Dogs must keep their eyes on the right prize
It's an exciting time for the Georgia Bulldogs, and that can be challenging. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
The biggest challenge facing Mark Richt’s Bulldogs over the next couple of weeks may not be defending the triple option’s fullback dive against Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech or even dealing with those nasty legal-but-shouldn’t-be cut blocks that both teams employ.
Or even thinking about likely SEC Championship game opponent Alabama.
No, what the Dogs have to resist is getting caught up looking even farther ahead to where they’ll be if they manage to win out.
Already, players admitted to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, they’re keeping their eyes on the BCS standings, where Georgia sits at No. 5, with Bama and three undefeated teams ahead of them.
As Christian Robinson put it: “Everybody in the nation knows we’re cheering for other teams, because at this point it’s the only way we would have a chance of getting in” to the BCS national title game.
Richt may have the maturity to be able to not worry about what he can’t control, as he said this week, but his players can’t help but be like a kid looking in a toy store window.
“It’s a great feeling,” cornerback Sanders Commings said. “I came here to be a part of teams like this, and there is no better year than my senior year.”
Of course, you’d expect a bit of that what-if thinking anyway for a Top 5 team at this late stage of the season, but the fact that the eventual SEC champion, whether it’s the Dogs or not, will need help to make it to Miami makes the temptation to be thinking about the national standings even more compelling.
As quarterback Aaron Murray told the Times Free Press, “I’m definitely going to be watching the Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame matchups the next three weeks to see if two of them will lose.”
Fortunately, Murray seems to be doing a good job of keeping it in the proper perspective. “It definitely excites our guys. There is nothing wrong with thinking big and dreaming big as long as we make sure we focus on the next two weeks and finish the regular season strong.”
And that’s where the Georgia coaches come in. Rather than ignore the elephant in the room, they need to acknowledge the team’s excitement and thoughts about what lies ahead and channel it to make sure the Dogs come out against both Georgia Southern and Tech fired up and determined to take control of the game the same way they did against Auburn.
Otherwise, a Bulldog busy thinking about K State or the Fighting Irish might find an Eagle or a Yellowjacket rolling his feet right out from under him.
Got something you want to discuss concerning UGA athletics? Or maybe a question you want the Junkyard Blawg to tackle? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg
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143 comments Add your comment
Mike Bobo
November 14th, 2012
12:55 pm
Patched,
What do you mean “we”? Do you have a mouse in your pocket? You certainly dont represent UGA teams or fans.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 14th, 2012
1:03 pm
Mike Bobo
Im sorry I dont believe in your coaching; I mean seriously when are we going to see you be able to out scheme a good defensive team instead of looking inept
Bobo tell us fans who dont represent the UGA fanbase what happened in the SC game; you werent able to score until the 3rd string and scout team came on the field
SSIgator
November 14th, 2012
1:07 pm
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville -
___________
According to Energy Vampire Magazine, the UGA coaching staff ranked #1 in their coaches poll and they look like a sure bet to sweep their post-season awards.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 14th, 2012
1:15 pm
Bobo no answer???
I really was hoping someone who represents UGA would be able to answer that
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 14th, 2012
1:17 pm
SSIgator
Energy Vampire Magazine is a big seller in many Georgia gas stations its almost as big as Kool-aid Illustrated
joe jenkins
November 14th, 2012
1:25 pm
@ssi gator…..It sure does look like the fla offense has been bitten by energy vampires…haaaa
SSIgator
November 14th, 2012
1:28 pm
Speaking of Kool-Aid, I wonder where the Yoda of all things UGA football and his pal Nancy are today? The “real fans” are growing anxious for his pearls of wisdom.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 14th, 2012
1:39 pm
SSIgator
Im sure Master Yoda will be on here shortly to give us enlightening wisdom from the Jedi Kool-aid temple
he was really quite for the 1st half of the season but after the FL victory he came out of Jedi exile with full powers of the force;
can you imagine this off season if we beat Bama what he will be like; I pitty the darkside
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 14th, 2012
1:41 pm
Mike Bobo
Still need a response from one who represents the real UGA fanbase as to what happened to your offense in the SC game
Bulldogs for Muschamp Lifetime Contract
November 14th, 2012
1:45 pm
SSI
Why do you worry so much about Richt? Are you female and he didn’t pay you any attention?
Why don’t you go and help your coach find a QB?
GSU2000
November 14th, 2012
2:28 pm
UGA is playing Georgia Southern not Georgia State. The article refers to overlooking “Georgia State”.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 14th, 2012
2:34 pm
Enter your comments here
LOYAL DAWG
November 14th, 2012
2:43 pm
I’m at work so I won’t be able to read responses to my comment (if any at all), but I will just say this and be done for the day: After all the hype is removed from Bama, UGA is a better football team than they are. I don’t get into stats, I use the simple “eyeball” test from people who understand football. Now that doesn’t mean UGA will beat Bama because they can play and are BCS worthy, but I feel that watching almost every game from both schools THIS season, UGA is better…back to work for me…Dec 1st can’t come fast enough. GO DAWGS!!!
Bill King
November 14th, 2012
2:54 pm
wrong GSU:
Oops, slip of the finger. Georgia Southern, it is. Fixed it. Thanks.
SSIgator
November 14th, 2012
3:05 pm
“Always two there are, no more, no less: a master and an apprentice.” >> Yoda AltamahaDawg
Bulldogs for Muschamp Lifetime Contract
November 14th, 2012
3:58 pm
SSI Gator
Fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son
RJ
November 14th, 2012
4:29 pm
Patched ok we all get it you hate the coaching staff, how many times do you need to repeat yourself. They have done a good job this year despite the one game. There are no undefeated teams in the SEC and even Bama lost at home with a number one ranking and a guaranteed NC in from of them. Every team can lose especially when playing in the SEC. I wonder what the records of teams like Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and even Tennessee would be in any other conference outside the SEC.
gomdawg
November 14th, 2012
4:31 pm
Georgia Southern is our next game one game at a time.
GO DAWGS
gomdawg
November 14th, 2012
4:34 pm
Patch tire. simple that game id history move on. that given night SC would have beat anybody in the country. SO GET OVER IT . PAST IS IN THE PAST
Kyle
November 14th, 2012
4:45 pm
we will see how far this team has come and if anything has really changed by watching the next three weeks…….does this team come out on fire and put the game away like they should be able to against Ga Southern and Tech……..and do they play 60 minutes of great football in the SEC game…..if they dont do either then its the same old same old……..
HIdawg
November 14th, 2012
5:39 pm
HI stands for Hawaii not high like GTBob.
That’s pretty arguable. Either way I can’t see it working out well for UGA. They are’t very good defensively and Todd Grantham doesn’t have the best track record against teams with good offenses
Keep telling yourself that GTBob, I guess that is why UGA runs the state of GA.
Minnesota Dawg
November 14th, 2012
5:57 pm
The key to having a chance for the National Championship is to have a shut down defense and the offense to capitalize on it’s opportunities. We would have won last year against LSU if we had kept this up.
BigJim
November 14th, 2012
6:20 pm
Mark Richt: 3-15 against ranked teams, since 2009!
The new normal
November 14th, 2012
6:25 pm
Mark Richt owns Florida,auburn and tech and the SEC
Get used to it hater nerds.
BigJim
November 14th, 2012
6:30 pm
Hey the new normal…you kidding? Mark Richt OWNS DIV II and unranked opponents…like FL Atlantic, Idaho, and the like. He LOSES to ranked teams! Just look at his record: 3-15 against ranked teams, since 2009! Facts don’t lie!
BigJim
November 14th, 2012
6:32 pm
Mark Richt’s SEC Championships: 2002, and 2005. Since then…he’s beaten many unranked, unknown teams…like UL Lafayette. Against ranked teams…he’s been far, far less successful. Looks like we’ll be back in the Capital One Bowl…AGAIN! They should call that bowl the MARK RICHT BOWL!
49-40-2 Dawgs still own Florida
November 14th, 2012
7:18 pm
FSU is gonna beat Florida like a rented mule.
49-40-2 Dawgs still own Florida
November 14th, 2012
7:24 pm
BigJim
Facts don’t lie!
Here’s a fact, We beat the last ranked team we played, Number two ranked Will Turncoats Gators,
that’s all the matters right now, kinda like the Gators wouldn’t you say, football wasn’t invented until 1990.
WestOfAthens
November 14th, 2012
8:36 pm
Has been a long time since a true Dawg fan can immerse themselves in the thought, the thought that this team has a chance. Have that opportunity, to just have that chance. After ‘02 ‘05. and most recent ‘07.
We remember how those unbeaten’s fared in ‘07 right? Who says it cant happen again.
It’s that chance, and it may come soon. Just take care of your business Dawgs, maintain. This team is special, ‘07 deja vu?
AAAAA Athens Bail Bonds R Us
November 14th, 2012
8:50 pm
Any more dawgs arrested today?
SOUTHGADAWG88
November 14th, 2012
10:23 pm
UGA beating Bama wouldn’t be an upset.I don’t know what Alabama team some of you guys have been watching,but they have a good team not a great one.They really should be 0-2 against the two good teams they played this year.
GaterHater
November 14th, 2012
11:55 pm
UGA needs to focus on Bama. On another note, Georgia would run all over OR, KS, or notre lame, and shut down their offenses. THEY have the weak schedule. Oregon’s highest ranked opponent will be stanford…..It’s great they can run the score up on the nobodies, but lets get real.
Hugh
November 15th, 2012
6:29 am
Aaron Murray and UGA’s OL are again rolling over the SEC cupcakes. Yes, Murray beat Florida with a less than stellar performance, but he still has the “big game” monkey on his back. UGA needs to focus on the things it can control – like how to coach Murray through the Bama game. If they go into the game thinking they have a red hot QB who’s going to torch the Tide, they are in big trouble. Murray’s still a freshman when it comes to winning big games. The trick is to get Murray to listen. Give him passes he can complete. Convince him he MUST check down to his running backs when his WRs are covered. Convince him that he cannot force the ball into coverage. Richt and Bobo have two more games to break down Murray’s over-sized ego and then coach him up to protect the football. If he makes stupid mistakes against GSU and Tech, he needs his ass chewed out in public. It’s not too late to coach this kid. If they do their job, and get his attention, they have a chance to beat Alabama. If they continue to coddle him, UGA will get embarrassed again on national TV. That’s the challenge facing UGA. Forget about those other teams and what they do. Get Murray ready for the game of his life. And for goodness sakes get Murray away from the media. I’m tired of Murray telling us what he must do to win big games. Everyone knows Shay AM needs to do. It’s time for Murray to shut his mouth and start playing like a fourth year QB.
Eddie B.
November 15th, 2012
7:09 am
“It’s a great feeling,” cornerback Sanders Commings said.
Commings said the same thing after beating his girlfriend to a pulp a few months ago.
Commings is the poster boy for the kind of trash that Richt recruits.
tell me again
November 15th, 2012
7:33 am
This UGA team is the team that has gotten better every week. We don’t need to be in awe of anybody. We can hang with the best. All of you haters, don’t you have your own team to talk about or are you over here trying to rain on our parade because your team fell off the radar and into tbe crapper 5 weeks ago? You’re pathetic. Yeah, we need to prove alot: we’re ranked 5th in the BCS and already knocked off the # 2 ranked team in the country. Bring on the next test. Waiting.
Tide ain't rolling and A&M stopped them
November 15th, 2012
7:33 am
Glad to see SSITator Tot is back on the blogs. Missed his/ her rants. Still reeling from Murray to Mitchell and it shows. Ha ha ha ha
Bobo and Richt beat you again. Wow just wow!!!!!
Hey cabbage patch tire on 95 why don’t you continue to bring up and talk about the SC game some more. None of us remember the outcome and need you to enlighten us on why it matters now. Please don’t say it cost us the NC either cause that isn’t even worth discussing. Feel free to acknowledge that it didn’t make a difference in winning the east cause that part is over.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 15th, 2012
8:30 am
Tide aint rolling
Wow we won the east this year; real big accomplishment; tell us who in the east really is that great this year;
It should have been a given that we won this east with our talent; as a matter of fact the talent we have we should be undefeated especially with the schedule we had
Dont get over confident hot shot; we still have bama and possibly a good bowl team to play;
In case you missed it we have only beat one decent team this year
joe jenkins
November 15th, 2012
8:49 am
I hope murray will get to rest the second half of the last 2 games….he has taken a beating this year
Mobile Dawg
November 15th, 2012
9:15 am
Worst thing that could happen to the Dawgs is Murray get hurt. Our HC and QBC haven’t developed a competent back up, would Richt take the red shirt of Mason this late in the season should Murray go down? Welch and LeMay would probably be a disaster against Bama.
Bulldogs for Muschamp Lifetime Contract
November 15th, 2012
9:49 am
Try again. Hutson Mason’s redshirt would be removed in a heartbeat in the SECCG if it meant us winning the game. All the idiotic comments about Richt and Bobo not wanting to win? Are you stupid? Do you honestly think they don’t want to win? If Murray got injured and could not return against Bama in the 2nd quarter, Mason would be in on the next series. He would also then play the bowl game.
God you haters are dumb
Bulldogs for Muschamp Lifetime Contract
November 15th, 2012
9:51 am
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 15th, 2012
8:30 am
Tide aint rolling
Wow we won the east this year; real big accomplishment; tell us who in the east really is that great this year;
It should have been a given that we won this east with our talent; as a matter of fact the talent we have we should be undefeated especially with the schedule we had
Dont get over confident hot shot; we still have bama and possibly a good bowl team to play;
In case you missed it we have only beat one decent team this year
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It is amazing you can get across the street without help. You gripe and moan and groan about past years, past games, how weak this is blah blah blah.
Why don’t you just sit back and watch the games and enjoy the dam season?
We lost to SC. Get over it. We are going to play Alabama for the SEC title. That will determine the success of the season
Dirty Dawg
November 15th, 2012
9:55 am
Obviously, Bill, you’ve never bought a lottery ticket or, at least, have never thought…What if? Of course the odds of Georgia making it to the Championship game are a good deal better than winning the Power Ball, but thinking about it is a natural as anything in life. Sure doesn’t, or better not, mean that you lose sight of the tasks at hand, but you can’t blame em for ‘imagining’.
Bulldogs for Muschamp Lifetime Contract
November 15th, 2012
10:03 am
And as far as the Bobo bashing is concerned
UGA 4th in the nation in yards per play
UGA 1st in the SEC in yards per play
I’ve bashed him too but when the line blocks, our offense is pretty darn good
AltamahaDawg
November 15th, 2012
10:06 am
Really? I was quite durring the first few weeks when we were winning all those games. Cause, That makes perfect sense, that I would shy away from commenting on those victories. And so like me to do that.
How much are you willing to bet on that? Any person in this room knows what BS that is.
I think the spread sheet you apparently are keeping on my post frequency might be flawed since you were a virtual ghost in here till we lost a game.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 15th, 2012
10:12 am
Bulldogs for Muschamp Lifetime Contract
Im over the SC game sport; the problem I have and what gets me is you and the rest of the yahoo’s on here want to talk about this so called great turn around our coaching staff has done and now we are back on track blah blah blah
back on track? Really this year we have only played 3 teams with a winning record and one of them is Vandy the other we couldnt even score a TD and FL gave us 6 turnovers with our offense not being able to do anything;
im glad to see us where we are with our record but what gets me is everyone is surprised at this so called turn around season; when I said before the season started we would should easily go 11-1 this year but frankly we should go undefeated with the talent and schedule
let see just how good we are against bama and the team we play against in the bowl before we say we are moving forward in the right direction;
1 victory over a top 20 team in 4 yrs is not enough to say we are back on track and heading in the right direction
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 15th, 2012
10:14 am
I posted way more than you before we lost the SC game River boat captain
Tide ain't rolling and A&M stopped them
November 15th, 2012
10:18 am
Have to agree with Muschamp for life on this one tire patch. Grass is always greener with you bro but outside of Bama I have to imagine their isn’t a fan base in the SEC that is perfectly happy with where they sit thus far in 2012 and bama is coming off a tough loss at home to a team that already lost at home to Florida and LSU. So I imagine that isn’t all that thrilling.
Can’t go back and fix Columbia but can move on and everyone but you and SSI has. Your flirtation with that dude is odd. He bad mouths coaches and a program that has beaten his new regime two years running. Scoreboard is my counter to that. Nuff said!
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 15th, 2012
10:26 am
Tide ain’t rolling and A&M stopped them
We will see just how fast everyone has really moved on if we lose to another top 10 team in 3 weeks or if we happen to beat bama (which by the way with our talent that shouldnt be such a hard task) and lose in the bowl game again
Yea we will really see how far the fanbase moves on like they did last year when we beat 10 unranked teams and lost to all the good teams
AltamahaDawg
November 15th, 2012
10:27 am
That is simply an outright LIE,(and everybody knows it) but either way, who really cares? Not even sure why you bring it up so often.
Bulldogs for Muschamp Lifetime Contract
November 15th, 2012
10:34 am
6-7
10-4
11-1
That’s not a turnaround?
That 6-7 team would have gone about the same record wise this year.
McGarity could have fired Richt and not given him a chance. We were all saying to clean house. But he didn’t. Richt came through.
I don’t get how that is not a turnaround