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
dandydawg
September 12th, 2009
11:30 pm
Yes, Mark,… that makes sense. Had we lost this game.. there would be no tomorrow for us Dawg Fans. Can you imagine all the Tech fans just eating us alive…
Paul Johnson
September 12th, 2009
11:31 pm
Hey Coach Richt,
Just drawing up crap in the sand? Tell Coach Martinez he better sharpen that defensive playbook a little bit.
JacketFan
September 12th, 2009
11:31 pm
OSU fans are in tears … I think Tressel is crying too.
sleddawg
September 12th, 2009
11:32 pm
JacketFan… University of Alaska, Fairbanks, unfortunately has no football team…but when I went there in the mid 80’s, we did get together and play one house vs. another.Good times… even IF it was hovering about 10 above. Now My beloved Nanook Hockey team… they’d put up a helluva fight.
Cuz
September 12th, 2009
11:33 pm
We lose, fire everybody. We win, fire everybody. You people really suk. Jump off the bandwagon, I need more elbow room.
Zzzzzzzzzzzz
September 12th, 2009
11:33 pm
Good thing you didn’t play Houston today
JacketFan
September 12th, 2009
11:34 pm
AP TOP 5 ON MONDAY:
1 USC
2 FLA
3 TX
4 BYU
5 AL
BraveCat
September 12th, 2009
11:35 pm
And the Dawgs are proud of this?!?!? Geez. Typical of the mindset. I find it funny. I like the bulldog, UGA XXX or whatever, but the fans are obnoxious. I am so glad it will be an ugly season for Richt and the Dawgs fans. Not the actually players………….they are innocent. I hate barking fans. How stupid, When YA’LL playin’ the Gators and the TIDE?!?!?!?!? HAHAHAHAHA
JacketFan
September 12th, 2009
11:36 pm
Sleddog-that’s awesome! I actually wanted to go to school up there (degree in Petroleum Eng), I just don’t think I could handle those dark days of winter. Beautiful country though.
Cuz
September 12th, 2009
11:38 pm
Hey Mark I noticed the game blog had almost fifteen hundred comments. Is that a new record?
Finchdawg
September 12th, 2009
11:39 pm
Tyson is a DT, not a DE.
ArmstorngDawg
September 12th, 2009
11:39 pm
CPJ would not be thanking his luck starts for winning this game, he would have been po’ed. I want to see our guys with fire, and someone up their azz!
Cuz
September 12th, 2009
11:39 pm
Bravecat, go clean your litter box.
Larry
September 12th, 2009
11:40 pm
Willie Martinez stinks. John Fabris stinks. Even Mike Bobo and Joe Cox stink a little. This team (not just this year) is in deep trouble until Richt cleans house; otherwise, we are doomed to mediocrity. Our defensive line didn’t make an effort to penetrate ONCE in the entire game; that’s truly offensive.
NewbombTurk
September 12th, 2009
11:40 pm
Someone step on BugKiller. Either that, or dress him in yellow and send him to North Avenue. His whining is hurting my ears.
gabeaux
September 12th, 2009
11:40 pm
Hip hip hooray!!! We beat a so so team!!!
Jon P
September 12th, 2009
11:40 pm
GAGRAD05…I think that when “you are” is what you mean that it’s spelled you’re and not your…anyway, UGA grad (93) to UGA grad (05), I think that I got tired of watching SC keeping throwing to WIDE OPEN receivers over and over again. It’s a soft zone and it almost cost us the game. We’ve got the talent, now we need the coaching. Coaching matters! Look at Ole Miss…couldn’t win a game to save their lives with Coach O, enter Houston Nutt and they go 9-4 and beat Florida. Now they look very good and very talented. Is there some magic formula? Nope, just good coaching. Ole Miss has it, we don’t. Willie must go.
JacketFan
September 12th, 2009
11:41 pm
ACC: 9-1 in non-conference play today … thank God!
45ACP
September 12th, 2009
11:41 pm
Dang boy. Give it a rest.
Jump on the Southern Cal bandwagon and leave us poor dumb rednecks alone.
BraveCat
September 12th, 2009
11:41 pm
I did…..I only found DAWG poop
CHARLOTTE DAWG
September 12th, 2009
11:41 pm
We made that game much moe interesting than it had to be. but still, if you think about it, the defense didn’t give up that many points in the second half. It was Cox’s interception for a TD, over the head snap, and other blunders by the offense and special teams that almost did us in. Just seems like Georgia can’t stand prosperity. Or they are snake bit.
We are now officially an average team.
sleddawg
September 12th, 2009
11:41 pm
Lived up there 17 years… Graduated HS there, outside of Fairbanks in a town called North Pole. You get used to the dark days of Winter…Lots of drinking helps… Can’t hardly beat the summers up there though. You are right, Beautiful. You shoulda gone. good school. Def Hockey town though. Nothing like a full arena of drunk students and locals at a hockey game.
Dawgsarenumber?
September 12th, 2009
11:41 pm
Cox needs to be sideline coach….gray or murray now…not later…we have to have more than a short zone threat. we have to have legs plus pass. Good to see some passion…turnovers and mistakes hurt as usual.
Never Turn Down A Win
September 12th, 2009
11:41 pm
I am glad we won but if this game does not prove Willie Martinez needs to go then I dont think anything will
senoiadawgs
September 12th, 2009
11:42 pm
Thank goodness we came out 1-1. With that said, here is what I think:
My god those young kids. Samuel thank you for coming out and playing with fire. Obviously you didn’t like people calling you weak. So Samuel comes out with fire and what does our OC do. Sit him on the sideline? Brilliant!!!! AJ Green, thank you for coming to UGA, sorry Stafford left and the coaches do not put in a QB who can get the ball to you beyond 5-10 beyond the field.
I see Marlon Brown finally got in the game with six minutes left. He sure does have the body type for a great one.
Smith gets a touchdown and sees the ball one more time on offense. Brilliant…
Boykin returns a kick for a touchdown and then sits out the next kick off. Brilliant…
Cox, my goodness I am sorry I just can’t say anything good about this guy. Less than 10 yard passes I think every ball he through beyond 10 should have been picked and was underthrown. Terrible decisions all night and cannot hold on to the ball. Sorry, there is just nothing good I can say about this guy.
I see early in the game someone in Athens got the memo about kicking the ball into the endzone.
Willie oh Willie… Really…
I actually thought the 4 man rush did good tonight expect they let him escape nearly every time but the pressure was there. The guys played 80+ plays they had to be exhausted.
Who in the h$LL SH*& coaches our db’s? What in the crap is this throw your hands up in the face of the receivers? How many int’s could we have had if we played the ball?
Dawg till I die but man this is going to be a long year. At least this brought back the fire Willie. Last week was just a good D performance against a terrible offense. If you watched that UH vs. OSU game you know how bad OSU really is and that makes that loss even worse.
Oh, well no clue what to expect next week but I really look forward to seeing Curran, Smith, Samuel, AJ and the absolute blunders this coaching staff makes.
I really like putting Logan in for one play. That away to get him ready for next year. At least at this pace he will 12 plays under his belt for next year and that QB that is in there is just so darn good.
Oh, on the tube that was one of the best UGA crowds I have ever seen, would have loved to be there.
truth
September 12th, 2009
11:42 pm
a bobo never beats a johnson
David C
September 12th, 2009
11:42 pm
Hey Bugkiller go troll your mobile home park like you usually do on saturday nights
Cuz
September 12th, 2009
11:42 pm
azz, sounds like Armstrong and my friend yellow fuzz are joined at the hip.
Lucky starts? Are those the guys that replace the starter who gets injured?
General Patton
September 12th, 2009
11:43 pm
Houston 45 – AP #5 “Oklahoma St. 35;” UGA produced 10 pts against OK St., the 93rd ranked defense in college football.
OK St. – 24
SC – 37 = 61 pts in two games…Thanks Martinez, Cox, Special Olympic team, and Bobo
BraveCat
September 12th, 2009
11:43 pm
Sleddawg, please no stories about Sarah Palin
GatorHater
September 12th, 2009
11:43 pm
that was funny Zzzzzzzzzzz!!! (sad but true also)
savdawgsince76
September 12th, 2009
11:44 pm
Scary game but a win is a win! The reality is that this year’s team will statistically be one of the worst under Mark Richt’s leadership. Thus far the offense has averaged less than 300 yards of total offense a game and the defense in typical Martinez fashion.. fail to show up two weeks in a row. Not to start a “fire martinez” banter but I do miss the days of Van Gorder’s ‘beat you to the ground defense” In retrospect, we should have never lost to Oklahoma State but the team quit before the game was over. This week I must say that they showed resiliency to at least fight out a victory. Going forward, I agree that the time is now to start either Logan Gray or Aaron Murray. If given the opportunity, Logan Gray could possibly be our version of Colt McCoy if Mike Bobo loosens the reins on the offense. He has demonstrated pocket awareness and has speed as good as some of our current wide receivers. He would present a matchup issue that most teams haven’t seen from us since DJ Shockley. Aaron Murray in my estimation is probably of the Eric Zeier skillset. If we desire to continue to run a conventional FSU offense……. then good luck to Murray. However in 2009 with the skills of AJ Green, Branden Smith, Marlon Brown and Richard Samuel… it time to run a more modernized spread offense. I hope that next week’s game is over in our favor a lot earlier than this one turned out to be. But again…. a win is a win.
Bull butter
September 12th, 2009
11:44 pm
Lucky dogs should have lost.Refs gave game to ga.
stendec
September 12th, 2009
11:45 pm
Time to send Richt, Bobo, Martinez and whoever the Hell the special team coach is packing! Make no mistake. This is a game the Gamecocks lost not one that the Bulldogs won! Feels like a damn loss. Good damn thing the Gamecock quarterback did not glance to his left on that final play! Only worse choke job this night was one by Ohio State Chokeyes on their home field. Sorry dogs! Wait. The same types of sorry animals are also in Athens! Go figure. Damn glad Houston is not on schedule this season! Games only formality now. Season officially trash! Thanks Richt and stooges.
Gravy Train
September 12th, 2009
11:45 pm
Bug, USC Pete had no choice to start Barkley, his other QB was hurt most of the summer. You are a negative nancy kid. Since you like researching trends, take a look at BVG’s numbers since he left UGA high and dry. That’s right, his numbers have progressively worsened. Take a peep at the numbers from Statesboro. Just wait and see what they’ll look like after this season with the Falcons. I question your loyalties. Everyone in America knew this was a rebuilding year, yet you’re on here all of the time poor-mouthing. Ellis Johnson just got torched tonight. Monte Kiffin lost to UCLA. Chavis got burned by Washington last week. Kirby and Muschamp both watched high school offenses challenge them today. Who’s left? If you have a problem stop making the fanbase look bad by making them public. Get your butt off your shoulders, boy!
General Patton
September 12th, 2009
11:45 pm
In “Tagolog,” (language of the Philippines) “Bobo” means “STUPID,” a befitting sir name.
BraveCat
September 12th, 2009
11:45 pm
oh btw………………………GO HOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2009 ACC Champs!
BraveCat
September 12th, 2009
11:46 pm
GO ‘BAMA……………….SEC Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DI
September 12th, 2009
11:46 pm
I was concerned about the DAWGS to tackle..They need to be more aggressive
Cuz
September 12th, 2009
11:48 pm
Joe Cox loses or wins, bench the guy. Is there a pattern here?
sleddawg
September 12th, 2009
11:48 pm
Not even the one about me, her and my GF at the Capt. Cook hotel in Anchorage??? ok…
General Patton
September 12th, 2009
11:49 pm
Where is the passion and heart on this team? The coaches don’t express any anger at blown tackles, assignments or idiotic play…come to think of it, the team mirrors their poor leadership.
Rod
September 12th, 2009
11:49 pm
I don’t know what game you were watching Mark, but COX SUCKED! He is inadequate as a decision maker. He has crazy eyes and gets pised off when he Fs up. Cox was bailed out and it looked like Mark Richt was pised off at COX and has just about had it with him. COX is going to cost us more games and the team can’t keep overcoming his F ups. One more thing, Aaron Murray was the second rated QB in the country. Surely the gap isn’t that big between the #1 Matt Barkley and the #2 Aaron Murray.
Mark Bradley
September 12th, 2009
11:49 pm
I can only imagine the sentiments that would have been reflected on this site if Garcia had completed that final fling.
What happened to “Just win, baby”?
Cuz
September 12th, 2009
11:50 pm
General in Croat, Patton means dipwad. What is your point?
Mark Bradley
September 12th, 2009
11:50 pm
Cuz, I believe 1,500 is a new Bradley record. But not an AJC.com record. DOB’s folks get pretty energized sometimes.
sleddawg
September 12th, 2009
11:51 pm
Mark, put up a poll question on who starts next Sat. vs Arkansas. Cox comes in 4th I’m betting.
senoiadawgs
September 12th, 2009
11:51 pm
Seriously, your darn right win or lose bench Joe Cox, he was one of the main reasons we lost last week and one of the main reasons the game was even close tonight… Seriously if he is the best QB on the roster right now that is reason alone to fire Mark Richt. It’s a disgrace that he is the best QB UGA could put on the field. By the way, I played football before and QB so suck on that Cox!!!!
Bobdawg
September 12th, 2009
11:51 pm
Huge improvement just in the fact that last week we shot ourselves in the foot and never recovered..tonight we kept shooting ourselves in the foot but kept fighting in what was a typical Ga-SC game. Minus the defense between the 20’s for both teams. The talent is there and we fought through a Spurrier change up in his game plan. So much for Darth Visor commiting to the run. A win is a win, the mistakes can be corrected. Its going to be a fun season so lets enjoy the victory and stop picking apart the staff. Getting Justin Houston back will help!!
Pago Flyer
September 12th, 2009
11:53 pm
The DAWGS don’t want Southern Cal, Michigan, Toledo…etc.