In a fight to the finish, Georgia shows it can punch back
Whoosh! Branden Smith scores on an end-around. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Athens — We learned something about these Bulldogs on Saturday night. We learned that they might not be as gifted or as polished as vintage Georgia teams, but we learned that they still have Bulldog-sized hearts.
Yes, they played better — at least on offense and on special teams — than they had in Stillwater, but the revelation was that they played infinitely harder. They could never quite shake South Carolina, but if not for their resolve they wouldn’t have exited with a careening victory. They’d have left 0-2.
And an 0-2 Georgia team would have touched off a hue and cry unlike any raised since Mark Richt came north from Tallahassee. We know from the week just past that even one loss is enough to set off Bulldog Nation. (”Bench Joe Cox!” “Fire Mike Bobo!” “Hire Jon Gruden!”) A second loss so soon into the 2009 season would brought the even bigger heat. And there were long and scary moments when a second loss seemed a distinct possibility.
They trailed 17-7 early, and if not for a Brandon Boykin kickoff return it would have been worse. Then they squandered 14 points off a 15-point lead by snapping the ball out of the end zone and by throwing the ball to the outrageously talented Acworthian Eric Norwood, who plays for South Carolina, and inside the final minute there was no assurance 0-1 wouldn’t become 0-2.
It was 41-37 with 6:13 left when Carolina took the ball, and within every Bulldog fan’s mind danced something other than sugarplums. Georgia would have to bank on its defense to halt somebody with the game on the line, and we all know what Georgia fans think of their defense and its coordinator. But this time the men of Willie Martinez made their stand.
Inside the Georgia 10-yard-line, inside the final 30 seconds, Carolina throwing for the end zone, and the men of Martinez held up their end. Stephen Garcia’s final two passes fell incomplete, neither of them great throws, but neither were directed toward a receiver left unencumbered. The indomitable Rennie Curran foiled the last throw, and in the end nothing much mattered except the rather astonishing score:
Georgia 41, South Carolina 37.
Loading ...Joe Cox, the quarterback deemed insufficient to requirements by some among his constituency, had a nice enough game except for one regrettable interception. He kept Georgia moving after it fell behind early, and when it was 38-23 Cox seemed to have put the Gamecocks away. But then a bad snap became a safety, and then there came a field goal, and then Norwood’s interception return for a touchdown, and suddenly it was tied.
Except it wasn’t. DeAngelo Tyson, a sophomore defensive end from Statesboro, blocked the automatic PAT, and Georgia still held the skinniest of leads. That’s the kind of play a defensive end doesn’t figure to make, a quick turnaround after the opposing D has just scored, but Tyson threw up his hand and kept the Bulldogs in front by being, not to put too fine a point on it, a bulldog.
And that’s what Georgia fans could and should take from this one. This isn’t a great team by any measure, but it was never going to be. What was troubling about falling to 0-1 was how readily the Bulldogs succumbed to Oklahoma State (which just lost to Houston — yikes). What we needed to see this night wasn’t if Georgia was the nation’s most gifted assemblage — it isn’t — but if it still can play the full-tilt brand of football that made this program famous.
It took a while, both literally and figuratively in a game that lasted four hours, but we have our answer. There’s still fight in these Dawgs. These 1-1 Dawgs.
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539 comments Add your comment
Zach
September 13th, 2009
1:03 pm
Take away a pick 6, two fumbles inside the 30, and a botched snap on a punt and there’s 18 points. Give Willie a break.
Oledawg
September 13th, 2009
1:04 pm
1-0 in SEC play! What’s not to like?
Sleddog-Good comments 12 hrs ago. Good Dawg!
BugKiller- You can’t even fool your own Suckbuggers.
Joe’s first game heroics lasted 5 mins. This one lasted all night. You naysayers should reflect back a year to the dildo interceptions thrown by Staff. Name a bigtime QB and I’ll name you one who has thrown interceptions. You have to go way back in college ball to find streaks of passing excellence without an interception. David Greene was one. Interceptions are part of the game. Can’t understand how Martinez let him throw it. Just get rid of them both, I guess. Some of you jerks make me ill. Go back to the hole you crawled from and shut your yaps. Your anti-UGA rant is low life and unwelcome on this victory blog. We will get to your fuzzy butts soon enough.
Special teams showed up in various colors, but we seem to have a bunch of winners all over the place. My preseason opponent fear is about to come about. Snead is a good athlete and top QB with good receivers. We have more and I’m looking forward as to how we use them this weekend. I think that outdoor smoked pork sounds pretty good.
UGAVII- Keep a tight one this weekend. The suspense and frustration will be heightened. No crotch biting, please. Do you know how your breed got started? To hunt and bring down wild pigs. Your team will show you how this weekend. Sic’em Dawgs!!
To all the great Dawg Heros this weekend–Congratulations!!
Jeff
September 13th, 2009
1:11 pm
Bench Joe Cox! Fire Mike Bobo! Hire Jon Gruden!
Jeff
September 13th, 2009
1:14 pm
Wait, I forgot one: Fire Willie Martinez!
Jeb
September 13th, 2009
2:02 pm
Sorry Coach Smith that I don’t understand football the way you do. Good luck with your game today because i’m sure your coaching one of the pro teams. I wasn’t just talking about the 3 episodes you noted. The D hardly ever gets a 3 and out with the bend don’t break brand of play. I was lucky enough to be a freshman back in 1980 at UGA and was spoiled by great Defense and great running. I’ll sign off now since im just another dumbA$$ who should not be trying to hang with the pros who love to throw out the little barbs to others.
Mackdknife
September 13th, 2009
2:23 pm
As usual, Bulldogs, home field advantage, and refs combine for a squeaker.
USC looked like the much better team……..
Shane
September 13th, 2009
2:50 pm
Thanks Jeb. One less moron on here if you leave.
dont let the door hit you in the
GR82BAG8R
September 13th, 2009
2:54 pm
Coach Smith has an interesting interpretation of an “elite program”. Look to your South about 200 miles and you will see one. Two NCs in three years, another coming this year. Dream on.
Next year we will re-load. Georgia will once again sign a top-10 recruiting class, have a lot of pre-season hype and expectation, and then collapse again. You know it’s going to happen. You see it coming. You just can’t do anything about it.
Jeb
September 13th, 2009
3:15 pm
Don’t think I was talking to you there Shaney boy. Keep your nose stuck to Coach Smiths you know what.
Jeb
September 13th, 2009
3:20 pm
Shane + Smith = Democrat
Jeb
September 13th, 2009
3:22 pm
2 less if you both leave
GatorNation
September 13th, 2009
3:41 pm
If and buts were candy and nuts you guys would be a damn good team. Back to reality. Your defense sux so bad, well I can’t even go there. I would get tired of typing. You guys are lucky you even won. USCe sux almost as bad as you do. 37 points given up to an at best mediocre team. Before you UGA dawg fans start clamering about UF playing no one yet., we’ll see in Gainsville, won’t we? Let’s just put it this way. With all the great recruiting you’ve done over the last decade you guys should not even be in this position of mediocrity. Yes, Carroll does have it right. Play your best guys. Cox in no way is the best QB on your roster. If Ritch insist on playing him you’re in for a long year. It only gets harder from here. Good luck guys you’re going to need it. Oh yeah, Houston beat OSU 45-35. Man, that just makes it worse. UGA 10 points against them, HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!
Call it Like It Is
September 13th, 2009
3:51 pm
Punch back?
You gotta be kidding me. A game that should have been won by SC if they would have had any talent.
Bottom line, the Dogs STINK and will be lucky to win 7 games this year!
Gators win another SEC and NC!
Enough Said!
GT4Ever
September 13th, 2009
4:00 pm
How can you AZZ sniffers be happy with this win. Oh yeah, there might not be any more on the horizon. CPJ has it right, how can anyone one be happy with a crappy win like that. Give up 37 points to a team that only scored 7 points against an ACC team. Man, you guys are living in la-la land. You have too many great palyers on this roster to be almost 0-2. I expect more out of you and you should too. If Ritch’s happy with this then he’s a fool. CPJ will not stand for us to be this sloppy. Ritch is too nice. I guess that’s why we’re 2-0 and you guys are 0-2, oh I mean 1-1. Butch up and start play some dang football. I don’t want you guys to come to town 5-6. GO JACKETS!!!!
GT4Ever
September 13th, 2009
4:05 pm
dan
September 13th, 2009
12:06 am
BugKiller,
USC looked like crap in that game! The running game with Joel McKnight totally bailed Barkley out on. Yeah USC won, but you act like their win was that much more impressive than UGA’s and it wasn’t. USC has got a lot of work to do as well.
Despite what you say you and everyone else knows OSU is sooooo much better than USC east could ever be. Granted Barkley is a Frosh but he stepped up when it counted. You can even compare the two games. USC and OSU in the top 10 with UGA and USC mid pack SEC teams. CRAZY!!!!!
coach smith
September 13th, 2009
4:32 pm
GT4Ever
LOL
did you not see the problems with YECK’s win? Without that BS holding call youd’ve lost a game you were winning 24-0…go worry about your own team
DAWGS 73
Georgia doesn’t need morons like you cheering for them. OBJECTIVE people who understand football can look at games, positions, situations and make EDUCATED observations about what happened and what needs to be fixed (not saying some things don’t need WORK)…….
BUT we can do it without being KNEE-JERK-LUNATIC-FRINGE-FANTASY-PLAYING-VIDEO-GAMER-KNOW-NOTHING-ABOUT-REAL-FOOTBALL-MORONS like yourself and many others who think they know everything because when they sit their beers down and pick their remote up off their HUGE guts they rewind the DVR again and again they become experts and complain about what they would’ve done
GR82BAG8R
Sorry brother BUT Georgia IS AN ELITE PROGRAM…over the past 8 years Georgia is 2nd…let me repeat 2nd in the COUNTRY in WINS behind USC
That is a consistantly elite program…it just is
Why does that bother you? Florida is an elite program too. So is LSU, USC, Ohio St, Texas, Oklahoma, and maybe one or 2 others
you know that becuase year in and year out these team win 10+ games and are always in the top 10-15
Not Disappointed
September 13th, 2009
4:47 pm
I think the pups fell in the polls becuase of Okie State lost to U of Houston rather than the close call with “Old Ball Coach.” Nevertheless, I rather have an ugly win anyday over losing the game. The pups will have a decent year. See ya in Novemeber. “Hey, it was a good week for the state of Georgia Football!”
Ga Tech, UGA & Atlanta Falcons all won! How often does that happen.
Ramblin Wreck!
honest
September 13th, 2009
4:51 pm
I know that is too late to read this but after last night’s game I have truely converted to a dawg fan. I have been heartbroken to many times watching the dawgs pull victory out of sure loses. I will b at Dicks’s tomorrow buying ga shirts jerseys and hats and will never pull against GA again.
Exley DAWG
September 13th, 2009
5:04 pm
Im amazed at the whiners on this blog. Dawgs win and all you hear on this site is a bunch of complaining. Yes it was an ugly win but I’ll take it. Get behind this team or shutup! Cox showed improvement. The idea of preparing for next year by puuting in ANOTHER inexperienced QB when we are only 2 games into this thing is freakin’ rediculous people. I may be crazy but I still want to do great things THIS YEAR! A bunch of idiots who think they shoud be the coach.
RabidDawg
September 13th, 2009
5:10 pm
GatorNation, are you genuinely that illiterate? If you’re a Gator fan, shouldn’t you at LEAST know how to correctly spell the name of the town where the university is located? Secondly, shouldn’t you be aware of the fact that the UF – UGA game is played in Jacksonville? Let me guess – you wear jean shorts, sport a mullet haircut, reside in a musty trailer and stock shelves at Wal-Mart.
icedawg
September 13th, 2009
5:13 pm
The Dawgs may have fight left in them, however, to supposedly have sequential years of stellar recruiting then talent should not be the mitigating factor. If these first two games are any indication of the rest of the season then it won’t take much imagination to figure out what the outcome will be. I was reluctant to admit it last year but the coaching is the weakest link, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Yes, they stopped SC when it counted but they allowed SC to run and gun up and down the field at will. It was SC that shot themselves in the foot, not UGA. I hope Coach R. is hunting for a defensive replacement. We have not seen the Junyard Dawgs since VanGorder. We will not successfully compete for the championship with mediocre defense. This could be a disappointing year in spite of this victory.
MrDan
September 13th, 2009
5:28 pm
Enter your comments her
Mark, read your 9/8 commentary in the early edition AJC this morning up in Clayton. Really appreciate your doing what you can to put things in perspective: it’s just a game. Joe Cox could have transferred, loved UGA, chose to stay. He deserves to start every game if Richt so chooses. After reading a few of the meaningless comments from last week’s game, something became quite clear. Instead of ‘end of life counseling’ Obama and his cronies in congress should re-write the health care bill and include ‘get a life counseling’ for a lot of these so-called Georgia “fans”.
RabidDawg
September 13th, 2009
5:31 pm
Amen, icedawg. That defense has some serious issues and WM didn’t learn one darn thing from the total melt downs we witnessed last year. Florida will absolutely have a field day with UGA. LSU will shred that swiss cheese “defense”. UT may also thump UGA if Crompton is on target. Heck, even the lowly GT offense could put up big numbers this year. Why CMR retains WM is very befuddling; he should have been sent down the road last year. Most importantly (as in the case with Phat Phil) it could cause CMR’s demise because he is so loyal to his inept coaching staff. A 7 win season will put tremendous pressure on CMR to make some long overdue changes. We can only hope!!
Cuz
September 13th, 2009
5:32 pm
Coach Smith I know football. I drove one of the UGA team buses from 81-85. So I know what I am talking about. Just kidding except I did drive a team bus. You can put me down as a fan-atic. A Dawg fan-atic. Thick or thin, lose or win, I love the Dawgs. That is why my glasses are shaded red and I am a blind Homeric philosopher.
Of course having a life other than living vicariously through the team helps also.
One last thing. Living withing sight of the state of South Carolina I can tell anyone that this is the second biggest game on USCe’s schedule. Look at all the Gamecock players that are from the state of Georgia. They have something to prove every year. A pity most of the rest of the Bulldawg Nation does not understand that point.
Jeb
September 13th, 2009
6:11 pm
If WM cared about his good friend he would step down and not put Mark in a situation that Richt is not comfortable dealing with. I don’t think alot of people are blowing sunshine Martinez way and he has to know that a majority of the Georgia fans are unhappy with the Defense progression over the past 4 years. Why stress out your best friend when you can give him an easy way out.
joseph
September 13th, 2009
6:11 pm
worst prepared team i have ever seen ga field
Cuz
September 13th, 2009
6:13 pm
I guess in the spirit of brotherly love we could get a t-shirt with UGA and GT, 2009 South Carolina Co-Champions. I think we use two color schemes. White and “Logan” grey.
Jerry Mathers as the Beaver
September 13th, 2009
6:33 pm
Gee Wally, I don’t understand why you think Eddie is so cool, all he does is cut down our school, are you sure he is really for UGA. Sure Beav, he just gets a little excited when things don’t go the way he wants it. He starts yelling for the coaches head, and wants to kill the players. Then Lumpy comes in from Atlanta and starts talking about how great a game his dad’s school played and that gets him further excited. Well Beav, look at it like this. Eddie looks like Coach Spurrier, and Lumpy is a lot like Coach Johnson.
Ward enters, boys, did you know that UGA allowed 37 points. Sure dad, says the Beav, but the defense only gave up one drive, and Eddie, I mean Coach Spurrier seemed happy to swap UGA td’s for field goals. Well son, the only thing that looked bad to me was the special teams. Yeah dad the boys chimed in. Meanwhile Eddie headed back to the Graveyard of Coaches over in Columbia
Fergit Hayul
September 13th, 2009
6:34 pm
YEEEHAWWW !!!! How many postins ya reckon we got goin heah ?
GATORMAN 722
September 13th, 2009
6:37 pm
coach smith
Florida is not looking for a top 10 finish.
The gators are expecting a conference championship and a chance to be national champions.
At Florida we count championships and not top 10 finishes.
Jeb
September 13th, 2009
6:43 pm
Amen, there Gatorman, soon you may need two hands to count them all while we rejoice in our 10 win seasons. Hope we kick your butts but it sure must be nice to be a Gator fan under big Tim Tebow.
41 38 49 38 45 24 37
September 13th, 2009
6:43 pm
Mark Bradley…….. I think you mean UGA can hold its breath instead of punching back1
FAF
September 13th, 2009
6:44 pm
I think this board must be populated by Tech fans posing as Dawg fans…fire Richt? One of the winningest coaches in the history of NCAA footabll in his first 8 years and geting those wins in the SEC? Bench Cox? A guy who led the team to 45 points against a stout SC defense? Last week some of you guys were moaning about Samuel – all of a sudden no comments about his game this week…he was a stud. This team will get better and better as each week rolls on and will surprise us — did you see the young talent out there last night – man, we are loaded. Branden Smith is Percy Harvin-ish…some of you guys have to be Tech fans…fire Richt? Tech will have have half a dozen coaches before CMR retires…as for Martinez, well, I am not a fan of his and I think he is a legitimate concern for our program. Next week is Arkansas – GO DAWGS!
Dis-gusta's Finest
September 13th, 2009
6:44 pm
Oh yeah ? Well at Georgia we count to TEN. Sometimes successfully.
GaBiker
September 13th, 2009
6:47 pm
The dancing in the end zone by the 4 Georgia players was pathetic. From looking at them, you would think they just won the NC instead of beating a team that basically beat themselves. This team has absolutely NO discipline. You don’t see this crap on other teams. I hope they enjoyed the win. Now the schedule gets tough. I hope this is a productive week at practice and the dawgs get serious.
SOS Dawg
September 13th, 2009
6:47 pm
You blind homers still dont get it that we were playing South Carolina. We should hang a half a hundered on them every year!
Betting FBCC: Atlanta Falcons » UGA curbs steer tailgaters away
September 13th, 2009
6:47 pm
[...] Bulldogs show some bite We learned something about these Bulldogs on Saturday night. We learned that they might not be as gifted or as polished as vintage Georgia teams, but we learned that they still have Bulldog-sized hearts. [...]
Starfish Dawg
September 13th, 2009
6:55 pm
I sure hope we can close or squeeze up them gaps in our pass defense! We were violated all night.
Starfish Dawg
September 13th, 2009
6:59 pm
I sure hope we can close or squeeze the gaps in our pass defense!
SOS Dawg
September 13th, 2009
7:02 pm
Im ready for some mid field logo stomping at Vandy this year!
bulldogfan
September 13th, 2009
7:17 pm
Great win for the Bulldog Nation! I can’t believe that we all watched a different game. The game I watched featured a DAWG defense that stayed on the field for almost 11 of the first twelve minutes. This game could have got way out of hand. I believe Willie is doing what he has to do; our DB’s are undersized and some are inexperenced thus forcing Willie to play a lot of Cover 2. For the most part it was successful; I don’t believe that the defense gave up a pass over 20 yards in the first quarter. I would like to see more Cover 2 Man on 3rd downs and put more pressure on the quarterback earlier in the game because the four man rush was not working. This game should have been a blowout; we kept them in the game early. The two turnovers hurt us but both players redemmed themselves. Everyone needs to get off of Cox’s back, he got the job done Period.
Starfish Dawg
September 13th, 2009
7:18 pm
I mean the underneath stuff was killin us!
Yellow Fuzz
September 13th, 2009
7:28 pm
“Georgia Tech moved up one spot to No. 14 (AP), while Georgia dropped two places to No. 23″.
hahahaha
I don’t know why everyone hates georgia so badly.
ovadatop34
September 13th, 2009
7:28 pm
What in the world are we doing? SC could not stop our run up the middle. We get a lead and start playing like we are behind. Sam was bringing it last night and we only give him 15 carries? No need to fire anyone…just RUN THE BALL!!
Yellow Fuzz
September 13th, 2009
7:37 pm
((((( almost 0-2 ))))) Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Cuz
September 13th, 2009
7:44 pm
Say Fuzz, what do you think of my Co-champions T-shirt. Sure it is not as shiny as a ring, but it would be great for yard work.
Cuz
September 13th, 2009
7:46 pm
SOS, you underlook the importance of the game with USCe by USCe. When was the last time we blew them out?
jason
September 13th, 2009
7:47 pm
Great game last night. Thrilling, nailbiter right down to the end. I was very entertained. However, this is what we do with the likes of teams such as USCe, and this is why we will win that MNC no time soon. Who is the real UGA team, the one vs. OSU or vs. the Cocks? We have the most overarted set of DTs in the country. Could not get pressure on Garcia all night. We let hi slow arse run up and down the field much like the OSU kid did. We have LBs that do not know how to zone the middle of the field. How do you not see a big arse 280lb TE running across the middle of the field all alone? For all the talent that Braden Smith has, he is dumb as a box of rocks. How many times is he going to return a KO 7 yrds. deep in the endzone, but oh yeah the reverse for a TD was nice. I would not let him return KOs any more this year. We got beat to death underneath all night by a Spurrier coached inept and talentless team. Oh but wait USCe plays in the mighty SEC. The even Mightier SEC East. They scored one freakin TD last week early in the first quarter on TO by NCSU inside the 10 yard line. That was all they could muster. Well, move on over UF. apparently NCSU has the best D in the country now, to what , stop the best O in the counttry in USCe. Our was not that great. We were set up in great field position most of the night, with an excellent return game. Cox still shows a weak arm, and still shows to make plays that a 5th year Senior should not make (int/ Norwood). Both Coordinators should be fired. Why the hell does Samuel keep disapearing in the middle of games. Is he pulling a Knowshown and taking himself out? That kid was running players over left, right, and up the middle. Poof, just like that he was gone for what seemed like half the game. UA got the better WR last year. Green already has like 3 drops and a fumble already. Funny, don’t hear him being criticized at all.
CMR is not going to take us any higher. We have gone as far as we can with him. He has time and time again let UGA show up unprepared and not ready to play. I blame him, because he hires and fi–, well he just hires the asst. coaches.
Not to be all negative, Cox did show some good things. He is what he is, and that is a clock mgr. He has guts; to get up after that sack… and he has fire. He was in Jones ass after that bad snap in SG formation. Leave him in if so choose, but if so we will need Samuel running as he did Sat. night. More props to Moore, King, and Charles. They played outstanding. Charles will be replacing White as starter soon. The talent is there. What we need is some serious upgrades in coaching, and it all starts with CMR. Once the coaching gets shored up, UGA will be fine. If not, UGA will lose 5 or more this year.
jason
September 13th, 2009
7:48 pm
bulldogfan, If USCe knew what the endzone looked like inside the redzone, it would have gotten out of hand.
bulldogfan
September 13th, 2009
8:04 pm
The defense held them out of the endzone in the second, third, and FOURTH QUARTER. And thats after being on the field for like 50+ snaps. Thats like a game and a half. The defense played good and I think they’ll get better with experience if we can stay healthy.