A sobering night: Georgia is outclassed and overwhelmed
This forlorn shot is somewhat indicative of the night itself, wouldn't you say? (AP photo by Brett Flashnick)
Columbia, S.C. – Billed as a prove-it game, Georgia can only hope this was instead a case of false advertising. If the nation’s No. 5 team proved anything Saturday night, it’s that it shouldn’t be ranked that high, or perhaps at all.
South Carolina was primed to make a point. It took Georgia, which had averaged 48 points in its first five games, 58 minutes just to score a point here. To say the Bulldogs looked a step slow from the get-go is to suggest that “Ishtar” slightly underperformed at the box office. In the first 10 minutes, Georgia managed to get outclassed across the board — on offense, on defense, even on special teams. Not coincidentally, South Carolina had mustered three touchdowns before the visitors managed their second first down.
In a way, this recalled the infamous first half against Alabama in September 2008, the night the Bulldogs wore their black jerseys and trailed 31-0 at the half. But Alabama hit Georgia with a series of body blows. South Carolina was firing haymakers to the jaw: A 42-yard completion that should have been a Bacarri Rambo interception on the game’s second snap; an interception off a tipped Aaron Murray pass on Georgia’s third snap; two Connor Shaw touchdown passes to unencumbered receivers, and finally an outrageous punt return by Ace Sanders.
All the improvements Georgia has made over the past 13 months — or seemed to have made — were called into question in this wretched first quarter. South Carolina was bigger, faster, stronger, tougher and yes, better-coached. The Gamecocks knew what they wanted to do and did it with gusto. Georgia had no good ideas. South Carolina showed it could run the ball, pass the ball, stop the run and rush the passer. (And, lest we forget, return punts.) The Bulldogs could do none of the above.
Example: On Georgia’s only real threat of the first three quarters, Mark Richt chose to go for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal at the 2. Murray somehow completed a pass for one yard to Rantavious Wooten. “The ball probably should have gone to the [other] side,” said Mike Bobo, the offensive coordinator.
The talent Georgia had displayed against Missouri and Vanderbilt and Tennessee looked rather less impressive this night. Surely some of that had to do with playing on the road, but venue is no excuse for losing 35-7. South Carolina was ready, and that’s a function of coaching. Georgia wasn’t, and that’s a malfunction of same.
Even more distressing was that the big-name Bulldogs — Murray and Jarvis Jones and Rambo and the freshman backs — were rendered pedestrian by comparison. South Carolina’s offensive and defensive fronts exerted their will. The great Marcus Lattimore got all the tough yards. Shaw, who’s from Flowery Branch, made all the tough plays. The Bulldogs acted content to stand back and admire such excellence, and by appearing so passive in such a setting they left themselves open to all the old doubts.
Even in their division-winning season of 2011, the Bulldogs lost to the four best teams they played. This year they’d won five games without meeting anyone of real consequence, and this effort, if that’s the word for it, was so desultory as to make you wonder when, or if, Georgia will ever again beat anybody any good.
Surely they will. They’re too gifted not to break through against somebody. But a game like this made everyone who has attempted to paint these Bulldogs as smarter, tougher, better — and that’s my hand you see raised — feel a fool. When you’re beaten like this, there can be no disclaimers, no qualifiers: This was simply a horrid showing.
Said Richt: “I told the guys, ‘The bad news is that we took a whipping. The good news is that we all took it together … They whipped us pretty good.”
This was worse than the 42-10 loss to LSU in the SEC title game. Georgia wasn’t quite ready for such a game, and the Tigers were too good. But these Bulldogs were older and presumably wiser, and none of that wisdom was brought to bear here. And if Georgia, after all its staff changes and glitzy recruiting, remains incapable of competing on the big stage, whose fault is that?
Todd Grantham’s defense was superb much of last season but seems misdirected now. Bobo’s offense had run up boxcar numbers against lesser lights, but against South Carolina it had but 149 yards through three quarters. And Richt, who’s in charge of this whole operation, used to be able to take teams anywhere and beat anybody. Where did that mojo go?
No, the season isn’t over, and yes, it’s still possible for this team to win the SEC East and play for the conference title. But the season changed Saturday night. Georgia was exposed on national TV as undeserving of its hype, and it can take a program a long time to recover from such an indignity. The Bulldogs’ ceiling got lowered here. When they arrived, we wondered how good they really were. We have a clearer idea now.
By Mark Bradley
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1,090 comments Add your comment
K Money
October 6th, 2012
11:20 pm
Please Resign tommorrow Richt!!!! 0-10 against top 25 teams!!! Cannot and will never win the big game!!!
Tom in Atl
October 6th, 2012
11:20 pm
People, people, it’s only a football game. We will kick anyone who wants some in horse riding. And that is what is really important. Our team of dedicated horse jumpers is incredible. Not just this year – but historically. All the great moments over the years to savor.
Like:
“Look at that Horse jumping in the sky!!! Look at that horse jumping in the sky!!! My god, a freshman!
or
“and Washington, thinking of horse jumping and the olympics, just straigtened up and threw it 80- yds”
Or “We just stepped on their face, with a pointy shoe often used in horse jumping”
Prespective people – sure our football team sucks – but we are #2 in the BCS of horse jumping – and rising fast. Support the Horses!
Gatortech
October 6th, 2012
11:20 pm
Good stuff.
goodsport
October 6th, 2012
11:21 pm
For you loud mouth dawg fans, shut up!!!!!!!!!!!. Rambo,Marshall/Gershal/Murray/Oglevy/etc,not a factor. Your were beaten like a circus monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Bama Boy
October 6th, 2012
11:21 pm
Ohh sorry Kingdaddy cause you dont know Jack You actually liked John Parker Wilson and now hes a spectator just like you keep watching maybe you’ll learn something soon! Roll Tide Roll
SoGaDawg
October 6th, 2012
11:22 pm
Call Jon Gruden!!!!! NOW MCGARITY!!!!!!!!!
jamison01
October 6th, 2012
11:22 pm
I am sick of saying next year. I love the dawgs but sometimes you have to change.
mybulldawgs
October 6th, 2012
11:22 pm
I’ve been a Mark Richt supporter for many years. No more. This man will never lead UGA beyond a mediocre team. Let’s face it, the class of the league, Miles, Saban, Spurrier – all have embarrased Richt and the UGA Nation. Spurrier turns a mediocre Florida team into a National Champion. Now he will bring South Carolina into greatness. How many years do we have to be out-coached? And defense? What defense? A joke. This defense couldn’t stop a high school team.
It’s time to go out and buy, yes, buy the right coach with a proven record. LSU did it. Alabama did it. Ohio State did it. And now South Carolina did it. It’s not like UGA does not have the money. I spend several thousand each year on Sky Club tickets, parking passes and contributions. This 30 year contributor, season ticket holder and alumni has had it. No more.
Dawgfan01
October 6th, 2012
11:22 pm
Mark……didn’t you predict a big win for our dawgs? Forgot to mention that?
Wish we had spurrier! Wish we had their players! Music city bowl…….here we come!
Thank you and good night.
October 6th, 2012
11:23 pm
well written
wreckmaniac
October 6th, 2012
11:23 pm
How does the media get suckered every year into giving this team a ranking they don’t deserve until they lose ? Why does the media believe that UGA deserves to be “assumed” to be a top 10 team.
They will do it again next year. UGA will be ranked in the top 10 at the beginning of the year because the media nitwits “think” they should.
Why did Richt keep Murray in the entire game ? This tells me there is NO confidence in whoever the #2 QB is.
Gurshall is an insult to Hershel.
Conner Shaw looked much quicker than he ever has because the UGA defense is slow.
The UGA offensive line caved in as much as they did last week against TN.
The second loss will come in October as it always does. The “wait til next year” crowd is clearing their throats.
Also, get ready to pay for Richts 2012 increase.
Ed
October 6th, 2012
11:23 pm
West Virginia in the ‘06 Sugar Bowl (first half), Tennessee in ‘06 (second half) ‘07 and ‘09, Alabama and Florida in ‘08, Florida again in ‘09, and now this, the latest big game where the Dawgs either no-show for a half (sealing the inevitable loss), or the entire game.
Whatever it was that Richt had from ‘01 – ‘05, and in the last 5 games of ‘07, seems gone forever. This team falls flat against top competition too many times.
We’re like schoolyard bullies – great against the kids that can’t fight back, helpless against those that can.
Is it just me, or did the entire team seem slow and sluggish in the first quarter? It looked like they all got yanked out of bed suddenly at 4:00 a.m. and were forced to play a football game.
FIRE FREDI AND RICHT
October 6th, 2012
11:23 pm
“No, the season isn’t over, and yes, it’s still possible for this team to win the SEC East and play for the conference title.”
I notice you didn’t say national title. That is completely out of question after tonight. No one is going to put UGA in the title game after being thoroughly embarrassed on national TV.
SenoiaDawgs
October 6th, 2012
11:23 pm
To get called out by the announcers is just a crying shame.
The most embarrassing loss I have ever witnessed by my beloved Dawgs.
Bill Sawyer
October 6th, 2012
11:23 pm
Rambo needs to be benched-get an offensive coordinator-Start another QB and start looking for some coaches-the coaches and team gave up-hope the AD reads these and takes some action!!!!
Relentless
October 6th, 2012
11:23 pm
Been fooling ourselves that USC wasn’t that good and we were. I was hopeful that Richt would be fired last season but he muddled through a schedule riddled with mediocre teams. End this coaching debacle, pay up and show him the door.
72 Dawg
October 6th, 2012
11:25 pm
Amen Texas Dawg! I feel embarassed for the first time!
Under The Bleachers
October 6th, 2012
11:25 pm
The Entire PETA nation is upset and are sending several evacuation teams to Columbia SC tonight, they heard there was a massive Dog Beating in downtown Columbia Tonight.
Mark Bradley
October 6th, 2012
11:25 pm
Actually, I picked South Carolina a few months back. Thanks for asking, Dawgfan01.
3d
October 6th, 2012
11:25 pm
It’s time for a change in leadership in Athens. Both on and off of the field.
CMR & GM; Are you listening?
Dangerous
October 6th, 2012
11:26 pm
I don’t want to hear any more about Honey Bo Bo’s scoring average. He can’t score against a Big D. SC D ran downhill on Ga the whole game…….not one F’n slant route run the whole game, should of run a couple every series. Bo Bo SUX!!!! He will never learn how to compete on a higher level. He is a small college mind!!!!!
Dawgfan01
October 6th, 2012
11:26 pm
Real hairy dawg….your are a delusional fool. That was a great team that kicked our but!
St.Simons
October 6th, 2012
11:26 pm
Glory Glory to National Champ Georgia !!!!!!!!!!
The Bear
October 6th, 2012
11:26 pm
UGA bad game
PonGT
October 6th, 2012
11:26 pm
Well wriiten article Mr MB, but I have to disagree on one point. Georgia was not out classed … outcoached, outplayed and outscored…definitely…..but never outclassed. Spurrier never has been and never will be anything but a smart mouthed snot sucking brat. Granted, He can coach … but there’s no class there. You are right about the questions that this loss brings up… just where does UGA belong in the rankings ? I’m guessing number 35 in the nation. Just why does CMR and OC Bobo stick with a quarterback who can’t win a big game when there are 19 more qbs on the bench? Why doesn’t the qb coach see the ‘deer in the headlights’ look on Murray like everybody else does? and will UGA lose to Florida, Ole Miss and GT? And one more question… if you’re the first UGA coach to ever lose to the cocky chickens, something even Ray Goff didn’t do, should you resign for bringing such embarassment upon the Dawgnation.
If it’s any consolation to my fellow Dawg lovers, even if UGA were to have won the SEC, they would not have played for a national Championship. Kirk Herbie and espn have already been lobbying for Oregon and FSU, if Alabama doesn’t go undefeated.
Outcoached, outplayed and outscored again … but never outclassed!
dince Vooley
October 6th, 2012
11:27 pm
Once again the dawgs are exposed as frauds. Each year they play a mostly cupcake schedule and especially so this year, beat up on the little guys roll up the score become overrated by the ‘experts” then get body slammed as soon as they play any decent team
Alphare
October 6th, 2012
11:27 pm
I have to confess, I picked USC to win.
Spurrier is better than I thought.
Say WHAT!
October 6th, 2012
11:27 pm
Fire RICHT NOW
The Monger
October 6th, 2012
11:27 pm
So is Richt gone after this pathetic showing??? Is Grantham right behind him?? I mean lets look at this objectively…UGA and SC had relatively equal talent going into this game….and SC beats up severely on UGA in every aspect of the game…..getting pushed around on the offensive and defensive lines, beat on special teams plays, out-hustled, out- coached, mentally weaker, error-prone, no heart, mistake after mistake….basically, all that talent by SC utilized to the max. and all that talent by UGA WASTED time after time!!! That comes down to coaching, plain and simple….Grantham just gave up 44 points to UT and now 35 points to SC, and the sad thing is we just gave him an extension. Mark Richt 0-12 vs. top 25 teams since 2008… HE IS NOT A BIG GAME COACH!!! Aaron Murray 0-10 vs. ranked teams….NOT A BIG GAME QB…. So in conclusion we have a choke, scared coach paired with a choke, scared quarterback and a terribly overrated defensive coordinator…..and sadly, nothing will be done by Greg McGarity….He will proclaim this 9-3 season GREAT and give Mark Richt another 3 year extension….I cry myself to sleep as a dawg fan (seriously, its this bad…..)
NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS
October 6th, 2012
11:27 pm
I’ve been hearing for weeks how this was uga’s year & how they were going to the S.E.C. CHAMPIONSHIP GAME & stomp BAMA’S butt!!!Well my little puppy friends……………….THE ONLY WAY THIS FOOTBALL IS GOING TO THAT GAME IS TO BY A TICKET…………….NOW…………………WHILE THEY’RE CHEAP!!! Beeter luck NEXT year!!!
GT Man
October 6th, 2012
11:28 pm
Dont worry dawg people, Murray will pass for 600 yards against Grohs defense. He will look like a heisman against us.
NoDawgFan
October 6th, 2012
11:28 pm
OVERRATED;OVERRATED;OVERRATED;OVERRATED;OVERRATED;OVERRATED;OVERRATED;OVERRATED;OVERRATED;
BIG MIKE
October 6th, 2012
11:28 pm
What lost the game?????
Inexperienced and underdeveloped youth in the offensive line. Can’t run or pass without it. Period. They were playing against the best defensive front in the country and it showed.
Defense had a piss poor game plan. Nobody had containment and Jarvis Jones was taking shallow angles toward the running back while no one accounted for QB. Defensive line played well. Not much yardage given up in the power running game and fair penetration throughout the night, which forced shaw out of the pocket and eventually down the field cause nobody was accounting for him on the edges.
Why didn’t the coaching staff see this coming and plan for it? Why run #3 and #4 up the middle with 6 of the best D-LINE in the country waiting for him and no push at all from the O-LINE.
I defended CMR and Staff for years for a very good reason, but what happened tonite is inexcusable. The coaching staff was caught with their pants down. As far as I’m concerned, if CMR and company don’t win the SEC this year or at least look competitive in the game…then it’s time to clean house. They’ve got NFL grade talent on both sides of the ball. Other teams win with a lesser O-LINE than UGA has by gameplanning and not relying heavily on the line (i.e., quick release passes, sprint outs, QB running plays, sweeps, etc.). I saw very little of that tonite. When we did see it, it was relatively successful.
NO GAME PLAN!!!!!!!!!!
chuck
October 6th, 2012
11:28 pm
If CMR and his staff had SC’s players and Coach Spurrier and this staff had UGA’s players, the final score and winner would be the same. I urge our AD to bite the bullet and change head coaches at the end of the season. At the very least, Bobo must go. I think UGA set an unofficial record tonight for doing the least with the most offensive talent of any football team in the history of the sport. The top 50 high school offensive co-coordinators in Georgia would have developed a better game plan.
John John
October 6th, 2012
11:29 pm
This is pathetic….So is Richt gone after this pathetic showing??? Is Grantham right behind him?? I mean lets look at this objectively…UGA and SC had relatively equal talent going into this game….and SC beats up severely on UGA in every aspect of the game…..getting pushed around on the offensive and defensive lines, beat on special teams plays, out-hustled, out- coached, mentally weaker, error-prone, no heart, mistake after mistake….basically, all that talent by SC utilized to the max. and all that talent by UGA WASTED time after time!!! That comes down to coaching, plain and simple….Grantham just gave up 44 points to UT and now 35 points to SC, and the sad thing is we just gave him an extension. Mark Richt 0-12 vs. top 25 teams since 2008… HE IS NOT A BIG GAME COACH!!! Aaron Murray 0-10 vs. ranked teams….NOT A BIG GAME QB…. So in conclusion we have a choke, scared coach paired with a choke, scared quarterback and a terribly overrated defensive coordinator…..and sadly, nothing will be done by Greg McGarity….He will proclaim this 9-3 season GREAT and give Mark Richt another 3 year extension….I cry myself to sleep as a dawg fan (seriously, its this bad…..)
moreau
October 6th, 2012
11:29 pm
An embarrassing game for Dawgs .If I’m reading right it’s all the coaches and quarterback’s fault ???
Say WHAT!
October 6th, 2012
11:29 pm
FIRE RICHT!
SenoiaDawgs
October 6th, 2012
11:29 pm
One last comment from me. I have been a Murray supporter since the beginning. I thought he had grown up but in the big game he just doesn’t show up nor do I think he ever will.
no dawg
October 6th, 2012
11:29 pm
I thought i was embarassed to be a aGT fan,You guys are nutts
Sam
October 6th, 2012
11:29 pm
Here’s a poll I’d like to see:
What was the worst butt-kicking of the week?
A. Romney – Obama, Round 1
B. South Carolina – Georgia
wreckmaniac
October 6th, 2012
11:29 pm
As usual this year a pack of 5 Star dimwits will decide ” I’m a dawg !” and will thus perpetuate this endless nonsense.
Big Wally
October 6th, 2012
11:30 pm
Seen enough of Richt to know that he will never be more that “Mediocre” Mark. This team was flat out not prepared to play. No coaching at all.
bebann
October 6th, 2012
11:30 pm
This was about as thorough a whipping as Georgia has had in a long time. They were out coached, out played and out recruited for better players. It seems Georgia was way over rated and will continue to settle for 9-3 or 8-4 seasons as the best they can do under the current coach.
OkieDawg
October 6th, 2012
11:30 pm
Am I correct in that the new contract between and Richt has a minimum buy-out on the side of both parties? Meaning CMR and UGA can part ways with minimum financial pain. Could be the best contract McGarity ever negotiated. We will never be at the level of the big boys in the SEC/ We are mid tier at best.
Roterhals
October 6th, 2012
11:31 pm
Bunch of the dawgs will be in NFL soon……as usual, total waste of talent in Athens
foxhound
October 6th, 2012
11:31 pm
as i said before the game “Georgia Football, when all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done!”
SenoiaDawgs
October 6th, 2012
11:31 pm
McGarity has made it clear that mediocrity is not acceptable at UGA in all sports. We will see!!!!
The Bear
October 6th, 2012
11:31 pm
Where are the Dog fans now? The hacks are out in force!
Under The Bleachers
October 6th, 2012
11:31 pm
I have to give it to some UGA fans, they are finally seeing what many many others around these blogs have been saying for years……Mark Richt is one heck of a guy, a great recruiter and was a great offensive coordinator. BUT he is not going to Lead ANYONE to the BIG game that puts the Crystal Ball Trophy in the Trophy Case in Atlanta and any recruit who thinks they are going to be the one to get UGA to the next level as long as Richt is running the show is fooling themselves.
Big Arnge
October 6th, 2012
11:31 pm
Bwahahaha, dawgs. You just need better recruiting! Not. If TN had your state talent, we would be unstoppable. You guys have been underachieving for decades.