A powerful performance by a suddenly powerful UGA team
Did this guy outcoach Paul Johnson? Yes he did. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
There have been times lately when we’ve wondered, “Who are these guys?” Because they weren’t the Bulldogs we’d come to know and admire. They were undisciplined and undercoached. They were always reacting to an opponent, never forcing the issue. They were a finesse team, and a team devoid of force doesn’t win big in the broad-shouldered SEC.
But on the final night of an underwhelming regular season, Georgia played as if it remembered its breeding. It acted like an SEC team. It ran the ball with fury and blocked like the crack of dawn and played big-boy football. And at halftime we were saying, “Who are these guys?”
Because these weren’t the Bulldogs of recent vintage. These were tougher, stronger, meaner. They had come into the stadium of a team looking to solidify its hold on a rivalry and a state, and they’d been the aggressor from the first. Indeed, they were the aggressor from the coin toss. Georgia won it and, rather than do as every coach does in modern football, Mark Richt didn’t defer his choice. He wanted the ball and he wanted it now.
And when his men got it, they pounded Tech in a way Georgia never pounds anybody anymore. Ten plays, all runs, Caleb King and Washaun Ealey taking turns, the unassuming offensive line blowing massive holes in the Tech line. Ten plays, all runs, and just like that Georgia was ahead in a game it was supposed to lose.
Give Richt credit: All week he had to answer questions — one from me on the Wednesday SEC teleconference — about the need for change in his program, and in this game he did change. He and Mike Bobo eschewed the fancy stuff and just Lombardi’ed the game plan, and it was beautiful in its brutality. Three Tech defenders had to be helped off the field in the first half, and after 30 minutes Georgia had outgained the nation’s No. 7 team by 141 yards and had outscored it by 14 points.
But it was only a year ago in Athens that Georgia had led by 16 points at the half, and within seven minutes that lead was gone. Everyone knew Tech would again come out flying, and sure enough the Jackets scored on their first possession. But Georgia needed only one play to answer, Caleb King taking a handoff and fleeing 75 yards. And from then on Tech was chasing, and in the end the fleet Jackets couldn’t run fast enough.
It came down to one possession. Georgia up six, Tech with a chance to win. The Jackets moved across midfield but unaccountably stopped running the ball. Four consecutive passes, the first three nicely defensed, the fourth simply dropped. (The second and third passes were defended by Reshad Jones, the Georgia safety who’d spent the last year answering questions about his missed tackle of Tech’s Roddy Jones.) And suddenly Georgia was the second-best team in Georgia no longer.
Richt and Bobo and Willie Martinez had outflanked the new genius Paul Johnson and had done it without A.J. Green, their best player. And the guys who did play outfought a Tech team known for its pugnacity.
And now we have issues galore. Does one blissful night off North Avenue override the worst season under Richt? Probably not. But for the Bulldogs and their coach and all his coaches, it had to feel good to reclaim state supremacy and to mar what has been a glorious Tech season. (To say nothing of wrecking the ACC title game.) What happens with Martinez and the other assistants can wait until another day. What happened Saturday night was a slice of deliverance 365 days in the making.
Back to our question: Who were these guys? They were the Georgia Bulldogs, only they weren’t the Georgia Bulldogs that contrived to lose five games this season. These were Bulldogs from a different time, a time when Georgia football was power football. (The Bulldogs rushed for 339 yards, the highest total under Richt.)
And if this is the way Georgia football it to look in 2010 and beyond … well, maybe the future isn’t so grim after all. Maybe the future is big and brawny thing.
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1,342 comments Add your comment
DaculaDawg
November 29th, 2009
12:07 am
Wouldn’t normally say this but go South Carolina and Gooo Dawgs. The SEC ruined the ACC championship game.
Paul Johnson…does this game define your season now?…you arrogant prick.
Where's Saint Simons?
November 29th, 2009
12:07 am
Don’t worry Saint Simons. You will only have to deal with us for at least 364 more days. Enjoy!!!!! ((((((( 30 to 24 ))))))) ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yep
November 29th, 2009
12:07 am
Enter your comments here
yep
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
screw you bradley, schulz, you all suck
one mo' time cincinnati
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
Saint Simons, come and get your whoopin’ fool. 30-24 hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!
Where's Saint Simons?
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
At least there’s something GT fans can’t lose. Their virginity. (((((( 30 to 24 ))))))) ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BA BA Butterfingers
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
Dwyer 2 yards and a cloud of dust.
30-24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ha ha ha
Dwyer gets 7 yards on 5 carries
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
Dwyer flopped—AGAIN, less than 40 yards……
John Thomp
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
We were robbed of the LSU game no arguing about it. Losing to KY was an aberration and a fluke. We should be 9-3 going into the bowl game. Assuming we win that, 10-3 is pretty good. Lay off Richt, Willy and Bobo. Those 2 losses are games we win 99 out of 100 times… crazy, crazy bad luck year. A minus 19 turnover ratio is mostly bad luck… crazy year. Not coaches fault… at all.
Boo Radley
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahahahahahha
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Suck on it losers.
Damon
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
Blocks like the crack of dawn? What the hell does that mean?
Sick of It
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!! How bout those second half adjustments by the genius Paul Johnson, Mark? Is Caleb King STILL RUNNING??? HAHAHA! Wow, That was some blowout, nerds. Now you boys go enjoy falling out of the top ten….And oh yeah: 30-24.
godawgs1
November 29th, 2009
12:08 am
sec…sec…sec….sec…sec…sec…sec
UGA 2003
November 29th, 2009
12:09 am
Bring back cash for clunkers so that GA Tech can trade in that ramblin’ wreck for something of real value…..like the Governor’s Cup. UGA 30 Tech 24. Go Dawgs! Have fun playing in toilet bowl that is the ACC championship. Y’all cannot even win your in state rivalry games….damn. Its nice to see a real man’s rushing attack win a football game. Leave the option to the service academies and the FBS.
NCBULLDAWG86
November 29th, 2009
12:09 am
What is this I hear? Nothing but Bulldawgs and all their glee. What I don’t hear, and won’t hear for 365 more days is whiney overacting Georgia Tech football fans spewing their crap about the blessed Georgia Bulldogs. HAHAHAHAHAHA….
So, if GT “killed” us last year, what does that make this game?
HAHAHAHAHAHA….
Way to step in Russ and win one for UGA VII. RIP, little buddy. Go DAWGS!!!! THWT!!!
Jacob
November 29th, 2009
12:09 am
Mark,
I think I speak for all UGA fans when I say please, by all means, stay on the Yech bandwagon. We don’t want you and we certainly don’t need you. You can gravel at Richt’s feet all you want, but your nonsense this season, on top of your coach Paul “Turkey Neck” Johnson worship, was not only disgusting, but OBVIOUSLY, premature.
Good riddance!!!
Techmites Suck
November 29th, 2009
12:09 am
It’s time to pay the piper Saint SImons and all you other Tech Mites that come out of the woodwork once a decade to show your “pride.” You have talked crap all year, we have read your BS rants and then, when it comes time to put your money where your mouth is, your worst nightmare came true. YOU COULDN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!! The thing that will really suck is you could still lose three in a row to end the season, finish with four losses by the time the bowls are done and finish maybe near the bottom of the Top 25. And this is your BEST season in how many years? Whatever. Your conference sucks, your high school offense sucks and finally……… you suck. So for the next 365 years just remember, order is restored and when it all shakes out, it’s still better to be Red and Black than it is to be some geeky lookin, pocket-protectin, goofy-a$$ football wannabe who can only hope to have a real team to root for on a yearly basis. So take your yellow pom-pom shakin, skanky lookin girls and your horned rim glass-wearin scrawny 125- pound “men” and crawl back to the woodwork that you came from and crawl back into your technically designed two by four and just remember…..from the immortal legend Rick Flair’s well-put motto: In order to be the champ, you have to beat the champ. Remind me a again how well that worked for you? And finally, if by chance you beat Clemson next week………………… who cares. You play in a second-rate conference,have a second-rate stadium and are cheered on a by a second-rate fan base. Have a freakin Merry Christmas – you idiot.
bigdawg88
November 29th, 2009
12:10 am
Does anybody have tickets to the SEC 5th place consolation game in Tampa next week? Taking vacation and I thought I’d watch a high school game while I’m down there.
30-24!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
I guess we won’t have to worry about nerds on our blawgs for at least a year!!
And today is my birthday too!!!! Thanks for the great present DAWGS!!!
GREAT TO BE A DAWG!!!
lexdog
November 29th, 2009
12:10 am
let me be the first st simons 30-24 hahahahahahahaha to hell with tech
San Francisco Dawg
November 29th, 2009
12:10 am
Richt simply outcoached Johnson…pathetic how Tech had to resort to passing to try to win…and we won without our best player, AJ Green…
We simply hurt Tech on the line of scrimmage, physically hurt them on both sides of the ball…
The ACC proved today that it is no match for the SEC…thier two best teams got smoked today…
Way to go Dawgs!!
david
November 29th, 2009
12:10 am
lets see UF stomps noles/ USC stomps tigers and dawgs stomps jacketss——where r u M? where r u fuzzy b? where r u ramblin on? WHERE IS THE SMACK TALK NOW??????
bc
November 29th, 2009
12:10 am
Let WM alone for a few days and let him enjoy this one. He is human and he is loyal to his players and the staff. I need be let what will happen happen in due time. Leave the gentleman with some amount of pride. Maybe not such a good coach but a good man. Even in football there is a place for compassion.
Saint Simons mom
November 29th, 2009
12:10 am
Sorry guys, my little simons cant get on here right now, he’s crying his little precious heart out in my basement. He says he’ll be back in about 360 days to start talking smack again.
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
Sometimes, life can surprise you.
Sometimes, every DAWG has his day.
Sometimes, even Willie Martinez can appear (APPEAR) competent.
Tonight was one of those “sometimes.”
Consider me pleasantly surprised, and somewhat happy to be going to Nashville or maybe even Atlanta, instead of going to Shreveport or Birmingham.
MARK, DO YOU THINK WE CAN BEG SONNY SEILER TO MAKE “RUSS” OUR NEW UGA???
Why does he HAVE to be pure white? Russ appears to be a healthy, energetic dog.
I would think we would want that more than another possibly inbred “pure” white dog.
tech(poser)redneck
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
Congradulations to the mutts, It just proves to all the experts that call the scores before games. “thats why they play the game’ yOU never know whos ready to play. UGA was ready. But I’m not gonna say “our playcalling was terrible, the refs were sec refs. we got screwed” Fire the def. coach, fire the off. coach. Tech got beat by a better team. PERIOD. It just proves, UGA plays sec football. Big off. line will wear you down. and they did just that. END OF STORY.
BG
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
5 and 0 at techs little stadium. HAHAHAHAHA Go Dawgs!
WestOfAthens
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
5 in a ROW at “historic” Grant field
GO DAWGS
Can Bobo Get a 100 Yard Rusher?
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
I guess so, he got two–who knew?
NCBULLDAWG86
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
Ooops, hey…. there goes Caleb for another 20. Oh, my bad, that was Washaun. Yeah, baby.
And Paul Johnson, maybe this game should have been considered a bit more relevant. Nice one.
Larry
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
ACC=All Creampuff Conference
YearoftheDawg
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
wonder how long it will take Johnson to get Bradley’s lipstick off his butt.
uga VII
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog! Tech is a pretender – knew it all along. SEC dominated today! Our O-line deserves TONS of credit – manhandled Tech’s front 7 today and paved the way for the Ealey/King mack truck that drove right up CPJ’s…. GO DAWGS!
John
November 29th, 2009
12:11 am
Bradley your pathetic. You spend the last month writing about how the tides are turning and now all of a sudden your a georgia fan again. Bottom line is that yes Georgia is not a great team this year, but they play in the SEC. Enought said. Yes Tech is going to the ACC championship but does that really mean anything when both teams playing in that game got beat up front where it matters and on the scoreboard by two 6-5 SEC teams. Wow what an impressive conference, i’m sure that ACC championship game will get great ratings.
Marcus
November 29th, 2009
12:12 am
Take that Terrorist Nerds!
ATL Steve
November 29th, 2009
12:12 am
I feel so damn good right now…way to go Dawgs! Next year, we need the same blueprint until your QB grows in the system.
Techmites Suck
November 29th, 2009
12:12 am
Hey Saint Simons and all you other jacknuts that support the downed hive on North Ave.. It’s time to pay the piper Saint SImons and all you other Tech Mites that come out of the woodwork once a decade to show your “pride.” You have talked crap all year, we have read your BS rants and then, when it comes time to put your money where your mouth is, your worst nightmare came true. YOU COULDN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!! The thing that will really suck is you could still lose three in a row to end the season, finish with four losses by the time the bowls are done and finish maybe near the bottom of the Top 25. And this is your BEST season in how many years? Whatever. Your conference sucks, your high school offense sucks and finally……… you suck. So for the next 365 years just remember, order is restored and when it all shakes out, it’s still better to be Red and Black than it is to be some geeky lookin, pocket-protectin, goofy-a$$ football wannabe who can only hope to have a real team to root for on a yearly basis. So take your yellow pom-pom shakin, skanky lookin girls and your horned rim glass-wearin scrawny 125- pound “men” and crawl back to the woodwork that you came from and crawl back into your technically designed two by four and just remember…..from the immortal legend Rick Flair’s well-put motto: In order to be the champ, you have to beat the champ. Remind me a again how well that worked for you? And finally, if by chance you beat Clemson next week………………… who cares. You play in a second-rate conference,have a second-rate stadium and are cheered on a by a second-rate fan base. Have a freakin Merry Christmas – you idiot.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
November 29th, 2009
12:12 am
With T-W-O weeks to prepare, ranked 7th in the nation, at home, playing the worst UGA team in 13 years and without the best player in the stadium even playing and Yech still loses!?!?!?!? HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
jdawg
November 29th, 2009
12:12 am
While we’re all calling out the Tech fans, how about all of you band wagon, fire the world, I believe every thing I read in the AJC, Georgia turncoats getting on here and picking apart the performance tonight. You know who you are. You are the a$$holes that we all have to listen to at our kids little league games as you berate the umpire, the other team and your own kids coach. You know who you are. You are the a$$holes who have never played a down of organized football yourself since the one year you played second string safety for your last place Pop Warner team when you were 11 years old. You know who you are. You are the ones wanting to fire the best coach we have ever had for one bad year, while your boss and all of your co-workers down at the local Dodge dealership are trying to figure out how to fire you for years of stupidity and incompetence without a lawsuit on their hands. We may need to make some changes, we may not. Either way, I am proud of our coaches, and our players for doing something that none of you losers that I read on hear week in and week out are capable of doing. That is fighting, backing up your big fat mouth with action, and never giving up. Especially when all of the losers who can’t fight, who can’t back up their big fat mouth with action, and who gave up after that first year of Pop Warner, and have been giving up ever since, sit back on their fat a$$es and try to tell the rest of us how it should be. It’s great to be a “real” Georgia Bulldog!
Boo Radley
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
When Paul “Bad A–” Johnson had the game on the line did he run his offense? You know, the guy who had balls the size of Texas. The guy who doesn’t care what the down and distance is. The guy who doesn’t care what the other team does. Yeah, that guy. When the game was on the line, did he run his 1970s triple option? No, he did not. He tried to pass the ball on 4 straight downs and he came up snake eyes each time.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Caleb King
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
I need some oxygen…. Can’t breath.
Jack Lambert dawg
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
Great Game!!! Tech hold your heads up.. You have had a great year. Best of Luck in the championship game and your bowl game.
It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog!!!!
To Saint Simon!!!
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
30-24!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Go Clemson!!!!!!!!!
Chris
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
This one is for M, Saint Simons, and all other Tech fans who have been on Georgia blogs ALL year long, even when the article had absolutely nothing to do with Ga. Tech.
8-1 Georgia’s record against Ga. Tech for the last 9 years.
15-4 Georgia’s record against Ga. Tech for the last 19 years.
30-24 The final score of a game where Georgia NOT Ga. Tech controlled the clock, ran the bll down their opponents mouth, and kicked your azz!
And finally 3-0 would be the SEC’s record against the all mighty ACC on this wonderful fall Saturday.
Ga. Tech, you SUCK! Now, go home and drown in your sorrows.
godawgs
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
Ealey dominated. No turnovers, 9.2. ypc, 35 yard explosion run, 166 yards on 20 carries.
HM
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
Enter your comments here
Michael McClure
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
Back in 1929 when Stanford was dedicated and the Dogs beat Yale my Pop sold programs at the train station. He never made it to the game. He loaded “Apple Jack” or “shine” on the train for the “Yankees”. He and his roommate made a ton on money. But there was only one thing that Pop love moore that loading “shine” on the train for those Yankees and that was kicking the ass out of the pen pushers of Tech. And they could never understand about why the women perfered men of Georgia and the pencil kids of Tech…Nothing beats Tech like the lovely Women of Georgia and the Score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Washaun Ealey
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
My legs hurt.
Herschel Talker
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
MB:
You should ask Johnson why he threw it on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Terrible playcalling. The 4th down drop wasn’t as much of a killer as the playcalls on downs 1-3.
30-24!!!
ORDER HAS BEEN RESTORED!
Mark Bradley
November 29th, 2009
12:13 am
This wasn’t the greatest day in ACC history, was it? Two 6-5 teams beat the division champions. And the SEC has its title game in Atlanta.
Where's Saint Simons?
November 29th, 2009
12:14 am
Overrated! Overrated! Overrated! SEC! SEC! SEC! ((((((((((((( 30 to 24 )))))))))))))))) ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!