SHORT TAKES: Georgia shows its talent and its ugly side
Todd Gurley takes off for 51-yard TD run, one of his three first-half scores. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
(I’ll be back with the column off today’s Georgia game soon. Until then, here are my three “Short Takes” on today’s game against Tennessee.)
• 1. Hold off on “great defense” declarations: Yes, Georgia has that potential. But on a day when the Bulldogs got two of their better players, safety Bacarri Rambo and linebacker Alec Ogletree, back from suspensions, the defense had its worst game of the season. Granted, turnovers led to three Tennessee touchdowns (20 points). But the Dogs gave up far too many big plays, and few would’ve predicted the Volunteers would have 477 yards in offense.
• 2. Hey Herschel, look at the freshmen! We’ve addressed before that replacing Isaiah Crowell might be a concern. If that concern hadn’t been completely obliterated after the first four games, it certainly was against Tennessee. With former Georgia great Herschel Walker in attendance, Todd Gurley had first-half touchdown runs of 2, 1, and 51 yards (although he dropped a kickoff return out of bounds at the Dogs’ 1 to lead to a Tennessee touchdown). Keith Marshall blasted off for TD runs of 75 and 72 yards, and through three quarters rushed for 167 on nine carries (although he also had a fumble that led to a Vols score). So if Gurley and Marshall can just stop dropping the ball, the running game will be fine.
• 3. There’s a lot of to clean up: The Dogs will walk away with this win and be happy. They’re 3-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2005, which is the last season they won the conference title. But they can’t play sloppy on offense and special teams and loose on defense like they did Saturday and expect to win at South Carolina next week and against Florida in Jacksonville in four weeks. As talented as the Dogs are, there was enough ugliness Saturday to bring everybody back down to earth.
By Jeff Schultz
•
Some blogs from the digital jukebox
• LIVE: Georgia tries to avoid ‘trap’ vs. Tennessee
• Chipper Jones loved celebration, but it made him an ‘emotional wreck’
• Chipper Jones: Braves lose a legend, fans lose a hero, I lose reason to open laptop
• Weekend Predictions: No ‘bagels’ but Dogs and Falcons win
• Video blog: Are Falcons NFL’s best team (after 3 weeks)? We debate
• Falcons are looking special, and it starts with Matt Ryan
• Short takes: Resiliency, Ryan and turnovers carry Falcons
• Falcons’ defenders preferring Mike Nolan to Brian VanGorder
• Predictions: Dogs win cage match; Falcons upset Chargers
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245 comments Add your comment
STUDENT ATHLETE
September 29th, 2012
7:50 pm
$750,000.00 per year for that defense? Spurrier against Grantham in Columbia. Hmmm. Make your reservations for the Liberty Bowl.
LakeDawg
September 29th, 2012
7:50 pm
That was ugly, but a win is a win. Especially in the SEC. At least UGA will be focused on getting better this week rather than taking in all of the hype of the USCe game. Could be a blessing in disguise. I agree with another poster, who said UGA won’t be playing passive “prevent” type defense against Carolina and UF. Bray and his receiving corp are dangerous.
A couple of troubling trends that continue unabated are Bobo sitting on a lead and giving the opposing team multiple opportunities to get back in the game and Grantham’s defense’s inability to stop anyone in crunch time. UT knew Bobo wasn’t going to pass and sold out to stop the run. UGA’s last four or five possessions resulted in one 1st down. I will acknowledge that the defense did get a turnover on UT’s last three possessions.
I think we will look better next week. At least I hope so.
Gomer
September 29th, 2012
7:51 pm
Neutral…good old GTBob is hiding, now about today UGA/UT game…we gotta get a pass rush by someone other than Jarvis Jones else where in deep doodoo
FB
September 29th, 2012
7:51 pm
A win but very ugly. Their O-line owned us. I expect pride and improvement next week. D Dooley certainly saved his job tonight.
t2go
September 29th, 2012
7:51 pm
…also..why not bring in Boo w fresh legs in the 4th?
BobDawg
September 29th, 2012
7:52 pm
01HAWK.. YOU ARE DREAMING… Vowels are an SEC team… they won’t drop us down and SC doesn’t look like world beaters tonight either….
FB
September 29th, 2012
7:52 pm
T2go. Not a bad idea.
Josh Smith for 3
September 29th, 2012
7:52 pm
If UGA falls in the polls, West Virginia needs to go with them.
And as UGA fans know from the past, overlooking Kentucky can turn into a headache.
01HAWK
September 29th, 2012
7:53 pm
Defense at full capacity and they are probably not in the top 75 in defense now.
Biggun
September 29th, 2012
7:53 pm
Well folks, that was our” MULLIGAN” for the year! I just hope we got “it” out of our system. We can not play that way the rest of the way and expect to compete in the SEC for a championship.
ArtyDodger
September 29th, 2012
7:54 pm
STUDENT ATHLETE….go back to Columbia play with your chicken…Spurrier is old
Sonny B. Layne
September 29th, 2012
7:54 pm
I laughed a little too hard about the Tech game. Honestly we didn’t look a lot better & are certainly not a SEC Championship winner at this point in time. I know, a win is a win, but play like this next week & Spurrier will make the GA coaching staff look like fools. Dooley didn’t do a bad job of it & Steve is much better at it. I can only take solace in this LINK.
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL916/480237/24195754/404094745.jpg
chilidawg
September 29th, 2012
7:54 pm
Jeez, we have some work to do. Maybe we shoud have six false starts before trying the PAT.
FalconUGAFan
September 29th, 2012
7:54 pm
Can’t win em all by blow-out scores. Happy with a win against a pretty good Tenn squad…They are improving.
GB's Hamburgers
September 29th, 2012
7:55 pm
Special teams seem to still be unsettled … Tennesse’s offensive line pretty much manhandled us. No sacks until the end of the game and almost 200 yards rushing.
01HAWK
September 29th, 2012
7:55 pm
BOOBYDAWG…………………You will slide in the polls. No way you can stay at # 5.
Give up 44 point against a team that is not in the top 25. It will happen.
Observer
September 29th, 2012
7:56 pm
We played alot of zone coverage today because of Tyler Bray. Hard to stop those middle up the middle runs playing zone defense. We will be good next week playing USCjr as our blitz package will change because of Lattimore. UGLY OR NOT A WIN IS A WIN……SHOUT OUT TO MIDDLE TENNESSEE!!!
Mike
September 29th, 2012
7:56 pm
We WON the game. We’re 5-0. End of discussion.
CHDawg
September 29th, 2012
7:56 pm
Their on that other one…Hawk you’re dreaming. Tn is a good team. They were actually beating Florida until late in the 3rd qtr! LSU played a much worse game against an Auburn team that has done terrible and they only dropped one place. If Tn is so bad, then Florida should drop to 20.
FLA DAWG
September 29th, 2012
7:57 pm
Great to see a win and The Dawgs at 5 – 0 but what a mess!
I’ve always been a Grantham fan but if it weren’t for UT’s blown catches they’d have taken that game. The O turned the ball over in the worst places on the field and we couldn’t buy a First Down at the end of the game for love nor money.
I never thought we’d score 51 points and be lucky to win. The D has not come together they way I thought they had. Next week is gonna be tough.
01HAWK
September 29th, 2012
7:57 pm
Biggun
You actually have had MULLIGANS VS. BUFFALO, FL ATLANTIC, AND TENN……………..Did I leave anyone out against the best defense in the country ? ……………..LOL
GB
September 29th, 2012
7:57 pm
All we heard this week was how great UGA defense was, once the 2 SAVIORS (Rambo & Ogletree) came back.
Well, verdict is in, this UGA defense stinks!
t2go
September 29th, 2012
7:59 pm
I dont think it matters what we are ranked…maybe in a few years w the playoffs. But the goal is an SEC championship and a National Championship. To get a NC we will need to be undefeated and win the SEC! So rankings dont mean a thing…only W’s…and they got that!
Neutral
September 29th, 2012
7:59 pm
Guys,
Be calm…..all is cool with the Dawgs. In 1980 we had 4 or 5 games just like this one (ex. TN, SC, FL, Clemson! ND, etc)
The key is to survive the scares. Last year Bama lost a game, they did not even win the SEC or make the top 2 or play in the SEC Championship game…..and they had a mulligan game for the NC. Don’t fret because you have to be good and lucky to win it all Look at Bama, they are the classic example!!!
Observer
September 29th, 2012
7:59 pm
Dang just got called in to work…. SUICIDE WATCH ON NORTH AVE.
Habersham Dawg
September 29th, 2012
7:59 pm
01(Chicken)Hawk, after the polls come out and Georgia doesn’t slide, what are you going to predict? Are you just farting in a jug and hoping that Georgia will slide so SCAR can rise just a little?
GB
September 29th, 2012
7:59 pm
So Murray went back to his turnover habits in a close shoout, had what, a fumble in the redzone and YET ANOTHER PICK 6?
The guy has no poise.
Lucky Sanders Commings got the 2 picks to end the game.
No other defensive player came to play today.
Demosthenes
September 29th, 2012
8:00 pm
Every year, every good team has to win a game or two ugly, like this one. Hopefully, this was a good wake up call.People will call me a homer, but this was exactly the kind of game UGA needed before next week. I hope USC walks away from KY. The team that enters next week’s game with the inflated ego is sure to lose.
GB
September 29th, 2012
8:00 pm
OMG, TENN just laid 44 on UGA!
Mike
September 29th, 2012
8:00 pm
Hey @01HAWK, I guess that means Florida State and LSU should drop too since they’re only winning 13-10, and LSU over TOWSON 7-3 in the 2nd Qt. What a loser.
LakeDawg
September 29th, 2012
8:01 pm
UT scored 44 pts., but Lou Holtz said FSU played great defense when the allowed 37 pts. to Clemson. So I guess we played right at the FSU level. Should be ranked right behind the noles.
ty webb
September 29th, 2012
8:01 pm
ugly wins don’t taste nearly as bad as the turd sandwich GtBob is currently chewing on.
mIKE
September 29th, 2012
8:01 pm
Georgia will fall out of the top 20 wth this game.
LagDawg
September 29th, 2012
8:02 pm
Defense looked awful and Booboo went back to his old way of calling plays in the second and fourth quarter. Still have a lot of work to do. Don”t know about next week. With a Senior latent defense I would expect better play but, it looks like UGA is going backwards on the D. Cannot continue to give up the big plays if they expect to play in the SECCG or to compete for a NC. Must get better really quick on the D and the consistent playcalling.
Mike Franklin
September 29th, 2012
8:02 pm
Hat tip to the Vols… they are better than their record suggests.
The Dawgs looked tired in the 4th. The D looked confused from the 2nd. Guessing we’ll lose a spot or two in the rankings tomorrow.
Hope they get some spa time… we gotta go to the cesspool of the South tomorrow and play spur boy and the crocks.
EC
September 29th, 2012
8:02 pm
UGA has now given up 22 points to Fla Atl, 22 to Buffalo, and 44 to Tenn.
Goodbye season.
UF & SC will roll all voer this crappy defense.
Dawg1
September 29th, 2012
8:02 pm
Look
The difference between a very good team – even a great team vrs. a championship team is that the championship team matches the intensity or improves on it from the previous week.
Last week, Georgia was as focused as we have seem them. UGA was scoring almost too easy and lost their focus and intensity.
This is the one element that is still missing and that they need to continue to work on.
This is the one thing that Alabama seems to do better than everyone else. They never lets up until the fat lady has been singing for a good quarter or so.
Georgia’s Defense will show up next week – they’ll be focused and I believe they will win. It’s the Mississippi’s and the Kentucky’s that they need to ‘put away’ – and now give any ‘hope’.
Let’s ‘hope’ they learned a lesson today.
Oh, and do not be surprised if UT beats South Carolina when they meet.
Have a great night folks…
01HAWK
September 29th, 2012
8:02 pm
Observer
DANG……………………………Athens Clark County Police and local medical staff called in to stop GRANTHAM and CMR from VOMITING
al
September 29th, 2012
8:03 pm
Ogletree is not a good LB. He could be a good safety, but he is a soft LB and was often out of position today. Watch the tape if you don’t believe me. Way too many arm tackle attempts
T-Town Dawg
September 29th, 2012
8:04 pm
@01HAWK, who is your team? What great teams have they played in the first 4 weeks?
Pop
September 29th, 2012
8:05 pm
UGA IS ARKANSAS EAST.
ALL OFFENSE.
NO DEFENSE.
HA HA HA HA HA
Mike Franklin
September 29th, 2012
8:05 pm
Amazing how many Dawg haters crawl from the septic tank every week. Must not have much of a life to come here for no other reason than to harass complete strangers…
GA TECH BOOB
September 29th, 2012
8:05 pm
Right now I’m speechless.
AJ
September 29th, 2012
8:07 pm
THE UGA DEFENSE IS WORST THAN ARKANSAS.
Old Dawg
September 29th, 2012
8:07 pm
The defensive performance wasn’t what I expected, though UT has an explosive offensive.
Conservation play selection in the 4th quarter almost lost the game.
Question: do they still kick PATs in high school, or is the a new experience for the kicker?
Not So Fast
September 29th, 2012
8:07 pm
All you trolls hating on UGA because they barely won don’t understand football. All teams have games like this in the season. Difference between the Champions and pretenders is the champs find a way to win. Most years since Richt has been here today’s games are the ones he would lose. You can talk bad about UGA and hate but the offense is off the charts. And the defense may not be shut down like everyone thought they would be, but they make plays when it counts. This team reminds me a lot of the Auburn national champ team led by Cam Newton. I mean college football is weird anyways so a win is a win.
Ellison
September 29th, 2012
8:08 pm
Big fan, but folks, UGA will fall out of the rankings after this game.
44 points to Tenn Vols? This is not a top 25 team.
harold
September 29th, 2012
8:08 pm
TALENT? UGA looked horrible. UGA is NOT a top 20 team. The Vols are a joke and a horribly coached football team. Time for UT to hire Gruden.
Haslam ( UT Billionaire) just bought Cleveland Browns for cash. He funds Tennessee football—his son is Governor. They own Pilot Oil & Circle J’s. He make try to lure Saban to Browns—-He has the money! Then he gets UT to hire Gruden. Rumors in K-Town…….
CHDawg
September 29th, 2012
8:09 pm
MikeF, I don’t know, Tn won all of them but Florida, and they were ahead of Florida until late in the 3rd qtr! They are better than people seem to think. We did make a lot of stupid mistakes, but is was almost all youngsters–Marshall, Gurley, Mitchell, and Theus to name a few. They also made some great plays and are coming along nicely. I like what I see, and it isn’t how much you win by, it how much you win. Go Dawgs.
Vicks
September 29th, 2012
8:10 pm
Gators shut Tenn down in the 2nd half, UGA’s D let Tenn score at will. Gators are much better. Gators are a top 5 team, UGA isn’t a top 25 team anymore. I had no idea how bad Coach Grantham was, but he’s just terrible.