Short takes: Murray, defense and angry Auburn fans
Aaron Murray has eight touchdowns and no interceptions in last nine quarters. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
If you missed it, here’s a link to my column on Georgia’s SEC East-clinching win over Auburn Saturday night.
And here are my three “short takes” on the game.
Former Georgia and Falcons defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder didn't even look happy before the game. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
1. Aaron Murray is just fine: Murray took a beating from some Georgia fans after horrible games against South Carolina and Florida but he has rebounded nicely. He completed his first 10 passes against Auburn (two for touchdowns) and threw for three scores and 208 yards in three quarters before being lifted. In the last nine quarters, going back to the fourth quarter of the Florida game, Murray is 44 for 60 for 675 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. Offensive coordinator Mime Bobo said Murray had been too “cautious,” adding: “I said, ‘Son, you know what’s going on. You’re one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Cut it loose. If you make a turnover being aggressive, that’s OK.’”
Jarvis Jones levels Auburn quarterback Jonathan Wallace. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
2. Defense gives Georgia a chance against Alabama. Auburn is one of the weakest offensive teams around, but there’s little question Georgia’s defense is finally playing up to the level that was expected before the season. The Bulldogs have allowed just one touchdown (along with four field goals) in the last three games. The missed tackles and missed assignments, partly the result of injuries and early season suspensions, aren’t an issue right now. Add to that the Alabama offense has not been overpowering in the last two games against LSU and Texas A&M. If Georgia’s defense can play at the same level against Alabama in the SEC title game as it has against Florida, Ole Miss and Auburn, it has a very good chance to pull an upset.
This Auburn fan found a lot of room to spread out. (AP photo)
3. Auburn fans are so done with this season. In 23 years of living in Atlanta, I’ve never seen a home crowd for a major college football team — let alone a team that won a national championship just two years ago — bolt from a game so quickly. Jordan-Hare Stadium was full for kickoff, certainly a positive for a winless SEC team. But boos started to rain down in the second quarter when Georgia built its lead to 21-0, then 28-0. When Keith Marshall ran 62 yards for a score to make it 38-0 in the third quiarter, it was like somebody yelled, “Fire,” in the stadium and thousands of fans streamed out. Georgia had more fans in the stadium than Auburn in the fourth quarter. That might be the worst sign of all for coach Gene Chizik.
It was a night to celebrate for Georgia players and fans. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
– By Jeff Schultz
It’s Sunday — time to catch up on your reading
– Georgia wins SEC East — and suddenly looks like threat to Alabama
– Weekend Predictions: Post election, this time it’s all red — Dogs, Falcons win
– Richt coaching through pain, needs hip surgery ( and you’ll never guess why)
– Falcons’ Dirk Koetter may be candidate at Kentucky
– Falcons (8-0) just keep winning — and has anybody noticed?
– Koetter, big reason for Falcons’ success, has been drawing plays since age 8
– Radakovich’s exit illustrates disparity between Tech and Georgia
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336 comments Add your comment
tom
November 11th, 2012
2:34 pm
Geoff…in the heat of a game chizik may have high fived fairly before he knew it was late. I would expect someone that cheers for grantham to understand. Ha. Priceless. Leave it to a uga fan to call someone classless. Grantham almost got in a fist sight with vandy coach and taunted the florida kicker. Good call genius.
7576…Whatever. All your comments are speculation that comes from alabama fans. You don’t have a single clue what you are talking about. And if you did, pat dye was educated at uga, so thanks for teaching him well. You should be proud.
Joey
November 11th, 2012
2:35 pm
Do any of the fans who bitch about how many WRs Richt signs every year want to complain now?
We lost 2 of the best WRs in the country, and we STILL have 2 or 3 of the best WRs in the country.
Atta boys, Conley, Mitchell, King, and TEs for stepping up.
Great job defense!
Smitty
November 11th, 2012
2:35 pm
Great day to be a Dawg fan…..Auburn will be back…..it is an old rivalry
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
2:36 pm
Just to clarify, I know a lot of Auburn fans who are good people. They’re not all in high positions of power and authority as au4ever claims, but decent, kind people all the same. The beef is with the corrupt administrators and boosters at Auburn. They’re overdue for a good housecleaning.
Joey
November 11th, 2012
2:39 pm
We didn’t teach Pat Dye what he was doing at Auburn. the proof is in the pudding, tom. Dye had such a racket going, he got banned from the Auburn campus for YEARS!
Damn right we cheer for Grantham – unlike your scummy coaches, he is passionate, but doesn’t CHEAT . . .
Enjoy that crystal football, theives.
KARMA.
AHDawg
November 11th, 2012
2:41 pm
AU4ever: Go to youtube and watch the “Auburn’s Dirty Plays vs. Georgia 2010″ and this will explain how we feel about Auburn. Chizik condoning the cheap shots from Fairley, childish acts from both Cam Newton and Fairley, etc. I think UGA has decided to pay you guys back by whipping your butts on the field and have done a good job at it. Past 2 years score against Auburn: 83-7
7576DAWG
November 11th, 2012
2:41 pm
GeoffDawg
EXACTLY. you hit the nail right on the top.
fayncdawg
November 11th, 2012
2:42 pm
tom tom tom
I think the point of some of these anti_AU entries is to point out that there IS a character problem in them Plains. You don’t go from 13-0 to 2-8 in less than two years and expect no one to question the character of a team.
Also I’m not going to call AJ Green and Justin Houston the world’s most perfect people. But none of them has done anything stupid since they’ve been employed by the NFL (Fairley can’t say that!) None of the has had a whole fan base question whether they’re a team player or not (Newton can’t say that!). And AJ has achieved greater sucess than Newton in the NFL (guess who was drafted higher?). And Houston has achieved way more than Fairley (guess who was drafted WAY higher?). As I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog, I don’t want ANY great SEC player to flop in the NFL. But the sad truth is that two of the above mentioned players did NOT get good character and humility lessons from their coaches in college and it is sure enough showing in the NFL!
sogadog
November 11th, 2012
2:43 pm
Whats the deal with that wig Van Gorder is wearing? He looks like that dude Herb on WKRP in Cinncinnatti.
Mike Bobo showed great sportsmanship Saturday night. He could have pounded Van Gorder and Martinez for four quarters and run the score up to 52 or 58-0 but he wisely and honorably called off the Dawgs in the fourth quarter against his former fellow assistant coaches. Kudos to Bobo.
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
2:45 pm
Grantham made a choke sign against a Florida kicker who was about to attempt a game winner. Not his best moment but he was disciplined for it, apologized, and moved on. With Franklin, he was defending his players against a loud mouth who’s since gone on to prove he’s a d-bag with just about every team they play. He’s also not the head of the team so it’s not an equal comparison. Why don’t you bring up a team trainer that posted insulting comments on Facebook as well?
Also, your assertion that somehow Chizik was confused and wasn’t following the game as just the right moment to miss all of Fairley’s thuggery is laughable. If he’s that oblivious during a game, he should be fired for that alone. It’s also worth noting that he never made any attempts to discipline him or apologize for the incident.
It takes little intellect and lack of a good argument to insult someone instead of just stating your own case. You’ve met both criteria quite nicely.
7576DAWG
November 11th, 2012
2:45 pm
East Alabama Gator
Don’t under rate the fact that Florida has a very good Defense which in the SEC will take you a long ways. Florida just needs to find a great Quarterback .
AU forever a little brother
November 11th, 2012
2:46 pm
People respect all that Bama has done. People respect Florida’s championships. People respect what LSU has done. Nobody in the SEC respects what Auburn did in 2010.
The whole league is laughing at you!
legluver
November 11th, 2012
2:47 pm
Who cares about a meaningless win for to non-championship team.
You UGA fans will NEVER in your lifetime feel the incredible joy of seeing those final seconds tick off the clock and a National Championship secured.
Sad, sad little wet pups.
IF YOU DON’T WIN THE RING, IT DON’T MEAN A THING!!
Hahahahahahahahhahahaha
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
2:49 pm
I was thinking the same thing about Van Gorder sogadog. He looks more like a porn star than usual. Hope he escapes that sinking ship before it damages his career though. I still admire his defensive acumen.
AU forever a little brother
November 11th, 2012
2:53 pm
Not only do I know the feeling, EVERYONE knew it was real and respects it. Nice try, little brother. Go throw some toilet paper, kid.
UGA MA 75
November 11th, 2012
2:54 pm
Thanks, GeoffDawg, for your last post. It’s accurate and level-headed.
UGA MA 75
November 11th, 2012
2:56 pm
I was referring to GeoffDawg’s 2:45 post, not the 2:49 one.
No
November 11th, 2012
2:56 pm
AU is down, will be back on top someday. You know, we know it. Might take awhile but it will happen.
AU forever a little brother
November 11th, 2012
3:00 pm
Not only 83-7 the last 2 years, but it was done with the foot OFF the pedal both second halves. Classy move to an organization that deserves no class. Now, get back to raking my leaves, little kids.
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
3:02 pm
tom, I dare you watch this clip and then claim that Chizik didn’t know what was going on. Come on, I dare you…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGB1xguTXLg
East Alabama Gator
November 11th, 2012
3:02 pm
7576,
I know what you mean about the defense. It is pretty good … just had some breakdowns yesterday because the offense did put them in some bad situations. I think the D is going to be pretty good for a few years.
I remember back in the late 1980s when D ruled at Florida. That was the only thing that won games and a guy No. 22.
I had a chance to go to Mayport Friday night with my 7-year-old daughter and watch the Gators play Georgetown on the USS Bataan, then traveled to Gainesville to watch the game yesterday. Just to spend the weekend with my wife and daughter, even if the Gators had lost to Louisiana-LaFayette, it would not have put one damper on my weekend.
As much as I love sports and the Gators, there are certainly a whole lot more important things in life.
AU forever a little brother
November 11th, 2012
3:03 pm
I’d like to request that ‘tom’ please post some more. I think that stuff is funny. And ‘legluver’, too. We could use the laughs.
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
3:04 pm
Thanks UGA MA 75
Nikki
November 11th, 2012
3:11 pm
I just started reading this blog out of curiosity. I have a question. Why are GA fans so bitter and mean?
Calling B Puhtrinko
November 11th, 2012
3:14 pm
So, does Pewtrino keep Van Whatsisname as DC? Will Willie still be there? Does anyone really believe A&M is better than Bama?
Who cares, it’s the Dogs and the Oak Tree killers in the Dome!
Nikki
November 11th, 2012
3:15 pm
BTW I am from VA and I am a VA Tech fan so I am a fan of neither team.
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
3:16 pm
Nikki, reference the youtube link @ 3:02 for your answer. I also wouldn’t describe this as being mean and bitter but Poe-tae-toe, Poe-tah-toe.
Bad Dawg
November 11th, 2012
3:16 pm
The Coaches Poll has UGA 4th and Bama 5th. Apparently, they don’t see a UGA win over Alabama as an upset. Neither do I.
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
3:20 pm
The poll is a moot point anyway as we’ll work it out on the field. Be that as it may though, with the shellacking we took in Columbia, at this point, I don’t think we deserve to be the top ranked one-loss team in the country. Beat Bama and win the SEC, then we’ll deserve it.
Nikki
November 11th, 2012
3:21 pm
I watched it seems like good football to me. Wish my team played like that maybe we would win the big one. We have our rivals in VA but our blogs focus more on what our team needs to do to get better not on bitching about other teams and putting down their fans. Interesting….guess that is unique to the SEC.
tom
November 11th, 2012
3:23 pm
Geoff…whatever dude I didn’t say that’s what happened with chizik I said we don’t really know and its possible he at the time didn’t realize they were late. Regardless, I believe uga had just as many if not more personal fouls in that game so what are you talking about anyway. The first hit was late no doubt but that one on murrays knee was questionable. What’s ugas response? To tackle our running back and start throwing puches. You guys are hilarious. If you really think chizik should have apologized for those hits perhaps you should join a pee wee league.
You defend grantham way more than I defend chizik. I’m aware there are problems at auburn but you guys are clueless. Uga has plenty off off the field issues and richt is a coddler too. You guys don’t know jack about football either. Just a few weeks ago same people in here talking about firing richt. Now you stroll through 2 seasons with a weak schedule and are going to beat alabama. Ha.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 11th, 2012
3:23 pm
Poor Auburn Family………
In 2009 the entire Auburn Family fanbase went to their banks and withdrew their entire life savings to buy themselves a title contender (cash only of course to avoid being caught
)
Now broke they will have to wait another 50 years before their life savings will grow enough to cover buying more players who want to come to that dump on the plains
Stick together Auburn Family cheaters always do
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
3:24 pm
Nikki, if you really watched it and that’s your take, you’re either blind or an Auburn fan too embarrassed to admit it. Don’t worry, football’s a complicated game, keep at it.
Nikki
November 11th, 2012
3:26 pm
Yes it is maybe GA will win the big one in the near future. Hope my Hokies will as well but I wouldn’t bet on either team doing so in the near future.
GeoffDawg
November 11th, 2012
3:27 pm
Sure tom. You’ve obviously established your credibility and objectivity on the subject. Whatever you say.
stepup
November 11th, 2012
3:28 pm
IF YOU CAN”T WIN A RING UGA
stop playing and become vandy
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 11th, 2012
3:34 pm
Poor Auburn Family………
In 2009 the entire Auburn Family fanbase went to their banks and withdrew their entire life savings to buy themselves a title contender (cash only of course to avoid being caught
)
Now broke they will have to wait another 50 years before their life savings will grow enough to cover buying more players who want to come to that dump on the plains
Stick together Auburn Family; cheaters always do
tom
November 11th, 2012
3:39 pm
Oh yeah geoff your credsibility is through the roof. You post a weak video that proves nothing but that some people have too much time on their hands. Cam blew kisses to start every game and he played dead a lot. Your point? Stiff arm? That video is reaching. I will admit the one to murrays back was way late but everything else is reaching. So, you gonna answer which team had more personal fouls or not? You forgot to mention your band of thugs jumped on our logo pregame too.
kingdaddy
November 11th, 2012
3:50 pm
Stepup
you nerds always have such snappy comments. Why don’t you take your own advice???
Bad Dawg
November 11th, 2012
3:51 pm
@ Jailyard Dwag,
Let’s apply a different set of circumstances and see where THAT leaves us – Alabama is 5th in the SEC, behind UGA, who beat UF, who beat LSU, who beat Texas A&M, who beat your Tide (at home, no less). Funny how meaningless all that becomes when factors that aren’t favorable to the Tide are applied. It’ll become even more meaningless when/if UGA and Bama meet in the SECCG. Then we’ll all know for sure who the SEC Champion is. That’s why they play the games.
kingdaddy
November 11th, 2012
3:53 pm
Flats
glad you got that thing to hold air…
kingdaddy
November 11th, 2012
3:58 pm
Nikki
Just a little good natured ribbing. Nobody busting caps yet…
tom
November 11th, 2012
3:59 pm
Bad dawg get a clue. Bama lost because they played a mobile quarterback and a talented team. Uga has lived off beating weak teams for 2 years. Anytime they face someone good they lose. Bama will win by 20 against uga. Don’t be delusional. Saban eats pro offenses for breakfast. Uga will be lucky to score 17. Uga defense isn’t as good as numbers suggest either. Mainly racking up stats on poor offenses. Bama will pound uga all night and murray will have another deer in headlights night.
tom
November 11th, 2012
4:01 pm
Bama 37
UGA 16
Tiger4
November 11th, 2012
4:09 pm
auburn needs to dump chizik asap and get petrino before UK or tennessee hires him. Pay him $3-4 mil—he’s worth it. Fatcat boosters can kick in some millions to get it done.
nikki
November 11th, 2012
4:09 pm
Still doesn’t seem like good natured ribbing to me. Seems like you should be posting about your team and what you need to do to win not whining about another team and their fans. Like I said this must be unique to the SEC or maybe just unique to GA fans but I’ve never seen anything like it
david
November 11th, 2012
4:10 pm
Dawgs are best in nation right now! We will win national title as nobody wants to play us at this time!
Bad Dawg
November 11th, 2012
4:10 pm
tom,
Bama lost because they got beat. No excuses, please. They did NOT win, period. Alabama will get their chance at UGA if the beat Auburn. After that, you can talk ’til your blue in the face about how much better Bama is than the Dawgs. Right, now, they’re just another SEC team with one loss.
Bad Dawg
November 11th, 2012
4:10 pm
*you’re
kingdaddy
November 11th, 2012
4:11 pm
Tom
Yeah, you looked like world beaters last night. Its time to come back to planet earth. Bama handles lightweights pretty good, but when you play a good team, you ain’t all that. A lot of hype for the best team in the universe, don’t you think??? Your team has been exposed the last two games. Bama’s good, but not unbeatable…