Georgia short takes: Dogs should’ve spiked the ball
Jay Rome's touchdown catch gave Georgia 7-0 lead two plays after fake punt. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
(I’ll be back with my column on the Georgia-Alabama SEC championship soon. Until then, here are my three “short takes” on the game.)
1. Great drive until the last decision: Trialing 32-28, Georgia was given a second chance to drive for a winning touchdown when an Aaron Murray interception was turned over on replay, which showed the ball hit the ground. So with the ball at the Dogs’ 28 on second-and-10, Murray then capitalized when completed passes to Arthur Lynch (15 yards), Tavarres King (23) and Lynch again (26), moving the ball to the Alabama 8. However, with the final seconds (from :09 after Lynch’s second catch) ticking down, Murray did not take the ensuing snap and spike the ball to stop the clock. Instead, he ran a play and completed a tipped pass to Chris Conley, who was tackled at the Alabama 5 and time ran out. It was a great three plays and a dreadful fourth. While it’s no guarantee that the result would have been different, spiking the ball to stop the clock would have allowed the Dogs to set up for one more play, potentially a more successful one.
2. It’s still about blocking and tackling: I know Georgia parlayed a fake punt into a first down and eventually a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead, and Alec Ogletree’s 55-yard return of a blocked field goal (by Cornelius Washington) gave the Dogs a seemingly insurmountable 21-10 lead in the third quarter. But we saw again why football is still about being able to knock the other guy over. Alabama’s offensive line, widely considered the best in the nation, took over the game in the second half, enabling the Tide’s Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon to pile rushing yards and the team to drive to three touchdowns after trailing 21-10. As Alabama’s line physically beat up the Dogs’ front, Georgia’s defense started to tire and missed tackles.
3. Georgia proved its worth: It’s probably of little consolation to Georgia fans but the Bulldogs proved their worth in this game. Some doubted their standing of being the nation’s third best team, behind Notre Dame and Alabama (according to BCS rankings). There were criticisms of their perceived easy schedule and the way they were manhandled by South Carolina earlier in the season. But Georgia just narrowly lost a game to a program that has won two of the last three BCS championships and will be favored for another title against Notre Dame. There were four lead changes in the second half. If the Dogs don’t let down, they will have a chance in a bowl game to finish off a 12-2 season with possibly a top-5 ranking.
By Jeff Schultz
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475 comments Add your comment
Jay
December 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
You idiots that are blaming anyone have probably never played in a meaningful game of anyhthing. It was a great game (GAME). Both teams did good things and made mistakes. I’m proud to be a Dawg, and I’m as disapointed as any fan could be. Think about how the players feel. Hats off to all of the players for a great and entertaining game. Go Dawgs!
Jill
December 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
Well…Saban will sleep well tonight in his double wide…sorry…triple wide with copper plumbing…
DawgFan
December 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
Yellow jacket 1
Band nerds. Are you stereotyping? Also you said we have nerds too so you obviously admit to your geekiness. This is a football blog and tech is the annual loser as are you. Go to the Tech blog and support your team. Do you go to the games? Loser
Delusional Dawgs
December 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
@ DawgFan, no need for tech fans to suck their stingers….watching your overhyped team flub away a sure national championship will likely suffice.
11-1! run this state! and now back to the usual dawg fan cycle, pick on tech/tech fans because once again, when you play the big boys in your conference you come up short. bwahahahhahahha!
ALABAMA DEFENSE
December 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
Murray hope you remember that lick we laid on you for a long long time to come………
James
December 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
Yes the fire the coach comments will start, but not because of this game, or this season. It’s because Georgia has not played in a BCS for the big one since the 80’s. Never under Joe Cool. Bama could have lost this one and would be back next year, as long as they have the coaching staff they have. If you enjoy almost and wait till next year, then you will be a happy dog fan. Me I expect a team that has the top five recruits almost every year to do better. Playing games like tonight more often would be great. But I can promise you as I have said many times, Joe Cool will not take you to the top. Enjoy the almost tonight, it will be awhile before the next one. It took 11 years to get this close.
Fools Gold
December 1st, 2012
9:01 pm
I bet Erk Russell rolled over a hundred times as our defense was absolutely shredded to bits.
juice sourcer
December 1st, 2012
9:02 pm
Spike the damn ball.
ShowMeYurTD's
December 1st, 2012
9:03 pm
Get a field goal kicker…..
Loser
December 1st, 2012
9:03 pm
Over-rated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where?
December 1st, 2012
9:03 pm
Did the great Jarvis Jones play? I didn’t notice.
jack
December 1st, 2012
9:03 pm
If the NCAA doesn’t suspend Alabama’s #90 from the NCS game it will be a disgrace. That punk arse hit that he put on Murray,, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OFFICIAL was pathetic. No flag on that play, but we get a personal foul helmet to helmet earlier when AJ cried to the official.
Big Buckeye
December 1st, 2012
9:03 pm
UGA Football… Lmao
dome
December 1st, 2012
9:03 pm
just damn
Strat Cat Dawg
December 1st, 2012
9:03 pm
I’m disappointed that Schulz is rushing to judgment and piling on. I expect that from the bandwagon “fans” but this is a case of 20-20 hindsight. We’re fortunate to have our coaching staff from Richt on down. Both teams played with incredible intensity, both made plays, both made mistakes. We just came up a few yards and a few seconds short. If you’re a real DGD, ignore the smack talkers and the whiners- win or lose, It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 1st, 2012
9:04 pm
“Double wide” just beat you, Jill.
Dewnsav
December 1st, 2012
9:04 pm
what a game…D wore down as they were on the field the entire third quarter..despite all the negative comments we were a few yards away from a win…all the talk about how we didn’t belong in the SEC-GC was put to rest…I am VERY disappointed, but the team, or coaches for that matter,have nothing to hang their heads about…and if you think us fans are disappointed, think about our players who left their guts out on the Georgia Dome floor…and one more thing…go dogs
ed g
December 1st, 2012
9:04 pm
To anybody here that is criticizing this team, you obviously never played competitive sports in your life. Uga ran into an immovable object that was the Bama running game and those boys played their hearts out and left everything on the field. Hats off to Aaron Murray who played a gutsy game and shut all you Murray haters up. If that ball had not been tipped at the line of scrimmage the play could have worked and everybody would have said what a great call it was. Lay off the players and the coaches, they are hurting more than you or I could ever imagine. This quote goes out to all you haters-“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 1st, 2012
9:04 pm
Murray’s worst play of the game was the underthrown duck right before the half that got picked off and set up an Alabama field goal. Other than that he played fine. The final play wasn’t on him. I know it is tempting to look for someone to blame when your team loses, but this game really just boiled down to Alabama’s offensive line being better than Georgia’s defensive line. If you give up 7 yards per carry the entire game your chances of winning are pretty slim.
GatorGuy
December 1st, 2012
9:04 pm
Rep. Cynthia McKinney D-Georgia sez
” The SEC Championship Game is RACIST!!”
Just 2 white guys making the brothers do all the work.
Where?
December 1st, 2012
9:04 pm
Nice D Grantham….kinda like in Cleveland, huh?
Big Buckeye
December 1st, 2012
9:05 pm
Well at least u have 1980 … Lmao
Patrick
December 1st, 2012
9:05 pm
Like many others I am intensely proud of the the way the dawgs played today and like many others disappointed by the result. As stated by myself and many others all season it is time for a change in the coaching staff to put UGA back in the big games. 2nd place in the the league–even if it is the SEC–just doesn’t cut it. If we continue to have top quality recruits and end up with the same results then the definition of insanity starts to become the tag line. Time for a change folks.
El-Toro GATA
December 1st, 2012
9:05 pm
Roll Tide with Pride,
in the last 20 seconds your Bama’s farts were heard from Tuscaloosa!
John
December 1st, 2012
9:05 pm
The good news:
Recruits-sign with the dawgs. If you can tackle my grandmother, you can play early.
Tech1990
December 1st, 2012
9:05 pm
DAWGS SUCK! I am a lifelong Alabama Fan now! This Alabama win just made my year! Go back to Athens you bunch of REDNECKS! Tell me how it feels to have your National Championship dreams go down the toilet. Now all of you Dawg fans that jumped on the bandwagon this past couple of weeks can return your Bulldog 2 for one t- shirts that you bought from Wal-Mart. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 1st, 2012
9:05 pm
The look on Murray’s face a millisecond before he got pasted was priceless. If you DVR’d it, check it out.
Loser
December 1st, 2012
9:06 pm
Lucky to win fla game, any other top 10 game , look out——-loser
Will
December 1st, 2012
9:06 pm
Why in the hell are Tech fans on this board talking smack when they are getting owned by FSU in their own title game. They’re going to be a 6-7 “bowl” team. LMAO
Clowney is glad Erin is coming back
December 1st, 2012
9:06 pm
Four in a row should be fun.
NC Dawgfan
December 1st, 2012
9:06 pm
Not spiking the ball did not lose the game. Besides, the back shoulder fade with the defense scrambling was the perfect call. The defense gave way too much. Let’s just hope there is not another bowl game let down like last year.
DawgFan
December 1st, 2012
9:06 pm
Anyway, proud of my Dawgs. Think I’ll go and troll the Tech blog. They’ll be up to 2 pgs by halftime.
Tonka
December 1st, 2012
9:06 pm
UGA defense has now given up at least 30 points
in 6 of the last 7 losses.
ShowMeYurTD's
December 1st, 2012
9:07 pm
CMR and staff ARE NOT capable of winning a national championship….PERIOD
Loser
December 1st, 2012
9:07 pm
oh yea
Furman Bitcher
December 1st, 2012
9:07 pm
SPIKE THE BALL
Fools Gold
December 1st, 2012
9:07 pm
Lets Face it this program is still soft and it showed….. It was Men against boys…
Big Buckeye
December 1st, 2012
9:08 pm
Where’s that bigmouth Dawinlex… Ha ha ha
Dum-Bass
December 1st, 2012
9:08 pm
Wonder how many hundreds of thousands of the male gender and even some of the female gender were screaming at the TV to spike the ball. Could have had two shots into the endzone. I would hate to know I was a Div. I coach and OC and not be smart enough to know exactly what to do in that situation. How many time have we seen it done almost to perfection on Sunday in the NFL? Why do I get the feeling that Fredi Gonzalez was in the pressbox telling Murray what to do? Guess it’s because that is the same convoluted thought process that FG used with the Braves. If I were the AD at GA both the head coach and the OC would be without a job tomorrow. That is just simple plain basic football.
DawginNY
December 1st, 2012
9:08 pm
I have to assume that many posting are imposter Dawg fans. That was absolutely gut-wrenching, but the but a ball bouncing the wrong way doesn’t make the performance by our guys any less heroic. I am devastated by the loss and the thought of how close we came, but couldn’t be prouder of our guys.
And let’s not forget, spiking it is a double-edged sword. It wouldn’t make a guy follow his instincts less and not catch a batted pass. If that hadn’t happened, we would have gotten 3 cracks at it with a spike and 2 witthout. But spiking it would had let Bama get regrouped and they were on their heels.
JoeFann
December 1st, 2012
9:08 pm
I was also calling for a spike, but I understand Bobo’s thinking, and it’s valid. You’ve just gone 75 yards in less than a minute. Bama’s defense is on it’s heels. Go for the dagger before they regroup and get set. If you spike, UGA gets 30 seconds to organize the call, Bama gets 30 seconds to regroup and clearly identify assignments, maybe even Bama takes a timeout. If the ball isn’t tipped, you either get a TD, an interception or another shot. Even if it’s tipped anywhere else, you get another shot with everyone set.
The decision I question more is the one to leave Swann one on one all game with Amare Cooper. Why wasn’t Commings on him? And where was Rambo all night? Disappeared after the heavy hit in the first quarter. Was he hurt, or even on the field? Other than Ogletree, kinda average night for the LBs and safeties. Clearly great coverage all night as McCarron had few places to throw, except for the last one. With a four point loss, the missed FG turned out to be big. Woulda been nice to spike and kick a short one to win.
Still, a great game. Congrats to Bama. Go Dawgs!
The truth
December 1st, 2012
9:08 pm
Hell, we didn’t lose…time ran out.
James
December 1st, 2012
9:08 pm
Alabama Defense, You are proud of an illegal hit? By the way, you didn’t make it, the only thing you hit is the snooze alarm telling you to get up and drive the trash truck. Yep, I am a sore loser, don’t try and rub it in. I will eat your lunch.
Loser
December 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
UGA the FSU of the SEC ————-losers
Return to Glory
December 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
Shut up, no one needs firing, this was a great game and two good, well prepared and well coached teams, we went toe to toe and came up 5 yards short. The difference was Bamas offensive line.
Delusional Dawgs
December 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
four short yards from glory……….we run this state though!!! we’ll get em next year (right?)
UGAX
December 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
shut up with the ‘terrible call’….’spike the ball’ comments. some of you are even going as far to say that it was poor clock management?
uhhh, georgia had the ball from their own 15 yard line with 1 minute to go and 0 time outs. they made it to the 8 yard line and had a legitimate shot at winning the game in the opposing red zone of one of the greatest defenses in the country. that’s excellent clock management. the ball was tipped…he WAS throwing in the paint. just didn’t work out.
…if he throws a TD, there, no one would have anything to say.
sure….spiking would have made for a better result guaranteed…but no one did anything stupid.
it really hurts. that was their moment. almost….
story of a georgia fan’s life. maybe in 32 years, we’ll have another chance.
#1BAMAFAN
December 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
Great game….the DAWGS played well and this was big boy football. The game was closer due to two turnovers & block field goal for touchdown, but hat’s off to the DAWGS, they played well enough to have a chance to win. RTR
GatorGuy
December 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
Here’s a different angle. The Murray non-spike will come to be known as……wait for it……..
Buck Belue to Lindsay Scott…….in REVERSE!!!!!
Some one get me Eric Zeier on the phone. Who better to console these Dawgs.
I know you guys doubt me, but I think this bone head move to lose the game will propel CMR into finally accepting that Chick-Fil-A franchise that UGA trustees keep dangling in front of him. Bobo to get a Zaxby’s in East Lake.
Wormer
December 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
Let’s go back to the black jerseys, as least we look good losing to Alabama.