Dogs need to erase memory of a woeful effort
Aaron Murray and Mike Bobo had one of their poorer games the last time Georgia took the field against an opponent. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
If you’re running down the checklist of things Mark Richt’s football team needed to improve from last year, many of the personnel needs seem to have been addressed and a new approach to strength and conditioning looks promising.
But what we won’t know until Georgia is facing adversity on the field is whether they’ll consistently play as hard as they can, something last year’s Dogs didn’t always do.
Richt talked during the offseason about how distressing it was to sometimes see his team outplayed and Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald recently followed up with the coach for specifics. “When you watch the film and you see another team played harder than we did, that’s sad, that’s my fault,” Richt said. “We had some games like that in my opinion. I can name one for sure and that’s the bowl game. It was most evident that game, maybe that’s the one in my craw and is the one I’m talking about the most.”
No argument there. But what I found really interesting was the response Weiszer got from Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who flatly said the lack of effort didn’t come from his unit. “It ain’t happened on defense. When you look at the Central Florida game, I thought the guys on defense were busting their tail. Now we didn’t finish the game the way that we wanted to, but to say that those guys outworked us, that ain’t right. That didn’t happen.”
Sounds like Grantham was calling out Mike Bobo’s offense as the laggards against Central Florida, which pretty much jibes with the way I remember that particular game, a low point for the program during the Richt era.
But that isn’t entirely a fair assessment of the 2010 Dogs. I can recall some times last season when the defense was guilty of arm tackling and diving at running backs’ feet, so you can’t pin the lack of effort completely on Bobo’s troops. In general, the 2010 team just didn’t seem to be the hardest working bunch ever to play Between the Hedges.
Richt’s right about one thing; ultimately, he’s the one who shoulders the blame. His teams have had a tendency in recent years to come out flat at times and to just plain not want it as badly as the opponents.
If the Dogs are going to turn things around — and turn down the heat under the head coach’s seat — that’s definitely going to have to change.
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291 comments Add your comment
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:10 pm
SSi Gator is the “old Saint Simons” who used to just live here and was obsessed with bashing everything Georgia, but with Tech’s two losses in a row and Tech heading for mediocrity worse than Gaily, he prefers a new ID.
JAWJeRDAWG
August 24th, 2011
2:11 pm
@ JAXDawg05
I totally agree with you on SSIgator, but welcome the comments of Beast from the East.
Unless I’ve missed some posts to the contrary, I feel he just talks football, and I don’t remember him demeaning UGA.
Just my opinion. .. Go Dawgs!
DIT
August 24th, 2011
2:14 pm
@JAWJeRDAWG you’re right
Beast… talks football and is very civil. I enjoy his comments, but have to say that there are several Dawg bloggers on here that are just as obnoxious as SSIgator.
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:15 pm
Yep, Beast is a good guy. Talks football and will give Georgia credit when due. He’ll take a friendly poke now and then, but he is not a hater.
AltamahaDawg
August 24th, 2011
2:17 pm
I’ll be the first to claim I was saying “aw come on, go for it”, but that was out of pure air chair bravado. I certainly wasn’t doing any psychoanalysis on our players fragile trust issues. I just thought it’s a meaningless, who-cares, bowl, so what the heck.
But I wasn’t too upset given that: we have just discussed as they were driving how UGA was 6-0 when scoring first. Even the players had been in the papers saying they HAD to score some way, some how, first.
Then I read what Richt said to them, and despite it not working, I thought it was still a point worth making.
ZinoDawg
August 24th, 2011
2:18 pm
Hey SSigator – time to drop some more fries.
AceDawg
August 24th, 2011
2:18 pm
Motivation is definitely key – It’s why the apparent jerks like Nick Saban consistently get their teams to play very well – their obsession over winning adds pressure and urgency to players, and eventually it breeds confidence. Hopefully Richt and his staff are regaining the urgency of the past that was evident when Van Gorder walked the sidelines.
Bacarri Rambo is the one player I remember loafing most often throughout the season, but overall I am not sure the defense loafed much – In some respects they just failed to cover and tackle properly. Still, they did just as well and better than the offense most of the year.
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:20 pm
Look for Arby Jones to be all world this year. Back at his normal position, he will make plays, especially if Geathers and Jenkins are blowing up the middle.
AltamahaDawg
August 24th, 2011
2:22 pm
I wonder how ND justified that to the commisioner of thier league given the shared revenue agreements they signed with the other members?
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:23 pm
I check the Boise paper every morning, and they have a great section on Boise St. football, but have not talked about us at all. Maybe it’s too soon, or they think they have bigger fish to fry??????
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:24 pm
Is ND in a conference?
Prozac Dawg
August 24th, 2011
2:24 pm
I support Grantham calling out Bobo. Tell it like it is. And CMR at least has and idea of what the problem is. Check out the blog at Lady Sportswriter. The article’s got to be talking about Bobo. I think Grantham will do OK. Either that or the Kool Aid is good!
http://theladysportswriter.blogspot.com/2011/08/georgia-bulldogs-richt-is-assessing-his.html
VININGSDAWG
August 24th, 2011
2:29 pm
BOBO NEED TO CALL GRANTHAM OUT!!!!! GRANTHAM IS AN ASS AND NEEDS TO GO!!
WE SCORE 30 AGAINST THE NATIONAL CHAMPS AND AUBURN RUNS THE BALL RIGHT DOWN OUR THROATS AND OUR OVERPAID DC HAD NO ANSWERS EXCEPT AUBURN RUNS A GIMMICK DEFENSE!!
GRANTHAM NEEDS TO WATCH HIS SELF
tide roll
August 24th, 2011
2:31 pm
Bobo didn’t get along with Searels, and your head coach didn’t care enough to manage the conflict. It culminated with your offensive line, led by Ben Jones, quitting vs. Central Florida. And that my friends, epitomizes UGA football.
JAWJeRDAWG
August 24th, 2011
2:32 pm
@ Prozac Dawg
Thanks for that link. Good assessment, and hopefully the coaches and players are prepared in ALL those weak areas! .. Go Dawgs!
Stevo
August 24th, 2011
2:34 pm
@ joey…. who else held UGA to 6 points last season?
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:35 pm
tide roll……………..you know nothing. You need to be breaking down film of that Auburn game and figuring out why YOUR defense QUIT in the second half, if you really need to search for someone quitting, just say’n
War Dang Dawg
August 24th, 2011
2:36 pm
I know that being anything less than supremely optimistic in the preseason is taken as a sign of being a traitor, a troll, or a fan of another team in disguise, but this article summarizes exactly what’s been bothering me for years about this team. We’ve seen this inconsistent effort since the ‘06 Sugar Bowl, really since the end of the Green/Pollack/Van Gorder era. Even the ‘07 season was marred by lackluster efforts against Tennessee, South Carolina, and Vandy – we lost 2 of those 3 games and should have lost to Vandy, killing our conference and national title chances.
I hope Richt proves me wrong, but I’m not holding out much hope for that. He’s simply not a motivator, for whatever reason. I suspect it’s because the players don’t respect or have that healthy fear of him. Not playing 100% on each down does not appear to have consequences.
I’m reminded of the definition of insanity.
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:37 pm
Bobo makes 350,000, and with a wife and 5 kids to write off, he’s probably netting around 250,000. I hope he is saving some of that money.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
2:39 pm
Big scrimmage tonight for the litter of dogs.
Dress rehearsal for Boise.
Better hope they can hang.
Ace
August 24th, 2011
2:40 pm
Anybody think Boise is better than UCF ?
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:41 pm
Finer, Better hope Garcia and his position coach can stay sober until we play you guys.
WDE
August 24th, 2011
2:41 pm
@tide roll Bama 4th in the West and that is what epitomizes Bama Nation…..well that and vacated games.
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:42 pm
Ace, no effort that night from team or coach’s……and they have admitted that more or less.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
2:45 pm
Who’s gonna be Kellen Moore for the scout team in the scrimmage tonight?
tide roll
August 24th, 2011
2:45 pm
JB – Don’t forget the money he gets from Vince and Barbara. After all, his wife is Barb’s neice! His job is to protect the Dooley legacy. An incredible conflict of interest, yet it’s allowed to continue. And that my friends, epitomizes UGA football.
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:46 pm
Finer, believe it or not, a left handed QB who transferred from Boise last year. Really.
Dawg gone
August 24th, 2011
2:46 pm
Boise is definetly better than UCF, without a doubt!
Newman
August 24th, 2011
2:46 pm
“Richt’s teams sometimes seem to come out flat…” Ever heard that the team takes on the coach’s personality?
War Dang Dawg
August 24th, 2011
2:48 pm
One of the problems we have is that we have 4-star athletes with 2-star cajones. Georgia football has gotten soft in recent year, especially on defense. We haven’t had a single player on defense that can touch David Pollack or Thomas Davis, or old-schoolers like Eddie Weaver, Terry Hoage or Scott Woerner. They were playmakers who laid on the line, every play.
These are the kinds of plays that used to define Georgia football, especially the defense:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V4cqxq_Tic
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 24th, 2011
2:48 pm
Finer, believe it or not, a left handed QB who transferred from Boise last year. Really.
——————————–
Perfect.
If Boise scores more than 17, then something ain’t right with that defense.
JB
August 24th, 2011
2:49 pm
Derek Dooley’s 5 year contract will pay him more than Vince made his entire coaching career at UGA. It’s about 11 mil over five years. I think Vince’s first contract was 12,000 per year. I think he finished at like 600K per. Amazing
AltamahaDawg
August 24th, 2011
2:50 pm
No, JB they are not. They can act stupidly and give up a month of practise to prove some point (what logical point, I don’t know) if they wanted to. And if they can affort to arrogantly refuse to accept bowl moneys, that all on them. Georgia, on the other hand, has an obligation to act responsibly as a member of the SEC.
dmr
August 24th, 2011
2:51 pm
Richt still has a few shots left in his proverbial gun should things not go according to plan this season. Grantham is a proven commodity in the coaching ranks. Given a few seasons to really build up the defense and depth, I think you will see signs of the old Junkyard Dawg mentality.
Bobo, to me, is still the wild card. 3 and 11 at midfield…draw up the middle to Carlton Thomas….falls flat. A.J. Green is gone and the offense will have to find new heroes. We have been deplorable up front the last few years. Granted injuries have been an issue, but depth through recruiting and just a whole toughness has been missing.
Richt is in charge. However, his head may not necessarily be the one that roles if things don’t work out.
Energy Vampires
August 24th, 2011
2:57 pm
Well, as far as I’m concerned, we’re like every other school in the country. At this point, we’re undefeated. What happened last year has no more bearing on this year than the years we won the SEC. Coach Richt is our coach, and I for one, am going to pull for him, his staff, and the players.
harold
August 24th, 2011
2:58 pm
BILL: YOU DO TELL IT LIKE IT IS AT THE AJC AS DO ALL OF THE GREAT REPORTERS THERE.
GEORGIA HAS UNDERPERFORMED AS A FOOTBALL TEAM. THE FANS DESERVE BETTER.
CONSIDER THE FACTS:
FACT:NO SEC TITLE GAME IN SIX LONG YEARS!
FACT: RICHT GOES 5-7 LAST YEAR WITH A LOSS AND NO TD’S TO A UCF?
FACT: RICHT DID WELL WITH DONNAN’S PLAYERS—-NOT HIS OWN!
FACT: RICHT RESORTS TO DREAMS WHILE LSU, FLORIDA, BAMA & AUBURN LIVE THEM!
FACT: KIRBY SMART “REJECTED” GEORGIA TO COACH AT A CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM!
FACT: PRACTICALLY EVERY SEC PROGRAM HAS A BETTER STAFF THAN THE DOGS!
FACT: FLORIDA “OWNS MARK RICHT!”
FACT: BOBO SHOULD HAVE BEEN TERINATED AFTER DISMAL UCF GAME!
FACT: GRANTHAM DID POORLY TOO! WE SHOULD HAVE HIRED CHAVIS 2 YEARS AGO!
FACT: PLAYING GEORGIA BETWEEN THE HEDGES DOESN’T MEAN A THING TO OPPONENTS
FACT: IT IS TIME FOR RICHT TO GO!
AltamahaDawg
August 24th, 2011
2:59 pm
Carlton Thomas got the ball on any 3rd down twice last year, so this example of him getting it so much 3rd and long really has been overplayed. In fact any RB getting the ball on 3rd and long only happened a handful of times, and that was deep in our territoty typically.
UGA FRIEND
August 24th, 2011
2:59 pm
If the UGA offensive and defensive coaches are (were) at odds about which unit was to blame for a poor performance,
I would say there was plenty of blame to go around and they are both guilty and call it a draw.
Energy Vampires
August 24th, 2011
3:03 pm
Harold, whatever you do, please DO NOT EVER coach any children at any level! Not only will you lose, you will probably permanately scar the kids for life. EVERY SINGLE COMMENT you made was negative. Sad!
tide roll
August 24th, 2011
3:04 pm
Richt fails to go for it on 4th and inches on the Cental Florida 2 yd.line in the 1st quarter. TALK ABOUT AN ENERGY VAMPIRE. Give that tinted hair, part down the middle, fake-tan preacherman some FANGS ! And I mean NOW!
USC fan
August 24th, 2011
3:04 pm
Lattimore is going to run over ya’ll again! Clowney is gonna get off too! could be UGLY…just saying.
colt sever
August 24th, 2011
3:04 pm
I don’t know about the Central Florida game, but what is Grantham’s excuse for the d against SC last year? Nobody had as much trouble with Lattimore as the Dawgs did. Granted, it was the first anybody seen of him, but you think you’d figure it out by the second half.
Bottom line, hopefully the entire team will come out ready to bust some heads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmAy4quJVtw&playnext=1&list=PL57CA9058179AB32F
JB
August 24th, 2011
3:05 pm
dmr…………….It will be Richt’s head. He’s on the back 9 and out of mulligans
USC fan
August 24th, 2011
3:06 pm
UGA<S.Spurrier
JB
August 24th, 2011
3:07 pm
I’m just glad that after 100 years of winning nothing, USC has some fans
USC fan
August 24th, 2011
3:07 pm
Gramtham couldn’t establish an effective 3-4 in DALLAs with D. Ware and J. Ratliff……so it probably doesnt look good for ya’ll.
JB
August 24th, 2011
3:09 pm
way to represent the East in the Dome last year USC FAN….Nice.
USC fan
August 24th, 2011
3:09 pm
hey JB—-go get in your time machine and go back 31 years—the last time UGA was relevant……let me know how that nothing feels when Lattimore knees your linebacker in the head.
USC fan
August 24th, 2011
3:10 pm
oh—and by the way JB———we just sacked your QB for like the 20th time today.
Dawg Time
August 24th, 2011
3:11 pm
With the dream team of talent that Richt has built up–this is the year! Florida and Tennessee will be way down and SC is overrated. Ga can win the SEC east with an upset over SC! Ga’s D will be one of the best in the SEC with Grantham’s scheme in place. Look for 10 wins—GA plays alabama for the SEC title! The Dawgs are back.