An inspired UGA goes to 2-4 and ponders ‘running the table’
The Alpha Dawg: Mark Richt leads Georgia onto the field. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
ATHENS — The best 1-4 team in the land was so excited to be 1-4 no more that it did a victory dance in the locker room. Chief among the celebrants was the head Bulldog.
“Coach [Mark] Richt was the main one,” said Demarcus Dobbs, the defensive end. “He loves to get crazy after games.”
The past four Saturdays had yielded only a crazy sorrow. Indeed, as tailback Caleb King noted, the Bulldogs reacted with such fervor to Saturday’s thrashing of woebegone Tennessee team because their dancing had been so long deferred.
“It’s a silly dance,” King said. “But we hadn’t been able to do it for a while.”
Dobbs again: “It’s a lot different when you win. When you lose, everybody’s hanging his head and people are asking what went wrong. Today everybody’s vibrant.”
Not since Sept. 4 had the Georgia Bulldogs won a game. Not since Nov. 21 had they taken a lead against an SEC opponent. And the worst part of being 1-4 (and 0-3 against conference brethren) was that these Bulldogs knew, just knew, they were way better than that.
Here’s the redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray, who was as good Saturday as most redshirt seniors ever get: “We feel like we can definitely run the table these last six games.”
Got that? From 1-4 to 2-4 … clear to 8-4? (Which would mean beating Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech.) As presumptuous as it might sound, there’s nonetheless something tangible backstopping that belief. That something is talent.
It took a lot of (mis)doing for a team this gifted to get to 1-4, and it took some effort for Richt to keep it from going totally south after the egregious losses in Starkville and Boulder. To his credit, the coach of 10 years’ standing changed some things.
The Bulldogs practiced in full pads Monday. (Richt admitted Saturday his light-contact approach to summer camp “backfired.”) The team dressed at the Butts-Mehre complex, doing the pregame Dawg Walk in full gear. Prompted by a caller to his radio show, Richt even led his Bulldogs onto the field.
And the result? Said Richt, speaking of his men: “They played beautifully.”
He also recalled what he had told his team after the full-contact Monday session: “If you guys will play like you just did, we’re going to be all right.”
Whatever has ailed Georgia — and when you’re 1-4, you’ve ailed — can be fixed. We saw Saturday the difference between a team with a bad record and good players and one with a bad record and bad players. This game was over after a quarter. Tennessee kept handing the Bulldogs the ball, and the Bulldogs kept taking it and scoring. And the best player on the field was the player Georgia hadn’t had for four games.
“We’re not going to give up,” said A.J. Green, the great receiver. “We’re all we’ve got.”
At peak capacity, Georgia has a lot. That was the message Richt sought to send with his Monday-in-pads decree, a message seconded on Friday by the former UGA linebacker Boss Bailey, who served as honorary captain for this game. Said Richt: “He felt like he needed to tell them that they weren’t playing ball the way ball should be played here at Georgia.”
On Saturday they did. They beat Tennessee by 27 points and spent the fourth quarter coasting. It would have been unseemly to embarrass Derek Dooley, the Vols’ coach and the son of Georgia’s greatest coach. (For the record, Vince Dooley watched the game from his home on Milledge Circle. His wife, Barbara, was in attendance wearing red slacks and an orange sweater, a look even the stylish Mrs. D. couldn’t quite pull off.)
By then, Richt’s team had long since proved its point: Georgia may have a bad record, but it isn’t a bad team. And now six games remain, time enough to do some damage.
Said Richt: “I never lost hope. I never lost faith. I never thought we had a significant amount of problems.”
Except for the losing. The losing was an issue. On this Saturday, as opposed to the past four, Georgia did not lose. It won and did its silly dance. It will dance some more before this season is done.
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797 comments Add your comment
bruce mac
October 9th, 2010
11:02 pm
It’s great to be a Gator Hater. Stupid redneck fans booed the team the entire fourth quarter. I am sure the recruits on hand are very impressed with the spoiled brat piece of crap Gayturd Fans. You gotta love it.
RAID
October 9th, 2010
11:02 pm
How da hayelll does Miles keep gettin away with this……..What has he done to deserve sooo much protection from the football gods!……
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:04 pm
Just sayin, you’re the one with the obsession who can’t seem to let it go.
South Georgia
October 9th, 2010
11:04 pm
Has Urban Meyer lost his edge? Gators have lost two in a row. What’s up? I she still a good coach?
Just sayin
October 9th, 2010
11:04 pm
There is going to be some mobile homes destroyed in Florida and Alabama tonight!
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:04 pm
Just Sayin Ealey did not fumble today
Glad I am not and Insurance Agent
October 9th, 2010
11:05 pm
There is going to be some property destroyed in Florida and Alabama tonight!
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:05 pm
He was already down
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:06 pm
Meyer’s got a young team. He’ll be fine.
Just Sayin
October 9th, 2010
11:07 pm
@Party School everyone knows you are obsessed with them cause you brought them up red panty lover
Tim
October 9th, 2010
11:07 pm
Urban is a terrible coach. He needs to be fired now!
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:08 pm
RAID
October 9th, 2010
11:02 pm
How da hayelll does Miles keep gettin away with this……..
Bayou voodoo?
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:08 pm
Without Tebow Urban Meyer is toast
FIREURBANMYER.COM
October 9th, 2010
11:09 pm
Says it all
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:09 pm
nice loss at home against LSU
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:10 pm
that’s gonna leave a mark, in the loss column
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:11 pm
Wow, so the new UGA football fantasy is that Urban Meyer has lost it? lol
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:11 pm
FIREURBANMYER.COM, it says you can’t spell worth of sh!t
lifer dawg
October 9th, 2010
11:12 pm
Tech SUCKS!! You nerds!!!!!!!!! Even if we still suck I bet we take you out again in November.
Richt has got a LONG way this season to prove to me he is “coaching his ass off” consistently . I have been freaking out furious because before this season started I knew we had good-great SEC winnable talent all over the field. I even saw UGA as hopefully competing with UF for the East since I knew the reptiles would be down. This 1-4 crap exposed Richt and now today all of a sudden he gets the team ready for a down and out SEC rival. Congrats Dawgs but this TN team was flat out awful. Still, for the last 3-4 years he was well under .400 for big rival SEC match ups and losing too much to Vandy/Kentucky now MState to add to the resume. The guy is insanely cocky compared to a Saban or Meyer all the while his results are slipping big time into mediocrity. His inconsistencies are his undoing. I will not forget the 2007 season when he had the BEST team in the country but let them lose to far inferior SEC teams early and not even have the F****** chance to play in the big games. If college ball was more like NFL season with a true larger playoff maybe Richt’s take valium on the sideline and slip it to the team early approach and save the boys muscles for late season games would work admirably. This is college ball and every game matters. I don’t see Richt taking us back to the SEC game ever with this lackadaisical style he thinks motivates the kids. Lets see how the team looks for the next few weeks because one thing I have learned about my Bulldogs coach other than his right down the middle consistent bizzare out of style haircut, is his study/prep and play for the other SEC teams varies with the weather and astrological signs. You just don’t know what Richt team is gonna show up. The half asleep don’t really care group just waiting for the NFL draft placements, lights out brilliant executers, the over penalized thugs that shoot themselves in the foot after every great play etc… Richt needs to start running on the field first from here on out and what ever he did this week in practice needs to become part of a “consistent process” aka Nickie Saban’s 20 year old brain washing bible. Good win Dawgs, but still in a wait and see approach on the coaches from here on out.
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:12 pm
UGA, South Carolina and FSU = 3 more losses for florida, ouch!
YES!!!
October 9th, 2010
11:13 pm
FIRE URBAN MEYER NOW
RAID
October 9th, 2010
11:13 pm
Hey Party school, no complaints from here on this night……..But yeah. there’s definatelly a little voodoo goin on!……
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:14 pm
florida fans have no class. you will be calling for his head by year’s end. I remember when you did the same to the old ball coach. jort wearing idiots.
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:14 pm
No way UGA beats Florida, maybe SC, maybe FSU but not UGA.
Just sayin
October 9th, 2010
11:14 pm
@Party School
I know you are lost without me
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:14 pm
UGA beats Florida. you guys suck.
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:15 pm
LSU should have lost to UT. and they are just pathetic.
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:15 pm
UGA will beat the gator sh!t out of Florida in a couple of weeks
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:15 pm
party school, wake up. it’s over. . .
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:16 pm
AJ will smoke your def.
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:16 pm
Florida has too beat South Carolina for us too win the East so I hope South Caroline loses too Florida
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:16 pm
florida, 8-5.
WOW
October 9th, 2010
11:17 pm
Party School has a blog lover LOL
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:17 pm
south carolina is the real deal. sec championship. they crush florida, 35-10
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:18 pm
Georgia vs Bama for the SEC CHAMPIONSHIP
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:18 pm
FSU wins 24-21
Dawg Whisperer
October 9th, 2010
11:18 pm
Party school… you should know one since UF won that distinction last year.
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:18 pm
So what exactly has UGA done to make anyone think they will beat the Gators? You beat UT, that’s it. You lost to SC. You lost to ARK. You lost to MSU for cryin out loud.
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:19 pm
UGA beats florida 37-21. Myer seen crying for Tebow.
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:19 pm
UGA loses to Kentucky, Auburn, Florida and possibly Tech. Bank it.
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:20 pm
you lost to LSU, at home, at night. . .tanks empty. wake up.
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:21 pm
party school. . .change is in the air. you can smell the stench from the swamp all the way up in Atlanta
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:22 pm
nice offense. . .hahahahahahahaha
Dawg Whisperer
October 9th, 2010
11:22 pm
UGA won’t have to play well to beat the lizards. Meyer tried to maintain composure on the sideline but it didn’t help.
Silly, Silly Bark Madly
October 9th, 2010
11:22 pm
Bark,
You are a spineless, gutless little man.
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:22 pm
Georgia will rape Florida this year, did you not just see their defense
brett
October 9th, 2010
11:22 pm
All I’ve been hearing about is wanting a saban, a meyer, or just kirby smart as ga coach. How about urban losing to the team that should have lost to tenn last week. How about saban with the heisman rb and get stomped by usc. Ga ain’t never been stomped by usc. How about that kirby smart def against usc. Ga’s defense has some improving to do, but we didn’t give up 35 point to usc. You bunch of fans(ga, lsu, florida,etc) that constantly grip and complain are morons and don’t have a life. Get a life, find out that life is more important than football, and be happy for just one week.
Party school
October 9th, 2010
11:23 pm
No, that stench is coming from Athens.
florida sucks!
October 9th, 2010
11:23 pm
Uga had a bad start, but remember 2007 with big losses early. we finished no 2 and spanked UF. they still cry about that game.
WTF??
October 9th, 2010
11:23 pm
Miss State and Clemson almost beat Auburn so I know Georgia will kill them