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
Hogwash
November 14th, 2010
6:39 pm
The Defense is the problem and until we sign a big nose tackle, it will be the problem again next year. I don’t see them trying to recruit a big guy and the rest have already committed. I keep saying sometimes you have to venture out of your normal recruiting zone to get the talent you really need and UGA will not do it. The Secondary is a joke and I hope we do have some aggressive hard hitting CBs and S coming in next season. Lakatos and Grantham have got to fix this problem before the GT game. Rick James you are an idiot. I should put you on the field and drive you into the ground and see if you see it the same way. Most people who haven’t even touched the field shouldn’t even comment if they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. They should’ve broken both of his legs and he would have been kicked out of a NFL game. Since this is ok with everyone, UGA should start to play like this and i assure you they would regain dominance. UGA has to change their coaching philosphy if they want to regain their top SEC form. This pitty pat coaching will never win us anything.
Drew
November 14th, 2010
6:39 pm
Hey damnbaddawg, no arguement? Apparently you know what I wrote was right. There’s no arguing any of what I said.
John Galt
November 14th, 2010
6:40 pm
And Nick “Wille B” Fairley started his “crimes against humanity” in the ist Quarter.
Auburn had the better football team- perhaps the best in the NCAA this year- but if I were defending the likes of $200K Newton and Willie B. Fairley, I would feel sad.
John Galt
November 14th, 2010
6:42 pm
Gordon-
Sorry, you are wrong. Ask all of the FSU opponents and USC opponents who recently picked up wins. 1-0, just like a forfeit.
george
November 14th, 2010
6:42 pm
Bill you really are clueless and show why the rest of the college football knows that the uga program is the most classless in the entire country. Do i need to remind you of what has happened in Athens over the last year.
1. twice as many arrests as wins
2. Grantham choking.( the fact he was not punished is beyond comical)
3. AD arrested for DUI with a hooker in the passenger seat.
4. Stomping up and down on AU logo before game sat like the clarke county jail thugs they are.
5. The ENTIRE UGA team including coaches storms the field to get involved in a fight while AU is “classless for getting fired up on the sideline after beating the thugs from Athens.
6.. On 3 different occasions UGA fans tried to set toomers corner on fire Saturday night.
This is just in the last year and there are MANY MANY more examples of this.
You sir need to get a clue and look in the mirror at your own program before you even begin to think about calling another program “classless” There is not another program in the country that lacks class from top to bottom more than the University of Georgia.
Mike
November 14th, 2010
6:43 pm
John,
You’re defending a chop block. You need help.
Why did you call Nick Fairley “Willie B?”
Stay classy you worthless racist.
rincon dawg
November 14th, 2010
6:44 pm
The only reason Fairley was chop blocked because he got two late hits on Murray and they werent called. Cause and effect RICK JAMES
Jim 007
November 14th, 2010
6:45 pm
Sad state of affairs
Georgia can not win, but only complain & blame everyone but themselves.
Face the Facts….Richt has turned Georgia into THUGA and seems to condone it.
If you want to win you simply need a new coach & staff that will clean up all the S _ _ _ !
The defense of Richt will only continue the Dawg misery.
Start recruiting players who have class and are responsible citizens
Keep up the THUGA mentality and the arrests will only continue to rise.
This guy for some reason has turned into
AU=THUGS
November 14th, 2010
6:46 pm
‘NUFF SAID.
Gordon
November 14th, 2010
6:47 pm
John Galt,
No sir. You are incorrect. A vacated win means the team that “won” the game does not get the win but the other team still gets the loss. You may be thinking of a forfeit.
break fairly
November 14th, 2010
6:47 pm
Enter your comments here
Zebra
November 14th, 2010
6:48 pm
Enter your comments here
rincon dawg
November 14th, 2010
6:48 pm
HEY GEORGE
Your program has been on probation 5 times already for cheating. Dont worry though cause Im sure you paid cash money for Cam so you learned from your previous mistakes. How does a broke preacher pay to fix up his church any way?
Jim 007
November 14th, 2010
6:48 pm
Sorry,
This guy ( CMR) some reason has turned into a person who condones criminals, and thinks it’s Ok ???
Lee
November 14th, 2010
6:48 pm
Some of you Georgia peoples comments are laughable at best, including Bill Kings comments. As the announcers on tv stated, Fairly was blocked into the qb’s legs, as was obvious if you actually watched the play happen and or watched the replay on tv. Fairley plays the game like EVERYONE SHOULD be playing it, hard, fast and until the whistle blows. Because your team CAN’T play that way, don’t be putting down Fairley. BLOCK HIM, if you don’t want him hitting your qb GEORGIA!!!! ALL THE HITS but one, which was flagged, were PERFECTLY fair and were not penalized, which MEANS GEORGIA FANS, IT’S LEGAL, and no pansy whining will make it not legal. For ANY Georgia moron to call ANY other school classless, after the arrest and on the field actions of the Georgia program under Mark Richt, is truly laughable.
virginia dog
November 14th, 2010
6:49 pm
Back too the point… the reason a lot of colleges don’t run the 3-4 is because 400 lb 18 years olds that can bench press a bus are hard to find. notice how Bama is doing without mount Cody. With out that rock/man mountain in the middle a solid SEC team simply runs the ball down your throat.
G7
November 14th, 2010
6:49 pm
UGA has a rep as the biggest cheap-shot artists in the league. They held and chop-blocked Fairley the whole game, and you call out HIM?? And BTW, when a player FAKES an injury (and your coach is telling him to stay down to slow down the offense) yeah, he’s going to get booed. Grow a brain and some objectivity.
Mike
November 14th, 2010
6:50 pm
Forgot to mention about the classy part…stay classy UGA fan that set the toilet paper on Toomer’s corner on fire, endangering the lives of hundreds of people over a football game.
mikeaddington
November 14th, 2010
6:50 pm
speaking of big nose tackles, does anyone know how the big guy from Bama is doing in the NFL or was he just a college guy?
rincon dawg
November 14th, 2010
6:50 pm
Lee your wrong he already blew by the guard and the guard was trying to hold him. He clearly went for the knees.
John Galt
November 14th, 2010
6:51 pm
Mike-
Did you watch the tape? It was an appropriately penalized chop block but it was not a flagrant one. Not even a biased Tiger/Eagle/Plainsman fan could honestly compare that to Fairley’s attacks on Murray. In the NFL he’d be about $100,000 lighter in the wallet and would be suspended at least 1 to 2 games.
And Willie B has nothing to do with Fairley’s race. If you were raised in Atlanta and ever saw Willie B when he was in the glass cage, preening and strutting and pounding his chest, and thought about Fairley’s fat face that barely fits inside his helmet. you couldn’t miss the similarity.
He ACTS like Willie B much more than he even LOOKS like Willie B.
rincon dawg
November 14th, 2010
6:53 pm
PROBATION 5 TIMES FOR NCAA VIOLATIONS.
But UGA is dirty please. There is a reason yall got hosed in 04
george
November 14th, 2010
6:54 pm
rincon dawg are you really that stupid???? I hope your post was a joke. You might want to get your facts straight before you post MORON.
John Galt
November 14th, 2010
6:54 pm
Why won’t any of you Tiger/Eagle/Plainsmen fans defend the rooting with the facemask by Fairley in the 1st Quarter?
What a pig-
rincon dawg
November 14th, 2010
6:55 pm
LOOK IT UP GEORGE
brian of cleveland
November 14th, 2010
6:55 pm
It’s funny that someone mentioned a chop block by Auburn a few years ago, considering that a Georgia lineman committed a chop block on Fairley in the first quarter. Was that considered a dirty play? Fairley had one wrong play and a penalty was called. The rest of the night that “line” of Georgia was unable to block him. Blame Georgia’s sad excuse of an offensive line. As for the shot at the end of the game by Fairley, he was blocked into Murray.
Someone said that Auburn had a history of playing dirty. Yep, Hines Ward’s cheap shot on Jimmy Bumbraugh was as dirty as it gets.
Auburn-Georgia isn’t a friendly rivalry. I have found the UGA fans to be arrogant and obnoxious. You deserve a clown like Richt. Maybe when he gets fired, the assistant coaches will either do the throat slashing sign or maybe throw some red panties in his lap, or perhaps AJ will sell a t-shirt about it.
Jason
November 14th, 2010
6:56 pm
Bill-
Let’s be fair. This is year 1 with the 3-4. Grantham has Georgia’s scoring improved, total defense yards improved, in year 1, without the right body types to run it. It’s going to take some time. Maybe even until 2012 to get it down, the 3-4 is as complex as it gets.
But, you have, in Todd Grantham, the guy who Nick Saban tried to hire 2 times, the guy who taught Kirby Smart how to coach defense at Alabama in the off-seasons. Grantham can coach.
If you compare where Saban finished with his defense in 2007, in his first year putting in the 3-4, to where Grantham’s D will finish nastionally in his first year at Georgia, Grantham beats Saban in almost every stat.
Very few of the losses can you pin to Grantham, most were due to Aaron Murray getting sacked, overthrowing, getting off to slow starts, having a poor 4th quarter, or throwing interceptions. He’s a freshman, no surprise there either.
A few of the losses were due to AJ Green’s suspension, and Ealey and King’s fumbles.
But Grantham has improved the Georgia defense dramatically, and will likely beat Saban’s 1st year at Alabama in most categories.
Grantham was in charge of Outside LB’s and Houston has led the SEC in BOTH sacks and tackles for loss.
I’ve been very impressed with Grantham, and Belin, BElin has Georgia’s LB’s leading the SEC in tackling.
Lakotas will be a big improvement eventually when he gets his type of guys on there–Georgia is giving up a lot less big pass plays over the last 5 games, and Garner has sent so many guys to the NFL, there’s no doubt about his coaching, but Garner lost 3 DL to the NFL.
Bottom line, Grantham in 2010 beat Saban in 2007, that says a lot, as Saban is considered, or WAS considered, to be the #1 defensive guru in the country.
Not anymore.
John Galt
November 14th, 2010
6:57 pm
Hey George-
Tell us about the 2 undefeated Auburn teams that didn’t win NCs- why was that?
Can you REALLY tell me that you can’t imaging Lowder paying Reverend Newton? If I were a Tiger aka Eagle aka Plainsmen fan, I think I would just lay low and keep my fingers crossed.
Palmetto State Dawg
November 14th, 2010
6:57 pm
Agree. The defense still cannot consistently stop anyone when it matters most. Our secondary is still atrocious, and I’m sick of it. I’m not sold on this 3-4 defense. We need more beef up-front. 290 lb Deangelo Tyson (god help him) is not cutting it. Then you have Dobbs (280 lb) and Abry Jones (290 lb). We need some 300 pounders. we could not even slow down Newton at all in the second half. It was sickening to watch.
drew
November 14th, 2010
6:58 pm
yeh they will be booing when the cam newton scandle gets solved and auburn has to vacate wins, and not play for a national championship. i kinda felt bad for the auburn situation pregame, i feel totally different not. i hope that whole town burns and i whole heartedly believe that they are cheaters. I have always believed that auburn fans have a since of entitlement about themselve but then i thought we did too. but now i think they are just jealous of uga as a whole. they cant get into uga so they go to auburn. thats always been what ive heard about auburn. so all in all i wish nothing but the worst for auburn and their fans. I hope the whole world comes crashing down around them.
Mike
November 14th, 2010
6:58 pm
Racist Galt,
Sure I watched the game. UGA’s player engaged Fairley and the other one took a shot at his knee. That’s what a chop block is. Trying to rationalize any of them is beyond insane. If I use that logic, what was the big deal with the late hit Fairley put on Murray’s back? Murray got up. Wasn’t that big a deal because nothing horrible happened.
Sure I grew up Atlanta and remember Willie B well. He sat around in the grass and soaked up the sun. Don’t even try to explain your way out of calling an African American player a gorilla.
Pete
November 14th, 2010
6:59 pm
You were obviously watching the game from the comfort of your living room, otherwise you would have clearly seen Faloughi hobbling to the sideline and then pause when he saw his coaching staff motioning him to stay on the field. It’s one thing for a player who cramps up and needs a minute to get his muscles back. It’s completely different when the coaches won’t allow him do that on the sideline.
Fairyley
November 14th, 2010
7:00 pm
Hitting the QB after he throws the ball is normal within reason. Driving him into the ground while he is undeffended is a cheap shot. But all you arm chair want to be players wouldn’t know that. He was driving so hard he even hurt himself doing it. I want to add the class act of booing an injuried player also. If you don’t like the blog find an Alabama State based blog to read if they know how to write one.
george
November 14th, 2010
7:01 pm
HA HA HA HA HA obviously you cant read bc you would know 5 times is not correct and that the money for the church was received in sep 2009 before cam was even recruited/signed. The money came from Cam’s brother who plays in the NFL. Might want to get all the facts straight before you make yourself look like such a sore loser and a retard.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
November 14th, 2010
7:01 pm
The Dawgs failed to slow down Dyer and McCalebb. Newton was going to get his yards, but I mentioned earlier the key’s would be slowing down the rest of his merry men. The Dawgs defense could not maintain its spacing and play disciplined football on defense. Plenty of chances on 3rd down and the defense could not get itself off the field.
Offensively the game was called above average. Sure some questionable moments, the Smith insert and in the 4th quarter the are in a I formation w/ a TE and 2 WR down by at least 10. That was the play Ealy was tripped and we threw into the flats to Chappas.
Overall the team performed admirably. We got another gutsy effort out of the team and at this point in the season 5-5 and have that effort it shows a lot of heart. The stinging moment of the night was in the fact at how easily Florida was dominated by South Carolina.
Fred in Lower AL
November 14th, 2010
7:02 pm
Hey Dipstick, regarding the player you say was booed when he was hurt: the player was jogging (with a limp but jogging nonetheless) toward the UGA sideline, and you could see the UGA coaches jumping off the sideline and waving at him to get down. It was OBVIOUS that the coaches wanted him to hit the deck so they could get the injury timeout. Thus the boos from the student section – they were directed at the coaches, not the player. Here’s another point: when UGA had another guy hurt, lying face-down for a few minutes in the 3rd quarter, a group of Auburn players got in a circle and said a prayer for him. No one on Saint Mark’s sideline bothered.
1785 Dawg
November 14th, 2010
7:02 pm
Comments by CBS…
Did anyone else notice that the CBS announcers said Auburn fans were “S A V V Y” when they booed Reuben Faloughi for his a leg injury in the fourth quarter?
Savvy CBS?
CBS: To be “s a v v y” is to be informed, intelligent, and to understand. Booing an injured player is not “s a v v y”.
Note to CBS: Please take Vern Lunquist off the air.
Dirty Dawg
November 14th, 2010
7:03 pm
I still say the replay analysis was botched on both the on-side and the last TD for Auburn…and I still say that Auburn’s, in Barnhardt’s terms, ‘going all in’ and ‘rolling the dice’ with the Newton eligibility issue will cost them, big time. They, AU, could only have made their decision with full knowledge of what the truth is…they asked themselves ‘how would we act if we thought we, and the Newtons, had done nothing wrong’, and that’s the way they decided to go. Trouble is the truth is gonna come out on this – maybe not in the next few weeks, maybe not in the next couple of months, but it will come out and when it does Auburn’s decision will be looked on by the NCAA with an eye toward making sure no other school ever lies to them again.
Fairyley
November 14th, 2010
7:03 pm
You deffend Fairley cheapshots but get upset at the chop block, morons.
John Galt
November 14th, 2010
7:03 pm
Drew I couldn’t agree with you more. I have defended Newton all week but as the evidence mounts, you can’t help but think it is correct. The NCAA has so much to lose that if Newton lies and it turns out to be true, Auburn could be looking at a death penalty. This pay for play on top of the other two major probations may be more than the NCAA can tolerate.
Like so many schools, the good folks of Auburn have turned their fottball programs over to the win at all cost idiots. But after their behavior Saturday, and the arrogance of Newton, I will feel no sympathy when those same derelicts bring the whole program down for a couple of years. Its a shame that it may interupt the south’s oldest rivalty.
WSPJamDawg
November 14th, 2010
7:05 pm
BILL! Well said. THANK YOU.
I haven’t read the comments yet on this one but this is your blog yet. I was the MOST critical of Willie Martinez. But I wasn’t naive enough to believe we didn’t have some work to do this season. I think the coaches have done a great job this season and we have a LOT to look forward to. It’s never OK to lose as many games as we did this year, but people are insane if they thought we should’ve automatically won 8-10 games. Hang in there dawg fans. We’re gonna be fine. I think next year’s the test…
virginia dog
November 14th, 2010
7:05 pm
Not to be a sore loser… but after the dogs got hosed at last years LSU game it has become nearly impossible to get a celebration penalty. After the fight yesterday Fairly was making moves that would make Hulk Hogan proud and nothing from the refs and nothing from the boys in the broadcast booth.
Then it hit me, wonder how CBS is going to react to another SEC team being found to be a football program fronting a state university. Because if half of what Cecil said he actually did… and with Auburn’s sordid past. Well the NCAA might have to dust off the old death penalty.
But fear not Georgians… with out football it will be even easier for your children to get into Auburn.
ATL
November 14th, 2010
7:06 pm
Touchdown Auburn! Touchdown Auburn! Touchdown Auburn! Touchdown Auburn! Touchdown Auburn!
Oh, sorry I had a flashback to yesterday. Wah, Wah, Wah, Bill King wants a real team and doesn’t have one.
rincon dawg
November 14th, 2010
7:07 pm
GEORGE
it failed to meet the code this year you piece of crap. I would have no problem in losing to a team that should beat us but the way Auburn even blocked all game going at DBs knees all game is just dirty coaching by a dirty program. I think our boys might need to go get checked for staph infection after the game.
DAWG with bag over head again
November 14th, 2010
7:07 pm
Bill,
I beg to differ, CMR is to blame. He let recruiting, conditioning, and discipline slide, and he kept CWM way past his expiration date (and he should be blamed for making him the DC to start with). Everything that happens has to come back to the HC. He is responsible for the lack of play makers on defense and the whole “let’s find a way to lose” mentality on the team.
John Galt
November 14th, 2010
7:09 pm
Dearest Georgie-
Don’t be intellectually honest in order to try to be politically correct. Little boy, you must be too young to have seen Willie in the ape house. Put a number 90 blue jersey on him and the BEHAVIOR would be the same.
I still want to hear your pathetic defense of the Face mask gouge- locked up masks? Please.
I am ashamed to same I almost went to Auburn but my Daddy said it didn’t hold a candle to the UGA business school and that I would regret it if I went. Boy, was he wise.
Red
November 14th, 2010
7:09 pm
Jason,
you are defending a DC whose tem just gave up 49 points. idiot
1785 Dawg
November 14th, 2010
7:09 pm
As much as I disapprove of Auburn paying Cam Newton and declaring him eligible to play, and as much as I dislike all of the personal fouls, late hits, punches, booing hurt players, etcetera they are a much classier team than Alabama.
Lee
November 14th, 2010
7:10 pm
There isn’t going to be any vacated wins morons. Cam isn’t getting suspended and Auburn isn’t and will not be in trouble with the NCAA over anything. Auburn has ex NCAA inforcement officers that work in their complaince office. They know what’s going on and what will happen and if they had ANY reason to think Cam should sit, he would be sitting. Keep hoping though ok? One more time whiners. If the refs don’t call a penalty, then the play was not cheap or anything else but a good play. Fairley will likely win all kind of awards, make 1st team all SEC and All American this year and YOU THINK YOU should tell him how to play football? REALLY?: What a bunch of jealous losers.
george
November 14th, 2010
7:11 pm
ricon dawg you just make my point more and more you post. YOU ARE A MORON. John Galt. AU has 7 major infractions while UGA has 6 so neither team really has much room to chirp.