Gators didn’t give the game to Georgia — Dawgs took it
Aaron Murray made some clutch runs. (Jason Getz / AJC)
A few more thoughts about Saturday’s Georgia victory over Florida. …
My wife and I dropped by a Halloween party late Saturday, and one of my neighbors asked if I thought Georgia deserved to win, pointing to the points the Dawgs got as a result of Florida turnovers in their own territory — as if the Gators giftwrapped the game.
To the contrary, those Florida turnovers were anything but unforced. The first fumble by Chris Rainey, recovered by Bacarri Rambo, was caused by the returning Alec Ogletree (who bounced back nicely from a rusty start early in the game). And Frankie Hammond’s fumble, recovered by Shawn Williams, was forced by Jarvis Jones, who had a career day against the Gators.
Yes, the Dogs most certainly deserved their hard-fought win. …
(Speaking of Jones, he’s one of the nominees in ESPN’s Capitol One Cup Impact Performance of the Week vote. You can vote for him here.)
One of the more impressive aspects of Georgia’s win in Jacksonville was that it was in spite of several key players having off days. Aaron Murray missed nine consecutive passes at one point, and some of them weren’t even close. At times, he looked like he was on a completely different page of the playbook from the receiver. Blair Walsh continued his meltdown (though, frankly, I think that might have ended up working in the Dogs’ favor by prompting Mark Richt to be a bit bolder in the red zone, telling Mike Bobo to operate under the assumption that he had four downs to work with). Isaiah Crowell was sporadically effective but again ended up spending more time on the sideline than should be the case with any starting tailback. And the normally reliable Drew Butler had his worst day ever punting.
Had those folks played up to par and had Georgia’s special teams not been abysmal, the game wouldn’t have been nearly as close. …
On the other hand, give credit to Murray for making some clutch runs and throwing some nice balls, too, particularly on the two fourth-down touchdowns — though credit is also due to receivers Michael Bennett and Tavarres King for going up and taking the ball a la A.J. Green, despite being closely covered. Murray had a couple of passes dropped, too. …
I praised Bobo in Saturday night’s report for some gutsy calls, and overall I thought he called a good game. There were a few times when great play calls were undone by Murray’s inaccuracy. But there were several times in the third quarter when Bobo again fell into trying to run diminutive Carlton Thomas up the middle, a low-percentage play against just about any SEC defense. And while Richard Samuel came through big-time for the Dogs when he got the call to go up the middle, I wish Bobo would give up on trying to use Samuel on the toss sweep. It nearly always results in a loss of yardage. That’s just not Samuel’s game. …
From the silly is-he-or-isn’t-he-going-to-start pregame warmup business with John Brantley to the trading of timeouts as Florida tried in vain to draw Georgia offsides on a third-down play in the fourth quarter, Will Muschamp’s attempts at mind games were unsuccessful. Speaking of the third-down defense, Georgia’s turnaround from last year in that aspect of the game this season has been spectacular. …
And, lastly, didn’t it feel great to see Georgia finally be able to get a couple of first downs when it needed to kill the clock to preserve a win?
Got a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
Find me on Facebook.
Follow me on Twitter.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
789 comments Add your comment
NiquePhotog
October 31st, 2011
1:22 am
I’m saying UF’s injuries came from the likes of Bama and LSU, not Ole Miss and Tennessee. UGA’s conference opponents are 5-22 in conference play. UF’s are 19-12 in conference play. No comparison.
Obviously you know nothing about Crowell before he came to UGA. Plainly, he’s a whiny b_tch that is prone to injury with a big ego that likes to run his mouth and with poor grades. Great athlete though. The next Herschel likely to become the next Caleb.
flagboy?
October 31st, 2011
1:22 am
yeah, but you would think Vandy would be a win (but. . vandy has played us and Ark. close recently, but it’s at Fla). . . leaving South Carolina and FSU as well. Could be tough.
NiquePhotog
October 31st, 2011
1:23 am
dbc just proved my point.
Crowell’s a great athlete, not much else good can be said. How often do you see teammates helping him up? He’s a freshman and they’re already sick of him.
thank you
October 31st, 2011
1:25 am
dbc,
you moonlighting for yahoo! sports investigative team?
Dear DBC
October 31st, 2011
1:34 am
Spreading malicious and obviously false rumors about student athletes is the pinnacle of trashiness. You need help. Crowell was injured genius and he played through it. People like you make me sick. 40 year olds trashing college students… And you wonder whats wrong with this nation. Go read a book and quit living through college athletes.
dbc
October 31st, 2011
1:35 am
Well I had an explanation, but now I’m blocked. I hope I’m wrong actually.
ReddDawg
October 31st, 2011
1:38 am
As a team ………….. the Dawgs sucked…… there was no special teams; there was no offense !! Bozo has to be the 2nd worst coach in history; the only coach that has proven himself worse is Richt because he doesn’t have enough sense to see the problem and fire Bobo. Grantham and the defense won the game w/o any help from those two dumbarses. Ga defense gave up one (1) first down in the second half. If Richt was half a man, he was kiss Grantham right on the lips for saving his sorry ass job for him.
Everyone tells me what a “good man” CMR is. If he was truly an honorable man, he would have told his 14 year old son to hug Grantham to thank him for saving them from having to move for at least a week.
Dear DBC
October 31st, 2011
1:40 am
You were blocked because you spread a rumor which you can not prove and you did nothing but slander an 18 year old kid. I bet that makes you feel like a really big man.
aladawg
October 31st, 2011
1:42 am
Reality Check and Funny, stick a dog bone up your asses.
Reality Check
October 31st, 2011
1:43 am
Wow, working on a late-night project deadline and keeping tabs on this blog for entertainment.
You Dawg fans really do eat your young.
The dbc comment about Crowell’s status is completely inappropriate on a blog, regardless of explanation.
Reality Check
October 31st, 2011
1:45 am
@aladawg, well I guess you told us. Now get to bed so you’ll be on time for school in the morning.
Dear R
October 31st, 2011
1:48 am
Enter your comments here
Reddog
October 31st, 2011
1:50 am
I was so happy the Dawgs defeated Gary Danielson this weekend in Jacksonville. It seems that he has been a worthy opponent of ours every time we play on CBS sports. His disdain for Georgia Football is obvious. I hope he gets to call this years UGA / Auburn game. He rooted against us last year when he called the UGA/Auburn game. He is as bad an announcer as he was an NFL quarterback. What is his beef with UGA and how can we get him out of the broadcast booth when we are playing? I feel like I am listening to an opposing highschools radio station broadcast.
Dear Reality Check
October 31st, 2011
1:50 am
Your team was outgained by over 200 yards on the ground. Thats why Florida lost. Quit making excuses.
Cali Dawg
October 31st, 2011
1:56 am
Lovin’ the “whine” and cheese from all the haters.
Bill Lee
October 31st, 2011
1:56 am
Glad to see Richard Samuel finally being used effectively. He looked great! We have a 350 lb average offensive line, he weighs like 240, why have we not been ramming it down people’s throat more?
Dexter Dawg
October 31st, 2011
2:13 am
Funny and you other poachers, i think it is hilarious that you spend so much time on the dawgs website rather than your own. this is a clear sign of jealousy and of a loner on the outside looking in. if you want to be a dawgs’ fan, just say so, we will take it in consideration.
Southern Football
October 31st, 2011
2:24 am
“…if you want to be a dawgs’ fan…” Are you kidding?
This is just entertainment, toying around with a group of fans so insecure that they have to convince themselves that they actually won a game in which they scored more points than the other team.
Yeah, really envious.
MackDog2424
October 31st, 2011
3:49 am
Go dawgs!!! Love seeing them get back on track!
Tide
October 31st, 2011
4:08 am
I was really unimpressed with BOTH teams. Neither squad was very well coached or disciplined. If Bama had played like Georgia I would have to rate it a C+ or maybe B- effort. Florida looks like a UF team from the 70’s (that isn’t a compliment for you youngsters).
I would love nothing better than Bama getting another chance to show Georgia what well coached team looks like. It would be Ga fans only chance to see what happens when a team is well coached.
DAWGMAN
October 31st, 2011
4:43 am
Sure feels good to see your team win in Jacksonville. Also nice to see the offense willing to put the game on the line and succeed.
I was wrong on my prediction for an L.
I will stand pat on the idea that showing improvement over the course of the season is accepting of mediocrity. I believe that idea is not fair to the athletes we recruit, and to the alumni who help see that they have the opportunity for a life sustaining education from our university.
Most 5th graders know that to be successful at almost anything. you have to try your hardest.
Are you comfortable that our coaching staff have demonstrated that they are smarter than most 5th graders?
The rest of the SEC isn’t going to wait around for this crew of coaches to be held accountable.
The rest will be prepared for SEC caliber football from game one.
jim
October 31st, 2011
4:46 am
one first down in half, that says it all.
hop
October 31st, 2011
5:19 am
What an awesome win for the Dawgs over the hated gators, we should have won last year,but the Defense made the difference this year!
This freshman class along with Jarvis Jones clearly were the game changers that provided
the margin of victory!
florida won by three points last year but the battle was won this year with the recruiting success last winter.
georgia really needs to pick up recruiting this winter to move up the food chain involving the SEC elite,and that can happen with another great recruiting class.
Buford Sowega
October 31st, 2011
5:31 am
Somebody made the comment that we should be “thanking” Crowell for playing hurt. Thank who? Why should I thank anybody on that field? Are they not well-compensated? Their schooling is FREE. GI bill didn’t even come close to covering all of mine. Anyway, I guess that is so though playing with a bruised shin. Maybe a millionaire ball coach can kiss it for him.
Get real. It’s a game.
Kelly
October 31st, 2011
5:37 am
Muschump has a severe personality disorder.
BobbyDawg
October 31st, 2011
6:01 am
All I can say is “GREAT WIN DAWGS”! Let’s not forget that we’ve stil got work to do. The season’s not over yet. l
Jax Dawg
October 31st, 2011
6:17 am
If you would have said the most important big play of the day was a 70 yard Jeff Demps run…you would of thought it was a TD. The fastest man in college football was Brandon Boykin running him down from behind and stopping a TD which resulted in their kicker missing a field goal. They really needed Jeff Demps in the end zone. Go Dawgs!!!
SEC Fan
October 31st, 2011
6:17 am
After all is said and done Richt finally beat FL for the third time in 11 years. An average FL team with a less then 100% QB and that committed 14 penalties. With all that, the win was just 4 points. Hardly anything to brag about except for the fact that it was a win. To be continued Nov. 12.
Columbus Dawg
October 31st, 2011
6:18 am
So tell me Reality Check, what team do you call your own? To come on this blog and say”Georgia is terrible” just makes you sound like a CERTFIED MORON. Yes, there are parts of the Dawgs game that need a heap of improvement, and I have faith that it will eventually get straightened out. The Georgia Bulldog Defense CAUSED those two turnovers that you speak of, and even if they did not, then that would only go to show how TERRIBLE Florida’s players are. You nare probably a Tech fan, but would claim to be a yellow toothed Bama fan.
Either way your mostly just a D.A.
DramaDawg 82
October 31st, 2011
6:23 am
First of all, wonderful to see the Dawgs beat an inferior Gator team like we were supposed to – unlike previous years when the better UGA team let the hot dogging, chomping, taunting, jumping and jiving Florida team get into their heads. We got past it this time around; perhaps a great catch on a fourth down play late in the 2nd quarter finally broke the spell? Gators were only in it late in the 4th quarter because Dawgs didn’t play a complete game. Had the Special teams and offense been on par with the Dawg defense, Florida would have been handed their – weel, you get the picture.
I don’t know whether it was meant to be a total insult to our defense, or if Florida’s new coaching staff REALLY believed a one legged John Brantley could what Kellen Moore (Heisman candidate) did in moving the ball down field on us with the short passing game. Would have been better for Florida to have actually started a healthy backup and gone with that game gameplan rather than allow an emotional Brantley to attempt to “save the day and inspire the team.” I did let out a big sigh of relief when it became clear that Muschamp’s joke of a mind game around whether or not Brantley would actually play was just that – a joke. He really was going with the big, bad banged up Brantley. I think that crippled Florida’s offense (pardon the pun) from the beginning and cost them a shot at beating a Georgia team that did not bring it’s best game.
Urban Meyer will be missed. Good riddance.
John Brantley could do what Kellen Moore
bubba4dawgs
October 31st, 2011
6:23 am
This game made all Dawg fans proud! The rough spots were glaring but in spite of them, the Dawgs won! It was a huge pleasant surprise to see Samuel running with gusto and authority! He ran thru the Florida line like he owned it and thanks to the O-line for the fine job they did blocking for him. I hope I. C. learned something from Samuel’s running. In I. C.’s favor, he does have the instinct to cut outside when the middle is logged. This is the mark of a good running back and not many have this instinct. Another wonderful thing to see was the play of Chris Conley. Man, he went up for balls like A. J.. That was great to see!!!! I believe we have a good one coming along with him!! Put him on one side and Mitchell on the other when he returns!!
Good job Bo Bo!!!!! You made some gutsy calls and sadly some that Murray did not execute! Perhaps there was some rust from the layoff! More communication in the huddle might ensure Murray and the receivers are on the same page on where the ball will be thrown.
Coach Richt, thank you for your gutsy calls using fourth down instead of chancing Walsh’s leg. By the way, where is his leg lately? Has he met some Co-ed or something and his mind isn’t where it’s supposed to be? My goodness, he goes from the Lou Groza finalist to Mickey Mouse! Come on, the Pros are looking!!! Don’t you want to play on Sunday?? I’ll send you a fooz ball to practice with if that will help!!
Remember, you have a score to settle with Auburn! Tune up next week and get ready to take on the slobber dobbers! GO DAWGS!!!!!! I hope Lee and Samuel are OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sammiamm
October 31st, 2011
6:25 am
Defense is STOUT, and IMHO should be given lion’s share of credit for this win. Say what you want about the Vandy post game emotional overheat–I like what I’m seeing re: team temperament (well, for half the team anyway).
Honestly, this Dawg D is why I’m a whole lot less worried about Auburn and Yech.
sammiamm
October 31st, 2011
6:32 am
Reality Check:
So your soph secondary, big back, and highly recruited QB take the field next year–you’ll still have a psychopath for a coach.
Thomas Brown
October 31st, 2011
6:34 am
We have beat 6 teams in a row, none of whom have a winning record today Bill King. Florida is # 120 in the nation in penalties, # 94 in the nation in Total Offense and # 104 in Turnover Margin nationally. This is Florida’s worst football team since 1987, twenty-four years. If, as you describe, others are telling you that the win was sloppy, that the win was ugly, that the win was unimpressive over a poor football team, and that Florida did again Saturday night what they have done all season giving opponents penalties after penalties, giving opponents a very poor showing on offense, giving opponents turnovers; then guess what ? Florida is not a very good football team, quite obviously. We have a very easy schedule; gave away the game to South Carolina in just the fashion we would have given away the Florida game had not Florida had yet again more issues on Turnovers, while we instead played just as miserably EVERY OTHER GAME ALL SEASON LONG; we would have lost that game too, only Florida is not a good team; in fact their worst football team in 24 years. Only a homer could call a game in which our special teams as even you note sir were sorry to the nth degree, and that given all the issues including a new head coach who has never coached anywhere ever before calling that game a great win over that sorry offense Florida has this season as even he himself admitted after the game as 1 without talent who gives up all these turnovers to every opponent that they play all season long, costing them game after game causing their own fans to go all the way back to 1987 to find a similar Florida team, then that is the worst Florida team in 24 years.
MIKE
October 31st, 2011
6:38 am
How many of the recent UF wins were gift wrapped for them? Last years Int, Edwards dropping a sure TD pass, shockley throwing int in ‘02; in 08 we missed two 1st half field goals and failed to recover an onside kick after their first score. Then they had 4 2nd half turnovers.
My point is the game of football is about executing and making plays on both sides of the ball. We have given away a lot of those so lets not act like the gators deserved them all
chazzo
October 31st, 2011
6:40 am
Reality check,
UGA plays a lot of freshmen, as well. Isaiah Crowell is a true freshmen. Conely is a true freshmen. Bennett is a freshmen. In fact, with the exception of Murray (redshirt sophomore) the offense is in a big rebuilding phase. UGA’s star receiver was out. Two experienced receivers didn’t make the trip. We even had a walk on make a reception. So what’s your point? A W is a W. Should we not count it? Then don’t count the year DJ Shockley was hurt. Don’t count the years that Ray Goff was matching wits with Steve Spurrier. LOL
Besides, if your o-line had been capable of stopping our Defense, Your QBs mobility wouldn’t have been an issue. Georgia beat UF because they outgained them on the ground 185 yds to 21? or so, thereby dominating the clock. Funny how that works. The 14 penalties and two fumbles helped us. But, none of that was affected by your gimpy QB, who honestly did a good job and is a courageous player.
Good luck with 2013. UF will always have a lot of great athletes and definitely has a great tradition.
Destin Dawg
October 31st, 2011
6:54 am
Really glad we have Richt and they have Muschamp !! Super glad we have Grantham and not Kirby Smart !! If Richt wants to retire and be a missionary preacher… Make Grantham H.C. and Chris Hatcher ( former H.C. Valdosta and Ga. Southern ) for O. C. .. Go Dawgs !!!
Destin Dawg
October 31st, 2011
7:01 am
Grantham’s Junk Yard Dawgs defense = fumbles and hurt Fla. players … Richt.. spend a couple hours and put your best players on special team’s… Wash kicks are strong , just off the the right.. Just like my golf drives… can be corrected… keep your haed down and follow through.. Go dawgs !!
Spike
October 31st, 2011
7:06 am
Didn’t Muschamp guarantee a Gator victory earlier this year??
chazzo
October 31st, 2011
7:23 am
Destin Dawg,
You’re opening up your shoulder too early. You have to get your hands through a little quicker.
tell me again
October 31st, 2011
7:39 am
This is priceless – Gator fans on our board talking trash…………I agree with you on one point – WE BEAT A GATOR TEAM THAT SUCKS!
AltamahaDawg
October 31st, 2011
7:40 am
Your freind obviously wasn’t paying attention to the giftwrapped deflection int on the 13 when the dawgs held zero points. That was the game had the gators scored. Dawgs won it.
tell me again
October 31st, 2011
7:42 am
I also love that when Florida has beat us in the past all of their newspapers light up the day after the game like they just won the Superbowl – sure isn’t a lot of ink being wasted in the Florida press this weekend! BRUHAHAHAHAHAHA
tell me again
October 31st, 2011
7:46 am
Florida fans need to be thankful RIcht didn’t call a classy time out at the one and then let Samuel ram it down their throats……..now that’s classy. All of a sudden the moaners and groaners who have been hanging from the rafters since the 0-2 start are having so much less to talk about. Not that they ever had anything to say. 0-2 to 6-2 and tied for the SEC East lead. Gators……not so much. Richt’s done a heck of a job keeping this team together and focued and winning. Hey, I know we’re not perfect and as fans we will always be nitpicking BUT this team is rolling and there is MUCH to be happy about! GO DAWGS!
marcus
October 31st, 2011
7:48 am
im also getting tired of seeing crowell on the side line. i want to see our other young runners now. you got to be tougher to be compared to greatness.
tell me again
October 31st, 2011
7:49 am
As for Crowell – hey, come on – no true freshman RB is going to survive the pounding in the SEC – we usually redshirt those guys for just that reason – we just couildn’t afford that luxury this year. Give him a break – when he was in the game he made some solid runs and he kept drives alive. He’s going to be a a beast.
tell me again
October 31st, 2011
7:54 am
Game balls to Bennett and King – that’s the way to go and grab the ball, boys. You played like you were sold out to win! Oh wait – I guess the Florida defenders GAVE US those two touchdowns…..yeah. And those nasty fumbles – yeah, I forgot – Florida backs were just running down the field when they accidentally dropped the ball. I forgot, sorry. And oh – Brantley was hurt – TOO BAD YOU DON’T HAVE A COACH WITH ENOUGH SENSE TO HAVE A BACKUP READY TO GO! I love it – to all of you Gator fans – guess what – WE’RE GOING TO BE A WHOL:E LOT BETTER NEXT YEAR! Maybe if you can stop all of your recruits from transferring you can field a team to meet us back in Jacksonville – GO YOU HAIRY DAWGS!
CHDawg
October 31st, 2011
7:56 am
Good article, but I disagree with the negative print on Murray. I think he is a key factor, if not the key factor in our win. Our receivers were covered extremely well. I can’t recall when they were less open. Watch any other QB in that situation and it spells disaster. Throw in the intense pressure, and Murray begins to really shine. He did a phenomenal job. Go back and look at his throws. He lasers the two 4th down TDs, and many other throws, and he is letting go of the ball very early in many of those cases. Methinks we have some fans who don’t understand how difficult his job was. He did miss some throws, but the whole of his work was excellent. And don’t discount his winning spirit–he doesn’t quit or crumble. He turned a number of sacks into first downs or gains. IC also did a great job. He is a true freshman and he isn’t ready to carry the whole team on his back, but he had a game winning block and several superb runs. He doesn’t blow holes in SEC defenses, but that is a function of his size and strength. Give him a crease and he does well. I suspect Samuel and Malcome are better fitted to become line busters. We will need them all. It was a great win, and don’t forget that Florida practices to beat UGA the whole year. We got their best shot, far and away. I suspect they will win out now, barring any more injuries. Uf’s D is very good. We will be rooting for them in a couple of weeks, so don’t trash them too much. Go Dawgs.
chazzo
October 31st, 2011
8:00 am
I do have to mention how many Richt-haters were claiming that Muschamp could come in here and in one year win a national championship. I think Muschamp is a good coach. I look for him to succeed. But, I am sticking by my argument that in the vast majority of cases, it will take a new HC at least two seasons to get things going.
And, to all the Bobo haters, we finally have some momentum for what it’s worth, and we will have a lot of players coming of age next season. Do you really want to install a brand new offense for them to learn at this juncture? That was disastrous for Tubberville at AU.
I have thrown my hat down in the livingroom many a time, and I have complained about them on this very blog. Bobo and Richt aren’t perfect, but they are good… a heck of lot better than I would be (that’s for certain). So, all you real Dawgs out there, get on the bus or go by an orange jersey of some type!
chazzo
October 31st, 2011
8:04 am
CHDawg,
You are absolutely right about Murray. There were some misfires in the second half, but a lot of that had to do with receivers getting jammed out of their routes. There were also some missed blocks that would have prevented him throwing with a Gator in his face. He came through big with his arm and his feet when he needed to to win.