What would Elvis say? Dawgs should just TCB!
Mark Richt knows there's only one thing the Bulldogs need to be concerned about right now: Georgia Tech. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
Back when Elvis died, the paper sent me to Memphis and Tupelo. One of the folks I encountered in Elvis’ hometown was a woman who had been close to the King and wore one of those lightning bolt TLC (Tender Loving Care) necklaces he gave his female friends. The equivalent for his male buddies was one that said TCB (Taking Care of Business).
TCB. Those initials stand for words to live by for the Georgia Bulldogs right now. In other words, they need to focus on one thing and one thing only: beating the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets.
Not the upcoming meeting with Alabama in the Georgia Dome.
Not the chances of playing for a BCS national championship if they manage to knock off the Crimson Tide.
Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech.
Mark Richt kept repeating that mantra in his Sunday night teleconference with laser-like focus despite the repeated efforts of reporters to get him to even acknowledge that he’d watched the Baylor-Kansas State or Stanford-Oregon games Saturday night that suddenly catapulted the winner of the SEC Championship back into contention for this year’s BCS showdown in Miami.
Richt refused to be lured off his single-minded conversational track because he recognizes what his team is facing this week.
The biggest challenge for the Dogs as the annual game with Tech approaches is not how to deal with the dreaded triple-option — having schemed for it already the past two years, Todd Grantham has a pretty good idea of what needs to be done there. And after facing the similar (though not identical) Georgia Southern attack, even his freshman players who haven’t gone up against Paul Johnson’s attack before have a much better feel for what they need to do.
No, the first — and, for the moment, the biggest — obstacle the Bulldogs must hurdle if they really want their dreams for this season to come true is shutting out all the SEC Championship and BCS chatter that will be tweeted at them from all sides and working up a full-blooded frenzy of hatred for the team from North Avenue.
Because you can bet the Jackets will come to town fired up even more than usual over the possibility of wrecking the Bulldogs’ postseason goals.
The theme of the week for the Jackets is already being recited by Tech fans on their Internet gathering sites: “WE CAN RUIN THEIR SEASON.”
That has them more excited than even the possibility of stumbling into a spot in the ACC championship game, because 365 days a year the thing that Tech players and fans think about more than anything else is beating Georgia. And if they can ruin a special season while they’re at it, even better.
Of course, you can’t expect Georgia’s players not to be excited by their team’s rise to No. 3 in the latest BCS standings, right behind Notre Dame and Alabama, or the prospect of playing their way into a chance at winning the crystal football.
They’re kids and it’s only natural if some of them come down with a bad case of BCS fever this week.
But what they need to keep foremost in their minds is the cold, hard reality that if they don’t beat Tech they’ll never get a chance at that dream rematch with the Fighting Irish for another national championship.
Sure, they could still win the SEC Championship even if the unthinkable somehow happened Between the Hedges this week, but a two-loss SEC champ isn’t going to play for the national title this year.
As Richt noted Sunday, “That’s the whole key to football is to be able to focus on the only thing that really matters and that’s this week’s game.”
Thankfully, some of the team elders have been quick to note what’s truly important this week. As Alec Ogletree put it after Saturday’s win over Georgia Southern: “We have to get back to practice and focus on this week’s game plan, and then the week after focus on Atlanta. It’s week by week, and we can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
Wide receiver Rhett McGowan probably summed it up best when he tweeted: “Let’s take care of business? Playoffs start now!”
And Georgia Tech is the first step.
FANS BACK IN BLACK?
A movement has started among UGA students to have fans stage a “blackout” at Sanford Stadium for the Tech game.
You can pretty much bet the house that the Georgia team will be in its familiar red home jerseys, but by early Sunday I’d already heard from the UGA Paintline (the guys who paint their torsos for each home game) and other students asking me to spread the word that they want fans to wear black for the game.
What do you think of that idea? A fun way to get everyone revved up, or a needless gimmick? I mean, do we really need any additional enticement to be ready to cheer on the Dogs against the hated insects from Atlanta?
Feel free to share your views in the comments.
Go Dawgs! Beat Tech!
Got some Hate Week thoughts on the upcoming game with Georgia Tech? Or a question you want the Junkyard Blawg to tackle? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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210 comments Add your comment
Smitty
November 19th, 2012
11:51 pm
Electric shaver….are you in charge of the teckies in the basement?
Smitty
November 19th, 2012
11:54 pm
Bosses are on the top floor…..
230gr Full Metal Jacket
November 20th, 2012
12:24 am
1 in 6 Tech grads is a millionaire (FACT!!!)
5 of 6 UGA fans live in trailer parks or their Mommy’s basement.
See a man with a Tech hat on? He probably went to Tech.
See a “man” wearing a UGA hat? He went to the bargain bin at Wal-Mart (which coincidentally, is run by a Tech grad!). You folks that live vicariously through a bunch of children playing a kids game with a ball really crack me up!!
230gr Full Metal Jacket
November 20th, 2012
12:26 am
But I honestly DO wish ya’ll the best of luck in Atlanta against Bama!!! I may not care for the Trembling Chihuahuas, but I absolutely HATE Alabama. Plus I’ll always pull for any in-state school against outsiders!!
Smitty
November 20th, 2012
12:58 am
230gr Full Metal Jacket….what happens to the other 5 out of 6 tech grads……ooops you did not want to bring that up…
Smitty
November 20th, 2012
12:59 am
Most tech grads go back to the country they came from…
Smitty
November 20th, 2012
1:00 am
How many tech students are from Georgia……many 5-6….
Smitty
November 20th, 2012
1:03 am
not to many tech grads come back from India or China to see the games…right?
trueblueeagle
November 20th, 2012
1:09 am
the good word is “TO HELL WITH GEORGIE”
Homeslice
November 20th, 2012
4:35 am
Paul Johnson called Georgia soft
Win P.
November 20th, 2012
6:14 am
“Blackout”=needless gimmick.
A tough game against Tech and then Alabama
November 20th, 2012
6:22 am
Tough thing for the dogs to win both of these – the triple Option followed by Alabama
A difficult or moderately easy win against Tech and then playing Alabama will test the dogs
Going to be fun to watch
Buckeye
November 20th, 2012
6:40 am
Morning dogs
Buckeye
November 20th, 2012
6:40 am
tom brown,
Where you at?
ZinoDawg
November 20th, 2012
7:12 am
I’m wearing RED.
Dawgs 48
Nerds 17
Whiskey Breath
November 20th, 2012
8:07 am
Are you kidding me Bill? You Dogs proclaim yourselves the national champion every August since 1980. There has never been a humble bone in a Ga fan. So you can forget that wish.
Besides, I am going to go out on the limb here and say Richt doesn’t either. He is not buying his own
speech.
Whiskey Breath
November 20th, 2012
8:14 am
So we are a couple of weeks away from the big game. Something tells me this is going to be the same process as the blackout. Step one, show no respect for Alabama. Step 2, Act like the game is just a funeral for Alabama. Step 3 . Treat them like white trash, Step 4 Remind them as Georgia people we are superior mentally and morally. And finnally, put that black jersey back on.
RTR
DawgFan
November 20th, 2012
8:15 am
Why can’t Georgia grow up – when is the last time Alabama had a Crimson-out? bama shows up in those god-awful uniforms, stadium full and loud, and wins. You wanna wear black great. You wanna wear red, great. But be there, be vocal, let’s stomp the bees.
Whiskey Breath
November 20th, 2012
8:25 am
Smitty is right about most Tech Grads go back to the country they came from.
The question is, what does America get out of educating foreigners?
We are getting ripped off.
Ben T
November 20th, 2012
8:41 am
For the love of everything that is holy…please…no dad gum blackout. Foolishness. Trust me when I tell you…an opposing team LOVES to play another that’s worried about black jerseys, dad gum blackouts or funny lookin’ helmet. Good Gracious!
Raiderbeater
November 20th, 2012
8:50 am
BEAT TECH!!!!
I’ll be screaming from section 333…..YOU????????????????
Abnerish
November 20th, 2012
8:54 am
A fan-initiated blackout is not about getting the team fired up, it’s about getting the fans fired up and focused on the game. I’ve been to too many noon starts where the fans (and the team) don’t show up until midway through the 2nd quarter.
If you are going to the game, get your butt out of bed, get to the game early and make noise! If you have tickets but can’t make it to the game, give your tickets to a Dawg fan so they can make noise! Don’t let those tickets go to waste or to a Tech fan (redundant, I know).
Go Dawgs!
Dallas Dawg Fan
November 20th, 2012
9:20 am
What I want most is the fans in the far endzone show up before game time and stay for the game. Looks awful to see open seats for a home game. Just need the stadium to be rocking from kick off to 00:00. I am in for a black out for fans only.
Entrepreneur
November 20th, 2012
9:40 am
Oh my gosh, Georgia. Please keep up the great work. You are national championship material and it looks like you will get to the promise land . You will be National Champions! I for one am exicted about the opportunity. I just ordered a 1,000 bumper stickers to sell in South Carolina. It will read “South Carolina 35 National Champions 7″ Please make it happen Georgia! We both will benefit.
NCDawg
November 20th, 2012
10:10 am
DawgFan… they didn’t win last week. Re-read the article please. Nothing has been said about the team changing uniforms. Nothing. It is about the fans.
UGAGrad01
November 20th, 2012
10:10 am
I don’t oppose the black jerseys for just 1 game a yr if that it what the players want. Fans call it blackout gimmick and make too much drama about it. Other teams wear black (Baylor) every now and then. Plz calm it down about what uniforms they wear and let the players/coaches decide.
NCDawg
November 20th, 2012
10:13 am
*** YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! ***
Before proceeding to make a fool of yourself by wailing about black jerseys and gimmicks PLEASE READ the article. The Blackout is for fans… FANS only.
THANK YOU.
NCDawg
November 20th, 2012
10:23 am
Oh and as an aside. Would we be having this discussion if the Dawgs had WON the Bama blackout game? No. Sad thing is that the Blackout had nothing to do with the results. And it would have nothing to do with winning or losing against Tech. It’s superstition to believe it would have any effect at all.
Alphare
November 20th, 2012
10:25 am
If I am UGA, I don’t care about Tech. I go straight at BAMA and win the SEC title while I can. What’s the last time UGA wins an SEC title? 10 years ago?
If UGA prepares for BAMA for 2 weeks, UGA will have a good shot winning the thing. If you prepare for Tech, then for BAMA of a completely different style, your chance of beating BAMA is considerably diminished.
Alphare
November 20th, 2012
10:30 am
BTW, I don’t work for Tech.
Buckeye
November 20th, 2012
10:34 am
If the dogs are talking “let’s not get ahead of ourselves” they have already gotten ahead of themselves.
It’s as if they are about to break 70 for the first time ( well, second time since last Century). All they have to do is par in from 16.
Let’s the double bogies begin!
Buckeye
November 20th, 2012
10:41 am
Factoid worth repeating:
The dogs are 3-10 vs. ranked (at the time) SEC! SEC! teams since 2008.
Who did they beat?
Vanderbilt
LSU ( Stafford had a great game as I recall)
Auburn ( Chizic is making $3.55M this year for O SEC! SEC! wins)
gomdawg
November 20th, 2012
11:05 am
LET’S TAKE CARE OF GT
GO DAWGS ,THE HELL WITH GT
gomdawg
November 20th, 2012
11:06 am
BUCKEYE YOU CAN’T SAY NOTHING NEW YEAR DAY YOU WILL BE WATCHING NOT PLAYING HAHAHAHAHA
Chris Mike
November 20th, 2012
11:07 am
I’m with Simply Dawg why do we need all those gimikes to win a football game. Just go out there and win the game. Play hard and we will win. Point Blank!
AltamahaDawg
November 20th, 2012
11:12 am
NC Daw,. Thank. , I started to say the same thing this morning, but figured pointing it out twice yesterday was enough for me. Starting to think we are in the Twilight Zone here.
Good heavens people. READ the dang article before you just mimic what somebody else said about uniform changes.
RMikel58
November 20th, 2012
11:17 am
If the fans go crazy the entire game…..Georgia will win!! I Tech hushes the crowd then its not a good sign.
Just be awesome to see Black in Sanford Stadium. From the shoes all the way to the neck in black.
I cant afford to go there but man what an awesome sight to see.
I tell you that if the Bulldogs can get really fired up for this game and extremely focused on Tech and be the same team Defensively like they were in Florida…..it’ll be a long day for Tech.
I know they have it in them to bring that kind of emotion to the game saturday but the question is can they find their MOJO saturday.
My concern from watching last saturdays contest was that Ga. Southern got big gains on the outside because the CB didnt get there in time and the down linemen allowed to get blown out up the middle.
Im sure Tech saw this as well as Grantham and we have got to stop this from the very start because again we give up 300 yds rushing.
Tech is better than Ga. Southern because unlike them they can pass too.
IF we stop the run then we have a better chance of getting an interception because it will make Tech 1 dimensional.
Our Defense will be the key to what happens in the game and i expect Tech to blitz alot so that it can help from exposing their weaknesses on their defense.
Let me just say that our OL has got to open up holes w/o holding for our RB’s but also whoever is in the backfield blocking for Murray please stop trying to cut the legs out of the opposing DE coming off the corners.
Look foolish eating grass as the DE jumps over you into Murray. Be a man and block that guy coming off the edge and stay with him until the whistle blows.
OL pay attention to who youre lining up against because you should always keep a 180deg prerefferial vision on whats going on around you.
I do like that we are starting to use our TE more than before but guys this all comes down to execution and fundamentals of football.
Focus on the task at hand beating Tech because they will have to play a flawless game to beat us in Sanford saturday.
BazookaJoe
November 20th, 2012
11:18 am
As long as we dont do a blackout for SECCG… that didnt work out to well for us the last time we did it (against Bama as well).
Also, ND isnt goingto lose to USC – the starting QB is out for the game and I dont think they have the horses to pull it off (scholly reductions starting to pinch a little ?). And I say this as USC is my second favorite team (my dad went to ND, he and I argued football all the time…).
AltamahaDawg
November 20th, 2012
11:19 am
So if the fans wear black, the players are less likely to go out there and play hard?
Dawgify
November 20th, 2012
11:32 am
I’m wearing red.
undecided
November 20th, 2012
11:34 am
I agree that the black out is neededed to fire up the fans… 100%… Something !!!!
Some are critical of the team looking for GIMICKS to fire them up, …. I’ll be honest…From what Ive seen after visits to 4 other schools…A Gimick is needed to fire up the UGA fans. There has been nothing in Sanford in the way of fan excitement that I have seen in 6-8 trips that would touch an SC, LSU, Bama filled stadium. Fans sit on their hands with mouths shut and create no home field advantage. And BOOOING???
Any home field advantage at a UGA game comes through loud speakers….Want to fire up this team up…. Make some noise… If black is what it takes wear black for gods sake!!
The University of Georgia Tech
November 20th, 2012
11:34 am
come on people……the game definitely means a lot to georgia tech but it also means a lot to uga…if not why schedule ga southern before hand….no mistake they both HATE EACH OTHER! Richt v. PJ is a classic! GT loves PJ but hate option and UGA hates Richt but loves winning!
AltamahaDawg
November 20th, 2012
11:36 am
So, clearly…. some of you folks also have a BIG problem with the “paint line”. The crazies that paint themselves, and wear the red wigs.
undecided
November 20th, 2012
11:36 am
If the fans get off their rears and support the team…. They will play hard.. AD
undecided
November 20th, 2012
11:38 am
PAINT LINE…. now there’s an idea..!!!! A PAINT OUT!!!
AltamahaDawg
November 20th, 2012
11:44 am
Oh my Pookie! Those boy’s look absolutely dreadful. Somebody pleeease go buy those cretans some fitting attire for a sporting event.
AltamahaDawg
November 20th, 2012
11:59 am
Yes, lets all be sure to gather to watch a game that others will be playing, and scream and yell, and make hand jectures in unison, and chant together, and sing songs, and go through all of our gyrations and pagentry wearing our officially licensed logo appearal… BUT please… not all the same color, because you know, that might seem like a “gimmic”.
THWG every day
November 20th, 2012
12:16 pm
I think you DAWG fans are the ones who are delusional, us TECH fans are just hopeful. You’ve played two decent defenses all year (one of which beat your tails) and you think you have the best offense in the SEC? Get real. You played one of the most Nancy schedules in all of the SEC. No doubt Tech’s schedule was weak, but you have proved nothing yet! THWG
Mike Franklin
November 20th, 2012
1:00 pm
I hope it’s okay to share this (credit will follow):
Georgia Tech-Georgia. Also known as “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.” There may be a Governor’s Cup kind of trophy, which is suitably ambiguous because you can’t really make a trophy symbolizing hate.
Series: Georgia leads 62-39-5 and have won 10 of the last 11. But six of the last eight have been one-score games.
…Georgia 48, Georgia Tech 28. Tied at 14 at halftime, panicking Bulldogs fans resume calling for Mark Richt to be fired. But a Yellow Jackets defense that has surrendered 42 or more points four times this season is in over its head and collapses in the second half. Afterward, Georgia fans confidently predict victory over Alabama in the SEC title game and forget the fact that they’ve been itching to fire a coach who is now 21-5 over the past two seasons.”
Credit: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf–dashing-through-college-football-s-latest-bcs-title-scenarios–rivalry-weekend-and-more.html
About sums it up right.
Whiskey Breath
November 20th, 2012
1:02 pm
Hey Bill, I give you mutts plenty to talk about such as the blackout, the least you could do
is keep my post up. I thought you said that was a myth about Ga being a classless fan base?