Mark Richt at his best: Five favorite games
Mark Richt has had a lot of wins worth celebrating at Georgia. Today we pick five favorites. (Associated Press)
In honor of Mark Richt’s 50th birthday today, here are the five games from his nine seasons at Georgia that I think are the Georgia coach at his very best.
Georgia’s 26-24 win over Tennessee in 2001. Forever hailed by Dogs fans as the “hobnail boot” game, it was Richt’s first signature victory and set the template for Richt at his most successful: Cool on the sideline, explosive offense moving the ball quickly downfield, superb call for the touchdown, beating the other guy on the road.
Georgia’s 24-21 win in Auburn in 2002. Perhaps the most important win of the Richt era in that it put the Dogs into their first SEC championship game. Another classic come-from-behind effort and another great call with the fourth-and-19 “70-X-Takeoff” pass to Michael Johnson in the end zone.
Georgia’s 37-15 upset win over Auburn in 2006. Richt later said that he was worried before this game that he had a terrible game plan. Not exactly. Georgia hit the No. 5 Tigers in the mouth from the first snap and never looked back.
Georgia’s 42-30 win over Florida in 2007. Was the dancing in the end zone call a brilliant gamble or Richt giving in to his dark side? Either way, this was a marvelous coaching job.
Georgia’s 30-24 win over Georgia Tech in 2009. Nobody expected the Dogs to have much of a chance in this game, but that’s when Richt is at his most dangerous. A great game plan running the ball down the Jackets’ throats.
Feel free to share your own favorite games under Richt. And happy birthday, Coach!
IN PRAISE OF BOBO
Senator Blutarsky of Get the Picture offers some praise for oft-criticized offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. He notes that despite the Dogs losing their star QB and running back in 2009, running fewer offensive plays than the year before, having way too many turnovers and playing a killer schedule, Georgia’s point production dropped only about two and a half points per game this past season.
The obvious conclusion is that while Bobo’s playcalling might not always be a thing of beauty, he generally knows what he’s doing.
HALF-FULL BETTER THAN EMPTY
T Kyle King of Dawg Sports has been one of the more pessimistic Georgia basketball fans this season, not letting a few big wins go to his head. After Mark Fox’s Dogs again let a lead slip away last night against Tennessee and remain winless on the road, King offers a downbeat but fair assessment of the state of UGA basketball: “Coach Fox deserves time to remake this program into one that can win, but, in the meantime, while we are forced to wait patiently with our teeth gritted, what we have is a team that cannot emerge triumphant twice consecutively and cannot do anything other than lose on the road. The best that can be said is that the glass is half-full because the glass was completely empty when it was handed to Mark Fox. Only half-empty represents real progress for the program with the weakest roundball tradition in the SEC.”
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104 comments Add your comment
Yea
February 18th, 2010
2:16 pm
THE LAST SEC CHAMPIONSHIP UGA WON…DUH!
That was an upset of #3 LSU
123456789
February 18th, 2010
2:16 pm
If CMR was half the Apostle uga fans think he is,
CMR would have DEMANDED that the bottom-feeders running the UGA-AA
pay Bryant the $500,000 he asked for that would have REPLACED the insurance policy
that former UGA Assitant Athletic Director Hoke Widler botched.
It wasnt a coincidence that Damon Evans fired Hoke Wilder….
on Evans’ VERY FIRST day on the job.
Evans had to clear out all the …ahem….”liabilities” you know.
The moment came for CMR to “stand-up,” and CMR sat on his hands.
Absolutely Spineless !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The UGA-AA takes in over $30 Million in revenues……ANNUALLY.
And yet, they couldnt come up with $500,000 to fix a mistake THEY made.
In the end, UGA-AA will ultimately have to settle this case
(now going on for 7 years) for multi-millions. The longer this case goes on,
the larger the ultimate settlement fee will be.
And you know what the ironic part of this will be?
UGA Football Season Ticket holders will ultimatley be assessed the TOTAL COST of the Bryant settlement fee by the UGA-AA in the cost of season ticket purchases. so, $5,000,000 divided by, say 90,000 tickets…that would add about anouther $50+ to the ticket price for EVERY SINGLE TICKET in Sanford.
You dont seriously think the UGA-AA is going to pay the settlement out of ITS wallet do you?
How’s that for poetic justice ?
BTW, anybody know which rock Hoke Wilder is hiding under ??
Troof
February 18th, 2010
2:24 pm
JG, I agree tge Bama Beatdown in 2008 was very nice. What was best was the clueless looks on the faces of all the fans as Bama jumped out to that 31-0 lead. I think the entire coaching staff had the same look.
29 years and counting Dawg fans since that last NC!! Never gonna happen under Richt but Happy Birthday anyway Corch Richt!
RTR!
IrvinMaya
February 18th, 2010
2:25 pm
The DeCory Bryant ruling was that the UGA-AA had waived its sovereign immunity up to the level of the liability insurance, or $500,000, which is the exact amount he would have gotten (albeit from insurance not from the UGA-AA directly) had a mistake not been made and he had been insured.
From what I understand, the UGA-AA is not saying that it has no liability, but that it has sovereign immunity beyond the level that is waived by purchasing insurance. The reason they are defending the suit (as I understand it, I certainly counld have my facts wrong), is that Bryant sued for significantly more than the $500,000 policy.
IrvinMaya
February 18th, 2010
2:27 pm
That said, the injury to Bryant was tragic and it is unfortunate that he was injured at all.
IrvinMaya
February 18th, 2010
2:29 pm
By the way: “The longer this case goes on, the larger the ultimate settlement fee will be” is nonsensical. I am very curious what 123456789 is basing his opinion on. This is a very strange issue to troll on a UGA blog.
CatsFly
February 18th, 2010
2:41 pm
Talk about the ACC being a basketball (not football) conference. Well there is plenty talk of both football and basketball on the rivals’ sites of UNC, Tech, VaTech, MD, CLemson, etc. The last post on UGa basketball on rivals was 4 days ago. That is proof that UGa is a football-only school. Man, it’s BB season and all people at UGa can talk about is football. I know their team is terrible, but it will always be that way because there are no UGa BB fans.
Debose
February 18th, 2010
2:43 pm
My Favorite Games :
2002 – Florida 20 UGA 13 (UGA 0-13 on 3rd down conversions) – only loss of year
2007 – South Carolina 16 UGA 12 (UGA 3-18 on 3rd down conversions) – tiebreaker to Vols
2008 – Alabama 41 UGA 30 (Alabama 31 UGA 0 at halftime)
2008 – Florida 49 UGA 10 (UGA 1 Touchdown……thrown by Joe Cox)
2009 – Florida 41 UGA 17 (UGA 4 interceptions but 2 Touchdowns from Joe Cox)
Mark Richt at his best: Five favorite games | The Junkyard Blawg | Georgia Today
February 18th, 2010
2:56 pm
[...] See the original post: Mark Richt at his best: Five favorite games | The Junkyard Blawg [...]
ga gator
February 18th, 2010
3:42 pm
Surprised he didn’t mention how he pretty much owned UF when he was the OC at FSU.
coachdawg 2000
February 18th, 2010
4:15 pm
2001 Tennessee game. That was when I knew we had a keeper.
coachdawg 2000
February 18th, 2010
4:24 pm
close #2 is worst whooping of the Geeks 51-7. The were talking all kinds of smack walking in and were gone by halftime 34-0.
coachdawg 2000
February 18th, 2010
4:27 pm
#3- 2007 in Bammer. Little nicky was about to cry when Mikey caught that ball. Kirby would have cried but he was busy doing Saban’s laundry. The Bammers showed alot of class when thye started trhowing stuff on the field.
coachdawg 2000
February 18th, 2010
4:28 pm
#4 2002 Allbarn. It finally got us to the SECCG.
coachdawg 2000
February 18th, 2010
4:29 pm
#5-2005 SECCG beatdown of LSU. Miles almost pulled his hat downb onto to his head.
coachdawg 2000
February 18th, 2010
4:30 pm
Honorable Mention- Reggie Part IV. Four and dumb! Long live Reggie Ball and flag boy!
AltamahaDawg
February 18th, 2010
4:38 pm
Couldn’t make the 2004 LSU game, decided instead to make the trip for the TN game the next weekend. Uh huh.
yeehaw87
February 18th, 2010
4:44 pm
Gatorguy. Not that I have room to talk smack but you can mark that 2004 off of your favorite five. Thats one of our two for the decade.
Mark Richt
February 18th, 2010
4:45 pm
Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! Before all you fair weather fans and Classy Gator fans start ripping me a new one for not winning a National Championship in my first 9 years I have some interesting stats. Here is a list of some of the top coaches in all time wins and how many years it took them to win a National Championship at their school. Now there are a few coaches that have won a NC in 2 years or so of coaching at their school but that is not the norm. Here is the list….
Joe Paterno – Won National Championship in his 16th year at PSU
Bobby Bowden – Won National Championship in his 17th year at FSU
Tom Osborne – Won National Championship in his 21st year at Nebraska
Lavell Edwards – Won National Championship in his 12th year at BYU
Amos Alonzo Stagg- Won National Championship in his 13th year at Chicago
Frank Beamer – Going into his 24th season and hasn’t won a NC
Vince Dooley – Won National Championship in his 16th year at UGA
I don’t believe anybody can say that these guys aren’t good coaches because it took them on average 16 seasons before winning a National Championship. Now I know that I am heading into my 10th season at UGA and I have done some great things. But I know Bulldog Nation is waiting for that NC and I promise that I will get you guys one.
Go Dawgs!
AltamahaDawg
February 18th, 2010
4:49 pm
Did the DA really not know that his team lost in 2004? Anyone surprised?
Sorry Guy!
February 18th, 2010
4:59 pm
123456789 – Sorry guy but $5 million isn’t a ton of money to UGA. Also you have been saying this for months now.
col fot
February 18th, 2010
5:13 pm
The great win in 2002 over gt 51-7, which could have been 70-0, which would of been nice.
Asheville Dawg
February 18th, 2010
5:38 pm
The Hawaii game was fun anyway.
The Lone Trumpeter
February 18th, 2010
5:58 pm
I grew up a pro fan and didn’t really care about college ball until i went to uga from 2001-2005. I was picking my mom up from the airport and listening to Munson inn 2001 when we beat UT. After they had that huge play to regain the lead in the fourth quarter i thought we were done. I have never been so excited listening to the end of a game in my life. Munson made me feel like i was watching. God bless u larry munson and god bless mark richt. Happy B day coach.
Clem and Son
February 18th, 2010
6:03 pm
The 30 – 0 beatdown of Clemson that raised a lot of eyebrows in Death Valley and across the nation. The look on those Clemson fans was so enjoying.
big willy
February 18th, 2010
6:23 pm
I like all the big game flops against Florida and would definitely like to see another blackout against Alabama. Oh yeah and choking on a 28-12 halftime lead again GT was great. I can’t wait to keep hearing all the 11-1 and 10-2 predictions for next year. UGA fans better keep wishing him happy birthdays while they can because he will not see his 52nd birthday in a UGA polo shirt and fake tan.
MARK, DANCE IN THE END-ZONE, RICHT
February 18th, 2010
6:37 pm
King, you need to shut up about 2007 in J’ville. Did you see what
Urban did to me the following year; I can’t take any more 49-10 beatings.
Then that @##$#@!! kept calling those t##@@**&^% time outs with 1 minute to go,
just so I could look at the score board longer. Then in 2008, he still didn’t call them off
and we got another 41-17 whipping, but thank goodness he didn’t call any
of those nasty time outs and we were to able leave ASAP.
Now look King, the Gators have gotten me 7 out of 9 years and Urban owns me 4-1.
If he gets wind of us bragging about beating him in 07 with our dancing bears, it could really be bad this year. Look fool, don’t you know the Gators have a week off
before we meet in J’ville and this article will be on their locker room board all
fall long. I just don’t know how much longer I can take this and you aren’t helping.
So just cool it.
KJ
February 18th, 2010
6:57 pm
Oh great, another blog sidetracked by 1123455 and his obsession with Decory Bryant’s lawsuit that nobody cares about, and NATS fans masquerading as Gator fans, because their team can’t take care of business (once again). My kingdom for an “ignore user” button….
Buckhead Bulldog
February 18th, 2010
8:34 pm
The Dog’s 2007 OT win vs Bama IN Tuscaloosa was pretty dang sweet! One and done, baby…woof, woof.
Bobbydawg
February 18th, 2010
9:37 pm
Screwing over Kiante Tripp. He should sue Richt for intentional misrepresentation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The kid would have played at the next level as an offensive tackle if the man with the unnatural tan hadn’t screwed him over.
74Dawg
February 18th, 2010
9:42 pm
I can’t argue with any of your choices,Bill,though I agree with several that the 2004 smack down of Saban was sweet after losing to LSU twice ion one year,as was the 2005 smack down of LSU in the Dome for the championship. And the win over Arkansas in the 2002 championship game,our first SEC title in 20 years. But the win that affected me the most at the gut level was the Auburn game in 2002. The last minute come from behind with so much on the line reminded me of the Lindsey Scott game in 1980. I remember yelling over and over “we’re going to the Dome and the Gators are going home”. I believe this continued until I lost my voice or conciousness,whitchever came first.
74Dawg
February 18th, 2010
9:47 pm
Dance,why don’t you get your lizzard butt onto your own lame blog. The dance had little to do with it We kicked your rear end good and if not for the penalties it would have been an epochal beating. Besides , the look on Myers face was worth it all. And it won’t be the last time-your time will come,enjoy while you can.
Another Dawg
February 18th, 2010
11:47 pm
I enjoyed both the 2007 Sugar Bowl beat down and the 2007 Auburn blackout when they went with the head-fake in warm-ups as well as played Soulja Boy over the loudspeakers while Knowshon danced.
BuLLdawg
February 19th, 2010
3:31 am
.
DECLINE IN UGA BULLDOGS’ FOOTBALL OVER THE LAST 4 YEARS
.
.
29-06 Florida vs SEC teams the entire last 4 years
23-11 Alabama vs SEC teams the entire last 4 years
21-12 LSU vs SEC teams the entire last 4 years
20-12 GA vs SEC teams the entire last 4 years
http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/conference.pl?start=2006&end=2009&team=Alabama&team=Arkansas&team=Auburn&team=Florida&team=Georgia&team=Kentucky&team=LouisianaState&team=Mississippi&team=MississippiState&team=SouthCarolina&team=Tennessee&team=Vanderbilt
4th best team in The SEC over the Last 4 Years 2006 2007 2008 2009.
These OTHER SEC teams who are “WORSE” than Coach Richt have WON the National Championship EVERY YEAR.
4TH Best team in our Own Conference over the LAST FOUR YEARS.
Buckhead Bulldog
February 19th, 2010
7:18 am
BuLLdawg~ but # 1 or 2 with LSU in last 10 years. Ups/downs but Richt has always kept us together. We WILL go back up, my friend. Make no mistake…you can’t keep a good Dog down, and Coach Mark Richt is a damn good Dog….woof, woof!
atl-xmen
February 19th, 2010
8:27 am
now that is a pretty good stat there “bulldawg the yellow jacket” 20-12 the last 4 years not bad..not bad at all. figuring that most of those losses were this year playing with mostly fresh and sophs and losing 3 players early to the 2009 draft that are playing on sundays right now. look forward to the next 4 with a couple national titles thrown in..=)
Jay
February 19th, 2010
8:43 am
The come back win against Va tech in the peach bowl (still the peach bowl to me) that was great
Hal
February 19th, 2010
9:01 am
how can one argue with any of the 5 but I would have put the LSU housing in there.
Onto Bobo…. the point production has been better since he took over. Yardage has been better. Almost every offensive category is better with the exception of turnovers which will kill you, but isn’t caused by poor coaching or playcalling. Take out the real bad Stafford year and turnovers are about flat. Ask Brett Farves coaches and teamates, when you live with a gunslinger you die with one. Playcalling can be questioned no matter who the coach is. Bottom line is and I’ve heard Coach Richt say this, “I don’t care if the defense knows the play that’s coming exactly. If all 11 guys on offense execute their assignment perfectly, not only will the play gain yards but every play is designed to score.” Playcalling is about execution. Sure you could question the timing of a call here or there but the only time you do is when they fail. When they succeed, the coach is a genius… “man did he catch ‘em off guard”.
We’re a fickle fan base and IMHO we cost ourselves at time by being so. Don’t think recruits don’t see and hear this crap.
DawginLex
February 19th, 2010
9:45 am
My addition to the favorite games list will be when we play a complete game against florida and beat them and win the SEC in the same year. That will provide a piece to Richt’s legacy that currently doesn’t exist.
2003 UT is my all time favorite 41-14
DawginLex
February 19th, 2010
9:47 am
I will also look forward to the day when bulldawg admits his true allegiance to Tech……………………………………..
ga gator
February 19th, 2010
10:02 am
DawginLex, I think he’s Auburn not Tech.
atl-xmen
February 19th, 2010
10:23 am
ga gator might be right.i saw a post from him ripping nesbitt…he post had stats every where and his signature “BS ” after every statement. i thought he was a tech fan too. aub is the tech of the sec, so close enough..ha =)
Old Dawg
February 19th, 2010
10:37 am
I can agree on many of the wins, it has been a great ride in many respects. Like a lot of folks, I wish Richt’s record against Florida was better, and he had his chances. Hopefully that will change.
Certainly, there have been mistakes made during his tenure with play selection and the inability to make a change at defensive coordinator. Overall, the total number of wins, bowl victories and 2-1 record in SEC championship games tilts the resume to more positives than negatives.
And now to the next 9 years. Here’s to more success on both sides of the ball and more victories!
Happy 50th coach!
Terrance Moore's white mistress
February 19th, 2010
10:57 am
The 2008 game against ALABAMA at Sanford Stadium… CLASSIC.
GaDawg
February 19th, 2010
11:07 am
Happy Birthday Head Coach Mark Richt!!!!!
Thank you:
1 for giving us our Vince Dooley era Helmet back.
2.for giving us the black jersey. I don’t care what any one else thinks or says it balances
our color combination perfectly with the red helmet. It makes for a great uniform; we need
to use it more often!
snowdawg
February 19th, 2010
6:27 pm
UT 2001 is the most exciting game I have attended with Auburn 2002 at its equal.
However, there is no doubt the the 2002 SEC Championship & 2005 SEC Championship blow outs are Richt’s two biggest wins, hence the championships.
The LSU game in Death Valley in 2003 (I think) was also a fabulous game even with a lose.
Johnny DangerDawg
February 20th, 2010
11:19 pm
The 2002 Auburn game was a horrible game. The first half of that game was one of the most painful to watch of Richt’s early years. Overall, the Dawgs played poorly in the game, and Auburn just played a little bit worse. Michael Johnson played an epic game and I love the final TD, but I prefer games where both teams bring their A-game.
UGA_2001
February 21st, 2010
2:46 am
Good lord, how can you not include the whitewashing of LSU in 2005 for the SEC title? Five reg season games and only one of them helped clinch a championship of any kind (Aub 02) yet you leave out a game that was not only an upset of a highly ranked foe but one that earned us our 12th SEC title.
Maybe you meant just reg season games, but you probably would have said that if that were the case.
wild one
February 21st, 2010
9:55 am
The 2008 “BLACKOUT”. The Crimson Tide coducted the funeral of the Dawgs national title hopes. They laid them to rest and there they shall stay!!!!!!
joe robby
February 21st, 2010
10:39 am
I now understand why no one likes Alabama fans. And it has nothing to do with their success.