The Bulldogs didn’t just outplay Tech – they outcoached it, too
Give that Bulldog a hand, if not a great big kiss. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
This time a year ago, it was possible to wonder if the Georgia Bulldogs would ever again outsmart an opponent. On Saturday they outsmarted Georgia Tech. And there, if anyone still wondered how 0-2 became 10-2, was the answer.
It wasn’t just that these Bulldogs have good players — Georgia always has good players — or that the schedule eased after those first two games. It was that Georgia, which hadn’t played to its gifts since 2007, coalesced around a coach and his staff.
Back to 0-2. “That was when we closed the door,” said tight end Orson Charles, “and we said, ‘We’ve got to stop playing for ourselves.’ We need to play for this guy.”
By “this guy,” Charles meant Mark Richt, who has done in his 11th Georgia season something that’s difficult to do in contemporary college football. Richt has fought off the doubt accrued over three underachieving seasons and hoisted his Bulldogs back to eminence. They have two championships in the bank — the SEC East was clinched last week against Kentucky; the state title was secured Saturday against Tech — and will play for a third next weekend against LSU, the finest team in the land.
“We’ve got the best coaches in the SEC,” said center Ben Jones, and on this day his boast carried some weight. Georgia beat Tech as handily as Tech under Paul Johnson is ever beaten, and the difference wasn’t so much manpower as brainpower. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo had one of his finest days, and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham capped a stellar second season by keeping Johnson’s prized option-based spread from doing nearly enough.
And let’s be honest: There were those among us, this correspondent among them, who weren’t sure we’d see such a day. Johnson’s first bunch of Jackets went to Athens and beat a Georgia team that had entered the season ranked No. 1 in the nation, and last year Tech amassed 512 yards behind its backup quarterback against a Grantham-coached D. (To be fair, Richt got the better of Johnson in 2009, when Georgia used power football to upset the team that would win the ACC.) But it must be said: When last the Bulldogs beat Tech this bad, Chan Gailey got fired two days later.
The key was that Georgia got ahead early, and it did because Bobo cogitated like a young Steve Spurrier on a caffeine jag. Isaiah Crowell, Georgia’s best tailback, didn’t play, and Richard Samuel, his injured backup, hasn’t worked since the Florida game. Carlton Thomas, the No. 3 man, was coming off his third suspension of the season and didn’t start. And still Bobo conjured up 17 first-half points.
Of Georgia’s first six running plays, only one involved a player listed as a running back. Branden Smith, normally a cornerback, carried twice. Quarterback Aaron Murray carried twice, and the niftiest moment was a double-reverse to receiver Malcolm Mitchell. Said Bobo: “We were trying to mix them up, give them something different … Our base plan for the game was to be balanced, but as the game went on I thought the best way to win was by throwing.”
Murray complied, completing 19 of 29 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. Nine different receivers caught those 19 passes. Said Richt: “Mike did a great job … Mike dialed up some beauties.”
As for Grantham: His defense yielded a touchdown at the end of the first half and another near the end of the second, but never did the Tech ground game appear as dangerous as in Georgia games past. Even in the first half, Johnson was forced to call inside handoffs to his A-backs — a play the Jackets seldom use — to approximate an up-the-gut push. “And once we took that away from them,” Grantham said, “we were back to controlling the game.”
Down two touchdowns in the third quarter, Johnson got antsy. His Jackets didn’t look capable of sustaining a series of long drives — they’d managed one seven-minute surge in the first half — and he called for Tevin Washington to throw, which isn’t a Tech strength. The resulting two interceptions killed all hope.
And that, in surprisingly simple fashion, was that. Georgia beat Tech and its coaches trumped Tech’s coaches and, after 10 consecutive victories, the matter of Richt’s job security has been tabled. He has his Bulldogs back where they’re supposed to be: Atop the SEC East, playing for the conference championship, shrugging off Georgia Tech.
“I didn’t celebrate as much after this one as I did last week,” Richt said, and there was no real need. In this state, order has been restored to nature. Why celebrate a given?
By Mark Bradley
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961 comments Add your comment
UGA24-7
November 26th, 2011
9:56 pm
YEA BEST OF LUCK TO MEYER…SO LONG AS ITS NOT IN FLORIDA
Mark Bradley
November 26th, 2011
9:57 pm
Georgia’s going to be picked first in the SEC East next season, but don’t be surprised when Vandy is picked in the top three.
dawgs2004
November 26th, 2011
9:57 pm
not very good PJ
sdb92
November 26th, 2011
9:58 pm
Georgia Tech ranks last among ACC schools in graduation rates for football and men’s basketball programs, according to figures released Tuesday by the NCAA.
Georgia ranks near the middle of the SEC in those sports.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 AJC
Just published last month. Yeah, all those scholars on the GT team. Nice try.
GO Dawgs!!!!!!!
UGA OWNS gtu
November 26th, 2011
9:58 pm
If Meyer takes the job at tOSU, each and every gator fan’s head will explode. You will NEVER see venom/vitriol like what you will see from those people.
UGA OWNS gtu!!!
Always have, always will.
Mark Bradley
November 26th, 2011
9:59 pm
Meyer’s taking the Ohio State job. I have no doubt about that.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 26th, 2011
9:59 pm
Tech please answer this
I thought Tech was a school for smart people
yet
They have only beat us 15 times in 51 yrs.
I didnt know “Retarded fans who did shift work from Walmart” could beat such a smart school
flagboy?
November 26th, 2011
9:59 pm
Is UGA going to drop the Alabama game next year and pick up Missouri? I wouldn’t complain with that. . .
UGA24-7
November 26th, 2011
9:59 pm
I KNOW A COUPLE GATORS UGA OWNS gtu AND ALL IVE HEARD IS HE;S A TRAITOR
The Great Derrick Steagall
November 26th, 2011
10:00 pm
CMR>CPJ
Mark Bradley
November 26th, 2011
10:00 pm
I haven’t heard anything about next year’s schedule. But I’d make that trade, too.
kerryb
November 26th, 2011
10:00 pm
Meyer said he wanted to leave coaching to spend more time with his family. Apparently he doesn’t want to spend anymore time with them.
DawgFan
November 26th, 2011
10:01 pm
Flag, The SEC will make the decision on the Missouri, Alabama question. I hope we play Alabama. For me, with like 17 starters coming back, I wouldn’t be surprised if UGA is ranked in the Top 5 preseason.
Mark Bradley
November 26th, 2011
10:01 pm
There was a baseball executive who retired, and his wife wasn’t thrilled. She said, “I married him for better or worse, but not for lunch.”
Sterling Boyd
November 26th, 2011
10:01 pm
Mark, it looked like there was a lot of red in the stands today….what was your estimate of the turnout – 60%-40% Georgia Tech fans to UGA Fans?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 26th, 2011
10:02 pm
Mark Bradley
Its about time to write that article on the demize of the Orange Bowl and what they need to do to fix it.
What a joke that Bowl game has become; when it was once the best.
Mark Bradley
November 26th, 2011
10:02 pm
I think Georgia is easily a Top 10 pick next season. Don’t know about top five. LSU should be loaded again, too.
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 26th, 2011
10:02 pm
“We’ve got the best coaches in the SEC,” said center Ben Jones. And that goes for the ACC as well.
MDawg
November 26th, 2011
10:03 pm
Yeah, espn loves the Buckeyes and with Urban as their coach they will be anointed the kings of college football before he coaches a down.
UGA OWNS gtu
November 26th, 2011
10:03 pm
24-7, same here. They are FURIOUS at the thought that he left them for greener pastures. lol
UGA OWNS gtu!!!
Always have, always will.
Dr. Morpheus
November 26th, 2011
10:03 pm
I suppose someone has already inquired about what “GTU” stands for. I graduated from UGA and I don’t endorse ignorance from our supporters. Both sides gave it their best and the Dawgs prevailed. Larry Munson is smiling but thinking we don’t stand a chance against LSU… or do we?
Your work has been excellent of recent, Mark. You and Loran Smith had the best Munson eulogies I’ve seen.
Mark Bradley
November 26th, 2011
10:03 pm
I’d say 60-40 was about right, Sterling Boyd.
Mark Bradley
November 26th, 2011
10:03 pm
Thanks, Dr. Morpheus.
UGA OWNS gtu
November 26th, 2011
10:05 pm
Meyer is the ONLY chance for a BigTeleven team to usurp the Mighty S.E.C.
UGA OWNS gtu!!!
Always have, always will.
dawgs2004
November 26th, 2011
10:05 pm
The North Avenue Nerds crashed Schultz’s page. Won’t come up lol.
flagboy?
November 26th, 2011
10:05 pm
DawgFan, i agree with you about being preseason top 10 next year. . . but i’ll still take missouri over Alabama in the regular season. Next year, you get through the regular season (usc should be good with Lattimore back, but i wouldn’t think they’d be as good with what they lose. . .FLA will be worse next year, no matter what Muschamp says). . i take my chances beating either LSU or Alabama once in the SEC championship.
kerryb
November 26th, 2011
10:05 pm
Meyer did a good job of raiding the states of Georgia and Florida for talent and hit on one of the greatest college football players of all time. He rode him for four years and to a title. When he left and they struggled he bailed. Ohio does not have the talent that Florida and Georgia has. He will also be competing with Michigan now for talent up there. My guess is that he will not be as successful as he was at UF. Also, Rich Rod tried to run the spread in the Big 10 and found it rough going. He will too.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 26th, 2011
10:06 pm
Meyer left FL because of the arrogant FL fans and their outrageous demands for NC’s every year.
Look at the Will Muschamp interview with ESPN he did earlier this year. He mentions that he gets FL fan emails every single day wanting to win big
Meyer knew the cupboard was empty and he wasnt going to hear the “You cant win without Tebow crowd’
Dawg48
November 26th, 2011
10:07 pm
We want be playing in the power ranger jerseys next week ,looks like we gave em to Stanford.
Sterling Boyd
November 26th, 2011
10:08 pm
Didn’t Stephon Marbury commit to “Georgia Tech University”?
UGA OWNS gtu
November 26th, 2011
10:09 pm
The DAWGS will easily be a top 10 preseason team… by years end, a top 3-5 team.
UGA OWNS gtu!!!
Always have, always will.
flagboy?
November 26th, 2011
10:10 pm
Meyer will win at OSU. . .that conference is awful top to bottom. awful. Meyer will still be able to get talent as well, probably more so than any other coach they’ve had in that conference for some time. It won’t be the grind the SEC is. . .
Not excited about it. Just because of how much ESPN will run with it.
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 26th, 2011
10:11 pm
Mark,
Why would Johnson call at time out to “ice” Walsh? Didn’t he know that Walsh has had consistency problems all yr?
Johnson just gave us 3 pts.
UGA OWNS gtu
November 26th, 2011
10:12 pm
Yep, according to gtu alum, Stephon Marbury, gtu is georgia tech university. LMAO
UGA OWNS gtu!!!
Always have, always will.
flagboy?
November 26th, 2011
10:14 pm
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 26th, 2011
10:11 pm
Mark,
Why would Johnson call at time out to “ice” Walsh? Didn’t he know that Walsh has had consistency problems all yr?
Johnson just gave us 3 pts
_______________________________
From his reaction on TV, it didn’t look like the TO was his idea. . . he went by Groh and said something about “four points”
Roadawg
November 26th, 2011
10:14 pm
Congrats to Coach Richt, finally achieved wins over the Big 4 in one season, UT, UF, AU, and GT. Great Season, now to remain the only SEC Team that has a winning record against Miles at LSU.
Chris
November 26th, 2011
10:14 pm
ya im excited about the 2012 season! jarvis jones assures everyone that every junior is coming back and we will be able to replace boykin and tyson even though they are both great players. If our o line can be rebuilt we will be incredible. I think our o line will be fine since will friend has done such a great job this year. Also we will have an easy schedule since missouri is taking alabama’s place on our schedule. Assuming we win out in the sec east which we will since usc is losing everyone except for lattimore we will play for the national title if we can win the sec
clc
November 26th, 2011
10:15 pm
Been a Jackets fan for 49 years. Tech was outplayed, outcoached, has better players. No team will ever really win with a Paul Johnson offence. To the Georgia fans, congrats. To the ignorant, uneducated people that make statements like Tech Sucks, do the true dog fans a favor and disappear.
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 26th, 2011
10:16 pm
flagboy,
Thanks, I missed that exchange. Looked like the GT coaching staff was pretty disorganized the whole game.
North ave. faithful
November 26th, 2011
10:20 pm
Meyer left fl. because of outrageous fans wanting a nc every year, now theres the pot calling the kettle black.
flagboy?
November 26th, 2011
10:21 pm
Johnson’s view of his defense’s inability to stop the Dogs: “It’s deflating. I think it deflates the whole team.”
_______________________________
What defensive coordinator would want to coach for this guy?? Do you think throwing 2 int’s inside your own 35 is deflating? Heck, on the first one, UGA didn’t even get any points and I thought that one would put it away in the first half.
Granted, tech’s defense wasn’t/isn’t very good. But it isn’t like tech’s offense was lighting it up today.
A She She
November 26th, 2011
10:22 pm
“Well we just beat the #5 team (Clemson) in the country…what have you guys done”. Well we saw what a fraud Clump son was and we laid the wood to your limey selves……….How’s the rest of the A She She holdiing up against the SEC?
flagboy?
November 26th, 2011
10:23 pm
Coffee Bluff, i’m guessing. . . but from the TV, that’s what it looked like. . . Johnson walked by Groh and said something about four points. . . so. . take that how you will.
kerryb
November 26th, 2011
10:24 pm
Branden Smith will replace Boykin with Damian Swan playing the nickel. Garrison Smith (who played a good game today) will replace Tyson so this defense will just be reloaded next year.
About Right
November 26th, 2011
10:26 pm
Bradley hit the nail on the head with UGA winning again and stating “why celebrate a given?”
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
November 26th, 2011
10:26 pm
North ave. faithful
how is that now the pot calling the kettle black.
flagboy?
November 26th, 2011
10:27 pm
kerry, i don’t think Smith replaces Boykin. . . Boykin is pretty dang good. I do think Swann will be pretty special at some point.
Chris
November 26th, 2011
10:28 pm
also jordan love could be that nickel that will be a good preseason battle. I like swann’s talent and i think he wins
ddawg
November 26th, 2011
10:28 pm
Mark,
Why is Notre Dame always in the prime time feature network game. They haven’t been in the top national teams discussion in years?
kerryb
November 26th, 2011
10:29 pm
Apparently you dont have the ability to understand my point. I guess I should say that Smith will be taking over Boykin’s spot on the defense. Is that good enough for you?