Mike Bobo and Mark Richt aren’t why Georgia lost to Auburn
Auburn might have had more sacks had it not been for Aaron Murray's scrambling ability. (Associated Press)
Some more thoughts on Georgia’s loss to Auburn. …
As I mentioned briefly Saturday night, you can quibble with some of Mike Bobo’s calls in the game against the Tigers, particularly when he tried things (I’m thinking Branden Smith in the wildcat or screen passes to the short side of the field on third-and-long) that seemed to have much less of a chance of working than simply throwing it in A.J. Green’s direction.
And while Auburn hitman Nick Fairley (I feel the need for Purell hand sanitizer after just typing his name) is more than a handful to block, the Dogs’ pass protection faltered a bit too often Saturday. The Dogs only gave up four sacks, but that amount might have been close to doubled had it not been for Aaron Murray’s elusiveness and scrambling ability. And besides taking a lot of late hits, Murray was hurried on some key plays, like the too-high pass to Kris Durham in the end zone late in the third quarter when one of the backs missed his block.
And, yes, you can question Mark Richt running out the final 50-odd seconds of the first half rather than trying to get some more points. Perhaps he also should have been a bit more forceful in warning his kickoff return team about the possibility of an on-side kick to open the second half. And, frankly, I think he blinked in the eye-to-eye confrontation with Auburn when he called for a field goal at the end of the third quarter. When you’re in a shootout with an offense that eats up clock, you have to make the most of every possession you get.
But overall Bobo and the Georgia offense were what kept the Dogs in the game, and with the exception of the on-side kick I don’t think Richt and company got outcoached by Gene Chizik.
The reason Georgia lost against Auburn was pretty much the same reason the Dogs have lost five other games: The defense just isn’t up to current SEC or past UGA standards.
And this isn’t a complaint about Todd Grantham’s schemes. It didn’t matter what signals he called Saturday against the Tigers defense, the players on the field simply weren’t capable of stopping Cam Newton and company. The lack of a nose guard able to take control of the line of scrimmage has pretty much submarined Grantham’s attempt to install his 3-4 defense this year and unless Georgia manages to scrounge up a big JUCO player, I wonder how much better it’ll be next year.
Of course, nobody has really stopped Newton, so I’ll give them that. But as a frustrated Justin Houston lamented after the game, the Tigers did a lot of damage with players other than Newton running the reverse, including gashing the Dogs for 31 yards one time and 48 yards another time. Houston blamed “blown assignments” and defenders not being “where they were supposed to be,” adding, “Some guys weren’t as focused as they need to be and it hurt us. It’s been hurting us all season.”
Indeed it has, especially in the secondary, where Georgia’s safety play has been consistently poor. Bacarri Rambo may have snagged a key interception on a tipped ball Saturday, but otherwise his play was tentative much of the evening. And while I suppose it was to be expected that Georgia would be keying on the run since that’s Auburn’s bread and butter (that’s all they did in the third quarter), the Dogs defenders seemed to completely forget that Newton also can throw the ball. He ended up completing 12 of 15 passes (80 percent) for 148 yards and two touchdowns, and that was with a couple of drops in the first half by wide-open receivers.
Come to think of it, on just about all Auburn’s completions the receiver was open. You expect that sort of thing early in the season after a new defense has been installed. But when it’s still happening in the 11th game, you have to conclude the folks out on the field mostly just aren’t capable of getting it done.
Finally, a couple of observations on the way our so-called “country cousins” at Auburn handled this major rivalry game. Afterward, Chizik might have declared himself “disappointed” and “not happy” about two of his players getting ejected when tempers started to flare late, but as I noted in my previous blog he seemed to be doing anything but trying to keep his players’ emotions in check on the sideline.
And then there was the reaction of the Auburn fans when Georgia linebacker Reuben Faloughi went down with a leg injury in the fourth quarter, resulting in the Tigers’ hurry-up game getting slowed down momentarily.
They booed the hurt player.
Really classy. War damn eagle, indeed.
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636 comments Add your comment
From Where I Sit
November 16th, 2010
4:39 pm
Bottom line is GA like FL is not that Freakin Good this year, and both teams need to clean house with getting rid of the Thugs that they have recruited. Auburn is not running a taunt ship as well as it seems that Newton is all about himself and his tryouts week after week for the NFL. Again, there seems to be very little team players in college football as most are about using college as the steppin stone to the NFL. I wish the day would return to the student/player getting his education and giving back to the university by giving 100% for four years and letting the cards land where they may.
Enough Said!!!!
doublestandard
November 16th, 2010
4:49 pm
Excuses, excuses! If Fairly had been a Dawg, it would have been “Good D” arf, arf! – GO BID D!. When the bullies get bullied, it is another story. Perhaps Faily got tried of getting chop blocked all day. That doesn’t excuse the hit on the baby quarterback (which was wrong), but enough is enough, You can’t do the same thing and call it good defensive play and then try and make someone else the bad guy when they return the favor What goes around, comes around. An you wonder why the rest of the league is disgusted with Georgia, especially their fans.
Bill Smith
November 16th, 2010
5:03 pm
On the booing of Faloughi–if you had been in the stadium watching the Georgia sideline, you would understand the target of the boos. It was not to the injured player (note applause with all other injured players on both sides of the ball). It was the Georgia coaching staff. Faloughi was going to the sideline when Richt, in a move a la Ray Goff, told him to hit the ground. Knowing that CBS cannot resist an opportunity to go to commercial, the staff got the timeout without having to take one.
Einsteindawg
November 16th, 2010
5:21 pm
Bill King, shame on you for letting Cynthia Tucker write your blog. Of course Bobo, Grantham, and Richt lost this game. Who do you think is in charge of recruiting these players? Coaching them down? Where does the buck actually stop? You’re just in denial…we need to clean house!
RobB
November 16th, 2010
5:31 pm
The fact that UGA has gone 10-2 (07), 9-3 (08), 7-5 (09) and will end up at best 6-6 in 2010, suggests that we have gotten worse each year for the past 4 straight years. Unless things dramatically change, UGA will become a “middle of the pack” team getting beat regularly by Auburn, Florida, Alabama, LSU and now South Carolina on a regular basis. UGA is now in the pack with Kentucky, Ole Miss, Miss State and Tenn.
Joel Smith
November 16th, 2010
5:31 pm
The SEC has passed us by. Seven teams have better schemes (coaching) than us. Four of those teams execute their schemes with similar talent to us (LSU, Auburn, Alabama, and Florida). Three of those teams execute their schemes with less talent than we have (Arkansas, Mississippi State, and South Carolina). We either need to find coaching talent to match those seven or do like Tech did years ago – move to the ACC. Otherwise, our goal each year will have to be the best of the bottom five in the SEC. If Kirby Smart stops the Auburn offense next week, we should immediately hire him as head coach. Otherwise, go after a big name and pay $4,000,000 instead of the current $2,000,000 head coach salary. This is only a two and one half percent increase to an $80,000,000 athletic budget.
Gotta Luv It
November 16th, 2010
5:32 pm
Love how ya’ll are saying Chizik made things worse by not keeping his players in check when Georgia coaches actually have the monopoly on that sort of thing. Richt not only doesn’t prevent unsportsmanlike conduct by the ‘Dawgs, he actually encourages and promotes it.
I DO admit though that I hate to see Auburn lowering themselves to the Bulldawg modus operandi of “dirty play.” I sure hope that gets nipped in the bud! The last thing in the world Auburn needs to do is sink to the Bulldawgs level! In all actuality though, I saw maybe one play by Nick Fairly that could be interpreted as a late hit, and that’s the one he got flagged for. You can call the others *dirty* all you want, but doesn’t make it so. You might be whiners, but it doesn’t much matter if you’re not the ones wearing the striped shirts on the field.
Lastly, it’s good to see that some things never change. Makes me feel secure that all is right with the world because Georgia fans are doing their usual whining, complaining and offering of excuses. Whew! Gotta love consistency! Makes me feel all warm ‘n fuzzy inside.
[P.S. The writer of this blog must go through a LOT of Purell -- writing about the Georgia Bulldawg Thugs on a weekly basis is *dirty* work indeed!]
Einsteindawg
November 16th, 2010
5:35 pm
Of course we need to clean house! What positives have you seen in the past three seasons that remotely suggest that we’re improving? Do you think Miss State, Colorado, Arkansas, and South Carolina have better athletes than us? Do they have better facilities? Do they have fewer arrests? Maybe they have better coaching.
Augusta Jacket
November 16th, 2010
5:44 pm
Last year in the Tech game u.g.a. was trying to hurt Nesbitt knee and he had to come out of the game for almost a quarter and that is why they won the game now don’t tell me u.gay don’t play dirty.Look out Murray.
FLA DAWG
November 16th, 2010
6:05 pm
Not The Coaches Fault!?
Uh Bill, who the he!! coaches the D to be prepared?
Who recruits from the best of high school talent?
Who is on the sidelines on GameDay?
Rethink your article sir.
FLA DAWG,
Class of ‘79
FLA DAWG
November 16th, 2010
6:05 pm
On the other hand,
Who The He!! Cares This Season!
HAHAHHAAH!!!!!!
November 16th, 2010
6:08 pm
SEC office will not suspend Nick Fairley for Iron Bowl
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/11/sec_office_will_not_suspend_ni.html
HAHAHHAAH!!!!!!
November 16th, 2010
6:09 pm
“Who The He!! Cares This Season!”
Auburn, Arkansas, USC, Miss State, LSU and Bama all care this year.
Sucks to be UGA and Florida.
truedawg
November 16th, 2010
6:17 pm
Mike Bobo play calling is to blame.I think we had sucess running the ball.Not saying Murray not going to be the real deal but we should have ran the ball 20 times more.We did not take advantage of the clock after warbuzzards scored to make it 21-14 insted of pounding on first down we through it an dwe went 3 n out.As far as Auburn I put my money on a loss at Alabama.Go dawgs
truedawg
November 16th, 2010
6:22 pm
But remember dogs next time we see AU we got to get payback in athens.Go dawgs
HAHAHHAAH!!!!!!
November 16th, 2010
6:24 pm
“But remember dogs next time we see AU we got to get payback in athens.”
Right, and next year UGA will win the BCS championship. LOL
HAHAHHAAH!!!!!!
November 16th, 2010
6:25 pm
“As far as Auburn I put my money on a loss at Alabama.Go dawgs”
Why would you waste a welfare check on the Iron Bowl?
HAHAHHAAH!!!!!!
November 16th, 2010
6:38 pm
Cam Newton Scandal: How the NCAA’s Own Letter of the Law Clears the Auburn Tigers QB
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/516586-ncaa-regulations-reading-down-to-the-letters-for-the-newton-situation-clear
FLA DAWG
November 16th, 2010
7:29 pm
Hey HAHA,
Only a GT Fan like you could revel (that means to be very excited / party) in the scandal victory of one team over another.
Frankly, I hope your pathetic team beats us so we can unload our coach. You will keep the same losing coach for two decades however.
Tdawg
November 16th, 2010
8:13 pm
Frankly I’m under the opinion that The dawgs needs a few of them Fairly’s on our team. Beats the he!! out of those bunch of (don’t think I can say that on the net) so I’m just call them what they are, wussies.
THE (G) ON THE MUTTS HELMET STANDS 4 GATOR
November 16th, 2010
8:19 pm
BILL KING YOU CAN GO COLORADO WITH MARK RICHT AND MIKE BOZO!
You think Auburn is dirty?
November 16th, 2010
8:45 pm
Pretty funny – and accurate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7mGTZ_k838
Dirty Dawgs
November 16th, 2010
8:51 pm
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.
HAHAHHAAH!!!!!!
November 16th, 2010
8:53 pm
“Only a GT Fan like you could revel ”
Prove that I am Tech fan, Dawg Tard.
HAHAHHAAH!!!!!!
November 16th, 2010
8:54 pm
“Frankly, I hope your pathetic team beats us so we can unload our coach.’
We did beat you, tard. Cam ran and broke records against UGA as did Dyer.
In case you missed it.
49-31
Campy
November 16th, 2010
9:05 pm
I’ve become a huge Richt fan over the years but I can’t say the same for the UGA fans after reading all of these whiny blogs about how they can’t wait to see Revenge on Auburn. Everyone else plays dirty, but UGA plays with halos around they shiny helmets. Get real, Look in the mirror people. You lost a 21 point lead because you weren’t as good. PERIOD. I didn’t see all this whining from Auburn the previous 4 years when UGA won. Move on…….
srcdawg1
November 16th, 2010
10:34 pm
double standard, before you get on these type blogs, please learn to spell! his name is fatA$$ fairley.
NoDawgsAllowed
November 16th, 2010
10:36 pm
Any thUGA fan to cry about anyone playing dirty either has a short selective memory or is in denial. There are few programs that consistently show less discipline or less class on the field.
srcdawg1
November 16th, 2010
10:54 pm
defend fairley all you want. those were cheap shots border line assault. a full 1.5 seconds after the ball was released. a 300lb fatA$$ hitting a 195lb person in the back. what goes around comes around. remember your in our house next year… ROLL TIDE take care of business..
waytogoRicht
November 17th, 2010
6:52 am
I don’t know where you’re coming from Bill.
“And this isn’t a complaint about Todd Grantham’s schenes.” and
“Mike Bobo and Mark Richt aren’t why Georgia lost to Auburn.”
It’s someone’s fault who is paid 2.8 mil a year and who is incompetent, clueless, and who’s sudden greatest fan club is all other SEC schools who know playing that sucker-chump Richt is a likely W for their program.
Richt doesn’t deserve any more second chances. Georgia has already gone further than Auburn with Turbeville, and Tennessee with Fulmer. Ax the loser now, demand a responsible. talent savvy search committee and put Richt in the rear view mirrow.
Or, let’s go 5-6 again next year and let this McGarity puzzle deal with it another year later.
ol time dog
November 17th, 2010
7:46 am
I love the dogs but hate the whinning. We got beat. We got beat a lot this season. Some of it was bad play some of it was just better teams. Live with it we had a bad year we may have more. I get so tired of blaming officals other coaches better players recruits that sign with other schools. We have enough firepower to win most years. We had it this year. We just didn’t put it together. Quit whiing and face the fact that you can not win the SEC every year.
Tom
November 17th, 2010
8:08 am
Enough of this crap. Accept the UGA-AU rivalry for what it is and, since college football is all about money anyway, why not make the most of it? Here’s a suggestion: using the UGA-UF game as a hugely successful marketing model, why not turn this one into the “Hillbilly Barn Dance”, complete with its own logo? My first thought is the banjo kid from “Deliverance”, but certainly there are other images just as appropriate. The AJC could run a contest and Ned Beatty can announce the winner. I know I’d watch it.
nostrodamus
November 17th, 2010
8:20 am
I predict that BOBO will call a horrible game….AGAIN…against the techsters. But Dawgs still win. Tech without their heisman candidate Mrs. Nesbitt suck worse than we do…..
Gangster of love
November 17th, 2010
9:24 am
Nobody seems to point out the elephant in the room – Rambo isn’t half the player he was before his injury.
Gangster of love
November 17th, 2010
10:45 am
Maybe this will help:
http://www.5min.com/Video/NFLs-Lawrence-Timmons-Teaches-Football—-The-Wheel-Route-196543646
Margie
November 17th, 2010
10:56 am
Oh yes it would have been much classier if the Auburn coach would have made the choke sign to other team’s player. It’s football…….deal with it…… or don’t watch it, play it, or support it.