After another flawed win, are Dogs ready for Florida? (Updated with Grantham video)
Aaron Murray and Georgia had some shaky moments Saturday at Vanderbilt. (AP photo)
(UPDATED: 11:50 p.m.)
NASHVILLE – There’s a saying in sports: It’s not how, it’s how many. That assumes, of course, we’re not talking about college football polls or perceptions heading into the Florida game.
Georgia won again Saturday night. That makes five straight. If ever a five-game winning streak can cause discomfort, this is it. Vanderbilt, a team that had managed just three points in its previous two games, scored three second-half touchdowns. One came on a 96-yard kickoff return. Two others came on alarming efficient drives of 75 and 84 yards against a Bulldogs’ defense that was thought to be improving. So much for thought.
The Bulldogs, after leading 23-7, held on a for a 33-28 victory. The words “held on” never should appear before “victory” for a team that aspires to something higher than the Liberty Bowl again.
The Dogs’ four straight SEC wins have come over teams — Mississippi State, Mississippi, Tennessee, Vandy — with a combined record of 1-13. No, it’s not their fault they’re playing lousy teams. But this game wasn’t secure until time expired. A blocked punt with seven seconds hope gave the Commodores one last gasp of hope. An ensuing pass from Georgia’s 21-yard line went off the finger tips of a Vandy wide receiver, Chris Boyd in the end zone.
Is this progress?
The Dogs struggled to finish drives on offense. They wilted on defense. They were absolutely dreadful on special teams. They had discipline problems — from the players down to the combustible defensive coordinator. After this one finally, mercifully came to an end, players and coaches from both teams met at midfield. It looked like the stare-down before a rumble between the Jets and Sharks in Westside story.
At the center of it were Vandy coach James Franklin and Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who exchanged heated words. (Go to the end of the column for the video.)
Georgia coach Mark Richt wasn’t happy after the game, nor should he have been. First, he put an asterisk on the win: “I just don’t know if we’re ready to continue at the top of the Eastern Division the way we played. We’re thankful for the victory but we’ve got a ways to go.”
Then he addressed his team’s lack of discipline and short fuse. He said he didn’t get a good look at the post-game exchange, but commented, “All I know is I hate the fact at the end of the game that we can’t just shake hands like gentleman and walk off the field. … It’s like the end of a play. When it’s over it’s over. Go to the sideline. And we didn’t do a very good job of that. It is heated. It is battle. It’s not war with real bullets but it’s war in a sense and tempers do flare up. I don’t mind our blood [pressure] getting high but we can’t do something that may get us beat, or make us look less than a first-class operation.”
Grantham was cryptic with his remarks, saying only: “Everybody’s competitive. I love my players. I support my players.”
Franklin: “I went to find coach Richt and didn’t find him, so I found one of his assistant coaches and it didn’t go well.”
Was this a Vandy game?
In short, this wasn’t the kind of performance that is going to inspire confidence going into the Florida game in two weeks, even with the Gators themselves struggling. (Less we forget, the Gators were struggling last season when they won for the 19th time in 21 meetings.)
A blown transformer caused four banks of lights at Vanderbilt Stadium to go out with 2:53 left in the first half. Some of the game was played amid dark shadows. Just as well. Most Vandy games are best played in the dark anyway.
Richt was hoping his team would quick start. That didn’t happen. The offense was as dim as the half-lit stadium. The first four possessions: missed field goal (50 yards), punt (three and out), field goal (53 yards), missed field goal (42 yards). Twice the Dogs failed to capitalize on Vandy turnovers. Their first touchdown came only after a botched Commodores punt.
Also contributing to the early problems: The absence of running back Isaiah Crowell. Richt benched him for the entire first quarter. He confirmed after the game it was not injury related but rather for something off the field. But he wouldn’t specify. (The logical assumption: Some kind of disciplinary measure.)
The five straight wins aside, the Dogs still show flaws. The fact they’re showing them against bad competition is the biggest concern. After driving to a field goal to open the second half, they allowed Vandy’s Andre Hal to return a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, which narrowed the lead to 23-14.
Discipline and intelligence remain issues: On the ensuing kickoff, Shawn Williams hit a Vandy player late, drawing his second personal foul of the game. (Later in the game, Kwame Geathers was flagged for punching Vandy’s Logan Stewart on the ground after a play, but officials called offsetting personal fouls.)
Aaron Murray threw for 326 yards but he also misfired at times (22 for 38). The Dogs couldn’t finish drives, and Murray missed a wide open Marlon Brown at the five-yard line for a certain touchdown before the team settled for its fourth field goal of the night. The lead (26-14) was comfortable. The performance was not comforting.
It took two trick plays before they found the end zone against Georgia: a 35-yard pass play on a fake punt, and a 43-yard, half-back pass from Zac Stacy to Jordan Matthews for a touchdown. But there they were, reeking havoc late. First came the kickoff return. Then came the 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that closed the lead to 26-21. When Murray responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass to Brown, Vandy — Vandy! — showed its resiliency with another long scoring drive, this one ending on a 19-yard run by Stacy with nine minutes left.
The Dogs kept us guessing to the end.
Going into the Florida game, that’s a problem.
Grantham goes ballistic
By Jeff Schultz
Follow me on Twitter (@JeffSchultzAJC). Friend me on Facebook (Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC).
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
958 comments Add your comment
bardawg
October 15th, 2011
11:36 pm
KBP, BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH! The Dawgs came into this game with a feeling of intitlement ,just like they’ve done so many times in the past& almost had thier a$$es handed to them like they deserved! I’m damn sick & tired of watching these little coddled primadonnas “play” football. I went to Georgia in the early 70’s and long for the old days of some true smash-mouth football,not like the namby pamby babycrap we see out of these kids today
Keyboard-bravado-is-whack
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
Flat tire needs a girl friend
TampaGator
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
Heck…..Muschamp has two weeks to teach Florida’s punt returners how to catch punts in a game…..something he could not do in 5 months of practice.
Dawg48
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
@ flat tire
Look like grant hem got mad cause a vandy player stomped on rambos leg
SatillaDawg
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
Well, I’m glad the Dawgs won, but that ugliness at the end was embarrassing.
I don’t care who started it, Coach Grantham should have shown more class.
Rest up, Dawgs! Gators won’t be pushovers.
TODD GRANTHAM IS A MAN
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
Is there a clip online of the incident?
The Bro
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
looks like the nerd herd is trolling the UGA blog since they have nothing to say about their team….put your real screen names on here nerds
MattinATL
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
“reeking havoc” – really? REALLY?? Good grief, Charlie Brown.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
Burgess
October 15th, 2011
11:34 pm
Why in the world did Rambo take a knee…He could have easily run 20-30 yards and UGA would never have had to punt……worst case scenario…would have turned ball over on downs at about their 20
The issue was running Samuel backwards/sideways instead of straight ahead.
Nick Fairley
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
UGA beats Florida 45-2.
I’m actually not talking about the game. I’m talking about 45 UGA coaches and players beating 2 Florida players. After the Auburn, Florida and Vandy game we are seeing something I have never seen before but a mediocre to a bad team fighting at the end of games win or lose.
Shame.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
October 15th, 2011
11:38 pm
Jeff:
Article is dead-on, UGA has not had a real stress test yet, and has beaten some of the worst teams in the SEC. Vandy is no powerhouse, as well as Ole Miss, MSU or even Tennessee. Everyone in Athens is getting excited about nothing.
On top of the lackluster win tonight. CMR just proved that he has not only lost control of his players, he has also lost control of his coaches. Nice….real nice…
Keyboard-bravado-is-whack
October 15th, 2011
11:38 pm
Umm bardawg did you play?
bucket
October 15th, 2011
11:38 pm
@ Somebody – so if someone doesn’t agree with you they don’t have all the facts? You don’t think it’s possible that the Vandy coach said something he shouldn’t have said out of frustration for losing the game and caused the incident at midfield? I’m sure Grantham has some spin and Franklin does, too. I saw what I saw on the tv. Look at the replays if you want to and you will see it, too.
@ dawg gone it – I liked seeing Bean Anderson jump on Samuels for running horizontally instead of vertically!!!
2 n 10
October 15th, 2011
11:38 pm
yeh burgess rambo takin a knee was really stupid,i like him but it was stupid.he had tons of room
monty
October 15th, 2011
11:38 pm
Saw more thrown fists tonight than at some Heavy weight fights.
dawgtired
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
I’m ashamed not just of a pathetic football team, but embarrassed by the classless actions of Grantham. This team has no discipline, on or off the field. Richt should be held accountable for the actions of his staff. I take no pleasure in this win, and I’m disappointed that representatives of my alma mater made us look like idiots, especially after the game was over. If I were Adams, I’d have Richt in my office first thing Monday morning and send him walking. Pitiful.
kerryb
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
Just like Loren Smith said before the game. Nobody cares how much you win an SEC road game by as long as you win. No one will remember in 2 years that it was that close to losing. They will only care what your record is.
Delusional Tech Fan
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
Does this mean we won’t get to play for the national championship?
Rob
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
fb – I understand why Rambo took a knee. He didn’t want to risk a fumble back to Vandy and probably thought Georgia would be able to run the clock out. However, I’m sure that when he looks at it on tape, he will realize that he should have at least taken the 10 or 15 yards that were wide open and then taken a knee or gone out of bounds.
dogpoo
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
Wow– and I understand some UGA players were talking about playing Bama in the SEC Championship game……………pray you dont have to. It would be a monumental and epic ass whupping. Your team looks like their coach; soft, mistake prone, thuggish, and utterly undisciplined. As long as touchdown jesus is head coach, you will get an ass kicking by real coaches every time. Either saban or Miles will destroy your team. God you guys left some piles on the field tonight. Its only because you WONT play Bama, LSU, and Arky this year in reg season that your “D” (lolol) wont get lit up for 40-50 points……until the SEC champ game. Yes, you will win the L(east), as SC and Florida are GOD AWFUL. You will win by default….then lose by 30-35 in the title game, regardless of whether you play Bama or LSU. They have men– you have thugs. LOCK OF THE YEAR!
Nick Fairley isn't playing in Detroit
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
I usually go low at the QB’s. Dive at their knees. Thats how Trooper Taylor(the idiot who wears his hat backwards like a hood rat) taught me.
Red Dog 77
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
I’m listening to the post game call-in show……….I hope these folks aren’t a real reflextion of DOG NATION………..A, er…..a know what I mean Vern?
TampaGator
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
JClay…..
If Brantley returns and is 100 percent…..and Demps does the same….the game will be a good game to watch. If Driskel or Brissett are the QBs….you win. But the Dawgs have not been very impressive this year. Be very thankful for your SEC schedule.
Nick Fairley
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
BUCK BELUE: Georgia’s improvement is for real.
Do you ever think Jim Kincaid wants out of that show or wants Belue out? Here’s how it probably sounded: Yeah John…. those Gawga Bulldogs… BULLDAWGS… red and black… that coach Mark Richt leading them… and Rambo and Crooow-Well… they’re for real John, I think their improvement is for real…
Yes, since the UCF game this team has improvement written all over it.
kerryb
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
dawgtired, grow a set
dawgforlife
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
I usually call Jeff on his negative UGA slant; however, even I will have to admit that was as ugly as it gets..is there a worse special team in the country?…didn’t anyone realize they were running the dang fake when the punter dropped the snap earier in the game?…geez…this is about as bad as I have ever felt after a win. We sure need that bye week.
RJ Voorhees
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
Vandy’s coach is another Lane Kiffin, plain and simple. He is trying to draw attention to the Vandy program by starting drama. He coached a good game but his gimmicks are lame. Driving a helicopter to recruit, thats already been done.
longtimedawgfan
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
actually he’s on the money this time…we were pathetic….out-coached, totally undisciplined, horrendous special teams….again….just plain stupidity…we may have athletes, but we ain’t much on character….guess it comes from watching the example of our coaches….and for sure, their number 2 QB is superior to our no 1…..ain’t that a shame…afraid Fl will be looking for some relief after getting thumped by 3 west teams…am sure they will be glad to see us coming into town.,,,
beanster
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
Agreed, Rob. You can go to espn3.com and watch a replay. Grantham nearly started a riot. Standing up for your players is one thing, but that was just stupid. Vandy’s coaching staff retaliation was almost as bad. I don’t know what happened to Rambo on the last play, but the video doesn’t show anything dirty happening.
I would never have expected that type of play from Vandy. Looks like they are going to be another team to add to the “hate” list.
My Opinion
October 15th, 2011
11:41 pm
dawgtired
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
I’m ashamed not just of a pathetic football team, but embarrassed by the classless actions of Grantham.
You are a fool. Is that clear?
rational
October 15th, 2011
11:41 pm
Grantham may have been standing up for his players but he handled it in the worst possible way. He needs to learn some self control. He is a coach for a high profile program. He needs to act like it.
bardawg
October 15th, 2011
11:41 pm
CTG did the right thing standing up to the Vanderbilt guy!
Embarrasing
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
I don’t care what made Grantham angry. You guys can apologize for him all you want, but what happened at the end of the game is inexcusable. There are other ways to handle it (even if you are mad at an opposing coach) than to start that crap and almost start a huge riot.
Hopelessly Devoted
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
Somebody else said maybe it was all Vandy’s fault. That sounds good to me.
Besides, the refs cheated and we still won anyway. That’s because we have the best coaches and they’re all good Christian men. Coach Grantham just did what Jesus would have done. I’m sure of that.
kerryb
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
dogpoo, Hey stupid. As long as you get a chance to strap it on and compete for it, that’s all you can ask for.
CHDawg
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
Ugly win. If we play like that in Jax, I suspect we will get crushed. This is two weeks of heavy penalties. Same problems as ‘08. Also, the Dawgs don’t want to get a Fairley reputation. We will be penalized worse than we deserve. Coaches need to work on attitude, discipline in not responding to trash talk and late shoving, or it will cost UGA in a big way. I will say that at least Richt was calm and poised along with the majority of coaches and players.
My Opinion
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
longtimedawgfan
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
actually he’s on the money this time…we were pathetic….out-coached, totally undisciplined, horrendous special teams….again….just plain stupidity…we may have athletes, but we ain’t much on character….guess it comes from watching the example of our coaches….and for sure, their number 2 QB is superior to our no 1…..ain’t that a shame
Let me tell you that you are a f’in fool. Murray’s QB rating was 150. You stupid SOB just STFU until I ask you for your opinion.
Nick Fairley
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
Nick Fairley isn’t playing in Detroit
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
I usually go low at the QB’s. Dive at their knees. Thats how Trooper Taylor(the idiot who wears his hat backwards like a hood rat) taught me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Quick question, who was suspended last year for dirty play? Your center Ben Jones or me? Think real hard.
Chop block me and I’ll rip your QB’s head off… and I did.
You realize I want you to keep CMR right?
kerryb
October 15th, 2011
11:43 pm
Why do we have to have a bunch of wusses for fans?
dawg gone it
October 15th, 2011
11:43 pm
Can’t any team from Georgia tackle one of those Rodgers boys?
TampaGator
October 15th, 2011
11:43 pm
There is a good chance…..if Brantley and Demps do not get healthy this year…..that the Gators could end the season with a 5-7 record. And that will not go over well in Gainesville for Muschamp. Right now……I must say Mushcamp’s coaching and sideline act has been very disappointing. At the moment…..Ron Zook was a better coach. His behavior on the sidelines tonight was uncalled for….and very unprofessional for a college football coach. He is not winning fans in Gainesville right now.
AFDawg
October 15th, 2011
11:43 pm
Alshon Jeffrey, If you recall — Vandy stomped on the Georgia “G” at midfield after upsetting the Dawgs in Athens the year before. I told all the Vandy fans at the game who were laughing about it they woukld get paid back the next year. Georgia was taking care of business and doing some payback. I personally was glad the Dawgs had the gumption to do it — it proved my prophetic remarks to be true. Vandy shouldn’t have started what they can’t finish. Georgia in undefeated against them since they (Vandy) disrespected the”G”.
treaddawg
October 15th, 2011
11:43 pm
Flat tire needs a girlfriend with an education degree to teach him grammar. Most of us just need a girlfriend.
SenoiaDawgs
October 15th, 2011
11:43 pm
Folks complain about no emotion and now that they see some from the coaches they complain. I for one as an alum am proud of the emotion. It showed me we do have a coach that cares about his players and what happens.
Nick Fairley isn't playing in Detroit
October 15th, 2011
11:44 pm
Nick Fairley
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
Chop block me and I’ll rip your QB’s head off… and I did.
You mean the play where you dove at the QB’s knees after the play was over? You cheap shot son of a bitch.
Nick Fairley
October 15th, 2011
11:45 pm
Wait just a moment… you can’t possibly say TC is playing dirty can you?!?!
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/files/2010/11/Choke1.jpg
Oh, ha… you know it’s been a season and a half, has UGA beaten a ranked team?
azdawg
October 15th, 2011
11:46 pm
The way GA played tonight they have no chance against FL nor AU. Tech neither. They looked as bad as they’ve ever looked. They stink when it comes to defending others special teams and gimmick plays. Can anyone remember the last time GA even tried a half back pass? Any trickery to keep the opposing D off balance or a run or pass from the punting team? Thats the OC fault and CMR’s for not requiring any of the plays to be used. GA is so, so, vanilla any opponent will try anything against them because they know it will most likely suceed.
JS hit the nail on the head, GA still shows a lot of flaws and against better competition, FL, AU and tech, it will most definitely come back to haunt them on the scoreboard. may they rest in peace.
kerryb
October 15th, 2011
11:46 pm
SenoiaDawgs, DGD. Good post.
BobDawg
October 15th, 2011
11:46 pm
S.C. barely gets by Missy State that we handled pretty easy…You know Franklin wanted this game in the worse way as he is recruiting Ga hard from his “helicopter”…Too funny. Sometimes you just have to win the “uglies”…. I really like the fact that the team and coaches will be catching alot of crap about the way the game turned out and will keep us from getting overconfident going to Jax…
rg
October 15th, 2011
11:46 pm
P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!
I still think Richt is history. We’re back to very little disclipline and now it even extends to his assistants. It is clear he has lost control.