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
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
4:49 pm
5150 UOAD
dah dah dah dah
Im a mental midgit, Im too stupid to realize something and that is if Tech was relevant they would have fans whether they graduated from Tech or not
You do realize that there are more non graduate UGA fans than graduate and that goes for every college football team
Michigan is just outside of Detroit and they fill a 112,000 seat stadium
USC is in LA and they fill almost 90,000
University of Pittsburg has no problem filling 75,000 people either
Notre Dame is hour from Chicago and most of its fans come from Chicago
It doesnt matter if your in a big city if your relevant people will support your program
You dont get it stupid
Tech sucks and no one cares about your stupid program moron
RamboDog
September 25th, 2011
4:50 pm
5150 UOAD… Big talk coming from a drunk. How’s your old lady doing?
GatorBait 18-3
September 25th, 2011
4:53 pm
Thought ya’ll might like this from ESPN:
5. Riding Rainey and Demps: First-year Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis promised when he arrived in Gainesville that he’d find more than a few ways to get the football to Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. Weis said he’d never had that kind of speed at running back before at any level and was going to make sure he used it to the max. So far, he’s been true to his word. Rainey and Demps have already left several vapor trails out on the field this season, and they both rushed for more than 100 yards in the 48-10 battering of Kentucky on Saturday. The Gators rushed for 405 yards in that game, and even though Rainey and Demps aren’t the biggest guys, they’re finding their way into open spaces with regularity. And when they get a step on you, it’s goodbye. They’re easily the most dynamic running back combination in the SEC to this point. They’ve combined for nine touchdowns, and each has a scoring play of 80-plus yards. You better not blink when either of these guys touches the ball.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
September 25th, 2011
4:54 pm
Some Dog fan attacked GT in their post, and although GT has nothing to do with 30 year demise of the UGA program, least we remind you that GT has 4 national titles as opposed to UGA’s 1 national title.
GT’s also has the most recent title, and quite frankly losing to GT is like losing to Harvard with a football team. However, very few D-1 teams are posting the amount of offense GT is posting this year, including those weak games against Agnes Scott (i.e. Coastal Carolina).
It is just amuses me when UGA fans attack GT when they attempt to defend their program, when everyone knows the UGA program is the biggest LMAO program in D-1 football. Nobody respects the UGA program, not even major sports media outlets.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
September 25th, 2011
4:56 pm
Too bad UGA is not in the SEC west, it would be glorious to see UGA have to play LSU, and Alabama, as opposed to just Florida. The only real head to head UGA has is Florida, and Florida dominates your program.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
4:58 pm
GatorBait 18-3
If I were you
I would pull for FL to lose this year to UGA so all the kool-aid Mark Richt is turning the ship around crowd will want a 5yr contract extension if he beats you this year and this year only.
RamboDog
September 25th, 2011
5:02 pm
Mike Bobo 17 INT…. Hey, little boy. See if Mommy will Google Football National titles for you….GT and UGA both have 4. The “difference” is UGA has the ONLY non disputed NC title.
Oh, and we are 9 out of last 10 with GT and STILL counting !! You can expect another loss in November and another year of tears and excuses from your friends.
I wish this was still a rivalry game, but alas, it is not…
lawzoo
September 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
It was a lot worse than it looks on paper.Just stay focused because turnovers could be the key.
GatorBait 18-3
September 25th, 2011
5:05 pm
Hey Flat
It would be nice to play Richt forever, but there is no way Bobo could ever beat
Weis–it just not gona happen.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
5:10 pm
GatorBait 18-3
Bobo couldnt beat Weiss if I slipped a $100 million in Weiss’s pocket and told him to call a game to lose and promised him a free meal for life at Ruth Chris
mcdaviddawg
September 25th, 2011
5:20 pm
bad game, poor effort. coaching once again looked non existant. Effort in second half worse than poor. RICHT isn’t able to energise this team even when thay verbily say thay want to save Rcit’s hide. A new direction is a must. Never seen a quieter Georgia fan base than at this game. Ticht has little or no support from the “paying fans.”
bring back vince d!
September 25th, 2011
5:25 pm
sure, dooley’s old but he can coach better than richt and get the dogs back to the top in the SEC! He will work for $2-3 million, which Ga can pay easily.
brian
September 25th, 2011
5:34 pm
I understand why people are saying Mississippi State, Florida and Tennessee could definitely beat us, but seriously, have you guys seen Kentucky play?? Those guys put up 17 on Western Kentucky. Come on Schultz, you’re smarter than that, right?
brian
September 25th, 2011
5:40 pm
I’m ready for a new head coach, though.
John Brantley sucks
September 25th, 2011
5:43 pm
If we had a DECENT quarterback, we would kill Alabama and LSU! Weis is tha bomb!!!! Brantley is terrible.
John Brantley sucks
September 25th, 2011
5:44 pm
Still have a good shot at beating Bama, since it’s at the toughest home stadium in the country.
John Brantley sucks
September 25th, 2011
5:50 pm
Personally, I’d like to see Georgia have a decent rest of the season… if they don’t, Richt might get fired and I sure don’t want that hahaha! Richt always coaches so great against Florida after all
.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
5:55 pm
After watching FL again
Against UGA it will be FL ahead
21-7 at the half and 38-17 for the finish
And yes I know FL will lose to Bama and LSU
JB
September 25th, 2011
6:00 pm
I hope the Georgia team that trotted out Saturday is not the one we’ll see the next 8 games. Please no.
JB
September 25th, 2011
6:01 pm
We will upset someone this year and lose to someone we shouldn’t, like a poor Auburn team.
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
6:01 pm
Did the Dawgs get to fly straight from Oxford to Tamp Bay? The Dawgs are looking bad against the Tampa Bay Bucs right now.
Save it
September 25th, 2011
6:04 pm
Said junior safety Bacarri Rambo, who had a pair of interceptions: “It’s kind of scary how we keep getting better every week. Just imagine at the end of the season how we might look. That’s gonna be a scary sight. Wait till we get all our starters back. That’s going to be a scary thing to see us coming on the field.”
It’s getting really tiresome hearing loudmouth trash talkers like this Rambo jerk. A few words of advice: save your crap talk until you beat a real team, you idiot.
brian
September 25th, 2011
6:05 pm
I’m tired of seeing Georgia play like this. I was proud that they cut down on turnovers and penalties, and I know if Walsh makes two of the three he missed we win 33-13, but we should have played better. Our third-down offense once again had some trouble converting in the red zone. Our defense is better than last year at least… and why are we kicking field goals on 4th down and 1 in our opponent territory?? I just don’t get that. These problems aren’t going to get fixed until we get a better head coach.
brian
September 25th, 2011
6:07 pm
Auburn sucks, at least our defense isn’t THAT bad haha, but our coaching is terrible.
The long 30-year decline... and there's no end to it, is there? Bye bye, dawgs!
September 25th, 2011
6:09 pm
“It is just amuses me when UGA fans attack GT when they attempt to defend their program, when everyone knows the UGA program is the biggest LMAO program in D-1 football. Nobody respects the UGA program, not even major sports media outlets.”
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
6:10 pm
Does anybody think So. Carolina will be a top15 team by the end of the year?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 25th, 2011
6:11 pm
JB
That team that trotted out Saturday is the same team you have seen since Van Gorder left and its the same coaching staff that had no clue how to score even a field goal against AL in the 1st half being down 31-0 with
Stafford Greene, Mo-mass, and Moreno on the same offense
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
6:19 pm
AP writers must be drunk on the SEC Koolade too. “Others Receiving Votes” Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia, and Miss St.
TampaGator
September 25th, 2011
6:19 pm
Muschamp, when asked about playing Alabama this weekend:
“They (Bama) are a good team. So are we.”
Big difference from Richt’s comments before Georgia faced Boise State, don’t you think?
Don’t be surprised to see a well prepared, hard-hitting, aggressive, young Gator team on Saturday night in THE SWAMP. I can’t wait to start to chomp in front of the Bama fans. Loud? You don’t know loud like THE SWAMP at night during a big game. Bama fans and Bama players will ask for a new definition of loud after their visit.
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
6:27 pm
TampaG
try Death Valley and LSU at night. That is Loud too. Gators are not bring a crowd that BAMA has never seen. If you think that you must be about 12 years old. Bama v Tennessee in Knoxville is pretty loud too.
Hairy Dawg
September 25th, 2011
6:45 pm
I ashamed for the fans that still trying to hot sit Coach Richt when we’re on a winning streak. We just wons an S.E.C. road game and that not easy. Now we coming back for home cooking to win some more but we got to be loud and proud in Sanfordby keeping faith with Coach Richt and Lord. That and talent exposing will helps to display dominants to beat faker bulldawgs from Miss, Dooley Boy Orange Pumkins, pointy-headed Commodes, and specially traitor Muschumps and flabby Wies of Gaytors.
Were behinds you so keep rolling Dawgs!
Go Dawgs!
ARdawg
September 25th, 2011
6:50 pm
I’ve noticed Florida fans in the swamp are very loud when they are winning. No so much when they aren’t
Hairy Dawg
September 25th, 2011
7:05 pm
Thats right! Gaytor fans is the most fair weather fans there is. When they get stuck with stinky coach like Zookster they immediately put up FireRonZook.com when he hasn’t even had a chance to coach them badly for a few years. That type of bad loyalty makes Gaytors the most fair weather fans in S.E.C.
Go Dawgs!
fla goes down
September 25th, 2011
7:29 pm
bama beats fla easy in gainsville which will shut up all these obnoxious fla fans. then they will get a worse beatdown the next week at lsu! Ga will run the table and win the sec east!
1eyedJack
September 25th, 2011
7:43 pm
Most of the obnoxious Florida fans will become obnoxious Alabama fans or obnoxious LSU or USCe fans since they are really GnaTs fans.
wildbill
September 25th, 2011
7:52 pm
Can we play Ole Miss again this week?
Pollyanna
September 25th, 2011
9:59 pm
Joey September 25th, 2011 10:43 am
“Aaron Murray : Blasting him for not beating a winning team is idiotic. Does he call the offensive plays? Does he make the game plans every week? Is it his call to go for FGs or go for it on 4th and 2? Does he drop passes? Does he play center and let the MLB run right past him for a sack? Does he play on the punt team”
Pollyanna
September 25th, 2011
10:36 pm
mcdaviddawg September 25th, 2011 5:20 pm
“bad game, poor effort. coaching once again looked non existant. Effort in second half worse than poor. RICHT isn’t able to energise this team even when thay verbily say thay want to save Rcit’s hide. A new direction is a must. Never seen a quieter Georgia fan base than at this game. Richt has little or no support from the “paying fans.”
Pollyanna
September 25th, 2011
10:37 pm
3-10 vs teams who finished in the AP Poll Top 10
17-26 vs teams who finished in the AP Poll Top 25
Lost to 10 more teams who did not finish AP Poll Top 25
None of this is going away. None of it.
Pollyanna
September 25th, 2011
10:59 pm
Buckeye,
I do not know what is so interesting about the AP Poll Top 25 with Ohio State not ranked in either poll, and all of these teams being the teams with the most points by teams not in the Top 25 :
Michigan State
Houston
Auburn
Iowa State
# 1 LSU
# 3 Alabama
# 10 South Carolina
# 12 Florida
# 18 Arkansas
Of course, Florida is fixin to drop.
# 6 Best SEC team UGA not ranked for 3rd Year in a Row with the # 1 Best QB in SEC
And, if UGA got votes in the “Others Receiving Votes” in AP Poll, our own coach did not even vote for us in the Coaches’ Poll.
UGA no votes Coaches’ Poll yet Mark Richt has a vote in it.
If Mark Richt would not be so negative, UGA would actually beat a team finishing in the Top 10, the Top 25 and would quit losing to teams not even ranked in the Top 25. It is all Mark Richt’s fault for being negative.
ole yeller
September 25th, 2011
11:04 pm
Reading this nonsense is laughable. Hairy dawg, If you graduated from UGA, someone helped you with English. You cannot spell worth a darn. In fact probably you, just need to go to bed and rest. Nothing you say makes any sense and you are embarrassing your school. But you did not go to school at UGA did you. Maybe high school at best.
shorty
September 25th, 2011
11:52 pm
murray is too short to play QB in the SEC–he’s not even 6 feet tall! Ga needs to start mason, ASAP!!!
Pollyanna
September 26th, 2011
12:04 am
UGA botched an onsides Kick-Off, botched a Punt Return, settled for 5 Field Goals as little Aaron Murray also fumbled the football twice, threw an interception, was sacked 3 more times by the worst football team in America, while Isaiah Crowell the top performer for the offense showed signs of not being in shape and after every run, got up, and started jawing at this worst football team in America.
Quit with the EXCUSES, they do not hold water. We are a poorly coached team who steadfastly refuses to let us see anyone else play QB. Why is that ? Because they are such great coaches ? Or, because he is the GREATEST QB in The SEC ?
YOU HAVE MADE AARON MURRAY OUT TO BE WHAT HE IS NOT:
Aaron Murray for 2011 avg 7 carries a game for an avg minus – 1 yards a carry
Aaron Murray Career avg 7 carries a game for an avg 1 yards a carry
Aaron Murray for 2011 has 4 fumbles in 4 games
Aaron Murray Career 13 fumbles in 17 games
Aaron Murray for 2011 has 3 Interceptions in 4 games
Aaron Murray Career 11 Interceptions in 17 games
Aaron Murray 112 carries for 129 yards is NOT a Dual-Threat QB is it?
Aaron Murray has been here now 3 years
Aaron Murray has not beat any team with a winning record
Aaron Murray TD Passes vs losing record teams 24 ten games
Aaron Murray TD Passes vs winning record teams 11 seven games
Aaron Murray for 2011 is # 89 in nation at getting sacked holds the ball
Aaron Murray for 2010 is # 72 in nation at getting sacked holds the ball
Aaron Murray for 2011 is # 43 in nation in passing yards
Aaron Murray for 2010 is # 40 in nation in passing yards
UGA for 2011 is # 13 in nation Total Defense
UGA for 2010 is # 23 in nation Total Defense
UGA for 2011 is # 37 in nation Total Offense
UGA for 2010 is # 56 in nation Total Offense
While it is clear that UGA has FAILED on Special Teams playing nothing but walk-ons
The Real Issue was last year, and is again this year, The Offense or lack thereof.
Aaron Murray is the Leader of the Offense.
He has veto power over any play called from the sidelines
He either checks off to himself, or doesn’t if the play call is for him
He runs his stats up vs teams with Losing Records
He fails to show up against teams with Winning Records
He throws fuel on that fire, if the running game struggles
He makes any RB or OL look bad holding onto ball too long
He has his worst games vs teams with Winning Records
He has his best stats games vs cupcakes with Losing Records
He also is in a daze vs cupcakes such as Colorado & Florida
Florida should have been 7-6 team, but their QBs better than he
Colorado a 5-7 team, saw their dual-threat QB better than he
Arky Ryan Mallet better than he & why he lost
Missy State Chris Relf dual-threat QB better than he & why he lost
Auburn’s QB better than he & why he lost
U Central Florida QB better than he & why he lost
Boise State QB better than he & why he lost
Stephen Garcia better than he both games & why he lost
He throws himself to the Turf when he sees DL after him, scared
He sent big msg to teammates with his Tweet to Boise State
He Tweeted : Goin to Dome to kick some a** pre-game
He does nothing when players showboat on Offense
He is not a good leader on the field or off it
He is small
He is NOT a Dual-Threat QB, now is he ?
He is our Quarterback
He has played every snap of every game, like Saturday, again
He is NOT a Leader on or off the field QB Tweet opponent kick some a**
He does nothing with True Frosh RB Isaiah Crowell jawing after every play
He is nowhere near the Best QB in The SEC as you’ll bragged to me
PowerDawg
September 26th, 2011
12:15 am
Just so you know, Jeff…
Richt sent a very valuable message to his team on that 4th and 1…when some of his players vocalized they wanted to go for it, he told them simply that if they wanted a first down they should have made it with the first three plays of that series.
Sounds like a reasonable retort to me.
Pollyanna
September 26th, 2011
12:28 am
It is NOT.
Ask Reggie Ball Georgia tek Quarterback how many downs the Offense has
As already stated before you on this blog by many other posters, you reply to – and ignore totally – Mark Richt SETTLED for 5 Field Goals and after the game BLAMED the field goal kicker.
As already stated above numerous times too you reply to and ignore, we were on the 30-yard line where if you miss a 48-yard field goal, they get it at the 30 and it was 4th Down vs worst football team in America.
How do we know this ?
Because
Mark Richt on our side of the field, went for it on 4th Down in SAME GAME.
So, you run in here and make up the EXCUSE the Coach who is 13-13 after 2005 vs SEC East teams, is right ?
Which time ?
big dawg
September 26th, 2011
12:34 am
Ga gets it back together this week with a good beatdown of mississippi state—dan mullen can’t coach a lick.
PowerDawg
September 26th, 2011
12:52 am
Pollyanna…how apropos to have a female identifier as your posting name. Are you a lady or just a guy that likes that name?
That’s right…Murray is our starter and if anybody else gave us a better chance at winning, they would be in there. That includes Hutson Mason. And Murray was recruited as a pro-style quarterback, not a dual-threat. You are obviously mis-informed about this yet still harp on it incessantly for some reason.
You seem quite comfortable being in the dark about a lot of things, but that’s okay. Bottom line, no one really cares what you think and if you don’t like our team, our QB, our coaches or anything else for that matter, take a hike.
We won’t miss you. We promise.
And until you’ve been in Murray’s shoes, until you’ve dropped back in the pocket in a D-1 college football game, trying to execute a pass or run while being pursued by five or six defenders, each one very big, very strong, very fast and very pi$$ed off, and all of them trying to pummel you into the turf, all in about three seconds…
SHUT UP.
miss state beatdown
September 26th, 2011
2:30 am
Ga was just overconfident and flat against mississipi thinking they were going to get an easy win. It should have been a lot worse. the dogs will beat mississipi state bad—40-20. I’m going to be partying hard in athens after that blowout.
PowerDawg
September 26th, 2011
2:51 am
Should have proof-read my entry before submitting. My bad. Meant to write “how un-apropos to have the female identifier Pollyanna as your posting name.”
Now, a line I left out as an oversight…Pollyanna was an optimist. Some would say overly so, to the point of foolishness. Your post is exactly opposite of that, negative to the level of demeaning. Just doesn’t fit together, but whatever.
Mr/Ms Pollyanna (whichever is appropriate)…criticizing a kid you don’t even know and whose shoes you have never walked in, looks really bad for you, but it’s obvious from your words that you don’t care anyway.
Peace, Polly.
Pollyanna
September 26th, 2011
7:16 am
Look, if you like the name Pollyanna so badly, please don’t let me stand in your way DISNEYdawgs.com, sir – you sir have earned it with this post, as in all your previous posts.
September 26th, 2011
12:52 am
Pollyanna…how apropos to have a female identifier as your posting name. Are you a lady or just a guy that likes that name?
“Murray is our starter and if anybody else gave us a better chance at winning, they would be in there.”
Right, that explains Malcolm Mitchell burried on the Depth Chart by this coaching staff, who is by the way 13-13 vs SEC East after 2005.
“Murray was recruited not as a dual-threat. You are obviously mis-informed about this yet still harp on it incessantly for some reason.”
Excuse me, this entire group of Pollyanna’s such as yourself continually said he not only is the Best QB in The SEC, but that he is a DUAL-THREAT.
It is I, who said he is NOT a dual-threat. Your reply ? I’m right.
I also said he throws his little body on the ground when approached by one of the 11 he plays against each week, with his 8-9 record as our Starting QB. Your reply ? Oh, that’s ok, he’s supposed to be a wuss – perhaps because you are too ?
“And until you’ve been in Murray’s shoes, until you’ve dropped back in the pocket in a D-1 college football game, trying to execute a pass or run while being pursued by five or six defenders, each one very big, very strong, very fast and very pi$$ed off, and all of them trying to pummel you into the turf, all in about three seconds”
“SHUT UP.”
What is the 1 refrain from all Pollyanna’s ? Only their view heard. Please no one try to suggest we might not have the best possible coaching staff making these choices of Favorites they prefer.