Not all wins over Tech are created equal
The best thing about this season for UGA: The development of Aaron Murray at quarterback. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
Some more thoughts on Georgia’s 42-34 victory over Georgia Tech …
As anyone in red and black knows, any win over the trade school is a good win, but judging from the postgame conversations and chatter on the radio and online, Dogs fans left Saturday’s game without nearly as positive an attitude as after last year’s “I run this state” victory in Atlanta.
Part of that likely is tied to the overall frustration with a 6-6 season and the graphic evidence provided on the field Saturday that Georgia’s defense has a long way to go before it gets back to respectability. Any team running any semblance of an option running attack piled up the yards this year, with Tech being just the most notable example.
Also a factor in the postgame quibbling was the way Mike “Balance for the Sake of Balance” Bobo once again seemed to take his foot off the pedal once the Dogs got up a couple of scores. I realize that the play-action passing game is somewhat dependent on the defense thinking there’s a possibility of a run, but, really, was there any need for that pretense Saturday night? Al Groh’s defense had sold out against the run and doubled-up A.J. Green (which even then wasn’t enough to slow him down), meaning the pass was open nearly every play.
And yet Bobo insisted on trying those runs up the middle too many times, the worst case being when the Dogs got the ball back with 9:35 on the clock and a slim 35-28 lead and started off with two one-yard runs by Washaun Ealey before Aaron Murray got sacked, necessitating giving the ball back to a Tech offense that Georgia clearly couldn’t stop at that point. After the first play of that Georgia drive, you could hear the anguished cries of fans throughout the stadium, “Throw the ball!”
Thus was the game a lot closer than it needed to be. Had Georgia put Murray back in the shotgun and let him sling it downfield all night long, it’s doubtful Tech’s defense could have done anything to stop the onslaught. Why must it always be so difficult?
On the plus side, Murray again showed what a special quarterback he’s becoming. Aside from the fumbled snap on that last fourth-and-1, he put on an impressive display all evening long, scrambling out of trouble, completing 76 percent of his passes and making few mistakes. Kudos to Bobo and Mark Richt for another superior job of quarterback development. …
The most heads-up play of the night came in the fourth quarter when Brandon Boykin fumbled on a kickoff return and Marlon Brown picked up the ball without missing a beat. Give Marlon credit for his fair catch of a short kick to the 30-yard-line, too. Speaking of which. …
Brain fart of the night: Shaun Chapas letting a pooch kickoff bounce off the ground before trying to catch it, resulting in a fumble to open the game. Even rec league kids know better. …
Nice snag by Bruce Figgins in the end zone on the Dogs’ third score. I think we threw to him twice all year and both were TDs. And full credit to Murray there for finding the open man. …
What a strange experience it is for a longtime Georgia fan seeing a Dogs offense that can’t pick up the first down on fourth-and-inches. …
Good thing the Dogs didn’t need a timeout in the fourth quarter since they used them all up in the third, two of them while grinding out the final three yards for that fourth touchdown. …
For a rivalry game, the Sanford Stadium crowd was pretty dead for much of the game, no doubt because fans were stunned by Georgia’s inability to stop Tech on the ground. Finally, on the Jackets’ next-to-last possession, the crowd came to life on third and fourth down with 17 yards to go. I still say moving the Redcoats to the end zone, where they could be heard better throughout the stadium, would help keep fans in the game.
And while we’re on the subject of managing gameday Between the Hedges, how hard would it be for the folks in the booth and Richt to get on the same page so the Dogs actually take the field when they’re introduced? …
I have no idea what Samuel L. Jackson was doing on the field in UGA garb, but it was cool seeing him up on the big screen. …
Lastly, a shout out to Malinda Erwin of Oglethorpe County, who normally sits in front of me in Section 104 but missed Saturday’s game because of hip surgery. She usually is there at the games beside Mac Colvin, her best friend of 50 years. We missed you, Malinda!
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280 comments Add your comment
uga_fan39
November 30th, 2010
12:31 pm
The problem is coaching or lack there of. There should have been another in-house cleaning this year as well. Granted he replaced Martinez last year with the only option he had left. He tried to get several real D-cordinator’s before having to settle for Grantham. Defense got worse under him not better. They still look clueless just like under Willie. Only bright spots this year were special teams and Murray. The offense isnt really that bad considering the outdated style we run and how pathetic our o-line played all year. Now with the loss of Green and Durham this year lets see if they’re smart enough to revamp the offense around Murray’s talents. He’s a phenom in the making, lets hope they dont squander his talent with the same old run-run-pass offense. Please GOD recruit a running back, size on the d-line, and some shut down corners. How much more obvious could that be !!
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
November 30th, 2010
1:59 pm
The fake Washaun: It is interesting to me (in an odd way not an interesting way) that you assign a higher likelihood (10%) to something that was tried and did not happen (giving up points and hoping for Tech’s quarterback to suddenly learn how to pass the ball AND get two points) versus something that actually happened (Georgia fumbling a snap). But whatever makes you happy. Like I said Mark Richt being 9-1 against Tech in his career and UGA being 16-4 against Tech in the last twenty years makes me very happy. Again, if you’re happy with your 1-2 coach, God bless you and have a nice life.
P.S. According to you Tech fans, Tech just lost to the worst coached team with the worst Head Coach, the worst Offensive Coordinator, the worst, most underperforming talent, the worst Defensive Coordinator, the worst Strength and Conditioning Coach and the worst running backs in the State. For the second year in a row.
Your team is the worst in the State.
Again.
Trying to claim superiority because you tried something that didn’t work while losing to the worst Georgia team in a decade still strikes me as pretty stupid but if it takes the sting [sic] out of supporting the the worst of the worst, knock yourself out.
Washaun Ealy
November 30th, 2010
3:10 pm
FYI, Georgia fumbled a snap, but did not fumble and LOSE the snap. So don’t talk like this already happened in the game and Tech should hope for lightning to strike again.
Doesn’t matter if the likelihood of tech scoring a TD is 10% or 20% or 5%. You have to get into that position first! And you can get there 100% of the time by letting UGA score. You can get into that position 1% of the time with a fumbled snap, 1% of the time with an Ealy fumble, etc. etc. etc.
If you think that UGA is superior to Tech NOWADAYS, you are silly. They are about as equal as can be. Tech has better coaching, and UGA has better players. Tech is the worst in the state, sure. Congrats to UGA, tallest midget in Georgia (by a centimeter).
Washaun Ealy
November 30th, 2010
3:11 pm
Oh yeah, congrats to UGA, beat Tech’s worst team in 15 years, with a backup QB, and still gave up 512 yards and 34 points. Tallest midget: UGA!
wldawg
November 30th, 2010
5:55 pm
“Oh yeah, congrats to UGA, beat Tech’s worst team in 15 years, with a backup QB, and still gave up 512 yards and 34 points. Tallest midget: UGA!”
Beats being the shortest midget, Tech.
LawDawg
November 30th, 2010
5:56 pm
Dawgtard is the biggest loser to ever post on this blog. Living in your parents basement at age 35 and talking big behind a keyboard is not flattering Dawgturd. I guess I would be embarrassed and ashamed too if I couldn’t beat a 5-6 team team after losing the year before as ACC Champ. yOU ARE A loser AND SO IS YOUR TEAM. tHERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO SLICE IT!!
Avenger
November 30th, 2010
7:43 pm
“UGA season ticket holder since 1986″ — well, at least you are moronic enough to openly admit it’s all about the money for the trailer trash at UGA. So, Mr High and Mighty — No one is allowed to have an opinion unless they donate 5 digits a year to the cesspool??? I HIGHLY doubt you do, because if you actually were smart enough to make that kind of disposable income you would A) NOT be a graduate of the pig farmer school up in that pathetic little cow-town, and B) You wouldn’t be wasting time on some AJC blog bragging that only YOU have the right to an opinion and yours is somehow better because you are ignorant enough to donate to such a pathetic and devoid of honor program. Then again, lets drop choice “A”, because your misplaced arrogance is EXACTLY the sort of garbage I have come to expect from UGA trash!!). You sir are truly a world-class POS and would be an embarrassment to the true fans of ANY team! Maybe your family will get lucky and you’ll develop a particularly nasty form of Cancer. Then see how much your money will do for you, you inbred arrogant schmuck! People with your attitude shouldn’t be allowed to continue breathing the same air as the rest of us!!!
Avenger
November 30th, 2010
8:15 pm
And now that I got THAT off of my chest — Congratulations to the UGA Bulldogs on your win. I bleed Gold and White, but I absolutely respect when the superior team wins fair and square, which they did.
Now don’t get me wrong, the Dawgs really suck and will never again be worth 2 dead flies as long as CMR is the Head coach, but our team is just flat-out AWFUL this season. We don’t need anyone to stomp us — we do a good job of shooting ourselves in the foot on a regular basis, thank you very much! No excuses though, ya’ll beat us fair and square this time, with no obvious dirty plays/attempts by the thugs to injure our guys, so no point in being upset. CPJ out-coached CMR by a country mile, but you can’t usually overcome superior talent, which UGA has and always should have (unless Tech wants to introduce “General Studies” and “Physical Education” majors just so morons too stupid to get in can come play football anyway, ala the entire SEC except Vandy). I AM honestly shocked though after watching the game Saturday. I already knew my team (GT) was awful this year, but what in the hell has happened up Hwy 316?? I fully expected ya’ll to hang at least 50 on us. After watching that game, Ya’ll are very fortunate to be at 6 and 6. And NEITHER program deserves to go to a bowl this year, but I suppose none of us are going to turn down an excuse to extend the season, even if both teams suck. But I REALLY want to see both programs turn things around and shut down the hemmoraging of talent from Georgia to other states. Why do BOTH programs insist on wasting so much time on out-of-state prospects, when everyone else is coming HERE to fill their rosters. Both schools would improve with more focus on in-state recruiting (And don’t think for a minute that Bill Curry isn’t fixing to really mix things up in Georgia, because he plans to recruit almost exclusively in-state, and make no mistake — GSU will be a formidable program within a few years and WILL take recruits away from both UGA and GT).
At least Georgia State had a winning season this year!
UGA Season Ticket Holder Since 1986
November 30th, 2010
10:36 pm
Avenger – Are you on crack? Or can’t you read?
UGA Season Ticket Holder Since 1986
November 30th, 2010
10:45 pm
I’m watching a replay of the game right now. It’s only about 99% as fun watching Tech get beat in person but nonetheless a lot of fun.
Tech fans are funny (and not in a funny ha-ha way but a funny odd way). They come on a Georgia blog and argue that their football team is so superior to a team that’s beat them 16 out of the last 20 years. At least we have the sense not to go on a Florida blog and offer Florida any advice. To do so would be just as stupid as a Tech fan deigning to offer advice to Georgia on how to beat their rival.
You’ll be losers for the next 364 days. Again. And I think it’s funnier and funnier the further you guys go down the path of insane and nonsensical rantings.
UGA Season Ticket Holder Since 1986
November 30th, 2010
10:47 pm
Avenger. I commend you on your second post. (But your first post made me want to contact the blog monitors and have them contact you and make sure that you wouldn’t hurt yourself). But your second post was worthwhile. I commend you for it.
UGA Season Ticket Holder Since 1986
November 30th, 2010
10:57 pm
2 out of 3
9 out of 10
16 out of 20
And you see the teams as equal? Really?! Really.
Wow. That statement is just……….astonishing.
UGA Season Ticket Holder Since 1986
November 30th, 2010
11:03 pm
Avenger. You are right about one thing. (ok maybe a couple in your second post). I’ve wasted my annual contribution (which IS over five digits) posting a very very simple point with a bunch of lunatics and otherwise poking at postums [sic] with a stick (simply because it’s fun to watch them rend their clothes and yell “Blasphemy! Blasphemy!”)
I’ll try it one last time.
PJ tried ONE possible way to try and win the game. Fact.
PJ did not try the ONLY possible way to win the game. Fact.
PJ might have tried the way that he thought was best. Opinion.
PJ’s way has NEVER been successful in Division 1A. Posit which has not been disproven in three days.
But if you guys come after my coach again even though he’s beat you 9 out of 10 times, I’m going have to come back on and poke you postums [sic] with another round of cybersticks.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
November 30th, 2010
11:49 pm
P.S. Another very simple point that the full bore insane Avenger 1 (not the halfway reasonable Avenger 2) seems to have missed. A very, very simple point. The people paying CMR’s salary (i.e. the donors) and his direct reports (the President and the AD) should have a say in whether he keeps his job. Not a bunch of lunatics on a blog (half of which are Techroids posing as Georgia fans) who’ve never given a single dime to the program.
Dawgtards ruin this state
December 1st, 2010
12:15 am
Why would talented kids want to lose to Florida EVERY year by 15 points and also lose to Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tenn, Bama and LSU. Go to any other school in the nation and don’t collect garbage for a living, like most 4-5 star recruits that regress at thUGA. Play for a real coach and fans that understand football, not just shop at wal-mart in Bogart, GA and buy groceries at piggly wiggly.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
4:54 am
Dawgtard: The answer to your question is: “In order to beat Tech 16 out of 20 years.”
Seriously, the definition of derangement has to be a Tech fan who shows up on a Georgia blog to posit that their football team is superior to a team coached by a guy who is 9 and 1 against them (with one of those 9 being a 51-7 beatdown).
Crawl back into your pathetic loser h#ll and stew in the fact that you are losers. Again.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
5:02 am
Actually I like this definition better: (mathematics) A permutation of a finite set of elements that carries no element of the set into itself.
With the finite set being “Winning” and the permutation that carries no element of the set into itself being “Georgia Tech football.”
UGA '79, '85
December 1st, 2010
9:12 am
I don’t get all the negativity on the Tech win. First, it was a rivalry game in which Georgia never trailed. How many games this year did we have in which we were never behind? Second, we scored a ton of points, including defensive point. Third, Tech ran a ton of plays but was never in control of the game. Finally, WE WON!!!!
Complaint about the Auburn game or the South Carolina game or the Florida or MIssissippi State games (games the team could have won with a few better plays). Enjoy beating Tech. It’s the annual celebration that closes the regular season!
DawgVoiceofReason
December 1st, 2010
9:14 am
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986,
You are relentless in your defense of your position, UGA and Coach Richt. For the latter two I commend you. As to the first one, you are in fact correct that the approach Coach Johnson took was not the only way to win. If that is your main point, as it appears at this time, then I would have nothing more to say. But, to your earlier argument ” it was no advantage to take a knee in the victory formation because there was too much time left on the clock”, you are wrong. Others here have explained why and I will leave it at that. You just don’t seem to want to recognize that, as Coach Richt admitted, Coach Johnson got him on that one play. One other thought I have is that when people say the “one way that Tech could have one the game” was to do what they did, they don’t mean it literally, and as you have proven they would be wrong if they did. What they mean was, it was the one way they could ensure (with high probability of success), that they would get the ball back with a *chance* to win the game.
I join you in Hating Tech and relishing in their defeat, again.
DawgVoiceofReason
December 1st, 2010
9:17 am
that would be “relishing their defeat” or “reveling in their defeat”
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
9:29 am
DAWG VOICE OF REASON: CORRECT IN ALL ASPECTS. I agree that reasonable minds can disagree whether taking a knee would have run out the clock. My calculations and CMR’s say no that after the first knee it was clear that we needed the first down, but other people disagree and that’s ok with me. But I will not concede that makes CMR an idiot who should lose his job (especially after beating Tech 9 out of 10 times) or the real Waushan a fool or in anyway diminishes my joy in watching Tech lose 16 of the last 20 football games to Georgia (Hat Tip to ‘79 ‘85).
I WILL DEFEND THIS HOUSE (especially against Loser Techroids who claim that losing (again, albeit in a more clever fashion than just having their guts stomped out 51-7) somehow makes them a superior football team). And if they want to come on a Georgia blog and talk smack, then they’re going to get poked with a cyberstick like a postum [sic].
P.S. Nice play on the “again.” I am pleased that you picked up on that.
…….Of to make more money now to pay my donation so that I can qualify for tickets to watch CMR beat Tech in their house. Again.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
9:32 am
One last Tip of the Hat to ‘79 ‘85: Beating Tech. It’s the gift that (apparently) keeps on giving!
War Jacket
December 1st, 2010
10:04 am
UGA proves again that it is the most underachieving program in the country. It is the flagship school in a state that is loaded with top-notch high school talent. It throws practically unlimited resources at its football program. It has facilities second to none. But it has produced maybe 5 good years since 1980 and is not even regarded as an upper tier program in the SEC, much less the country.
What a joke of a program.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
11:08 am
Must stink to be beat by a joke of a program. Again. And 16 of the last 20 years.
I don’t think that pointing out any of Georgia’s failings is the best argument for a Tech fan seeing as how Tech has lost 2 out of the last 3, and 9 of the last 10 and 16 of the last 20 to a joke of a program.
Don’t you supposedly smart bee understand that everytime you belittle Georgia’s program, since you lose to them with such regularity, you are belittling yourself more? I guess not. Poor bees. Must stink to be that bad.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
1:52 pm
And for the #7 team in the country last year to have lost at home to a bottom tier team loser program, wow, that must have been REALLY had to bear.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
1:53 pm
ooops. that would be……
“that must have been REALLY hard to bear.”
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
2:48 pm
In watching Georgia beat Tech again last night (it was glorious), I noticed that we have a true freshman starting at free safety. I did not really focus on that. That explains a lot about blown coverages that I did not know.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 1st, 2010
3:46 pm
DAWG VOICE OF REASON: Thank you for your rational post and for being so reasonable. I appreciate you and what you do.
The one point that I have always conceeded was that it was PJ’s option [sic] to say that it was the best way that HE saw for his team to win the game. I just happen to disagree. My disagreement appears to have caused any number of posters to rend their clothes and scream “Blasphemy!” If I hadn’t watched the bowl game against Purdue, I might have agreed with them. But I did and so therefore I don’t.
I live in a world where people make and lose millions of dollars over the exact, literal, and precise meaning of words including words such as the “only” way, the “best” way and “one of many” ways to do X. As you so reasonably pointed out, others may not have had a similar experience and therefore may not be as careful with their use of the word “only.”
I agree with CMR that it was a clever tactic and that it may have caught him, me, and A LOT of other people by surprise (including the Tech fans immediately in front of us who were roundly cursing their “genius” coach until Dawg fans pointed out to them what had just happened whereupon they immediately starting ragging on CMR for being a moron and a doofus for not anticipating it. hypocrites!). The tactic caught Georgia’s radio broadcast team by surprise as well.
I do not and will not ever agree that it tarnishes in any way the phenomenal record that CMR has against the bees (or that it tarnishes in any way this glorious and thoroughly enjoyable win).
And I’m certainly not going to abandon the cyberbattlefield to allow a bunch of NATS to crash a Georgia blog and try to make us feel inferior for having beaten them. Again.
Hail the Voice of Reason for being so dang rational.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 2nd, 2010
12:40 am
What? You Techroids don’t want any more? Ok, very well. Time to close this one out. We even beat you on the blog. Again
P.S. I’m still waiting for you to cite me to at least one example where PJ’s brilliant idea has been successful in Division 1A football. Thought not.
Pathetic, whiney losers. And you will be for a whole ‘nother year.
Again.
Signing off with glib satisfaction. ‘86
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
December 4th, 2010
6:48 pm
Ok, I guess the SEC Championship game showed that throwing a “Hail Mary” with six seconds left just got a lot more probable. I’m accepting apologies.