Georgia earns respect in defeat, but loss not easy to take
Kenarious Gates drops to a knee as Georgia lost SEC title on game's final play. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
This was the day when representatives from every other conference, when every critic weary of the SEC’s six-year-plus rule in college football, should have come to the realization, “Oh. So that’s why they’re the best.”
Georgia and Alabama looked like the two best teams from the two best conference, if not the two best teams in the nation, and they just played a conference championship that saw four lead changes in the second half and the game not decided until the game’s final play.
What would happen if Georgia and Alabama played 10 times?
“It probably would look like that every game,” Bulldogs wide receiver Tavarres King said. “And there would be several different outcomes.”
Georgia doesn’t have that luxury. The Dogs lost the SEC championship game 32-28 at the Georgia Dome. They came that close to playing for a national championship.
They had a chance at the end, with quarterback Aaron Murray having driven the team from its own 28 to the Alabama 8 with 15 seconds left. At that point, we can debate whether Murray should have spiked the ball to reset the offense. But suffice to say, the game ended with a tipped pass that was caught at Tide’s 5, the final seconds ticked off and one team celebrated its impending berth in the BCS championship game while the other collapsed in exhaustion, uncertain of its bowl status.
The irony here was that Georgia probably gained more respect in defeat than in any of its 11 victories. The Dogs were criticized for a perceived soft schedule, for the way they were physically hammered be South Carolina, for the hiccups at Kentucky.
Yet on Saturday, even the opposing coach, Nick Saban, was moved to comment: “I think it’s a crying shame if Georgia doesn’t get to go to a BCS bowl game. That game came down to the last play. It’s ridiculous. Some teams are 7-5 and talking about winning their conference and going to a BCS bowl game? Something’s not right here.”
So yes, the Dogs proved their worthiness on this day.
Coach Mark Richt has made the program relevant again in the SEC, and therefore on the national scale.
Afterward, Richt said, “I told them I was disappointed. But I wasn’t disappointed in them.”
That said, Georgia lost to a better team.
Alabama was the superior team physically. The Tide rushed for 350 yards, led by Eddie Lacy (187) and T.J. Yeldon (154). The physical domination started with the Tide’s offensive line taking over the game in the second half, blowing open holes in Georgia’s defensive front. It continued with the Dogs, clearly worn down and drained, began to miss tackles.
“[The defense] got tired of being run against — I could figure that one out,” Richt said. “We just got knocked off the ball.”
At some point, it figured Alabama would try to get Georgia to bite on play-action, and that’s exactly what happened. With the Dogs leading 28-25, Alabama had a first down at the Georgia 45 when quarterback A.J. McCarron faked a handoff, stepped back and hit wide receiver Amari Cooper streaking down the left sideline, behind cornerback Damian Swann. The touchdown put Alabama, which once trailed 21-10, up 32-28 with just over three minutes left.
The Dogs had two more chances. They went three-and-out on one possession and quickly had to punt. They used their last two time outs during Alabama’s possession but forced the Tide to give up the ball one more time. They got the ball back with 1:08 remaining.
“We’ve had plenty of one-minute drives during the season so it’s not like guys were freaking out or anything,” Murray said later. “We were just like, ‘Let’s play ball.”
On the fourth play of the drive, Murray had a pass tipped and intercepted at midfield. But he and the team got a reprieve when the play was reversed by replay, which showed the ball hitting the ground. The quarterback then completed consecutive passes to Arthur Lynch, King and Lynch again. The ball was now at the eight with about 15 seconds remaining.
Richt decided to keep going and not have Murray spike the ball to stop the clock. “Even spiking the ball takes time,” Richt said. “We had a play called.”
The play was fade route to Malcolm Mitchell at the back of the end zone. But there were only nine seconds left when the ball was snapped, Murray’s pass was tipped at the line and Chris Conley caught it in traffic at the five (first instinct). He was buried and time ran out.
Richt: “In that play you want a touchdown or an incomplete pass.”
In between is trouble. In between ended the game. Georgia was that close going to the national championship game. That’s something they will have to live with.
By Jeff Schultz
If you blinked, you missed a blog
• SHORT TAKES (UGA): Dogs should’ve spiked the ball
• Braves dump a pitcher (Hanson) they once viewed as gold
• Falcons’ offense hits a wall (but as usual it doesn’t matter)
• Braves need this free agent splurge on B.J. Upton to pay off
• Weekend Predictions: Georgia pulls the upset but Tech goes down
• Georgia’s best chance vs. Alabama may be to step on the gas
• SEC title would mean Georgia’s return to elite status
• Georgia playing at level we haven’t seen under Richt
• Upsetting Georgia would give Tech needed boost for future
• Vince Dooley: Joy from Georgia’s resurgence, pain from son’s firing
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754 comments Add your comment
Tucker
December 2nd, 2012
6:44 am
Dr. Adams, PLEASE get us in the ACC before you leave!!!
Ga8TR
December 2nd, 2012
6:45 am
GoFalcons: Is your exclamation point key stuck? Or do you not know how to spike it?
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
6:50 am
Morning dogs,
Well, maybe not.
dome
December 2nd, 2012
6:50 am
It’s simple. They are a running team, and we did not stop that all season as number 79 rush defense after 13 games. The game was too simple before the kickoff. We never adjusted to it. How can we be number 79 nationally after 13 games with all this talent on defense now leaving us to the NFL? Aaron Murray played well enough for him to have been the difference in the game. But all season long, we’re number 79 rush defense after 13 games. It’s going to be a long offseason, knowing we’re number 79 rush defense with all this talent.
poise
December 2nd, 2012
6:52 am
ikno great rally after the game talk, but my question is where was the inspiration talk thrusday, all week focus. game visual situations, alabama run and they defense aggressive…-enuff of the cheerleader pack on the back we’ll do it next time, we bamboozeled ourselves & lost a game we definitely had
Integrity
December 2nd, 2012
6:52 am
I think all of us in retrospect could second guess the decisions made in this game for the rest of our lives. We could even wonder why an official who has been specifically trained to protect college athletes from injury, would be about 10 feet from a quarterback who was blind-sided with helmet to helmet contact and not throw a penalty flag. Something is fishy about this picture! Could a few other flags have possibly stayed in pockets that should have been thrown? But, for one, I have never been prouder of the fight that our team gave! Bama knew they were in a football game for its duration. It’s just a shame that UGA doesn’t have the clout for a rematch like some schools do, because right now the Dawgs are at least the second best team in the nation if not the best. Of course, UGA (as the SEC Runner-up) will likely drop significantly in the polls and play in a non-BCS bowl, while teams of far less quality will be rewarded.
goFalcons
December 2nd, 2012
6:52 am
Why spike it? They had the play called and ran it. It was going to be a TD or incomplete pass and reflexes took over. This game hurts and it hurts real bad but I see no reason to spike the ball in that position. If you spike the ball then Bama’s D also gets to refresh, I like running the play and keeping Bama’s D out there without a chance to refresh
Orange12
December 2nd, 2012
6:53 am
Wait until next year X 33. Oh, and throw in a sub-par bowl game.
01HAWK
December 2nd, 2012
6:54 am
Star running back Eddie Lacy, who ran for 176 yards and may test positive for steel, said he didn’t pay attention to any Georgia pregame trash talk, because “that’s an external factor.”
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/michael_rosenberg/12/01/alabama-georgia-sec-championship-bcs/index.html#ixzz2DtWYuT6a
CMR will learn one day to tell his players to stop the trash talking before you play the game.
All week the BAMA players kept their mouth shut while quite a few DAWGS kept on running their mouth.
You may have felt that you had better players but this is a team game.
Lesson should be learned by UGA on this occasion.
goFalcons
December 2nd, 2012
6:57 am
01hawk shut the heck up. UGA will run it’s mouth if it wants 2 and u run your mouth now so u tell UGA to shut up, I will tell you to shut up! Nobody wants to hear that crap right now.
dome
December 2nd, 2012
6:57 am
None of any of that had anything to do with why we lost the game. After 13 games all season long, we’re number 79 rush defense with all this talent.
poise
December 2nd, 2012
6:58 am
im going to say it, if nobody else will….we folded and didnt have that get in your face, we’re on the verge of blowing a chance to win it all, during the game like that number 65 from alabama…thats poise and great to see, i was watching hoping and praying to see that from our guys when it was 28 -25…
Blackland
December 2nd, 2012
7:03 am
Hey Schultz, don’t forget that the Gamecocks are tougher as well. It was a home game for UGA and Bammer smacked you doggies with a rolled up newspaper (an AJC full of the usual doggy hype) and sent you to the back yard without a bone.
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:04 am
That did not affect the outcome of the game, either. We’re number 79 rush defense after 13 games with all this NFL talent.
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:04 am
dogs and tom brown just fell off the cliff
Laughingatthedawgs
December 2nd, 2012
7:05 am
Sorry dawgs but here it comes another 30 years of mediocrity. You lose most of your defense, Grantham off to Tennessee, Boo Boo the Dodo is still your offensive coordinator and “Interception Prone Murray still your QB. All you got is a running back named “Girlie” who ran like one last night. Time to be relegated back to your pen, you had your chance with a patsy schedule, the refs hekpling keep you in the game and Bama gave you one last shot at it and all for what????
7-5 teams are going to better bowls than you mutts ! That’s the laughable part 7-5 teams to better bowl games? Wow your program really is irrelevant.
Keep drinking the kool aide and believing what Shultz and Bradley write, keep getting yourselves all worked up but in the end you dawgs are still sniffing at each others butts looking for a NC. Well you might want to try sniffing a little higher.
The result of the game? Bama saved the SEC from an embarrassing loss to ND in the NC game.
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:08 am
dogs paid Grantham $2,142 per Bama INFMF rush yard
goFalcons
December 2nd, 2012
7:08 am
Hey Blackland, sooooooooo funny you talk about the AJC, yet you are here blogging, You must love the AJC or you would not be here and UGA did not get smacked around, make sense next time u type.
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:09 am
Delusional becomes Reality
HA!
DEG1234
December 2nd, 2012
7:09 am
This article insinuates that moral victories make them relevant all of the sudden. Gave up 500+ yards, and 300+ rushing yards in the last 3 games. Newsflash – defense wins SEC championships. That defense quit at times. And to whomever is excited about next season – consider how many Georgia loses on defense…
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:09 am
Amazing what poor sports Alabama fans in fact are.
AU Liberal in ATL
December 2nd, 2012
7:10 am
I hear Bobby Petrino is available.
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:10 am
I’m not worried about what we lose on defense, when with them all, we’re number 79 rush defense in the country.
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:11 am
10-2 does not a Top 5 make dogs
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:12 am
trophies for all!
AU Liberal in ATL
December 2nd, 2012
7:13 am
I lower myself into the gutter once or twice a year to pull for UGA and this is what I get damn near every time. I don’t know why I bother.
01HAWK
December 2nd, 2012
7:14 am
goFalcons
December 2nd, 2012
6:57 am
01hawk shut the heck up. UGA will run it’s mouth if it wants 2 and u run your mouth now so u tell UGA to shut up, I will tell you to shut up! Nobody wants to hear that crap right now.
You are mad I see. Tough. BAMA never said anything about anyone and just played the game.
The only remote thing that was said was by KENYAN DRAKE from Powder Springs GA.. And that is why SABAN does not like for FRESHMEN to speak. And he was not disrespectful in his comments.
poise
December 2nd, 2012
7:14 am
true, that running up the middle-chet has always been a problem, against top rank’ed teams…-add in the factor, we pass happy i can agree why leads get lost & we lose-…not letting bad offense decisions off the hook too, 1 – 12 against conference rank’ed teams….smdh
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:15 am
“Tub” Jenks needs to go on Biggest Losers ( sorry for the pun), He couldn’t move two yards up, back side to side in the 2nd half.
Yellow Fuzz
December 2nd, 2012
7:15 am
To the entire dog nation (AH’s too):
The fact is you controlled your own destiny. If you won last night, you play for the BCS Championship Game against Notre Dame and have a chance to win your first National Championship in 32 years. If you lost, you knew that you would fall behind Florida in the BCS rankings and not be eligible for a BCS bowl (no conference gets to send more than two teams). You knew this for over a week.
Everyone in college football knows that the BCS system is a crap shoot and that’s why it is being shelved in 2 more years. It sucks now, but it is what it is-an “everybody wins a trophy” type of system. While wanna bees like Louisville etc., get rewarded for underachievement, georgia needs to go to the Cotton Bowl, beat Texas by 30 and finish up a legitimate top 5 team! Think of where you came from just a few short years ago!
I could not be more proud of your players and coaches. They are top notch, though I think Grantham should have made adjustments and lined up Jarvis Jones in the middle instead of outside in the 2nd half. Same run defense, just more inside stunts and different looks for Alabama’s massive offensive line to contend with.
Nevertheless, Grantham is a great coach and georgia prepared for and played a tremendous game in the national spotlight. They won the hearts of many outside of the dog Nation (use Google and see for yourself). Coach Richt, Bobo, Grantham and company have brought you all the way back to national prominence. You can now compete NATIONALLY on the field and in the living room of the best recruits in America!
However, though I have gained a lot of respect for the Georgia program, I would not hesitate rolling one of you if you bark in my face in public.
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:16 am
tom brown
tom brown
where are ye?
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:18 am
Who lost the SEC! SEC! Championship in 2001?
Thought so.
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:18 am
number 79 rush defense after 13 games with all these now leaving to the NFL
goFalcons
December 2nd, 2012
7:19 am
01HAWK don’t give me that ole high and mighty BAMA are gentlemen crap! You kill trees and leave the Dawgs alone. What is your problem? Have nothing better to do then to add salt to our pain? Your Bama are no saints! They kill trees and you complain that UGA might of said something before a game? Get over it!
AU Liberal in ATL
December 2nd, 2012
7:20 am
UGA, the MItt Romney of football. Believing your own hype is pathetic.
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:23 am
01HAWK
December 2nd, 2012
6:54 am
Star running back Eddie Lacy, who ran for 176 yards and may test positive for steel, said he didn’t pay attention to any Georgia pregame trash talk, because “that’s an external factor.”
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/michael_rosenberg/12/01/alabama-georgia-sec-championship-bcs/index.html#ixzz2DtWYuT6a
CMR will learn one day to tell his players to stop the trash talking before you play the game.
All week the BAMA players kept their mouth shut while quite a few DAWGS kept on running their mouth.
You may have felt that you had better players but this is a team game.
Lesson should be learned by UGA on this occasion.
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:23 am
dogs: It feels so good even though we lost.
NICE!
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:23 am
That is what you’ve got to say HAWK01 to us after this game of all games?
Laughingatthedawgs
December 2nd, 2012
7:24 am
Tennessee has permission to talk to Grantham. Interviewing next week.
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:24 am
Blackland
December 2nd, 2012
7:03 am
Hey Schultz, don’t forget that the Gamecocks are tougher as well. It was a home game for UGA and Bammer smacked you doggies with a rolled up newspaper (an AJC full of the usual doggy hype) and sent you to the back yard without a bone.
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:24 am
What say you now, rambo?
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:24 am
This is what you’ve got to say to us after this game of all games, Blackland?
dome
December 2nd, 2012
7:25 am
HAWK01 and Blackland, 2 very poor sports. 1 would think after that win, you could show good sportsmanship on our blogs. No. Neither of you are capable of it.
Blackland
December 2nd, 2012
7:26 am
Hey Falcon, I love my home town newspaper. I love they way they feed the UGA hype machine, I like the way your fans and players always jump on their bandwagon, then I like to read the comments from heartbroken dog fans after a UGA loss.
If you could keep your players out of jail and off the bong and get a tougher Head Coach you might win a big game. This season you only got to ATL with an easy schedule. You play a real SEC schedule next year, let’s see how it works out for you all.
poise
December 2nd, 2012
7:28 am
roll up who, and think after rolling up somebody it will be back to my normal life….talking g, on ajc sports blogs…lol, respect…ery’body already know about the university of georgia bulldawgs, look who will be making plays later on today for nfll teams
Dooner
December 2nd, 2012
7:31 am
How can a team with 9 potential NFL players on defense be so humiliated in run defense? Believe Grantham has taken Zanax.
Laughingatthedawgs
December 2nd, 2012
7:31 am
The leg humpin’ and the ball lickin’ are not so bad. The butt sniffin’ is tolerable, but the vomit eating just puts me off.
shep
December 2nd, 2012
7:32 am
C. J. Moseley won the game for Alabama with the tip. Great play. Richt is correct. If incomplete, there is another play, or, a TD.
BTW. Go to hell Ga fans that curse everything and everything that Richt, Bobo and the entire coaching staff do. You creeps cdn’t be worth a #$%^&*( red cent.
Lee Turner
December 2nd, 2012
7:32 am
Whatever moron put too tough for the front page headline should not be allowed to to edit the front page..
This was an unrelenting championship fight, either team losing would have had nothing to do with too tough. Kid reacts makes a catch and time runs out, nothing to do with toughness
Buckeye
December 2nd, 2012
7:32 am
And the Buffalo Bills went to 4 Superbowls