5 reasons UGA might just have turned the corner
Here's Reason No. 3: A.J. goes awesomely airborne. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
1. Joe Cox is not Joe Tereshinski III. He gave a passing (no pun intended) performance against South Carolina. He made the necessary, if not necessarily artistic, throws. He kept his team moving against what was billed as a big-time defense. He made one egregious mistake — the Eric Norwood interception — but led his team to a vital field goal afterward. He did his job.
2. The men of Martinez made a stop. Actually, the Georgia defense made several. South Carolina didn’t score an offensive touchdown in the second half, and the difference between touchdowns and field goals — the Gamecocks had five – was the difference between this being an Alabama-like blowout and a narrow victory.
3. A.J. Green is the greatest Georgia receiver ever. No amplification required.
4. Branden Smith can really run. Fastest Bulldog ever? Faster than Herschel? Faster than Goldberg? (Kidding.) Just get this freshman the darn ball!
5. The Bulldog spirit returned at full-throated growl. A lesser team would have rolled over twice — when Carolina jumped up 17-7 and after Norwood’s touchdown. But Georgia kept playing, and DeAngelo Tyson’s blocked extra point could be to this season what David Pollack’s sack-and-snatch was to 2002. OK, so that’s a stretch. But Pollack’s famous play saved an essential early game against the Gamecocks, and Tyson’s snuff did the same.
(Rebuttal time: Because this thing could still go either way, we offer 5 reasons Georgia could still be swimming upstream. And also 5 reasons Georgia will — repeat, will — win at Arkansas.)
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183 comments Add your comment
maddawg
September 15th, 2009
10:00 am
how was tech’s win by 3 over Clemson so much more impressive than our win by 4 over SC???
we fell 2 places while they gained 2 spots!!
will someone please explain this????
GratefulDawghead
September 15th, 2009
10:03 am
Sick of watching us in a prevent defense allowing the short pass to work all day long not getting pressure on the QB.
Sound Familiar? Thanks CB!
September 15th, 2009
10:06 am
Richt, Bobo, and Martinez are guilty of poor playcalling and mediocre execution. Unless serious changes are made, the situation in Athens will deteriorate to the realm of mediocrity. And it will become downright hopeless on a national scale and especially in terms of winning a NC. The most basic and fundamental errors are evident throughout Georgia’s offensive and defensive plans, and the only conclusion one can draw is that Richt (whatever he may be as a man of character, or a recruiter), especially with Bobo and Martinez as his coordinators, is not up to the challenge of leading his team past others that equal his in talent. Coach Richt — PLEASE hire PROVEN coordinators. We want you to be our Head Coach! But you have to make the NECESSARY CHANGES. The current coaching staff at UGA is not good enough to win against the national elite and those are the games where coaching really matters. With the resources, facilities, and talent at their disposal Richt, Bobo, and Martinez should be competing for a SHOT at a NC AT LEAST every other year.
Herschel Talker
September 15th, 2009
10:07 am
Mark – giving kudos to Martinez’ defense at this point is recklessly premature. Don’t forget that SC would have hung 50 on them were it not for 2 holding calls that negated TDs. Yes, I know the game would have played out differently, but the point is that the defense played a lot worse than you’re giving them credit for. And that’s against a QB who’s been relatively average and who couldn’t put up a point against NC State except for a drive starting within the opponent’s own 30 yd. line. Tebow will light these guys up.
AltamahaDawg
September 15th, 2009
10:10 am
Acworth, I think that’s what Mark Richt was talking about when he said he knows that looks like slow death at times. I am with you, if the worse we have all year is short passes to the third options underneath, we can survive. And not everyone has got a #88. Would sure help to not commit the foul when you do have it stopped though.
Also it seems to me that we did collapse the pocket all night. We aren’t that far off.
matt r
September 15th, 2009
10:14 am
David Greene won more games than any other college QB by making the necessary but not necessarily artistic throws.
Otto
September 15th, 2009
10:16 am
BJohnDawg, I agree with you point.
Also CWM is not great but is not as bad as many who only post about him would indiicate. Bobo and Fabris also have their hand in the number of points given up. I would be curious to see stats showing number of turnovers given away, average field position for the other team, and average time of postion not per game but per drive (how long does the defense has to rest). I would think CWM’s stats would go up or down with those stated above. Georgiasports. blogspot has some great points on our offense. I am no evil genius but you have to question some of the play selection and players used.
All that said CWM’s defense looked decent considering the amount of time SCar had the ball thank to turnover. The played with alot of fight.The downside getting beat by one of the best TEs in the SEC and the last drive playing a Chavis style prevent defense. Curran made a great play combined with the QB making a very bad play.
Todd
September 15th, 2009
10:21 am
one simple reason they have not turned the corner and it will implode Sat. night.
the Joe Cox experiment, a remake of the Joe T. eperiment of 2006.
Part of life to have opinions in the real world. When I interviewed after grad. from UGA in 1985, one guy had one opinoin of my resume, another had thier opinion. Didn’t mean people were bashing me for no reason and being mean, just reality.
Dude, prove us wrong. Let me say Coxy, the rooster is the man, he’s on fire. I’m all for it, so far I just don’t see it happening.
AltamahaDawg
September 15th, 2009
10:22 am
HT and if not for the 2/3 NOT called that everybody saw they wouldn’t have sustained a few more of thier drives. That’s really not a valid point.
And they call it penalty for a reason. If Not for a few penalties on us the game would ahve evolved quite differntly too, wouldnt it.
Matt Ice
September 15th, 2009
10:26 am
Anyone who was at the game would actually realize just how bad Joe Cox really is….Its painful to watch him and having never complained or posted and actually agreeing with Mark 99 percent of the time I have to disagree. Joe is no good and our defense(martinez) is even worse. I sat through the entire game and it was like listening to someone scratch a chalkboard. Please talk about how many balls Cox underthrew…and how many Td’s Charles or Greene have if Cox had any kind of arm…Yes i like the guy he has paid his dues but he doesnt have the skill or arm to play at this level. We are in for a long year…
Reality Check
September 15th, 2009
10:33 am
sharecropper – Let me explain why they write more about UGA than Tech. Money! You know that high school stadium that you guys have trouble selling out even when you give out free stuff? You can’t even get 55,000 people to show up to support your team so what makes you think you will help the AJC’s ratings by writing articles or blogs about Tech? I don’t know the numbers but my guess is that a UGA article on this website is looked at by at least 2 to 1 to Tech artile.
joe dawg
September 15th, 2009
10:35 am
Van Gorder’s defense never gave up 30 or more points from 2001 to 2004. WM defense has given up over 30 points NINE times since. UGA also never lost a game in those four years where the offense scored 17 or more points. Since that time 7 games have been lost under WM where the offense has scored over 17. Simple Math.
Dawg Fud
September 15th, 2009
10:37 am
the defense did give up a lot of yardage but made a play when it was necessary and game on the line.
also, how is the defense culpabe for the fumble on the kickoff return, safety and pick-6?
HH
September 15th, 2009
10:41 am
Like I said, as long as the offense can score more then the defense gives up, they will win. Case in point: South Carolina: 41-37.
Shane
September 15th, 2009
10:42 am
JB
Hate to talk politics on here but cant let that one pass
The two Presidents who created the largest deficits in US History
Reagan and GWB
Look it up. Now that Obama is president its all the right can talk about. They conveniently forget the huge deficits Reagan ran up the the 80’s and Bush acted like he was trying to match him. Reagan bankrupted California before becoming President and then tried his best to do it to the country.
5 reasons Georgia might NOT have turned the corner | Mark Bradley
September 15th, 2009
10:43 am
[...] today we presented 5 reasons Georgia just might have turned ye olde corner in beating South Carolina. And coming next is 5 reasons the Bulldogs will — repeat, will [...]
azdawg
September 15th, 2009
10:44 am
Our front 4 do a good job of stopping the run but they’re not very good pass rushers. We do not have that speed coming off the ends any more w/the current players. C. Washington is a good looking end and Houston comes off suspension this week. Maybe that tandem will produce what’s been missing, esp since Battle is out for the season. We have darn good LB’s that do well against the run but for a few int’s here and there they’re not good covering TE’s and RB’s in passing situations. Can another DC make these same guys do better in these weak areas? I doubt we’ll ever find out. As long as they win these nail biters the DC will stay. That doesn’t build confidence from the fan base. Joe Cox did alright in this game. made a couple of mistakes but overall he hit some key passes and has a “W”. Luck was on our side this time w/2 SC TD’s nullified by flags. I just don’t have any warm fuzzies when the D takes the field against teams that can throw the ball and any adjustments WM was supposed to have made in the SC game sure didn’t stop Garcia from completing passes and almost win this game.
Happy that GA won. Unless we can pressure the opposing QB it’ll be more nail biters ahead and I fear a few opposition blowouts along the way.
Topp Dogg
September 15th, 2009
10:48 am
Its 11.45 am and GT still sucks!
JB
September 15th, 2009
11:01 am
Shane, i can’t much defend Bush, but if you think borrowing money from China and letting congress dole it out to special projects is going to stop the bleeding of job lose and give confidence to the American people, I want to know who taught you that and what makes you believe it. Capitalism, with her sins, is what made this country great, and that’s what it will take again. Not Bailouts, handouts and pork. The problem the other side has with capitalism is that people get rich on the backs of underachievers. The people who MADE a decision to drop out of school, take drugs or have babies at 16 get ‘left behind’ economically, and Obama thinks it’s just not right. He will level this out, punish the achievers through taxation and give them thier due. The “on the backs” is a cut by the way. The people getting rich are providing a living standard better than any in the world. Ask the millions with our work would they take their chances with Obama to support their family or a healthy, thriving economy ( with some folks getting rich mind you) and get back to me on that. You either contribute to the system or you take from it. All the voting lines up nicely with the choices.
FRED
September 15th, 2009
11:02 am
Dream on Mark. How can a team in the SEC win without a pass rush, a secondary out of position, a qb who can not roll out to avoid the rush, throws a wounded duck into coverage and can not run.The only bowl this team will play in this year is the TOILET BOWL.
Preston
September 15th, 2009
11:04 am
I agree William. Martinez does a tremendous job of recruiting so I would like to see him stay but give up the DC position. Get a fireball like Muschamp. God I miss Brian Van Gorder! With these players and CBVG as DC, nobody scores on us.
Teabag and Crier
September 15th, 2009
11:04 am
Ummm, Cox did not have an OK game. Who are you kidding, Mark?
He had one pick 6, he had one fumble.
He threw 2 balls in the 1st half that were both DROPPED by South Carolina defenders(trust me, I watched the game again yesterday).
And as for that pick 6, a fifth year senior should not, CAN NOT throw INT’s in the fourth quarter. You know it, Mark, I know it, and all fellow fans know it, you can’t make those kind of mistakes in an SEC game of this magnitude, and that one play(not the safety) let South Carolina back in the game and took ALL the momentum away from us.
Cox=Not the answer. You will see this weekend when he throws 2 picks AND one fumble, and Willie’s soft cover 2 zone leads us to a 48 to 17 defeat against ARK.
Samuel and Green and Boykin and Smith and Curran won that game for us, not Cox.
Johnny Test
September 15th, 2009
11:05 am
I tend to agree with coach Smith’s first comments on the defense. Take away the turnovers and pick 6 and the score is way different. I don’t like the soft zone coverage. I don’t know if UGA plays that way because that works best with their talent or because they know they can’t get pressure or what. Only the coaches know but it did hold SC to field goals vs TDs. I liked a lot of what I saw and I think we will continue to improve.
IF UGA plays with the same spunk and makes fewer mistakes and comes away with a win at Arkansas then I’ll feel like we’ve turned the corner. Right now I still feel a little like we are just surviving.
the real Old Gold
September 15th, 2009
11:05 am
Winning your first game of the year and giving up a slew of points to a sorry SC team is “turning a corner?” Wow.
MDawg
September 15th, 2009
11:07 am
Thank you Coach Smith for pointing out the truth. In the last two games, while the D hasn’t been spectacular, it has not been nearly as bad as the scores reflect. We constantly give other teams short fields. The same was true against OSU – their only “drive” of over 32 yards required a diving catch on a 47-yard bomb. We continually put our D in impossible situations. USC had to put up large numbers, they ran 83 plays. True, we couldn’t get them off the field, but that is what happens when they have the underneath passing game open to them. It is open to them because we can’t pressue the QB without bringing additional pressure. Under either scenario (blitz or no), if a QB has time he will eventually find someone open. When your D has 32 yards to play with, open is either in front of you or in the endzone – I’ll take in front everytime. However, if we don’t figure out how to get pressure without having to blitz, we are in trouble.
They will be fine. GO DAWGS!
Brian W
September 15th, 2009
11:07 am
How can people give this defense a passing grade. The scheme is horrible and we got lucky to win. I’ve never said get rid of Martinez, but he needs to change is 2 deep soft coverage or needs to be shown the door.
McDawg
September 15th, 2009
11:08 am
we still need a pass rush–w/o one we are going to play a bend not break style of D in the secondary
this guy mallett has got an arm hopefully we can run the ball and eat clock but i like where theis team is headed
Preston
September 15th, 2009
11:11 am
Now that Battle is out for the year our pass rush is going to be even more non-existant. We better get clicking on offense because the D is pretty bad this year. High scoring games like Boise State I’m afraid.
coach smith
September 15th, 2009
11:15 am
How in the world dees ANYBODY Know ANYTHING about MALLET?
He has played in 4 total games in 3 YEARS! An d the ONLY GAME he has started for ARKANSAS was against Mizzou State!!!!!!!!
That team and Mallet has NOT BEEN TESTED
Mallet has NEVER…repeat NEVER played in an SEC game while UGA has been battle tested twice already
MALLET and ARK are getting far too much credit
DamnGoodDawg
September 15th, 2009
11:24 am
When Munson quits worrying, I’ll quit worrying.
uga~fan
September 15th, 2009
11:28 am
Joe Cox can’t be the starter for this football team if they plan on being successful this season!!! Joe sucks and lacks the necessary arm strength to take advantage of the weapons on the offensive side of the ball. Our offense is at the bottom or near the bottom in every offensive catergory… Play the option for next year so that we can have a chance next year
Mydir T. Turban
September 15th, 2009
11:29 am
Mark, I don’t know what defense you’re watching, but the one I see struggles to make the proper adjustments during the game and plays WAY TOO SOFT against the passing attack. We were giving a 10 yard cushion to Garcia’s WR’s. That’s insane, because what it tells us is that we can NOT get pressure on the QB and must blitz LB’s. The bend but don’t break mentality may prevent a few touchdowns during the course of a season, but it also keeps your defense on the field too long and will cause serious fatigue in the long haul. It also prevents your offense from getting on the field and balancing out T.O.P.
Bottom Line: Martinez is on the sizzling seat with Georgia fans. Georgia doesn’t give up 62 points in two games without holding someone accountable.
AltamahaDawg
September 15th, 2009
11:32 am
Can somebody point out this second TD that SC had called back on a holding call? There was one in the 3rd quarter and the call was obvious, not lucky. If anything I would say that R. Jones being called for tackling a guy by his shoulder pads (not to get the call the other way despite our guy having helmet pulled off) to set up a SC FG was a pretty unlucky break earlier in the quarter.
But I don’t recall the second TD called back on holding.
Ben
September 15th, 2009
11:36 am
Wow what eloquent writing.
You should be writing for the New York Times given your amazing vocabulary and complex sentence structures!
Ben
September 15th, 2009
11:38 am
Wow what eloquent writing.
You should be writing for the New York Times given your amazing vocabulary and complex sentence structures!!
Nick
September 15th, 2009
11:39 am
I thought the effort by everyone was a 180 degree turn around from the week before. One of the best things I was so happy to see was those kickoffs going into or near the end zone. Have those coaches finally listened to reason??? I expect more and better play out of them as the weeks ramble on.
Go Dawgs!
Fletch
September 15th, 2009
11:40 am
Maddawg, we dropped spots bc OSU lost to an unranked team…made our loss to a top five team a little embarassing. We don’t need to worry about rankings, just keep winning in the SEC. We are young which explains for our sometimes sloppy play, but any true dawg fan should be excited for the future. There is SOOOOO much upside to this team, we WILL get better as the year goes on. Support them, don’t dog them. Recruits read these message boards!!!!
TechBuzz
September 15th, 2009
11:47 am
Mark it down—uga loses 4 more games: Arkansas, LSU, Florida and Ga Tech. Another disappointing year in store for the once mighty bulldogs. Tech wins the ACC and gets to a BCS bowl!!!!
how2fish
September 15th, 2009
11:59 am
Bill we have beat USC 7 out ot the last 9 years…I didn’t see any reason not to think that trend won’t continue…
how2fish
September 15th, 2009
12:01 pm
TechBuzz a real fan of a team worries about that team before bashing others…and with your line up the next few weeks..and that sterling performance your D turned in on thursday last week..you have PLENTY to worry about…see you Nov 28th bug!
EDSBS Dawg
September 15th, 2009
12:01 pm
Last weeks article “Have the dogs lost their edge?”
This weeks article “Have the dogs turned the corner?”
Bradley, you suck man.
UGA IV
September 15th, 2009
12:03 pm
Turned the corner? How about you hold off on that one until they play a good team. South Carolina is average at best.
GTjohn
September 15th, 2009
12:07 pm
The Dawgs may have turned the corner but it is way too early to tell. They did not lose on Sat but they did not win either. The Cocks just did not execute well enough when needed plus they had 2 TDs called back – one of which was a very questionable call. No way did UGA win that game, USC just lost what should have been a win for them.
5 reasons Georgia might just have turned the corner | Mark Bradley | Georgia Today
September 15th, 2009
12:14 pm
[...] The rest is here: 5 reasons Georgia might just have turned the corner | Mark Bradley [...]
slobodan
September 15th, 2009
12:18 pm
Of course coach smith is correct…every game is its own entity….in Saturday’s game, the dawgs did pressure the qb…there were very few plays that the qb could relax in the pocket (which is what Spurrier wants) and run the offense…Give Garcia the credit he deserves in being able to avoid pressure and scramble to buy time..A non-scrambling qb probably would have been sacked numerous times by the dawg pass rush. Most of SC’s passing offense was set up by Garcia buying time; and the dawgs did a good job of making sure that most of the completions were in front of them..
john
September 15th, 2009
12:25 pm
I suppose if we did everything perfect there would be no reason to even play the game. Just take the “W” and move to the next “W”. We are going to do nothing but get better week after week. “Get the picture!” There are going to be more new black and red threads purchased prior to the end of this year than tossed in the closet for another year. You can “bark on it”!!!! John
Aimee
September 15th, 2009
12:26 pm
I’m kinda tired of everybody bitching about the defense. There are things to work on, NO DOUBT, but maybe if we would stop turning the ball over so much they wouldn’t be on the field the whole damn game. Give them a little credit.
Jo JO Yo
September 15th, 2009
12:27 pm
Yes UGA you may have turned the corner. I expect you to turn another corner. Unfortunately you will encounter a road block in Jacksonville.
Georgia Headlines – 9/15/09 | MrSEC.com
September 15th, 2009
12:40 pm
[...] That’s up for debate.6. Finally, Mark Bradley of The AJC provides five reasons why Georgia might have turned the corner against South Carolina… and five reasons why they might not [...]
Aimee
September 15th, 2009
12:42 pm
Fletch, I couldn’t have said it better myself!!!