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
ugakev
September 24th, 2011
11:15 pm
mad poot..I don’t wanna hear that crap! Georgia has pulled their weight the past decade in this conference. Everyone goes through bad seasons. I remember winning 2conference titles the past decade. not bad if u ask me. Where was bama in 02 or 05? We will be back, too much talent. The right coach will come along.
Final
September 24th, 2011
11:16 pm
LOL didn’t know this..
Released in 1986, 5150 (pronounced “fifty-one-fifty”) is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. The album was the first to be recorded with new lead singer Sammy Hagar who replaced David Lee Roth.
It was named after Eddie Van Halen’s home studio, 5150, which is a California police term for a mentally disturbed person (a reference to Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code). The 5150 name has been used several times by Van Halen. It is the name of Eddie Van Halen’s private studio, the name of a custom Frankenstein-striped Kramer Pacer Special electric guitar used by Eddie Van Halen throughout the 80s, and the model name of a signature guitar amplifier endorsed by Eddie for his own EVH brand. The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band’s previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2 as Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, on which Eddie made a guest appearance, dominated the charts
Final
September 24th, 2011
11:17 pm
5150 would relate to many posters on here, especially uga ones. lol
5150 UOAD
September 24th, 2011
11:18 pm
FINAL……………….here is a softball pitch for you………….Brittney Spears was 5150 one night when the Police and Ambulance arrived. Does that help?
5150 UOAD
September 24th, 2011
11:19 pm
if a person is deemed 5150 they can be help for 72 hours for a Psych Eval.
5150 UOAD
September 24th, 2011
11:20 pm
can be HELD sorry
Mad Poot
September 24th, 2011
11:20 pm
ugakev -
You won your championship when Spurrier was gone from UF and before Saban was at UA. What a dope. If you haven’t noticed we’ve had a coaching staff down in Gainesville, and rolled right along to another pretty decent once since booting Zook. UGA won’t be anywhere…they never are. Again, how often have you beat us? How often have you even finished within seven? LOL
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:20 pm
Final – you’re welcome…..you learn something new every day!
ugakev – typical delusional uga fan….yeah, a couple conference titles….you’re awesome!!!
Also, while we’re talking about van halen, im hoping everyone knew he played the guitar solo on MJ’s Beat It.
Birney
September 24th, 2011
11:21 pm
Why does Richt recruit the sorry bunch of illiterate goons that he does? They can barely pass remedial studies courses, which is grade school stuff, and they have such low morals that it’s sickening to see Richt coddle them the way he does.
Truly pathetic.
By the way, it will be Gators 45, UGA 17. Enjoy the drive from Jax.
Brad
September 24th, 2011
11:23 pm
Holy smokies i haven’t lost a game in the contest so far.
Pollyanna
September 24th, 2011
11:23 pm
Texas Dawg September 24th, 2011 5:59 pm
“Is anyone other than me worried about Murry? He misses wide open guys..throws behind his receivers..has not beat an sec foe with a winning record!!!! I know I know look at his numbers yada yada yada…………………..don’t get me wrong I hope he wins every game for UGA from here on out but i just don’t think he gets it done when it’s on the line…..we shall see…hope he proves me wrong!”
I hope he proves you wrong too, Texas Dawg, sir. If he does, it will be the 1st time in his career. 11 carries for minus – 17 yards today, is in keeping with his career average of 1 yards per carry. “He is a college QB,” they say in reply to his inability to be a dual-threat QB – exactly. And, he runs up his stats vs 8 cupcakes in his entire career here – such as ball-hogging the TD run and ball-hogging the TD pass – the only 2 times we got to the 3-yard line of Ole Miss, seizing his opportunity to run up his stats vs cupcakes. 11 carries. 1 yard a carry career avg. Today minus 1.7. He threw himself to the ground all game long. 11 times he threw his little body to the ground. Actually more than that. He hasn’t beat an SEC opponent with a winning record ? He has not beat any team with a winning record, and will have been on this campus since practicing with the team for the bowl game 2008. In a little over a month, he will have been on this campus for 3 years. He has played 10 teams with a losing record for the season and beat 8 of them. He has played 7 teams with a winning record for the season, and lost all 7. He had 8 interceptions last season and 9 fumbles. This season he has 3 interceptions and 4 fumbles in 4 games, 2 vs cupcakes, again this season. He averaged 1.9 yards a carry last year and minus – 1.2 yards per carry this season. We have 9 fumbles on the season this year, and he is the main culprit with 4. We had 20 fumbles last year and he was the main culprit with 9. His interceptions and fumbles have come at key moments that cost us the losses, both years. Did you see anyone else get in the game for 1 play at QB today vs a patsy football team who lost last week to Vandie 30-7 ? That was a sorry job today by Aaron Murray. Sorry. 5 field goals he settles for against a team who lost to Vandy just last week, 30-7.
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:23 pm
i honestly stand corrected from about 2 hours ago…….lsu is the real deal, what a beatdown.
Brad
September 24th, 2011
11:25 pm
avg schultz score is 35-18. i got 30-17 score is 31-14 now
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:25 pm
anyone ever caddie for their summer job in high school/college?
5150 UOAD
September 24th, 2011
11:26 pm
UGA could beat LSU easy. UGA just has to use the new F. Mayweather Sucker Punch offence.
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:27 pm
Sucker Punch was a great movie…..love Baby Doll.
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:28 pm
Urban Meyer wants to coach Braxton Miller and OSU so much it’s almost sick.
Final
September 24th, 2011
11:30 pm
Yeah knew that broken. Thanks for enlightening me. u2 5150..btw did you know that after giving birth, irish women are directed by their md to drink guinness. big u2 rem fan here. love music trivia. went to see u2 in 05 and my pal from here lived in killiney where the edge had a house and i yelled out his street name as he walked by playing something as he stopped and he looked at me like wtf how does someone in atlanta know what street i live on….lol..and where the streets have no name…rofl
Pollyanna
September 24th, 2011
11:31 pm
We won our 2 SEC Championships after 1982 in (1) 2005 when we lost 3 games and ended up the # 3 highest ranked SEC team in the AP Poll and in (2) 2002 when the lone only other SEC team who ended up ranked at all in the Coaches’ Poll Top 25 for 2002 was # 14 Auburn.
Get real.
Man to Man Coverage
September 24th, 2011
11:31 pm
After watching 10 SEC teams play today on television this is what we now know after 4 weeks of play.
UGA is right in line with the following teams( Tennessee, MSU, Auburn, Vandy). They all have good aspects of their game, but are not very good in others.
UGA has some players who need to learn to keep their mouths shut, especially after making a big play( ie IC, Rambo) at some point it is going to cost you a penalty.
The kicking game at UGA is solid at punter, but the field goal automatic machine needs some tweaking.
LSU, Alabama, USC, Florida as of today are head and shoulders better than everyone else when it comes to personnel and coaching.
Vandy is goint to win some SEC games that matter this year and have the opportunity to become the Stanford of the SEC with the right coaches and recruiters and Franklin is making the program better.
Kentucky is just awful on offense and their defense is not very deep.
Arkansas is not as good as THEY thought, but will still win 9 games.
Auburn is just awful and any team that can run the ball will beat them.
Pollyanna
September 24th, 2011
11:33 pm
Mark Richt’s Entire Tenure at UGA :
03-10 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
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:34 pm
pollyanna – keep living in the past…..nirvana called……they want to give you a cracker…..you…..are…..2nd…..tier……again……forever.
Pollyanna
September 24th, 2011
11:35 pm
man,
Not sure why you didn’t say anything about Mark Richt getting all after Isaiah Crowell, when after every run, he jumped up pumping his fist and jawing at Ole Miss’s sorry football team.
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:35 pm
anyone confirm that Urban bought a house in Big Ten country?
Man to Man Coverage
September 24th, 2011
11:36 pm
After 4 weeks lets rank the SEC from top to bottom:
LSU/Alabama
USC
Florida
Arkansas
MSU/Tennessee
Georgia
Vandy
Auburn
Kentucky
Ole Miss
Broken Record
September 24th, 2011
11:37 pm
um, id definitely switch auburn and uga man to man…….probably depends on who has home field though…..msu is too high too, mullen is completely overrated.
gamecocks forever
September 24th, 2011
11:39 pm
UGA fans love to hate on my gamecocks….. You follow our games but never give the final score 21-3 and it was not that close. The def. ripped Vandy a new one ……the Off. is what it is but No. 21 is the truth.
Man to Man Coverage
September 24th, 2011
11:39 pm
Yes you are correct CMR did pounce on him, but that was after he had done it about 5 other times and still did it late in the game. CMR did, and if I remember he did pull him out of the game. My point is that if you are a running back or a reciever the defensive players will start to single you out and given the opportunity will not hesitate to lay one on you or hold you up while other team mates lay in to you.
Man to Man Coverage
September 24th, 2011
11:41 pm
Georgia does have a defense and Auburn does not have any type of defense. Auburn has Justin Beiber playing quarterback and Georgia has two QB’s who can play. Finally UGA get Auburn at home. Auburn will lose the next 4 games.
Final
September 24th, 2011
11:46 pm
Has anyone else got all the games right so far?
Gary
September 24th, 2011
11:49 pm
Sorry Gator fans but UF will have to back to back losses beginning next weekend. Will be 3-2 in the SEC when they meet up with the Dawgs. I predict that the Dawgs will be 4-1 (maybe 3-2) going into that game. Will make for a pretty interesting contest between the 2 teams. Unfortunately I see the Gators win yet another one, but I don’t see it being a blow out. Hope the Dawgs can prove me wrong. Special teams has got to get better though, we desperately need Walsh to return to form. GO DAWGS!
Fair and Balanced
September 24th, 2011
11:54 pm
Serious room for improvement. We played a bad team and still, Murray had little time to throw and got sacked a few times. Richt makes dumb call not to go for 1st down on Miss 30, then turns around and makes even dumber call to go for first down on Ga 30. This should have even a blowout and wasn’t. Vandy beat this team worse. Ga can’t win 9 games. I’ll be surprised if we win 7.
That Dawg Licks His Balls
September 24th, 2011
11:56 pm
I don’t know what all these idiots are talking about. We are the best team in the SEC by far. We will win 10 in a row.
We should be 4-0 right now, but the refs ripped us in the Boise and USC games.
Russ' Drool
September 25th, 2011
12:00 am
You are right. The haters are wrong. We should be 4-0 and we are the best team in the SEC. Haters will see.
john g
September 25th, 2011
12:01 am
Dawgs suck. periord!
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
12:03 am
UGA can’t win the SEC Least with RUSS as the mascot.
Captain Obvious
September 25th, 2011
12:03 am
Glad we don’t have Bama or LSU on our schedule this season. LSU just beat WVU like a drum as did Bama with Arky. The Gators don’t have a shot against either of them. Gator fans will be eating humble pie for the next 2 weeks.
john g
September 25th, 2011
12:04 am
mispell on periord…. dawgs suck! aaron murray needs to focus on football not jesus!
Final
September 25th, 2011
12:08 am
Sorry but bama wont win in the swamp
Rick
September 25th, 2011
12:08 am
Did anyone got to Music Midtown?
Jordan
September 25th, 2011
12:10 am
http://isportsweb.com/2011/09/25/dawgs-beat-ole-miss-27-13/
tth.net
September 25th, 2011
12:11 am
jeff: in spite of what some of these fans say, thanks for pointing out CMR not going for it on 4th down and 1. It is significant. The call was stupid. It shows that even though we are running the ball like crazy. coach Richt does not have any confidence in the team. It makes me sick. He needs to be fired. His coaching and basic decision making skills are horrible and he is not capable of wining big in the sec
SS Dawg
September 25th, 2011
12:14 am
I’m not upset about this week or last, but need to make one quick comment.
The Richt apologists on the radio and these AJC boards like to say, “Hey, you forgot what this program was like before CMR got here”. Yeh, I remember; it was about exactly like it is now – - – 7-9 win seasons and mediocre bowls. Does anyone really think we’d be any worse off right now if Jim Donnan was still the coach (although his financial statement would probably look a little better). The reality is that the UGA program as been very much like the stock market over the last 10 years — a few bull market years, but the end result is flat with no positive return.
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
12:17 am
Let Richt go do mission work……….Bobo will make a great head coach.
Michael Stipe
September 25th, 2011
12:18 am
Let’s all have a lawn party down at the Butt Smear building!
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
12:19 am
Micheal Stipe………is a Butt Smear Fan for sure.
Sharkman
September 25th, 2011
12:20 am
It’s great to be a Bulldawg on a Saturday night! 8-9 under Murray.
Sam
September 25th, 2011
12:23 am
@Final: Hate to tell ya but I am afraid that the Gators are going down to Bama. There is no way that they stop Richardson. LSU will probably outright embarrass UF the following week. Good luck. Glad the Dawgs don’t see either of them this season, it would be really ugly.
5150 UOAD
September 25th, 2011
12:27 am
So the Dawgs Backing into the SEC CG as the Least winner would make you happy? I would think It would be better to be 2nd in the SEC Least and just get a good bowl game and not get abused by the West Champ in the Dome.
Rick
September 25th, 2011
12:28 am
When I was young and full of grace
As spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor, on your honor
I believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the key
I believe my humor’s wearing thin
And i BELIEVE THERE IS NO MAN MADE GLOBAL WARMING