques.
First of all you can’t “add in the 2 long runs” Ole Miss had, because they wouldn’t have been long runs if holding didn’t take place. That’s like saying if you take Reggie Bush out of the picture, USC would have their National Championship back.
This team played well and if not for a couple of trick plays (which UGA needs to start using from time to time) and missed field goals, the score could have easily been 36-0. Ole Miss flat out couldn’t move the ball against what amounts to a second string UGA defense and UGA moved the ball up and down the field on them. What Bobo needs to learn is style points don’t win games, points do. He needs to use some imagination once he gets inside the opponents 30. And, my guess is they are holding back a little bit for the more worthy opponents. No point in showing your hand on the Flop (Texa Holdem term). They played vanilla against an inferior opponent Saturday and still dominated. A real football student would know there are great things to come from this group.
If anybody will beat them the rest of this year…it will be Florida and/or GT. GT may well wind up undefeated. They are playing awesome football right now. And I agree with one of the posts I read….It’s about time AJC gave Georgia Tech some LUV!!! They’ve earned it.
John
September 25th, 2011
2:03 pm
Florida and Tennesse are getting better at a quicker pace than UGA. SC will continue to be good. Lattimore is back next year as well. Alabama and LSU are heads and shoulders above every program in the SEC and maybe the country. Also, they are built to be great for years to come. UGA will not win the SEC in the next 5 years. I don’t dislike UGA but am just telling how I see it. Bama and LSU have second and possible third team defensive players that would start for UGA and be among their best players.
Greg
September 25th, 2011
2:20 pm
Feeling better about next week after watching Miss State’s lackluster OT win over La Tech
ctb
September 25th, 2011
2:34 pm
bobo has to gogo! i really think he has no idea with his play calling. the espn guys are rite. georgia doest scare anybody as far game planning. georgia’s offense is as vanilla as it gets. UGA has a duel threat QB and bobo doesnt utilize that at all. if meyer or spurrier had georgias talent they would win every year. its time to kick bobo to the curb and bring in a proven O cord or i hate to say it . richt will be gone.
tell me again
September 25th, 2011
2:35 pm
It’s a win – we’ll take it – we’ll move on. We still are not at full strength in several areas one of which is running back – when will Boo Malcombe hit the field again???? We need a good back besides Crowell and Samuel IV. It’s not easy to hold any SEC team to the figures the Dawgs D held Ole Miss to – I’ll take that as a plus.The O was ineffective in the second half – we need to fix that. But on a more serious note: Anybody who saw LSU or Alabama play this weekend can easily come to the conclusion that Georgia is NOT in that league right now. Not even close. Those teams are fueled by nuclear fission right now and we are still powered by coal. It’s just a fact. Having said that – UGA’s schedule just might get them to the SEC CG….Florida is the only real threat the rest of the way – the problem is – we can’t hang with Alabama or LSU this year – ain’t gonna happen. I wish it were otherwise, but it’s not. But, we can still have a good year and hope we get to the big dance and make a game of it. Crowell is going to be good. We have good receivers. The O line and D line need to step up and get healthy. We might surprise a few people before the year is out
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
2:36 pm
5150 UOAD
Find another blog dude Tech sucks plain and simple and so does UGA. UGA will still beat Tech and Tech will continue to never fill a high school stadium in the middle of 5.6 million people
SEC Observer
September 25th, 2011
2:36 pm
2012 will be the Dawgs year? And UF and UT will be down? You shouldn’t be drinking and blogging!!
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
2:46 pm
2012 will be dawgs year
LOL
This should have been the dawgs year with such an easy schedule
Take a look a next years schedule there is 3 losses on it gauranteed
But hey I know what the excuse will be…..
Its a rebuilding year or the players just didnt execute
oneoldedawg
September 25th, 2011
2:52 pm
2012 will be the year …yeah…yeah..yeah
i am sure I will hear….
Georgia will be ranked in the top 10
Our recruiting class will be yet again ranked in the top 5 (for the upteenth time)
Our O-line is experienced
Our QB has another year under his belt
The schedule is better
CMR must win this year
Yep 2012 should be yet another disappointing year
BarryW
September 25th, 2011
2:53 pm
All wins are good wins! SEC wins are better. Away SEC games are even better than that – no matter who they are against! However, no one – escpecially the coaches – are under any illusions of grandeur. Believe it or not, the people who coach in the big leagues for a living do have some knowledge of what their team is doing and what they will have to do to continue to win. The Dogs are far from perfect and they can be frustrating at times. But let’s cut them some slack! They have won 2 games in a row and play 8 more, hopefully 9. All you Monday Morning Geniuses…….. just cool it and see what happens. Then you can cheer, cry, bitch, or jump ship altogether and become an Alabama or Florida fan!
Paul Has A Small Johnson
September 25th, 2011
2:59 pm
BarryW
Mike Shula at Alabama did a good job didnt he…..
I wonder if Saban is doing a good job too at Alabama you Monday morning genius
TechBzzzzz
September 25th, 2011
3:13 pm
Tech will beat Ga this year! Book it! The Tech offense cannot be stopped by Ga’s overrated defense. Tech will win the ACC title, again!
Numberwang
September 25th, 2011
3:13 pm
Why does Richt continue to turn the governor off, when we have an opportunity to score points. I was flabbergasted and pissed we wasted the last series of the second Qtr., instead content to just walk off to the locker room. We could have run 3-4 plays and either scored a TD or kicked a chip shot field goal, instead Richt decided to pack it in. That is inexcusable to me.
I agree with you Jeff, Richt also had an opportunity to pound the rock for 1 yard and instead decided on a 48 yarder. Pathetic!!! He has become WAY TOO conservative!!!
Memo to Richt: Turn on the turbo chargers and let these boys play some football!!!
bamaguy
September 25th, 2011
3:15 pm
Four of the AP top twelve are SEC schools (LSU, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida).
bamaguy
September 25th, 2011
3:20 pm
Actually, RIcht reminds me of Mike Shula. A very nice guy who is a better-than-average football coach. The question is if UGA is happy with good. I know the rest of the SEC, especially Florida, is very happy with RIcht.
Parade of Knuckleheads
September 25th, 2011
3:35 pm
That was awful
time management right before halftime by Bobo.
retreat formation
September 25th, 2011
3:40 pm
Mark Richt and Mike Bobo need to take a clock management class.
Realist
September 25th, 2011
3:41 pm
Surprise, surprise Georgia doesn’t get ONE vote in
the USA Coach’s poll after the monumental victory over Mississippi.
Call me when Georgia beats someone with a winning record. This is the cockiest 2-2 team in America.
Realist
September 25th, 2011
3:45 pm
You do realize that Vandy beat Miss. much worse (30-7)
than the mighty dawgs.
Realist
September 25th, 2011
3:48 pm
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
THEN WHY DON’T I SEE IT?????????????????????????????????????
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
3:48 pm
Flat Tire………… you are a moron. Tech in the middle of 5.6 million people that went to 100’s of different colleges and are from different cities. Some of those people follow their NFL team. Tech students come from everywhere and after graduating go all over the world. UGA gets mostly Georgians and they stay in Georgia. UGA graduates 30 times more students per year compared to TECH.
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
3:51 pm
bamaguy
So Carolina is not a top 15 team. Closer to 20-25. Time will prove it.
UGAGraduate
September 25th, 2011
3:52 pm
1. A very solid team with enough talent for SEC champion.And, we can tell the practice and training are excellent as well
2. Bad game calling, especially offense. Mike Bobo is an outstanding QB coach but a poor offense coordinator. We should have won the South Carolina gave if we kept using our strength such as running and play actions on the offense instead of rotating different plays over and over and showing our weakness to them.
3. Bad game control and no ambition to win big: Before the end of first half in Ole Miss game, we had more than 35 seconds and one time out. We really should call time out and make a few more offense plays instead of giving the time up. Before the end of the second half, we had a timeout before the fourth down. But, we got a penalty of delay game when we tried to punt the ball. I really doubt whether the coaches had the concentration on the game or they have normal IQ.
Again, We have given Bobo enough time to learn and we need a sophisticated and smart offense coordinator. Since he controlled the offense, the talent has never been well exploited.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
3:54 pm
5150 UOAD
Your an idiot. Funny how the Falcons can fill a stadium that has 20,000 more than historic Bobby Dump stadium right down from the Ghetto of North Ave
I guess all those people have some excuse too right
World Be Free
September 25th, 2011
4:00 pm
Commentary spilled the facts-tough to take, but oh very true in every way
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
4:11 pm
The Falcon filling the DOME has nothing to do with A COLLEGE team few of the Local Ghetto dwellers attended. There are many fans of the TEAMS playing against the FALCONS too.
the NFL has Nothing to do with Tech fans filling Bobby Dodd. If you could show me where some 30k Tech fans are at the DOME cheering the Falcons on Sunday over Tech on Saturday I’ll kiss your a…..
Realist
September 25th, 2011
4:13 pm
UGAGraduate
Your grammer and writing looks like an UGAGraduate!
bamaguy
September 25th, 2011
4:17 pm
Most of Tech’s fans (and Vanderbilt’s) are alumni. Schools like UGA (and Alabama) draw the majority of their fan base from people who have never darkened the door of the respective institution but feel some kind of “state pride” associated with being a fan.
Realist
September 25th, 2011
4:19 pm
5150 UOAD
What does this stand for? yoU Old-Assed Dawg
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
4:20 pm
Urinate on a Dawg
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
4:21 pm
5150 UOAD
Seriously you really are embarrassing your proud academic institution posting that stupidity
“There are many fans of the TEAMS playing against the FALCONS too”
LOL brilliant response.
Then if thats the case why cant Tech fill their stadium since other fans should be comming to watch their team
Dude you ought to shut your mouth your not that smart
Lets see
Tech is in the middle of of 5.6 million people and in a state that has 9 million yet they somehow cannot fill their small 55,000 seat stadium
The Falcons can
UGA is in surrounded by a population of 100,000 and yet can fill a 93,000 seat stadium every game
Miss St can do it
West Virginia can do it and those are the two are the poorest states
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
4:22 pm
Falcons Fumble inside their 20 ans TB throws a pick. All is a wash i guess.
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
4:23 pm
Unrestricted Organisms All Day
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
4:25 pm
Un Official A.. Doctor
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
4:35 pm
FLAT Tire you are not serious? SEC fans in most States do not have the offerings that Atlanta Does. Check how many people come to Athens. They don’t live in Athens and go to the UGA games. UGA fans travel from around the state not just Athens.
You just don’t get that TECH doesn’t have as many students or graduates in the Atlanta area? Can you be that stupid? It is a numbers games. Every REDNECK in this state has a UGA hat and calls themselves a DAWG. WVU? Really WTF else is there to do in and around Morgantown, Tuscaloosa, Clemson, Auburn, Oxford, and most college towns in the south? Tech doesn’t have 100K local alumni.
Coastal who?
September 25th, 2011
4:38 pm
Very impressive wins over Coastal somebody and Mighty Miss.
Not really. Dawgs just plain suck, and it won’t ever get any better for Richt and his thugs.
Depends on...
September 25th, 2011
4:46 pm
Urinate on a Dawg.
Seems like a fair payback, with Israel Troupe and Russ peeing on everything in sight. It seems like the folks in the ButtSmear building could afford some Depends for them.
kybodawg
September 25th, 2011
4:47 pm
weve got to figure out how to get herschel the ball