A soggy salute to the Georgia Bulldogs, SEC East champs
Branden Smith returns a first-half interception Saturday. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Athens — On the dark night Georgia lost to South Carolina to slide to 0-2, the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator went looking for spirits to lift. To his surprise, Mike Bobo found that spirits were unbowed.
“I’d tell them, ‘If we hang together and keep working, we’ve got a chance to be very good,’” Bobo said Saturday. “And every one of them said, ‘Coach, we’ve got a chance to be great.’”
As he spoke, Bobo sat in a chair in a locker room, the floor of which had been covered in plastic and doused with water. A nondescript game had ended with the Georgia Bulldogs champions of the SEC East for the first time since the distant year 2005.
“We grabbed water bottles and threw them around the room,” said wide receiver Marlon Brown, scorer of Georgia’s only touchdown this day, and even the 51-year-old head coach got in the soggy swing of things. Seeking to slide across the wet surface, Mark Richt made it only halfway.
“I thought it was going to be fun,” Richt said of his maneuver. “I can’t say it was fun.”
For Richt, the day’s overriding emotion seemed more relief than exultation. He arrived from Florida State in 2001, won the SEC in 2002 and took his Bulldogs to the SEC championship game three times in four years. Then, having set the bar high, Richt went five years without a return to the title game, and when this season began there was no assurance this coach would have this job come 2012. And then the 2011 Bulldogs started 0-2.
“When we lost to South Carolina [the second of the two losses], a lot of things go through your mind as a coach,” Richt said. “Sometimes you’ve got to make something up — you don’t want to lose your team. But [that night] I could stand there with a straight face; it was very easy to believe in them. And I said, ‘If we don’t spit the bit … if we keep grinding, we can do it.’ ”
On Saturday, his Bulldogs finished this latest drill. Yes, they were aided by a schedule that eased after the back-to-back whammy of Boise State and South Carolina, but it isn’t as if Georgia backed into anything. It has won nine consecutive games, beating Tennessee and Florida and Auburn en route, and it finished 7-1 in SEC play. (Let’s note that South Carolina took the East with a 5-3 record last season.)
Richt: “It’s hard to win nine in a row. We’ve done something special.”
The details of a forgettable Victory No. 9 — Georgia trailed Kentucky, which had lost by 30 points to Vanderbilt last week, after 29 minutes and led only 12-10 after three quarters — will soon be forgotten. The ramifications will linger long. Said cornerback Brandon Boykin: “I’ll definitely remember this game for clinching a championship on Senior Day. Everyone had so much riding on this game.”
Richt again: “I told the players this [East title] was the most meaningful to me. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it felt like it today.”
Here he laughed, but there was no comedic content in the job Richt and his staff did to keep this team buoyant after a start that might have sunk another bunch. “It wasn’t just 0-2,” Richt said, “but 0-2 coming off 6-7 [of last season] and with everything swirling around. We did a really good job handling all the noise.”
Said linebacker Jarvis Jones, the sudden star of a ravenous defense that held Kentucky to 13 yards and one first down after halftime: “It’s not how you drive; it’s how you arrive. We kept fighting, and look at us now.”
Said cornerback Branden Smith: “All [the 0-2 start] did was bring us together as one family.”
Said Brown: “We kept grinding.”
Even after 11 games and nine victories, it’s hard to know just how good Georgia is. The Auburn victory was the only time the Bulldogs thrashed an SEC opponent, and for long stretches Saturday they flailed against the worst Kentucky team of the new millennium. But they won. Since the night of Sept. 10, they’ve done nothing except win.
Said Richt: “I don’t know if we’re a great team, but we’re SEC East champs.”
In the grand scheme, that’s all that matters. Georgia headed back to the big game in the big city, back where it once belonged. Full credit to this team and this coach for taking it there.
By Mark Bradley
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710 comments Add your comment
Big Earl
November 20th, 2011
10:47 am
TamponGator…OK dude. What’s your point? I feel very sad for you.
Tampon Gator= UGA Obsessed
November 20th, 2011
10:49 am
Tampa Gator, are you still on here? You are pathetic….
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
10:49 am
LHarding…you expect DGAtor and others to show class and RESPECT your SEC East. True, no one mentioned Auburn TODAY, but I remember last year and the beginning of this year when DAWG fans showed Auburn no respect on these forums when they CLEARLY won. MY point is: you expect respect but give none.
TampaGator
November 20th, 2011
10:49 am
dawgster…….
Your team is improved…..but you have a lot to prove against LSU, Arkansas or Bama (the top 3 teams in the country) in the SEC championship game….teams Florida and South Carolina played during the season. Beat one of them…..and you will shut everyone up. Lose to Tech or get clobbered by one of the three in the title game….and not only will the outside haters continue to pound…..but all the Georgia haters will be right back on here asking for Richt’s head and wanting obviously less talented QBs to replace Murray. A lot of the Dawg posters on here bring the haters here to “hate.” You used to be one of them. You aren’t anymore.
FLA DAWG
November 20th, 2011
10:50 am
Calling it the way I see it doesn’t make me a hater of my alma mater.
Please describe the improvment of our Offense in yesterday’s game against one of the worst teams in the SEC since Boise State or SC game.
TampaGator
November 20th, 2011
10:51 am
Yes…..I remember all the disrespect many of these Dawg posters showed Auburn last year…..much less respect than Georgia is receiving this year. You get what you deserve….and many of the Dawg posters on here deserve nothing less than they are getting. Some don’t.
JoeFan
November 20th, 2011
10:52 am
UGA played the schedule they were given and did good but not great. They won the games on paper they should have. Now the true test will come when they meet LSU. If they were to win, then this is truly one of the better UGA teams. If they loose, then this will simply go down as a good season. In the meantime, if they overlook GT, then this can turn into a very average season.
LHarding Dawg
November 20th, 2011
10:52 am
davereaux – We gave Auburn all the respect they deserved last Saturday. First half 35-7, second half 10-0. Final 45-7.
Bama Mike
November 20th, 2011
10:53 am
South Carolina beat every eastern team. Of their two losses the loss to Auburn must still keep them up at night.
TampaGator
November 20th, 2011
10:54 am
Tampon…..
You wearing a tampon or using it as a post name……is pathetic. I have nothing much else to do right now as I am stickly limited in what else I can do right now. I am watching the Gators replay and enjoying posting on a sports blog at the same time…..while I am unable to get out of bed or even walk for that matter. But I appreciate your concern for my state of being.
Live From New York
November 20th, 2011
10:55 am
Tic-tac-toe, three (squared) in a row. Yes, nine consecutive wins is an impressive accomplishment. As ever, the margin of victory in those games is irrelevant. The objective in football is to outscore an opponent, and Georgia has done this nine straight times.
If the Dawgs run the table (Georgia Tech, SEC championship game, bowl game), they will have 12 in a row. Does that sound familiar? It should, because 12 in a row was the undefeated, untied 1980 national championship team’s record.
Incidentally, 12 in a row would put CMR’s head coaching success rate at exactly 75 percent (meaning three times as many W’s as L’s). As of today, it’s 74.47 percent.
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
10:56 am
Dawgs hit the perfect storm for the SEC East win this year…easy schedule with Vols and Gators rebuilding. All this talk of “we’re back” is a knee-jerk reaction to long, lost memories of 1980.
TampaGator
November 20th, 2011
10:56 am
Harding…..
We are talking about last year…..or the lack of respect you gave Auburn last year. By the way, I don’t remember you beating Auburn last year……and I remember them being undefeated, winning the SEC, and winning the National TItle….and folks like you still spat all over them….and even after Cam and Auburn were cleared by the NCAA of “any” wrongdoing.
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
10:58 am
And Lharding: we’ll give YOU the respect YOU deserve at the Dome on the 3rd…LSU 52 Dawgs 17
TampaGator
November 20th, 2011
11:01 am
I will now take “Tampon’s” disrespectful advice and do something different while restricted to this bed….watch a movie and then read some before lunch.
But…..Georgia has an opportunity to prove just how good they have become in the next couple of weeks. Don’t blow it. You might now have this good of an opportunity for a while.
See ya! For now. As Arnold said…”I’ll be booock”….
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
11:01 am
Exactly. It was just LAST week before the Auburn/Georgia game that Dawg fans were STILL hurling insults about “$cam”, rent-a-quarterback, etc., etc. Dawg fans will not let it go. Georga fans haven’t shown ANYONE that’re adult enough to win or lose like men. They simply whine about others.
RMikel58
November 20th, 2011
11:02 am
Lost to S. Carolina 42-45/ Arkansas beat S. Carolina 44-28
Beat Ole Miss 27-13/ Alabama beat Ole Miss 52-7 / Arkansas beat Ole Miss 29-24 / LSU 52-3 over Ole Miss.
Beat Tennessee 20-12/ LSU 38-7 over Tenn./ Alabama 37-6 over Tenn./ Arkansas 49-7 over Tennessee
Beat Vanderbilt 33-28 / Alabama 34-0 over Vandy / Arkansas 31-28 over Vandy
Beat Florida 24-20 / Alabama 38-10 over Fla. / LSU 41-11 over Fla.
Beat Auburn 45-7 / LSU 45-10 over Auburn / Arkansas 38-14 over Fla.
Beat Kentucky 19-10 / LSU 35-7 over Kentucky
Georgia vs above .500 teams 4-2/ Alabama vs above .500 teams 6-1 / LSU vs above .500 6-0
Arkansas vs above .500 teams 5-1
Road Games
Georgia 4-0 / Alabama 4-0 / Arkansas 2-1 / LSU 5-0
Home Games
Georgia 5-2 / Alabama 6-1 / Arkansas 8-0 / LSU 7-0
Margin of victory
Georgia 16.4 pts per game/ Alabama 27.2 pts per game / Arkansas 18.2 pts. per game/ LSU 27.9 pts. per game.
Georgia Tech 11.2 pts. per game 5-1 @ home 3-2 away/ 3-3 with teams above .500
Still cant overlook Ga. Tech, still good team at 8-3. Hardly ever a blowout but we should win unless we give up turnovers or crucial penalties. If we cant stop their run option, it could be a long day for us. It is seriously important to go into the SEC Championship game focused but youre crazy if you think Georgia can just go in there and assume its a give-me-game.
If were in rhythm and come focus then we should win by as much as 10 pts.
Remember UCF? 10-6?
Georgia 42-34 over tech 2010/ Georgia 30-24 over Tech 2009/ Georgia lost 42-45 against Tech we were
9-2 at the time and Tech was 8-3.
Looking past Ga. Tech is foolish cause most games have been within a touchdown. Yeah i hate them too but certainly dont get the big head.
dawg
November 20th, 2011
11:04 am
Let’s hear it for a 4 year contract extension for CMR!!!! He deserves it!!
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
11:05 am
Exactly. It was just last week on these blogs that Dawg fans were hurling insults at Auburn STILL and referring to Cam and $cam, rent-a-qtrback, Auburn buying their players. It’s entertaining for the rest of us to see you Dawgs remained worked up and unable to let go even after the NCAA has. Don’t expect other teams to congratulate you when you’re unable to do it yourselves.
LHarding Dawg
November 20th, 2011
11:05 am
Davereaux, I’ll be at the dome, like always, and if we do play LSU or Alabama and get beat 52-7. They will get my respect. And, if we win, we could care less if we have your respect.
Tampa – You need not to get in between a Dawg and a War Eagle. None of your business.
Now I’ve got to go and clean up storm damage from a tornado that came over the lake last week.
dawg
November 20th, 2011
11:07 am
I see a four year extenson for CMR and he deseves it!! Yeah CMR!!
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
11:08 am
You may get that chance though to redeem yourselves by showing some class and congratulating us on Dec 3 and January 7.
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
11:10 am
LHarding..TampaGator is simply calling it the way he sees it. Just like me. And if you think we are the ONLY ones who see the Emperor in the raw, re-check your mirrors.
dawgster
November 20th, 2011
11:11 am
@TampaGator…Do me a favor, stop assigning quotes or remarks by me that I have not made….I have never been a what you call a “hater”…I don’t get carried away when we win or lose a game, so please if you want to attribute something to me please be truthful…Have I ever criticized the dawgs or coaches, you bet, but I have and never will be associated with what you call a “hater:…You on the other hand have always found a way to get a sarcastic remark in about the dawgs, but you have claimed in the past that the dawgs are your second favorite team..something I find funny, at least based on your comments…I don’t have any beef with you, and actually respect and enjoy reading your posts, but one thing I want allow you to do is to attribute something to me that I know and anyone who has seen my comments on here no that I am included in the “hate” comments that you say I use to be a part of…Point here, I am man enough, and I can assure I am big enough to say when I am wrong or and I will do that when its the right thing to do, but what I don’t like is to post a comment to me that I you know is false, but yet its easy to sit behind your computer and spout off any comment without any validation….
Again, not worried about LSU or whoever right now, only Tech…Not going to excuse our schedule this year or make excuses for injuries…can you say the same..I don’t think so…You wonder why people give you a hard time on here…don’t get me wrong some deserve the comments you state, yes dawg fans included, but when you say I made certain comments or say I made comments that I know I didn’t then be man enough to say you were wrong…but you know what doesn’t really matter, I’m sure you can find some comment from me and take it out of context and make it fit into yours…Oh and on another note…I hope your recorvery is going well..I really do…Some on here may not know about your recent hospital visit, so I hope all is well…I just ask that you don’t throw out comments that are not valid….go dawgs and I will not make any excuses, we are SEC EAST CHAMPIONS…
dawgster
November 20th, 2011
11:15 am
@Bama Mike….is that the best you got talking about Coach Richt kissing his wife at the end of the game…maybe they should have shaken hands…but hey you got a response out of a dawg fan, so be proud of your comments…..Amazing what some people will say to find a way to say something negative about Coach Richt….go dawgs
North ave. faithful
November 20th, 2011
11:16 am
After reading watsons breakdown of the road to a UGA nat. championship, I think i know what sherlock was smoking in that huge pipe. Hope crowell gets better this week, see ya saturday.
Denise
November 20th, 2011
11:20 am
I am a true DAWG fan and I am proud of this team. Yesterday was an ugly win, so what? We won and we live to go forward! The SEC rule college football and I am proud to be a part of the Bull Dawg nation and the SEC Nation. Right now, I know this is going to sound crazy, I hope we beat Tech, but the bigger pie is the dome. Get well Dawgs! Prepare, prepare, prepare, and continue to show that determination that has gotten us this far and we have a chance. … and I agree that if that team that beat Auburn last week shows up in the dome, NOTHING is impossible.
RMikel58
November 20th, 2011
11:21 am
Its true that it isnt Georgia’s fault for having a soft schedule. We should be 10-1 but thats football. The right team is in the championship game folks. Granted S. Carolina lost their great running back and so did we to a point.
It makes us and them one dimensional, just the difference is a better QB and receivers. Were here so what is, is what is. The Defense has improved 60% from the 1st game of the season. Honestly i’d say they were as good or better than LSU’s Defense.
I like Georgia’s chances in the SEC Championship Game whether it be LSU or Arkansas. Yep we’ll be underdogs most assuredly will.
But either way i think Georgia will end up in a Major Bowl win or lose. If our Offense would have improved like our Defense did then i think we could beat anybody right now. How we play coming into the SEC Championship will depend on how we play Ga. Tech.
If Georgia wins then it will be 10 wins in a row which has only happened 1 time. So theres some history to be made there. LSU is not gonna be thinking about the Championship Game as much because theyre more focused on the National Championship.
LSU’s a great team no doubt, they deserve respect but will they think Georgia reached it by a soft schedule? Lost to top 10 teams? Hasnt really played nobody since? I’d say LSU looks at that game as a warm up game.
I remember when Herbstreet lobbied for LSU to jump over Georgia in the polls which is exactly what happened. I remember blowing out LSU at their home. Its not redempton but would set things right because there were 2 times Georgia got left out of the BCS Bowl game.
Big Earl
November 20th, 2011
11:25 am
@North ave. faithful….must agree with you on Watson’s comments, but you’ve got to admit that from a Dawgs point of view, his imagination is fun to read about. Thanks for get well to Crowell.
Hope we beat the snot out of yall next week. Gotta keep the “Good O’le fashion Hate” thing alive.
D man
November 20th, 2011
11:27 am
Great comeback Dawgs
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
11:29 am
Get my bookie on the line. I’ll bet a Florida win in a Dawg/Gator rematch.
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
11:30 am
D man…well I once saw a boy that could beat up all the girls on the playground….just sayin….
D man
November 20th, 2011
11:35 am
BCS confusion, not really. LSU and ALabama are still the best two teams in football. I hear a lot of whining about Bama doesn’t deserve another shot at LSU but who is better than Bama in college football. Bama has the best defense in college football. The offense is stacked as well with Trent Richardson who may win the Heisman. There is not another team in the nation who could beat Bama other than LSU and that was one of those could go either way kind of games where the official who called the interception at the 1yard line an interception must have been blind because the receiver had the ball with his back on the ground before the ball was taken away. That was a huge call that made a big difference on the outcome of that game. So who is better than Bama and why? I’m a huge Ga fan and my Dawgs would get killed by Bama. So who else and why?
Chain
November 20th, 2011
11:50 am
davereaux….is LSU in the SECC game yet? Did you guys cancel the Arkansas game? Talk trash after you win your division, hater. Go Dawgs…SEC EAST division champ. Go ahead…davereaux…say something…bully.
The Truth
November 20th, 2011
11:51 am
By the sheer luck of an easy schedule, UGA wins the SEC East. They are at best the 4th best team in the SEC.
t2go
November 20th, 2011
11:53 am
Whats with all the Crowell bashing! He is a very young man that has been doing what 99.99% of us on this blog would never be able to do much less want to do. Do you think he hasn’t been playing hurt? You can’t tell me every Sunday that kid is not in PAIN! Maybe he needs some conditioning and to build up some muscle and weight….that will come. But to say he is made of glass and needs to suck it up!??? Go look at yourself in the mirror and tell me you could do better….
Chain
November 20th, 2011
11:54 am
@The Truth…we don’t care. We’re playing in the SECC game.
Randy
November 20th, 2011
11:59 am
@Greg Harris…
Automatic Qualification
1. The top two teams in the final BCS Standings shall play in the National Championship Game.
2. The champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and Southeastern conferences will have automatic berths in one of the participating bowls through the 2013 regular season
so, hypothetically, it could happen.
North ave. faithful
November 20th, 2011
12:00 pm
Agree Big Earl, wouldnt be much fun without the good old fashioned hate, wish we could have both been 9-2 going in saturday, but should be a good game. PS hope we beat the snot out of yall too.
ARdawg
November 20th, 2011
12:04 pm
daveraux
You sir, are an 1di0t. No respect to Auburn, is that all you have? Oh and then the “weak schedule” argument. Everyone in the country last year was chanting Cam the Scam and guess what, they still are. The investigation was closed, that’s all. There is no exoneration for Scam or AU. It only proves your school can cheat well. Nothing else. Oh, and whether you like it or not, this IS a Georgia blog, about a Georgia team from a Georgia newspaper. Fool
Terry
November 20th, 2011
12:04 pm
Offense sell tickets Defense win’s Championships, with our Defense playing like they are; we have a chance to win any game.
Bama Mike
November 20th, 2011
12:09 pm
Dawgster, A hug, family member on the sideline I am ok with. But a passionate kiss on national T V,with tongue is inappropriate and just plain stupid. But hey if it is the new “Georgia way of doing things” more power to you.
ATLdog
November 20th, 2011
12:12 pm
RMikel58: “Honestly i’d say they were as good or better than LSU’s Defense.”
LOL Again, I know we love the dogs but let’s be realistic and objective. What good offense has UGA shut down? Name them. We played 2 decent offenses all year and in both cases those teams moved the ball up and down the field all game (SC and Boise). Shutting down weak offenses does make us an elite defense, a good defense yes, but nowhere near the level of LSU. Guys, we gave up 28 to Vandy.
davereaux
November 20th, 2011
12:12 pm
bully? Improve your O and D line and then maybe the skinny kid on the block will call YOU a bully for once. At least you’ll still have your SEC East t-shirt.
No Sugar in the Sky
November 20th, 2011
12:14 pm
Wht didnt Richt kick that Thomas Thug off the team?
Terry
November 20th, 2011
12:19 pm
Bama Mike, When your happy as Coach Richt and his wife were you do things that sometimes you wouldn’t normally do, you do realize that, don’t you, just a few years ago, Coach Richt’s wife was being treated for cancer, that with having him on the hot seat, I’ll give him a mulligan, question is why do you care?
Ray
November 20th, 2011
12:19 pm
Most of the teams UGA struggled with the top three Ark, Bama, and LSU beat pretty heavily.
Just a side note I am a UGA fan, but of the more realistic cut of the cloth.
Bama Mike
November 20th, 2011
12:27 pm
Terry, I really dont care one way or the other. CMR consistently acts in a manner which is sometimes inconsistent with normalcy.
North ave. faithful
November 20th, 2011
12:32 pm
I would imagine CMR and his wife were celebrating the fact that they would not be leaving athens, i would think winning the SEC east keeps them there a few more years.
Your Friend on FB
November 20th, 2011
12:37 pm
So now the haters are telling CMR how to act. LOL.