For Dogs, the colors were black … and blue
Is Joe Cox pointing to the next Gator he'll be throwing the ball to? (Bob Andres / AJC)
Florida defeated the Georgia Bulldogs again Saturday in Jacksonville with a large assist from … the Georgia Bulldogs.
After spotting the Gators two touchdowns in the first quarter, Georgia managed to pull back within four points. But the two bugaboos that have plagued the Dogs all season derailed any chance of staying in the game: penalties and turnovers.
The Dogs had eight penalties in the first half. They fixed that problem in the second half, drawing only one flag, but switched to their other favorite way of shooting themselves in the foot, turnovers, with four.
I don’t think that’s what they had in mind when Mark Richt and his staff have said the Dogs need to play “balanced” football.
Starter Joe Cox was lifted halfway through the fourth quarter after throwing his third pick of the half, and then we got the answer to the question of why we haven’t seen more of Logan Gray at QB this season. He is an absolutely terrible passer. The interception he threw from the Georgia end zone to Brandon Spikes, who literally walked in for a score, should become part of an instructional video on how not to play quarterback.
There were positives in the game for the Dogs, mainly in the second quarter when they showed their resiliency and threatened to make a game of it. While Florida looked on its first two drives like it was going to move the ball at will, the Georgia defense stiffened after that and was doing what it could to keep the game in hand, considering the Gators have Tim Tebow. But the second half giveaway staged by Cox and the Georgia offense put the defense in an untenable position, giving Florida a short field too many times. And Mike Bobo actually called a decent game, mixing up the run and pass and moving the ball … until a penalty or turnover would kill the drive.
Basically, the lack of discipline that has characterized recent Richt teams undercut everything good that they did. It’s tough enough to beat a team like Florida if you play your best football. Make that many mistakes and it’s impossible.
One last thought: I’m sure the idiot fringe of Dogs fandom will blame the loss on Georgia reviving the black britches for the first time in 11 years and breaking out black helmets for the first time in UGA history. That’s asinine. The color of what you’re wearing doesn’t cause you to commit penalties or turn the ball over.
Florida won because they’re the better team. But Georgia made it easy for them with too many stupid mistakes.
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414 comments Add your comment
T-Dawg
November 1st, 2009
10:20 am
What happen to laying it all out ,or nothing to loose. We showed no life, this team has quit. Can we please open the playbook up. Play Marlon Brown, run some trick plays or something. Our offense is boring and predictable. Our defense should be lock up for inpersonating a defense.
whoofwhoof
November 1st, 2009
10:22 am
Thug Nation……….let’s dance
gainesville dawg fan
November 1st, 2009
10:28 am
Yes, there are problems with the dawgs,but they were playing the number 1 team in the nation.
Have we forgotten that?
Marty V-C
November 1st, 2009
10:28 am
I thought I was resigned to the loss to UFL and that I would just move on this morning and think good thoughts about maybe running the table and finishing 8-4, which wouldn’t be a bad season. A lot of teams would be thrilled with 8-4 and a bowl game – any bowl game.
But now, after seeing the AJC sports this morning and reading the blogs, I’m getting angrier by the hour and reaching the same conclusion that many of the sports writers and bloggers have. The problem is Richt, and it’s not likely to get any better as long as he is head coach at UGA. It’s getting really frustrating to have top ten recruiting classes every year and then having teams that go nowhere and get pumped up when they beat powerhouses like Vanderbilt. And having the players get arrested so many times that UGA is now looked at the same way that Miami and FSU used to be before they cleaned up their act. It would be easier to overlook the players’ thuggish acts if they were winners, but they’re both thugs AND losers on the field.
Richt has to be the one held responsible for all of this. Yes, he’s a nice fellow, but he’s not being paid a ton of money to be nice. He’s being paid to win SEC championships and play in BCS bowls, and those goals are pie-in-the-sky now the way the team is going.
I guess the question is: Are we going to put up with this for another year or two until we’re actually comfortable with being a doormat, or are we going to fire Richt and his staff and bring in a winner now? Based on what I’ve read in the blogs, the alumni and fans are so frustrated and angry that if a vote was taken today, Richt would probably lose.
Maddawg
November 1st, 2009
10:33 am
http://WWW.FIRERICHT.COM
When I Knew What I Knew
November 1st, 2009
10:34 am
I’m a lifetime fan and alumnus, and I KNEW we were headed for trouble way back when the thugs SOLD CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS ON E-BAY……and the Head Coach basically slapped them on the wrist!
What would Bear Bryant have done? What would Dooley have done? What would a Lombardi or a Tom Landry done to thug players who dared to do that?
It took awhile, but ALL OF US UGA Fans are seated at a banquet of consequences arising from a nice-guy Head Coach who refuses to instill discipline, so THE THUGS RULE! THUGS attract THUGS!
It pains me to see UGA lose, but maybe Adams, Evans, the big money Athletic Board people (Leeburns) will have a stomach full of the THUG dancing while being stomped, the chest beating after each tackle – often after giving up BIG yards, the stupidity to know when your license expires, the late night antics that make the police blotter, the blame the refs mentality, and the blow-outs.
I cancelled my season tickets, and my thousands in donations, when Richt failed to banish the e-bay boys. I saw this coming.
Danny F.
November 1st, 2009
10:37 am
Does anyone know how much longer Richt’s current contract runs, and if he was fired, how much would the buy-out cost UGA?
mash the bug
November 1st, 2009
10:43 am
for all you ga fans that think things are ok at GA…. you’re crazy… we need to make the changes now… do you want to go through another year of this? at this rate we wont have to worry about recruiting…. no one will want to come to this school to play football….hey we had a good run with Richt and his band of clowns, but its time for change before its too late….
mash the bug
November 1st, 2009
10:45 am
and about going to a bowl game…forget it, why do we want to go through that embarrasment….
mash the bug
November 1st, 2009
10:46 am
GT is going to run the score up on us like never before…. Vandy was just a warm up for them….. get ready …. they are going to kick our A$$. I dont think the circus (band of coaches) can come up with a game plan to save us
Destin Tide
November 1st, 2009
10:47 am
Richt was more focused on checking to ensure his players had valid drivers licenses and what uniform to wear than preparing his team to play FLORIDA!
Tenndawg
November 1st, 2009
10:48 am
It don’t matter what color uniforms you wear…..if you can’t block and you can’t tackle, you can’t win football games!!!!
3 - 17 vs. UF in the last 20 meetings
November 1st, 2009
10:53 am
my god
Mookie
November 1st, 2009
10:56 am
If you want to instill discipline take action… it is a attention getter!! When our lb #50 grab that facemask in the first drive, he should have been shown where to stand on the sideline and coached up. Action speaks, but what did we do….. nothing!!
Supes
November 1st, 2009
10:57 am
If the people writting the checks are comfortable with 6-6 and no bowl this season…and the same or WORST in 2010….then by all means CMR and his staff should be allowed to continue to STAY at UGA.
There is nothing that UGA has shown in 2009 that will give you ANY hope for a turnaround by 2010 with THIS current group of coaches.
Then again…some of you are so afraid of change that you are willing to accept MEDIOCRITY.
There are bright, hungry and smart coaches out there…look at what TCU, Boise St, or Cincy has accomplished as of late.
But no. we’d rather have saint Mark and “co” at UGA.
Ben L.
November 1st, 2009
11:16 am
I agree with the statement that the uniforms didn’t lose the game, the Dawgs could do that well enough in any uniform. If you need a gimmick to motivate players, then there is a real problem with motivation in the first place. I would be happy to never, ever see a uniform change beyond our standard home and away. Its quite embarrassing to see how Alabama came back from the fringe (poor days under Shula and mid-grade recruiting) to pure dominance….oh yea…they didn’t rely on flashy uniform changes either AND the Dawgs have been listing towards mediocrity with every gimmick in the book (with who is supposed to be a top notch coach and high ranked players). We should bench every senior and play underclassmen only. Lets build experience now and realize this ship is sinking this year. At least I live in Birmingham and won’t have to travel for the bowl game…..
Danny F.
November 1st, 2009
11:18 am
Supes wrote “Then again…some of you are so afraid of change that you are willing to accept MEDIOCRITY.”
That’s what’s really scary about this. We’re kind of like the lobster that was dropped into a pot of cold water, then the teperature went up gradually until the lobster realized too late that it was being boiled alive.
I think most of the fans are beginning to get it, but the danger is that too many people are forgetting the past glories and settling for this state of mediocrity where we celebrate wins over teams like Vanderbilt and just gloss over the losses. That’s really sad.
Marcia
November 1st, 2009
11:22 am
Normally, firing a head coach in mid-season would be unthinkable, but the situation we’re in is also unthinkable.
Stop the suffering and sack Richt. As others have noted, there are far better coaches out there.
Floater
November 1st, 2009
11:24 am
Time for a change and there are better coaches out there. Coach Richt is responsible for the football program at UGA and his inability to make the necessary changes may well cost him his job. But, don’t bet on it. For whatever reason the powers at be, currently and previously, have not insisted that UGA football win at the highest levels If Zook had been at UGA with the same record he had at UF, he’d still be here. The top dawgs want a competitve program but won’t do what’s necessary to be on the same page with Texas, Bama, UF and other elite programs.
Courage
November 1st, 2009
11:28 am
Yes we had up and down years under Vince Dooley! But you wanna know something?
At least we played with heart every darn game! Whether that was Vince Dooley, Erk or a combonation of both UGA always played with heart, had discipline and won a lot of games we weren’t supposed to. That cannot be said of any team under Richt, since Greene and Pollack left. UGA was never the embarrassment is now under CMR.
Except for the hob nailed boot game how many big games has Richt really won when his team was not supposed to win. Maybe two others, Alabama one year, and we were the better team and barely won, and maybe two against Auburn, when we were the better team yet not really favored to win? So those wins don’t really count as winning when you’re not supposed to. How does that happen in 9 years of coaching? And how many games have we been blown out? Too many to count, in 9 years of CMR! This is an embarrassment!
This program is now second tier. For some of you boneheads thats ok. For me its not!
mcdawg
November 1st, 2009
11:31 am
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Marcia
November 1st, 2009
11:32 am
I’m just grateful that I wasn’t in Jacksonville for the annual fiasco yesterday. It was hard enough watching it on TV.
I didn’t have enough beer. I’m not sure they make enough beer to make it through an embarrassing game like that.
Black helmets, celebration dances, penalties, turnovers, and more arrests before the game. Can it get any dumber than that?
Stinger
November 1st, 2009
11:40 am
When will you learn the color of the uniforms will not win games. Coaching and players win games.
Dawg Fan in Blue Ridge
November 1st, 2009
11:41 am
In an ideal world, Mark Richt would do the right thing and resign, but I doubt if that will happen. He will force the UGA administration to fire him and pay him off.
Eddie Robinson
November 1st, 2009
11:50 am
Who put Florida on our Schedule?
I bleed black
November 1st, 2009
11:51 am
Fear not Dawg Nation….we got the Gym Dawgs. Time for some balance beam smack down. Extra black glitter this year!!
Doug Williams
November 1st, 2009
11:52 am
I dont know coach Robinson….I thought I…I thought I almost blew a tail gasket
dawf fan-sortta
November 1st, 2009
11:53 am
The reason the Georgia bulldogs did not play better after their bye week is the coaches had them painting their helmets black in their knitting class.
NorthStarsDave
November 1st, 2009
11:54 am
So we thought the Tennessee game was bad…this was worse…
In my 30+ years of following UGA football, yesterday was one the most embarrassing losses ever….except for the Evil Genius’ pounding in Athens….
A lot of the support and confidence that Dawg fans had for CMR eroded greatly yesterday…..first the black pants, then the black helmets…and that stupid celebration…WHEN YOU ARE LOSING!!!
CMR needs to take a serious look at the program because if you look like it, smell like it and act like it…then you must be it….
I never thought I’d see the day that Florida acted with more class the Georgia…
Absolutely embarrassing…
Mikey
November 1st, 2009
11:54 am
Please help me out with this:
We had 2 weeks to prepare and we came out the same vanilla offense. We ran ZERO new offensive plays.
I really hoped we would see some new formations, reverses, maybe a receiver going in motion, maybe a 4 receiver set…ANYTHING AT ALL !
We also came out with no changes in the Defensive scheme…what a piss poor plan.
The only difference I saw with 2 weeks to prepare was the hideous black helmet and pants. unreal….
The only bright spot was Blair Walsh kicicking deep and Drew Butler continuing his excellent punting.
I have had enough.
Mikey
November 1st, 2009
11:56 am
Oh, and Tennessee looked hideous too, but they played like a team that wanted to win.
GATORBOY
November 1st, 2009
12:00 pm
The winner of this game was never in question – no way the dogs had enough to beat the Gators. The bigger question was if Tim Tebow was going to break the SEC TD record against herschel’s dogs. Now I don’t know if TEBOW > herschel, I happen to think so because a QB has way more influence/responsibility than a RB (TT has also thrown for close to 80 TDs). But dog fans please quit using that lame excuse that herschel played only 3 years while Touchdown Timmy for all 4. It doesn’t matter how many years you play, instead the number of rushing attempts would be a more accurate measure. In herschel’s 3 years he ran the ball 994 times for 49 TDs (54 if you count his bowl TDs – that will fall too). In TEBOW’s 4th year after 8 games he has 614 rushes. That is 380 fewer rushing attempts than 3 year herschel!!!! TEBOW averages an incredible1 TD per every 12 rushes while herschel had a respectable TD per 20 rushes. If Timmy were to carry the ball 380 more times he would have 31 more rushing touchdowns for a total of 82. So if you want to say it is difficult to say who was the best – that is fine, just don’t try to put an asterisk on the SEC RUSHING TD record because that belongs to the one and only TIMMY TEBOW. ——— GO GATORS
dawg gone it
November 1st, 2009
12:07 pm
I don’t believe the players are to blame. Many teams with less talent do better. We certainly have plenty of talent. And what did we achieve last year when we had Stafford and Moreno?
And to be fair to the players, we did hang with FL, the #1 team in the nation, for 3 quarters.
If we look at our weaknesses, they pretty much all go back to coaching:
1. Poor tackling = coaching
2. Penalties = coaching
3. Poor decision making by the QB = coaching
4. Having less than a full squad during a field kick= coaching
5. Putting Logan Gray in at your own end zone against a great defense = coaching
6. Giving up 2 touchdowns in the first 2 possessions of the game, after having a week off to prepare for the game = coaching
7. Not having your team psyched up for big games= coaching.
There is a basic lack of discipline, and I certainly think that both Bobo and WM are in over their heads.
But I also think that Richt has not show the motivational abilities that a great coach should have.
He will likely, and should, get another year to turn around this program. Hick-ups/transitions happen.
I believe the “excessive celebration” call at the end of the LSU game was a pivotal point in our season. Great coaches should be able to refocus teams after such losses. Mark Richt has been unable to do that.
Clyde
November 1st, 2009
12:08 pm
Anybody know who won the Florida/Georgia game ? HAHAHAHA The players wore black helmets and now the fans should start wearing black bags on their heads…. Oh BTW, The Gators just scored again.
Raleigh
November 1st, 2009
12:11 pm
Gatorboy – you’re right that it’s stupid to argue. Both sides have their points but why are people comparing a QB to a RB anyway? Herschel was the best college RB in history and Tebow may be the best multi-dimensional college QB in history (I’m not debating it – I just don’t care enough to compare him to others in history like Eric Crouch and Tommie Frazier).
The bottom line is that Tebow has the record – and he’ll likely have more TDs than Herschel including the bowl games by the end of the season. How many games/carries is irrelevant.
Eric C.
November 1st, 2009
12:18 pm
STOP PUTTING THIS ENTIRELY ON THE COACHES
At the end of 2007…this team was #2 in the nation, and if not for a few lucky plays for UT against UK and Vandy, I really believe the Dawgs would have won the SEC Championship and won it all that year. How can they have fallen from that high point to this low point so fast???
The coaching staff is still the same…the players must be held accountable…the talent is just not there. When you don’t generate a rush with your DL…bad things happen folks!!! When you don’t have a running game and when you start a guy like Joe Cox at QB who can’t check down to open receivers…you are going to be inconsistent on offense, are going to have a lot of turnovers, and that puts a LOT of pressure on the defense.
Sure, the coaching could be and should be better, but they have proven in the recent past, that with the right talent, they can coach a team to be in the thick of the SEC/National title races.
NorthStarsDave
November 1st, 2009
12:23 pm
Eric C…whose job is it to get the talent?
Have we not gotten Top 10 recruiting classes routinely the last 5 years?
zigzag69
November 1st, 2009
12:29 pm
Georgia sucks, they really, really suck!! The coaches need to go, after another embarrassing loss to an sec east team.Tenn and Florida will dominate the bullpups for years to come. And ya’ll said tenn would be the sec whipping boy, looks like it’s jawja that’s getting whipped big time this season.giving up a combined eighty- six points against FLA. and TENN. How pathetic is the georgia defense?
dan
November 1st, 2009
12:30 pm
All you keep hearing from the so called “experts” on UGA recruting classes is every year Dogs are top 10….really?..aside from AJ Green what player on this team looks like an all conference type player much less NFL? If you have to resort to stupid gimmicks to help motivate the top ranked team in the country and oh yeah a team that has beat you senseless for more than a decade you are in a lot of trouble. UGA needs leadership which they do not have on the field or on the coaching staff
Eric C.
November 1st, 2009
12:31 pm
NorthStarsDave, you make a good point…but that is another subject. I’m talking about on-field/off-field team and game management…not recruiting.
Raleigh
November 1st, 2009
12:32 pm
Eric C. – agreed that it’s not all on the coaches. But good/great teams win with a combination of talent and scheme. Unfortunately, UGA seems to have to rely solely on talent these days. Surely you don’t believe that GT has better offensive talent than UGA? Surely you wouldn’t argue that 10 other teams in the SEC have better defensive talent than UGA?
Because UGA hasn’t evolved in its coaching strategies, their schemes have become tired and predictable. Opposing coaches have no problem game-planning for UGA to take advantage of that predictability. And the schemes applied by those coaches seem to completely confuse both UGA’s players and coaches (see UT this year, Bama and even UK last year).
still a dawg fan
November 1st, 2009
12:36 pm
I now know how all those Vandy/Miss St/Duke fans feel now.
How have we fallen so far, so fast? Lack of Talent / Over-hyped Recruits / plain old fashion poor coaching?
It’s bad when your best defensive player RC, is at best a Division 1-AA or D-2 player.
Any Comments
dan
November 1st, 2009
12:41 pm
Tech has some pretty good players…Dwyer is a man and I give then credit their guys play hard
dan
November 1st, 2009
12:43 pm
And I honestly think if I had a chance to play D1 football I really believe right now I would rather play for Paul Johnsn than Mark Richt
NorthStarsDave
November 1st, 2009
12:52 pm
Look…even Saint Urban thinks Georgia has talent on D…he was quoted as saying so before the game…so where do the problems start?
This reason for this season is this…the offense lost confidence in the QB…the defense lost confidence in the offence…and the team began to fall apart…and the coaches have not been effective enough to stop this…they have lost this team….
It is very evident that Tennessee is a better coached team…funny to say that now…and, as stated earlier, Florida showed more class…still can’t get over that…
We are not disciplined…we are not smart…we look bad….and are doing bad things….and a quickly becoming a bad team….
We have D-1 talent…they are not getting D-1 instruction or coaching at this time….
UGA Sucks Georgia always over rated
November 1st, 2009
12:58 pm
don’t they mutt fans?
MVP Georgia always over rated
November 1st, 2009
12:59 pm
CHOKE ! THE OFFICAL DRINK OF THE GEORGIA BULLDAWGS !
TX Dawg
November 1st, 2009
1:24 pm
Head coach in sunglasses…..
that kinda sums up this team and coaching staff. No discipline and poorly coached. I don’t want to hear there’s no talent. The Dawg’s recruiting classes have been in the top 5 or so in the nation consistently. It’s what you do with the talent. I’d like to see a little fire in the gut of the coaches; show that you care. How about “teaching” on the sideline when a player shows a lack of discipline with a dumb procedure penalty or personal foul; that starts with the head coach. Two ex-dawgs at Texas & Bama that might deserve taking a chance on……
Dawg Tired
November 1st, 2009
1:36 pm
Why has so little been said about the truly egregious eye gouging
of Ealey by Spikes? I would throw him off the. Surely the commissioner will do something? This is blatantly unacceptable conduct.
If the commissioner does not suspend this guy for the rest of the season, it is simply further evidence of the scheme to insure Florida gets to the national championship game. What a joke unless immediate action is taken.
Dr M
November 1st, 2009
3:33 pm
Give some credit to Tebow, without whom it would have been a close game. That said, Goergia played in the unfortunate manner we are becoming accustomed to, wasting talent and opportunities by making mistake after mistake. We will not win against Auburn, Tech or even Kentucky if we play like that. It’s a sad state the program is in. It’s on CMR to make it right.