Georgia goes up 10-0, then goes down hard to LSU
After early success, it was a difficult night for Georgia's Aaron Murray. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
(UPDATED: 9:20 p.m.)
This is when all involved with the Georgia program will tell themselves, “Well, we got here.”
They will cling to the fact an inspired defense allowed LSU only 12 yards and zero first downs in the first half. They will bang their heads against the fiberglass Uga’s throughout downtown Athens over the what-might-have-beens, if two dropped touchdown passes on their first two possessions hadn’t left the team with only a field goal. They will grit their teeth as they mold toy Honey Badgers out of Play-Doh, then crush them with their fists.
But in the end, the Bulldogs’ return to the SEC Championship game after six years resulted in an ugly tilt on the scoreboard. The final: LSU 42, Georgia 10.
That might not tell the whole story. But it reaffirms what we sort of knew: Despite the season’s 10-game winning streak and the remarkable resiliency we witnessed after a 0-2 start, the Bulldogs just aren’t there yet.
“It doesn’t seem real right now that our momentum stopped,” said tight end Aron White, whose first-quarter touchdown gave the Dogs a 10-0 lead. “It really catches you off-guard when all of a sudden the accolades and the wins stop. It’s definitely going to take a while to get over. But at the end of the day, I don’t think a loss to the No. 1 team in America from the best conference in America is going to take away from the season we’ve had. We can’t say we’re the best, but we can say we were pretty damn good.”
Hard to believe, the Dogs led 10-0. They would have rejoiced more if they didn’t believe that it should have been 21-0, the residue of dropped touchdown passes by Tavarres King and Malcolm Mitchell. They will wonder how a game in which they once held a 134-7 advantage in totals so completely spun out of control.
“Basically we lost the momentum, they gained it and we couldn’t slow it down,” coach Mark Richt said.
Three months ago, the Bulldogs left the Georgia Dome after a 35-21 loss to Boise State, leaving most wondering about their direction, their resilience and, most of all, Richt.
That shouldn’t be the case any more. But the sting of 42-10 losses tend to sting a while.
Following White’s touchdown, the Dogs’ next 10 possessions resulted in seven punts and three turnovers (all leading to LSU touchdowns). The Bulldogs saw a game that they were implausibly dominating get turned around by a gravity-defying punt returner known in the swamplands as the “Honey Badger.” Sophomore Tyrann Mathieu returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give LSU what the offense couldn’t: points. Then he brought back another one 47 yards early in third quarter – unofficially breaking seven tackles along the way. That set up a second touchdown and gave the Tigers a 14-10 lead.
Richt on Mathieu: “I’ll be honest: I enjoy watching the guy play football, other than when he plays against us.”
Soon, it was like somebody pulled the stopper out of the bathtub.
A fumble by quarterback Aaron Murray led to another touchdown. The Dogs’ wore down on both lines. LSU then ran them into the ground. The SEC championship was theirs, and the Dogs’ 10-game winning streak was over.
By midway through the fourth quarter, a Dome crowd that was two-thirds Georgia fans was two-thirds empty with a decidedly purple-and-gold tilt.
The Dogs will have a few weeks off before their bowl game. They’ll need it to recover — mentally moreso than physically.
About the what-might-have-beens: The Bulldogs’ defense forced six straight three-and-outs. But that success didn’t carry over to the offense. King dropped a third-down pass in the end zone on the first drive, forcing the Dogs to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Blair Walsh. Malcolm Mitchell dropped a third-down pass at the LSU 5-yard-line on the second drive, seemingly preoccupied with turning to run into the end zone. This time, Walsh missed from 45 yards.
A 10-0 lead against No. 1 just isn’t good enough when it should be 21-0.
“We wanted to have a better show then we ended up showing for 60 minutes,” Richt said.
It was a good show for a short while.
By Jeff Schultz
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1,203 comments Add your comment
1969 Graduate
December 3rd, 2011
10:13 pm
Congratulations to LSU, and to our players for their enthusiasm, effort, and for earning the right to play in the championship game.
Our first half defensive performance was fantastic.
But, seriously, are all our coaches up to the task? Some are, but our play calling was predictable, uninspired, repetitively inane, and ineffective. Our special teams were bad. Our focus was spotty. Our execution was inconsistent. We didn’t have the depth to compete with LSU, nor did we have a running game (which just might be a necessity). We had too many stupid penalties.
Yes, I saw Crowell turn his back on Mark Richt when being chewed out for a really stupid penalty! I have an idea for Mr. Richt – it involves a Greyhound ticket to Columbus. The jerk is more trouble than he’s worth.
Speaking of Greyhound tickets. Unless CMR shows some serious signs of being in the hunt for the national championship, do we really need him around?
Suggestion for Mr. Richt: Hire an Offensive Coordinator! That would be a sign of a serious head coach.
What’s next? Wait ’til next year! (Not again).
Go, Bulldogs – The team, I mean, I’m proud of you guys, most of you.
Our coaching problems, and failures all fall on Mark Richt. I’m sure his boss is likely to see it the same way.
asa
December 3rd, 2011
10:15 pm
Call Richt in Monday give him a 3 year contract,give $200,000 raise for Grantham get rid of Boobo and hire a special team coach and then get assses out to find runninga backs and offensive lineman and make them understand they will play next year ,
so close to have just a little need
Kiss The Ring
December 3rd, 2011
10:15 pm
War DangDawg…here is AU winsversus top 10 teams..
2001 beat number 1 UF
2002 beat yop ten LSU, UA, PennSt
2004 beat UT, UGA, VT
2005 beatUGA
2006 beat UF
2007 beat UF
2010 beat Ark, bama, LSU, Oregon
Thats what pissing excellence looks like.
2010 BCS Champs
December 3rd, 2011
10:16 pm
we ruin this state,
it’s a championship game that alabama didn’t make……
LutzFLdawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:16 pm
Schultz, why do you hate the Bulldogs?
Dalton
December 3rd, 2011
10:17 pm
@ruin….because SC couldn’t beat at “bunch of 18 year olds” as “Kiss” so eloquently said earlier in the blog. SC didn’t earn the trip. They couldn’t beat who they had to beat to get there.
2010 BCS Champs
December 3rd, 2011
10:17 pm
we ruin this state.
piggy-backing onto other team’s accomplishments……my how sad you are
frank
December 3rd, 2011
10:17 pm
The facts are we played 3 tough games all season and lost all 3.
GATA
December 3rd, 2011
10:17 pm
4 plays made the difference. Change them and the score is 28-24, LSU. We make the field goal, its 28-27. Not exactly a blow out. Bottom line is UGA didn’t cash in on field postion in first half, LSU did in the second half. If we had any semblance of a running game maybe we could have picked up some first downs and flipped the field in the 3rd. Not taking anything away from LSU. They are the best team period and deserve everything they get. Just saying the score don’t always tell the tale.
Kiss The Ring
December 3rd, 2011
10:17 pm
Oh wait…I left off USCe 2011.
Dalton
December 3rd, 2011
10:18 pm
OK ST. is killing the Sooners.
Let's talk about UGA!
December 3rd, 2011
10:18 pm
Why didn’t we wear our ‘Dome’ uniforms?
You know? The uniforms we wore for the first game of the season.
When we go downtown and act like female poodles, we are treated like female poodles. We may as well dress the part.
I think the ‘Dome’ uniforms with red boas would have been appropriate.
Go Dawgs!
Sic ‘em!
Woof! Woof! Woof!
War Dang Dawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:19 pm
Kiss the Ring, you don’t have to keep arguing the point. We can all agree that every team, and I mean EVERY team that Georgia beat during its 10 game win streak was sorry as hell. I mean, just pathetic. No top 5 or top 10 wins for us.
And some of those same losers will be stinking up bowl games this year in places like Atlanta and Jacksonville and El Paso.
Any plans to attend the Chick Fil A bowl?
James
December 3rd, 2011
10:21 pm
@WE RUIN THIS STATE
Obviously seeing Georgia players displaying that “We Run This State” sign last week hurt your feelings.How did it feel when they planted that UGA flag at midfield? I have some bad news for you,Georgia will be a better team next year and will beat you again.So this time next year you can be a fluff boy again for the team from the west that they will be playing for the SEC championship.
BananaJacket
December 3rd, 2011
10:21 pm
This Tech fan thought the Dawgs gave it all they had considering who they were playing. If the announcers were correct, NO SEC team has gone a half with zero first downs. Ga played great defense as long as they could. You had to know LSU is too good to not get it going in the 2nd half. The coaching didn’t cause the loss—LSU’s talent and depth did. Hopefully, not a majority of Dawg fans are like most of those on these blogs. I couldn’t blame Coach Richt if he left tomorrow. He is a fine man and coach. Sometimes (no, a lot of times), you just have to admit that the other team is better. If you expect to win the National Championship every year, you need a psychiatrist. Good luck in your bowl game where ever that might be.
Dash Fud
December 3rd, 2011
10:21 pm
Wow. Lots of complete douche bags on this blog. Congrats to LSU – solid team.
GO DAWGS!
2010 BCS Champs
December 3rd, 2011
10:21 pm
War Dang Dawg,
did you just call auburn “sorry as hell?” how dare you!
Vince Doodly
December 3rd, 2011
10:22 pm
LSU is just that good. They hung similar numbers on better teams that Georgia.
The Honey Badger
December 3rd, 2011
10:24 pm
Hey girls,
If you want my ‘toss out-of-bounds’ touch down back, you can have it.
***but***
I don’t think it’s gonna do you a bit of good.
Dawg Fud
December 3rd, 2011
10:25 pm
Solid post, banana jacket. Could not agree more.
War Dang Dawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:26 pm
“War Dang Dawg,
did you just call auburn “sorry as hell?” how dare you!”
That was insensitive of me, 2010 BCS Champs. All I was trying to do was agree with them as to how bad Georgia is this year.
TexasDawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:27 pm
@2010 BCS CHAMPS!!!!!!! “Dawgs played a great first half”
“Yeah they scored a whooping 10 points. Amazing.”
Thats 4 more than bama scored in 4 quarters and bama beat y’all almost as bad as the Dawgs did this year, lol. you are like all the gaytor fans, couldn’t beat the dawgs on ur own, so your living vicariously through LSU. when are you going to buy another NC? scam newton ain’t there no more!
Ed
December 3rd, 2011
10:27 pm
My grandma has been in a wheelchair since 1997 and she pass blocks better than Isaiah Crowell
Deepdiver
December 3rd, 2011
10:27 pm
First, Crowell is an idiot. Second, Georgia needs to capitalize when they have chances. Two passes dropped that could have given them a 17-0 lead. You can’t get away with that. You knew LSU was too powerful to have their offense or special teams not show up at some point. Also, our guys tired out as usual. Who is the conditioning coach? He needs to be fired immediately.
sprouse27
December 3rd, 2011
10:28 pm
UGA. America’s best 1 half team.
Dawg fans are the worst
December 3rd, 2011
10:28 pm
Just returned from the game. As expected, the Tigers OWNED the Puppies..but, their fans are the most classless rednecks ever…I bet 90% of them never went to UGA….epitome of trailer trash…but, they got real quiet in the 2nd half….why? Tiger DOMINATION! 42-10…UGA not ready? ya think? GEAUX TIGERS!
Ed
December 3rd, 2011
10:29 pm
Crowell has been in Athens all of 4 months and is already a cancer to the team. Even the national media is talking about it. If this kid doesnt get his head out of his ass with the quickness, he needs to go.
GulfwavesGary
December 3rd, 2011
10:30 pm
As we stumbled and bumbled to ten wins to mostly weak teams and win the SEC East against South Carolina with out a QB and Lattimore, I saw Georgia just ordinary at best. This game was a embarassement for Georgia Bulldogs. Getting BLOWN OUT. TWO DROPPED TD PASSES. Can”t feel good about CMR. I think the bowl game should be his job interview to KEEP HIS JOB. I know LSU is great but 42-10. Did I mention the 62 yd punt return that nobody even touched him. DID I MENTION THE 2 DROPPED TD PASSES. Against the #1 team. If CMR does not win the bowl game, I am ready for a change. I am a LIFETIME BULLDOG FAN. And real disspointed and concerned!
Kiss The Ring
December 3rd, 2011
10:30 pm
UGA…still chasing the holy grail. Night dawgs. You will understand one day….one day.
Hey, JawJah
December 3rd, 2011
10:30 pm
A football game is 4 quarters….losers….GEAUX TIGERS!
War Dang Dawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:30 pm
Thanks for setting me straight, Kiss the Ring. I can’t think of a UGA win over a top 5 ranked team in years. I do recall one team that we beat 37-15 in 2006. Went to their home, smacked ‘em in their mouths, stole their lunch money, and made off with their girlfriends. The name of that “top 5″ team escapes me at the moment…I’m sure it will come to me…
BobDawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:30 pm
JEFF S. We played one of the all time teams head to head for a half and dominated.. No, we don’t have the depth yet but McGarity, Richt and Grantham will get us there shortly… I wonder who comes into Louisiana and recruits against LSU like we fight to close our borders here in GA??? The answer: no one… Not Tx, Not A & M, not Bama and no Miss schools dare travel there….
Techie Fan
December 3rd, 2011
10:31 pm
Dogs ran up against the best team in the nation. Were not for those misses in the first half, think it would have been more interesting in the 2nd half. Tough loss, but I know you should be happy with the season given the start and young team. I doubt any of the Top 10 teams would want to play you right now.
rotagilla
December 3rd, 2011
10:32 pm
I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure anyone who’s ever attended a game in Athens has a diploma. I’ve got 4. It’s page 3 in the home program. What bewilders me are all the complaints about the cost of a UGA education since it’s only a couple bucks.
Deepdiver
December 3rd, 2011
10:32 pm
Damn, the lucky uniforms didn’t work. Why did the media even talk about how Richt didn’t want the team to wear different uniforms, because of past luck? Stupid! We just suck.
Mid Town
December 3rd, 2011
10:34 pm
The difference between Ga and SC this year was ARK. SC played them and GA did not.SO, GA goes to championship game.
Atlanta Dawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:34 pm
Just Curious, totally agree these Alabama Auburn and Tech fans all need to get a life. Obviously they dont have one.
Go Dawgs!!! I will always bleed Red and Black.
sportsfan
December 3rd, 2011
10:34 pm
@Dawg fans are the worst
You are so correct. Embarrassing lot, they are! Absolutely no class! Crowell makes a darn fine dog! Fits right into their culture.
LSU in Charlotte
December 3rd, 2011
10:34 pm
Geaux Tigers!!! The HOney Badger is the Truth. TM7!!!! How yall like our 12th string running backs?!!!
Douglas
December 3rd, 2011
10:35 pm
Get rid of Bobo. By the way, does UGA have a fullback on its team? If so, why are they not in the backfield blocking? Why do we even have a fullback position — BooBoo doesn’t know how to use them. Yes, LSU is a great team — don’t get me wrong — but we will never win the SEC with BooBoo as OC. Our defense played hard in the first half. And goodness – when is RIcht going to wise up and hire a special teams coach.
Let's talk about UGA!
December 3rd, 2011
10:36 pm
As a dawg fan, why do I feel the need to shoot myself in the face?
Go Dawgs!
Sic ‘em!
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Richt and Bobo are staying
December 3rd, 2011
10:36 pm
Adams doesn’t have the nads to fire Richt and Bobo goes nowhere as long as Richt is holding court
Dawg Fud
December 3rd, 2011
10:36 pm
Enter your comments here
drbasic1
December 3rd, 2011
10:36 pm
Proud of the dawgs, good season. My dissatisfaction is with Crowell who showed absolutely no heart, and also turning his back on the coach. Saw this young man play high school ball knew then he was a coddled primadonna with a very bad attitude. Boo played with heart. Give Crowell’s scholarship to someone who will give his all for the team. Also looked to me Mason has more power in his arm than Aaron…..and tired of hearing him say “will just have to watch more film” and learn from it etc……
Douglas
December 3rd, 2011
10:37 pm
Hey Dawg Fans Are The Worst: I hear it’s dangerous to go to a night game in Baton Rouge — at least we don’t threaten to harm people.
0-down & 12 Yards
December 3rd, 2011
10:39 pm
Schultz, we all watched the damn game! I think we missed Ealy and King. Our QB made too many mistakes and he got no help in the running game!!!if we had a bruiser RB I think we would have won the game. we should sign more RBs, Hicks is petty good but we also need Marshall. I’m not disappointed with my dawgs because I knew they are not ready to beat LSU yet
Georgiabuckmaster
December 3rd, 2011
10:40 pm
Good year Dawgs and this game will help us grow into a top program. We know how much we need to improve to get to the top. We have a lot of young talent and need to get depth on both sides of the ball. This group will win football games in the future. Would have liked for Bobo to start out in no huddle in the second half to keep us in a flow and remain confident. I would like for us to run two TE sets against them. Stay away from their CB’s. Go Dawgs
Laugh our Ass Off
December 3rd, 2011
10:41 pm
Seriously people? Georgia fans suck! We saw several of them get kicked out of the game and arrested. They are lyin’ stinkin’ no good fans with a team that sucks
too. Honeybadger can kick your tails any day.
Delta Dawg
December 3rd, 2011
10:41 pm
observing
December 3rd, 2011
10:44 pm
and…….here come the coon*ss lsu fans to talk smack