Dogs managed big win despite patchy defensive effort
Maybe Mark Richt should let Sanders Commings have a few plays as a receiver. (Associated Press)
A few more thoughts about Saturday night’s win over Kentucky. …
If you’re in a glass-half-full mood, you can take encouragement from the fact that the Dogs managed to notch a big SEC win on the road against a resurgent Wildcats team without really putting it all together and playing a complete game. If you’re of the glass-half-empty mind-set, you’re bothered by such things as the way the defense still had trouble stopping third-and-long conversions, continuing pass coverage problems in the secondary and the minor slump that Blair Walsh seems to be having. …
Walsh might be suffering a sudden lack of confidence or concentration (missing a PAT??!!) but Drew Butler seems to have returned to last-season form. His punting was awesome in Lexington and, along with the take-aways, helped the Dogs win the field-position battle. …
For the most part, you couldn’t really complain about Mike Bobo’s playcalling against the Cats, since it was pretty obvious Georgia was in a run-first mode and was only going to put the ball up when it had to. But, really, that third-quarter three–and-out when Washaun Ealey was on the sideline was depressing: Two Carlton Thomas runs for not much and an incomplete pass. In general, when Ealey wasn’t the ball carrier, the Dogs’ ground game didn’t do much. Hopefully the return of Caleb King to the mix next week will mean the Dogs’ offense doesn’t have to take a series off just because Ealey is taking a rest. …
Justin Houston has become a major weapon for Todd Grantham’s defense, what with the sacks, forcing a fumble, recovering a fumble and batting down a pass in addition to all the times he hurried Mike Hartline. And in the Dogs’ secondary, Sanders Commings is getting better each week. That interception in the end zone was a catch worthy of A.J. Green.
But it looks like the light still hasn’t come on for poor Vance Cuff. And while we’re on the subject of pass coverage, Grantham still hasn’t solved the problem of what happens when the blitz doesn’t reach the QB in time and receivers are left wide open. At times it looked like Georgia was afraid to play man-to-man, but the zone clearly wasn’t working. …
The most obvious aspects of Ealey’s play against Kentucky were the record-setting five touchdowns and lack of any fumbles. But also impressive was the second-effort that allowed him to muscle in some of those scores. …
Green had, for him, a quiet game with six catches for 86 yards and no touchdowns. But that screen pass where he broke some tackles with really tough running to get it down to the UK 10-yard line was vintage A.J. …
Aaron Murray wasn’t called on to do a whole lot except hand off or pitch the ball for much of the game, but when he did throw, he completed 75 percent and had no turnovers. And Georgia as a team again had no turnovers. If that is the case in Jacksonville, the Gators will be in trouble. …
Lastly, this was the first CSS coverage of a game I’ve seen in a long time and I hope it’ll be a very long time before I see another. Between play-by-play announcer Matt Stewart and “analyst” Chris Doering prattling on about anything other than what was happening on the field, those interminable cutesy sideline features by Allison Williams that often overran plays, and the lousy directing and camera-work that at times missed the action, it was one of the most irritating football broadcasts I can recall. It’ll be good to see the Dogs back on CBS next week, even if Verne Lundquist is several seasons past it. …
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162 comments Add your comment
jsmuga
October 25th, 2010
6:31 am
I do not understand how Carlton Thomas is on this team. He only gains a yard every time if that.
Bulldog Joe
October 25th, 2010
6:33 am
Allison Williams, $ 3 million in the bank, Miss West Virginia, now CSS Sidleine Reporter, is a doll
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Allison+Williams
AltamahaDawg
October 25th, 2010
7:20 am
Bill, I would love to agree with the no turnovers. That would be 23-0 in the Richt era, when they don’t, and 3 games in a row. However they officially ruled the onside KO as a “fumble”. Does not detract from the point however.
AltamahaDawg
October 25th, 2010
7:27 am
She enjoys reading, travel, and walks on the beach. Her turn offs are extreme negativity and people who make up reasons to brag on themselves.
11 Arrests 4 Wins
October 25th, 2010
7:43 am
About time for an arrest or two, isn’t it?
Mtn Dawg
October 25th, 2010
8:30 am
Good assessment, Bill. Let’s not get lulled into thinking we’ve solved all our problems, becasue we haven’t. I do believe we’ll beat the Urbanator, though.
mcdawg
October 25th, 2010
9:00 am
i didn’t get to see the 4th quarter but ithought are defense was dominating –those were forced turnovers-closets thing i have seen since 2002
Nick
October 25th, 2010
9:17 am
No crap about the pitiful commentating and camera work. When you notice the guys in the box talking about themselves more than the players on the field, something’s wrong. Chris Doering’s a tool, and not a professional at all.
And HOW THANKFUL IS BULLDOG NATION THAT THAT WASN’T GEORGIA FANS GETTING MARRIED BEFORE THE GAME??
HOW EMBARRASSING!!
Will
October 25th, 2010
9:46 am
Matt and Chris were openly rooting for UK to come back. It was frustrating to listen to. I felt like I was watching MSNBC.
Coachdawg 2000
October 25th, 2010
9:54 am
Bill-
If you glass half-full guy then you say “At least Bill is actually working” If you are a glass half-empty then you have to say “Bill actually have to come back?”. You are what is wrong with our fanbase I call it Fat Phil syndrome-the other team is terrible and is only successful because of our ineptitude. Please go back to reviewing the Beatles (a band that hasn’t mattered in 40 years!)
dawgfacedboy
October 25th, 2010
9:58 am
Bulldog joe- you have WAY too much time on your hands. Get a life.
We’ve been better than Florida plenty of times over the past 20 years and it’s only translated into 3 wins. Once again we have the better team but I have to be honest, any year we come out of Jacksonville with a win I’m surprised. Untill we win with more consistency down there I will continue to be surprised.
Dr Morpheus
October 25th, 2010
10:03 am
Perfection is something you strive for but never attain. So many things are working for the Dawgs and we have made steady improvement. In particular, Murray’s mature play at QB is amazing. Recalling our last victory over UF, I think the key to victory is to attack with an aggressive attitude from the opening kickoff. Urban will certainly be looking to take advantage of weaknesses in our pass D, but pressure Brantley, no turnovers, Dawgs win.
Ugaman15
October 25th, 2010
10:08 am
Brandon Boykin held RANDALL COBB to 45 yards receiving and no TD’s… He shut him down!!!! COBB scored in every game this season except against UGA because Boykin was all over him. The sad part is nobody even noticed. Cobb didn’t do anything in that game… Boykin is a beast and is sooooooo underrated by you fans… you better appreciate him while you can… might not be here much longer…
gomdawg
October 25th, 2010
10:09 am
Bulldog Joe , you need to get alife, Damn
Dawggonefan2
October 25th, 2010
10:09 am
that was so good Dawggonefan2 I think I will retweet that!
Brandon Boykin held RANDALL COBB to 45 yards receiving and no TD’s… He shut him down!!!! COBB scored in every game this season except against UGA because Boykin was all over him. The sad part is nobody even noticed. Cobb didn’t do anything in that game… Boykin is a beast and is sooooooo underrated by you fans… you better appreciate him while you can… might not be here much longer…
kb
October 25th, 2010
10:32 am
Three of the 4 turnovers were outstanding defensive plays.I agree our 3rd down defense needs improvement. The offense did what it needed to do.
JayD
October 25th, 2010
10:35 am
Not sure why nobody has noticed, but Ogletree has made several cameos on offense – Made some goode crack backs too.
Toole
October 25th, 2010
10:40 am
I’m not a glas half-full or half-empty type guy. I just want a refill.
Red
October 25th, 2010
11:18 am
I’ve never understood how anyone – even an alumnus – could support and take pride in UGA’s football team. When you look at their history for the past forty years, how can anyone ignore Jan Kemp and the “remedial studies” scam, the Jim Harrick fiasco, the DUIs in the athletic office, the DUIs and other arrests of players, the #1 party school tag (i.e., the most drunk students), the suspensions and outright dismissals, the Fulmer Cup, and on and on?
As disgraceful and humiliating as it is, I don’t see many alums and fans demanding an end to this sordid activity. It sets UGA apart as the kind of school most people abhor, and it’s become an embarrassment to the whole state of Georgia.
Will it never end? Apparently not while Mark Richt is at UGA. Richt is perhaps the biggest hypocrite in the United States. But even with all the cheating and lawlessness that he ignores, he still can’t win the SEC.
So you’re paying him to be BCS champions, but he can’t even win his SEC division. So why do you pay him millions of dollars a year?
Just asking.
droopydawg
October 25th, 2010
11:24 am
Agreed, Stewart and Doering could not have been more annoying. They both kept having little cutesy things they had planned out, and then they would completely flub the line 2-3 times without giving up and moving on. Awful, awful coverage.
As for the Dawgs, it is pretty clear that beyond Boykin and Commings, our secondary is terrible. And I mean terrible. Rambo and Cuff are embarrassing. The Williamses cannot cover and cannot stop the run.
Maybe Ogletree should be starting, I don’t know, but we have no shot of beating Auburn (and the GT game will be tough) unless this improves. Hopefully we can shut UF down this week and get bowl eligible against ID ST so that we at least have that in the bag before the last two games.
mark twain
October 25th, 2010
11:27 am
BULLDOG JOE PLEASE NO MORE STUPID INFO FROM YOU. NOW THE CURRENT RANKINGS ARE UGA 33 AND THE techies are 51. DO YOU GET THE PICTURE NOW? NOW I QUESS WHEN ALL THE tech wannabees RUN OUT OF STIPID THINGS TO SAY, THEY WILL GO BACK TO HOW BAD UGA IS. SO GET BACK TO YOUR 6TH GRADE CLASS AND LEARN HOW TO SPEAK CLEARLY. 30-24 THE LAST TIME I LOOKED, ALSO 9 OF 10.
droopydawg
October 25th, 2010
11:28 am
JayD – that is Zander Ogletree, the backup FB
Red – obvious trolling. You are clearly a loser. We are supposed to be upset that we went to the most fun school in country? Go take your BS to Wesleyan.
bill
October 25th, 2010
11:47 am
Just beat the Gators…and keep Cuff on the sidelines next to Grantham!
Devil's Advocate
October 25th, 2010
12:00 pm
Carlton Thomas. Who in heck recruited him? He would be an average running back in triple A high school ball at best. I suspect he is a coach’s son and had some pull or something like that. I bet a cheerleader could put him down first try……. Next, our placekicker. What has he been drinking?……. We got outplayed all over the place, but thanks to turnovers, and our taking advantage of them, we did OK. I wonder what the score would have been if the turnovers were at midfield. I’m hoping CMR keeps his foot on the gas pedal and doesn’t let everyone fall back into the early season funk. If he does, the gators will chomp on our dawgs, no doubt about it. I’m going with the Dawgs this week, by a TD.
KM
October 25th, 2010
12:01 pm
CSS was extremely painful to watch.
DawginTX
October 25th, 2010
12:40 pm
SEC Divisional Tie-Breaker: Let’s consider this. While there is a very reasonable possibility that SC could lose 2 out of 3 down the stretch, the odds of us beating both Florida and Auburn to win the East outright are VERY slim. Sure it COULD happen, but it’s much more likely that we beat Florida and lose to Auburn. If that happens, we need SC has to lose to either Tennessee or Arkansas and then lose to Florida to end up in a 3-way tie. UF beating SC is a must since SC wins a 2-way tie w/ UGA. Then comes the tie-breaking procedure:
1) Head-to-head: UGA, UF, and SC would have all beaten each other.
2) Division Record: UGA and UF would be 4-1, and SC would be 3-2. So they are eliminated.
3) Head-to-head: The rules state that once a team is eliminated, it goes back to the 2-way rules. And since UGA would have beaten UF head-to-head in this scenario, the DAWGS win the East and play for the SEC Championship.
Hey, I’d rather win out, but this scenario seems more likely. Of course, the Dawgs winning out and SC losing to UF and at least 1 more is preferable. But this just seems more likely. Either way, GO DAWGS and whoever is playing SC.
dixiedawg
October 25th, 2010
12:52 pm
I was watching a sports show about midnight last night and the sports person made the statement that Georgia would never beat Florida as long as Meyer was the coach because of the incident that happen in the end zone a few years ago. I think it is time the DAWGS showed them we can beat them.
Coachdawg 2000
October 25th, 2010
1:19 pm
Dixiedawg-
You heard the previous king moron @ the AJC, Terrence Moore. He’s still bitter because Vickie got ran out of town. The new supreme idiot has got to be Billy King (the guy who can find a cloud in a silver lining)
Donna
October 25th, 2010
1:28 pm
It’s so boring on those rare days when no thUGA players are arrested.
SadDawg
October 25th, 2010
1:33 pm
A fine time for Walsh to have confidence problems, with UF and AU looming . . .
SadDawg
October 25th, 2010
1:36 pm
Since you obviously don’t have a man, Donna, you could try a vibrating “toy” . . .
Alabama Dog
October 25th, 2010
1:37 pm
dogfacedboy: I agree with you completely. HOW MANY TIMES has Georgia come into this game with the better team, & LOST? While I want them to win, I’m extremely doubtful they’ll get it done. Being 52 years old, and watching our fortunes change in J’ville, now I know how Gator fans must have felt in the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s when it was US doing this to them!
SadDawg
October 25th, 2010
1:46 pm
Dooley sure had the Gators’ number didn’t he? It’s funny, he would get to Jax and open his offense up, use two or three trick plays, and just kept UF off-balance, no matter who was coaching.
Richt goes to Jax, more times than not, with the better team, but just goes ultra-conservative with his play calling, gets behind and loses. The one time Richt attacked the Gators in ‘07, he whipped them pretty good.
Hopefully, with 4 losses already, he throws everything in his playbook at them Saturday.
uga's girl
October 25th, 2010
1:49 pm
thanks B5 & bob. i think the troll proved my point. i was quite impressed with his “comeback” of calling someone’s wife & mother a “slut”. i would love to have him say that to me with my husband there, now that would make it interesting. i would make some assumptions, but i will keep it clean.
i would say if true dawg fans are going on others’ blogs and posting crap like this guy, then i’m the queen of england. it’s probably people such as himself posing as uga fans. we know who we are & i’m sure there are idiots, but none that i know of personally. i like to stick to our blogs. quite frankly, i could care less about theirs.
thanks again for having my back. also, i would like to compare my degrees & iq with his. could make for some interesting conversation.
War Eagle
October 25th, 2010
1:56 pm
Dawgs, playing like a dawg should play, good luck against Florida..UGA is our biggest concern that can keep us out of the BCS title game…
uga's girl
October 25th, 2010
2:08 pm
CHDawg, you are right on & I was thinking the same thing. St. Simons has been MIA, so it’s probably him.
I never posted anything until the other day, but I read OUR blogs daily. I enjoy the comments (most of the time) and try to refrain from dealing with the trolls, but I snapped.
Regarding the CSS coverage, this was our 2nd game in our area to be subjected to watching it. They did the same thing before. They kept talking about other teams, getting our players confused with the other team & frankly, almost confused us a few times. I found Richt’s comment entertaining. The halftime questions are always the same, silly ones & he just kind of said it like it was. I watch a lot of games & it’s always the same thing, “how are you going to win this?” During the Arkansas/AU game, Bobby Petrino looked at the girl & said, “score more points.” But the look on his face was priceless. Maybe if the sideline girls, which Tracy Wolfson is the best in my opinion, would ask legitimate questions, they might get better answers.
All I can say is GO DAWGS! Beat the jorts!
SadDawg
October 25th, 2010
2:20 pm
I Can’t pull for you in three weeks, War Eagle, but I will every other game. I just hope y’all can shut the Alabama fans mouths again.
sammiamm
October 25th, 2010
2:52 pm
This from Kentucky blog “See of Blue’:
Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldogs for doing what we did to them last year — won on the road. Georgia played solid SEC football, and had one spectacular play that added up to a convincing victory. Georgia took almost perfect advantage of every Kentucky mistake, of which there were very many. Some may say that Kentucky beat themselves. Not me. Georgia did what they were supposed to do — when presented with opportunities, they put the ball in the end zone.
Bulldog Matt
October 25th, 2010
3:10 pm
I’ll take Verne over CSS any day!
jackyldo
October 25th, 2010
4:13 pm
Got to look at Hartline throwing for 350+ and KY having something like 15 more plays than we did.
Does Matt Stewart have a man crush on Doering ? Who cares what you did at Gatorland man,,, your an ex jock who is a color man… You do this game,,, not yack about your history.
rincon dawg
October 25th, 2010
4:18 pm
Lets face it with Verne on the call you get things like ” HOW DO U DO” AND ” OH MY”. Verne is awesome but you can trade Tracy Wolfson for Allison any day good god she gets the blood boiling.
uga's girl
October 25th, 2010
4:49 pm
ok rincon, so allison is prettier than tracy, but does not (and you have to admit it) have the knowledge of football. tracy could actually get in the booth and call games. i would much rather hear her than herbstreit & musberger (ugh). so you can have allison & i will keep tracy. deal? of course, you will have to watch a lot of css! eeeeek!
Devil's Advocate
October 25th, 2010
5:20 pm
1. CSS announcers are far worse than the high school football announcers in my home town.
2. I wonder who we can trade Carlton Thomas to………..
3. What will CMR do this weekend, dress the dawgs out in white?
4. Little news coming out of Gator Land, I wonder what they are up to…..
Ed
October 25th, 2010
5:37 pm
I’ve made a lot of excuses in the past about Georgia’s performance against Florida – UF’s all-too-frequent off weeks before the game, DJ Shockley’s ankle sprain that kept him out of the ‘05 game, bad luck (’02 and ‘03), etc. But the bottom line is, you either win the game or you don’t. And after Florida blew us out of the stadium last season after we had two weeks to prepare, the excuse that the other team is rested is out the door. Besides, how much rest do teenagers and 20-somethings need, anyway?
No excuses this year. Florida is not that good and ripe to be beaten. If not this year, then when? FINISH THE DRILL, BEAT FLORIDA.
Ed
October 25th, 2010
5:45 pm
Good points SadDawg, Richt should just let it go against UF. Win or lose, play aggressively. Georgia has been way too tentative in this game in recent years.
As for announcers, the best team in my opinion was Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried doing the Saturday night SEC games on ESPN. Not sure why that duo was broken up, but they seemed to add to the atmosphere rather than distract from it.
Ed
October 25th, 2010
5:46 pm
And I turn the sound down when Brent Musberger does a game. Hearing him talk incessantly throughout a game ruins it for me.
Rabun Dawg
October 25th, 2010
6:14 pm
Ed, I agree with you about Franklin and Gottfreid, they were very good. And Musberger, ugh, awful. Hey. Old Verne is a keeper, and his sidekick is good as well. The Penn State guy was good on the SEC games as well, and he does love to chow down at the local joints. Did have to listen to the game on radio since Direct doesn’t have CSS, and Zeir seems to run his mouth too much to suit me. Man, do we miss Munson!!
AltamahaDawg
October 25th, 2010
6:16 pm
SadDawg, I have pretty much agree with everything you have posted lately. However, the comment that Richt “more times than not” goes to J’ville with a better team and still loses is not one of them.
Richt is 2/3 in the years that he has clearly had the better team.
He is 0-4 in the years that UF has clearly the better team. Any one of those would have been considered an upset.
The thing that hurts him as far as perception, is the 2 years that it was a toss up, and he couldn’t split them. If he had, then his record would be almost exactly as anyone would predict. This is going to be his 3rd chance to get one of those.
Not saying it is ok to NOT have the better team. I have said many times, that is the determining factor and always has been in that series. Might be one of the more straightforward rivalries around. Very few upsets. The idea of portraying his record down there, (however dismal it might be) as somehow inexplicable, just isn’t looking at the reality of that day(s).
He just needs to build a better team than UF and the outcome would be just as predictable.
Jethro Dawg Tull
October 25th, 2010
6:47 pm
Dawgs need to run the rock and no mistakes to beat the Gators. Houston getting after the QB and the Gators having trouble should result in a few turnovers. Very few teams have the Gators faced this season that have a player like Houston coming after them every snap. Could be the difference in the game.
Hopefully the Dawgs will continue to keep up the pressure on covering Kicks. Can’t remember how many seasons it’s been since we’ve got after it like the group covering kicks now.
Hopefully Dawgs will come home with a win,
Put some pressure on Auburn. We don’t have as much to lose as they do and this years match-up should be a good on also.
Go Dawgs
Mike
October 25th, 2010
8:26 pm
150th