UGA beats Ole Miss, and it’s back to Auburn for the clincher
Tavarres King takes it to the house -- and the waiting Redcoat Band. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Athens — Back to Auburn, another SEC East title on the line. Back to Auburn, where Mark Richt’s Bulldogs clinched the SEC East and knocked the lid off Georgia football in 2002. Back to Auburn, and then back to the SEC championship game.
“We wish we hadn’t lost to South Carolina, but they took it to us,” said Alec Ogletree, the splendid linebacker. “But we came out every week still playing like we were going to get to the (Georgia) Dome. And now we control our own destiny.”
Back to Auburn for the clincher, back after a difficult beginning to this post-Florida letdown game. Back, not incidentally, off the strength of a play not unlike 70x Takeoff, the play that spawned the David Greene-to-Michael Johnson that won at Auburn 10 years ago.
Inside the final 30 seconds of this first half, the clock ticking after consecutive sacks, Georgia trying not to burn its final timeout, Ole Miss trying to hold a 10-7 lead. Aaron Murray took the snap, pumped one way and looked another, just as Greene had done that cold day at Jordan-Hare, only this pass was complicated by an onrushing Rebel. Murray had to dodge to his right, and when he did he found Tavarres King running free down the right sideline, waving at his quarterback to throw the darn ball already.
And then the ball was in the air and soon in King’s hands. And then King was in the end zone and his team had taking a lasting lead and he was handing that football to some of the members of the assembled Redcoat Band.
“I tried to flick them the ball,” King said. “I thought they would like to see what it felt like to hold it.”
From there it was easy, these gifted Bulldogs winning 37-10 after spotting the visitors a 10-point lead. Usually it takes a while for Georgia to get going, but when it does it’s a sight to behold.
“We might not win by a lot,” said the freshman Todd Gurley, who gained 117 yards rushing. “But we get the win.”
They head now to Auburn, and the Tigers haven’t won a conference game this year. This victory wasn’t 10 minutes old before Richt was trying to turn his team’s gaze westward, telling the Bulldogs: “Get your minds right right now; get your jaw set. In seven days, we’ve got a chance to finish.”
This hasn’t been the easiest of seasons, but to look at Georgia’s record is to see a team in the position it figured to occupy. The rise of Florida complicated matters, but Georgia took care of the Gators, and now only one of Auburn’s worst-ever teams stands between the Bulldogs and another chance to win the SEC, something this program hasn’t managed since D.J. Shockley and Co. upset LSU in December 2005.
Maybe you’re recalling what happened last December, when Georgia led No. 1 LSU by 10 points only to lose by 32. Maybe you think this year’s title game will be a similar wipeout. But maybe you were among those who believed these Bulldogs would have no chance in Jacksonville. A team this talented will always, always have a chance.
Some will carp about this first half. Go ahead. Indeed, there was a moment late in the first quarter when Ole Miss had outgained the home side 100 yards to 16. But here was the yardage count after 60 minutes: Georgia 533, Ole Miss 234. That’s domination on a day when everyone knew the Bulldogs would be looking back to the Jacksonville and ahead to Auburn. Once they got their minds right and jaws set, however, it was set and match.
And that has become the Georgia Way. Said Todd Grantham, the defensive coordinator: “Even when we weren’t playing as well early in the season, we got better as the game went along.”
We can say the same of the season. Georgia is better than it was in September, loads better than on that dark night in Columbia and that strange evening in Lexington. This isn’t a perfect team, but when it’s in trouble it will fight long enough for Grantham and the offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to think of something. And when they do …
We move again to the first half, the Bulldogs down 10-0, facing third-and-1 at their 34. To fail to convert is to risk falling into a serious hole. The safe play would be to run it. Bobo had Murray fake a handoff and hide the ball and sling it long to the ridiculously open Marlon Brown for the touchdown that got Georgia going. “That call,” Richt said, “takes a little bit of nerve.”
The Bulldogs held their nerve this day, same as they’d done against Florida, and now they’re one game from the Dome. And back to Auburn they go, back to finish another lap of another drill.
Further reading: On Aaron Murray, the TO binge and those scoring Ogletrees.
By Mark Bradley
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270 comments Add your comment
Big Crimson 75
November 3rd, 2012
11:56 pm
Feels good to breath again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Big Crimson 75
November 3rd, 2012
11:57 pm
0125 — ND will lose a game.
UGA jumps K-State if they win the SEC CG.
Flo- Ri- Duh
November 3rd, 2012
11:58 pm
Bummer is outplayed most of the 2nd half but manages one drive an4.d a TD to take LSU by 4. LSU missed one field goal and passed up another but failed to get a 1st down on 4th. Those 6 points would have given LSU the win.
DawgNole
November 3rd, 2012
11:58 pm
Mobile Dawg
November 3rd, 2012
11:55 pm
Don’t be so trite, hell of a game, the best game this year.. Dawgs have a bar to set their sites on.
______________________
Co-sign!
Big Crimson 75
November 3rd, 2012
11:58 pm
This was exactly what UGA needed.
Now 7-19 Against End of Season Ranked Teams Since '05
November 3rd, 2012
11:58 pm
@Dawgnole…..you mean that overrated Fl team that blew away Mizzou 14-7 today??
you’re not a dumbazz, you’re a jackleg
Mobile Dawg
November 3rd, 2012
11:59 pm
All the Dawgs can do is play the games in front of them. Mett played a great game, I thought for a while this was his breakout game.
DawgNole
November 3rd, 2012
11:59 pm
Big Crimson 75
November 3rd, 2012
11:55 pm
God bless em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heart won that game, boys.
See y’all in Atlanta.
I’m looking forward to it.
It’s time for a Bama-Uga SEC CG.
_________________________
Lookin’ forward to it, BC. Our best hope is that NOBODY will give the Dawgs a chance!
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:00 am
Alabama, Kansas State, and Notre Dame are still undefeated. If they remain undefeated and UGA beats Alabama, then no SEC team will go to the NC game. Because the top 2 teams play in the NC game.
Now 7-19 Against End of Season Ranked Teams Since '05
November 4th, 2012
12:00 am
Agree with all of the above that this was the best game of the year.
I suspect Alabama will be favored by 15 for the game in Atlanta……any thoughts???
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
12:01 am
Ri-da —- if if if if if if if if if if if
We stomped LSU all over Bryant-Denny last year, missed 5 FG’s & lost the game in OT.
We make 1, I repeat 1 out of 5 make-able FG’s last year & it’s game over.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:01 am
Big Crimson 75
November 3rd, 2012
11:57 pm
0125 — ND will lose a game.
UGA jumps K-State if they win the SEC CG.
____________________
Wouldn’t count on ND losing. You saw that miracle tonight in South Bend, didn’t you?
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:02 am
How about you educate yourself before teling others to.
Really?
November 4th, 2012
12:02 am
Those fat drunken inbred hicks from allybammer sure do pay off the right people. Even with a lot of questionable calls by the refs, the tide still barely squeaked out a victory. If all goes well against auburn I look forward to playing the best team money can buy in Atlanta.
Russa
November 4th, 2012
12:02 am
Oregon, Notre Dame, and K State … none of these teams would win a National Championship matchup vs Alabama (one of them might keep it close but they won’t win). The college football world should have realized by now that some of these SEC teams are on a totally different level than everyone else
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:03 am
Obama will win
November 4th, 2012
12:00 am
Dawgnole,
You are a fool.
Georgia can not go to NC. KState, Oregon,Bama or ND will be there. Bank on it fool.
Go suck yourself.
________________________
Your handle is “Obama will win” and you’re calling someone else a fool?
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:05 am
Big Crimson, your path to the NC is laid out now. You passed your toughest test, congrats on one hell of a game. Dawgs vs FL last week was our version, but Bama and LSU are the heavyweights. We have a punchers chance, if we get there.
Flo- Ri- Duh
November 4th, 2012
12:05 am
Uh no – a on loss team is unlikely to play for the BCS this year. Notre Dame, Kansas State, Bummer and Oregon all won today but K-State was the only team to win big. Notre Dame lucked out again in 3 over times to a 4 loss Pitt team. Bummer came from behind to win with less than a minute to go and Oregon outlasted S.C. in a tight high scoring game. These will be the top 4 teams next week. Notre Dame has a weak schedule from here on out and should go undefeated. If Bummer loses to UGA I still don’t see UGA going to the BCS championship game as there will still be 3 undefeated teams ahead of them.
Now 7-19 Against End of Season Ranked Teams Since '05
November 4th, 2012
12:05 am
I’m not one to fantasize…..but IF UGA beats Bama, no way the voters put an undefeated K-State over a one-loss UGA that just beat Bama. The problem is ND and Ore, one of them has to lose…
But don’t worry Richt-lovers……that ain’t gonna happen. I will happily eat a flock of crows if it does….UGA might hang for a quarter or two, then get blown out in the second half. Then….on to the Outback Bowl…..sound familiar???
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:05 am
Atlanta should be like a home game for the Dawgs, right?
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:05 am
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:02 am
How about you educate yourself before teling others to.
___________________
How bout you learn how to spell before showing your azz on here again?
Hairy Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:06 am
Those quacky Ducks with the goofy unis is goning down to Stanford, Org St or USC in Pac 10 titles. No way they wins out. The KStates got TCU baylors and Tex and they lose one to. Then Noter Dumbs goning to lose to USC. That puts Dawgs beating Bammer Boys into BCS. Plus we won games in SEC not againts the chump schoolslike others. We play real sched with big win in Jax.
Music City Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:07 am
Great win Dawgs!!! Beat Auburn!!!!
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:07 am
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:05 am
Big Crimson, your path to the NC is laid out now. You passed your toughest test, congrats on one hell of a game. Dawgs vs FL last week was our version, but Bama and LSU are the heavyweights. We have a punchers chance, if we get there.
______________________
Ditto!
Dawg Whisperer
November 4th, 2012
12:07 am
Obama, don’t be absurd, our necks are white.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
12:08 am
If all goes well against auburn I look forward to playing the best team money can buy in Atlanta.
———-
Expected comment, especially coming from you.
I suggest you take a peak at Phil Knight’s Oregon Team & T-Boone Pickens Okie St squad.
Multi-Billionaires in complete control of those Programs.
Flo- Ri- Duh
November 4th, 2012
12:09 am
“Oblama Will Win” ….. you should be banned from this site for your filthy mouth. We don’t need your low type scum here.
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:10 am
UGA left their title chances in Carolina.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:10 am
UGA’s ONLY chance to get to the NC was for Bama to win tonight. An LSU win would’ve ended ANY hope. If you can’t understand that, then you’ve got no business on here.
Eric C.
November 4th, 2012
12:10 am
Big Crimson 75, that was a heck of a win…congrats.
ND will lose at USC, Oregon will lost at Oregon St., and KSST. will lose to both TCU and Texas.
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:11 am
Damn. Politics divides y’all this much? lol
Now 7-19 Against End of Season Ranked Teams Since '05
November 4th, 2012
12:11 am
I must say…..Bama didn’t so much win the game as much as LSU, specifically Miles poor play calling, gave it away.
Mettenberger had a breakout game today, congrats to him.
Bali
November 4th, 2012
12:12 am
“Obama will win”…….your handle alone scares the crap outta me and a ton of dog fans. You must be a techie…..but then again, I thought you guys were smart.
Dawg Whisperer
November 4th, 2012
12:12 am
I have no problem with UGA winning out and not getting into the BCS national championship game if the others ahead of UGA remain undefeated.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:13 am
Flo- Ri- Duh
November 4th, 2012
12:09 am
“Oblama Will Win” ….. you should be banned from this site for your filthy mouth. We don’t need your low type scum here.
______________________
Damn–can’t believe I actually agree with you.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
12:14 am
The winner of Bama-UGA plays for the Title, as long as ND loses a game.
Dawg Whisperer
November 4th, 2012
12:14 am
Why must everyone play the blame game. Isn’t it a team sport? You win and lose as a team.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:14 am
Dawg Whisperer
November 4th, 2012
12:12 am
I have no problem with UGA winning out and not getting into the BCS national championship game if the others ahead of UGA remain undefeated.
______________________
Agreed!
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:14 am
We lost control of our destiny when we didn’t show up for USCe, nobody to blame but Coach Richt. How could we show up so flat for such a huge game? I still want an explanation from Richt for that !
Now 7-19 Against End of Season Ranked Teams Since '05
November 4th, 2012
12:14 am
@HairyDawg….you serious???
You call this years UGA schedule a “real sched”????
Hairy Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:14 am
But them other teams don’t play nobody. We play in SEC week in and out. That why we deserves to be national champ game.
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:16 am
UGA had the easiest SEC schedule this year. There is no excuse for not being a NC contender, but once again, we had a disappointing loss.
Big Crimson 75
November 4th, 2012
12:17 am
Mobile/Eric/Nole — Thanks for the remarks.
I’m excited for Bama-UGA.
I’m sick of playing Fla every-time we get to the SEC CG.
Dawg Whisperer
November 4th, 2012
12:18 am
I’m definitely old school or more accurately just old since I’ve been an alum since ‘75 but the media and many fans spend way too much energy seeking out someone to cast blame upon.
Flo- Ri- Duh
November 4th, 2012
12:18 am
NO way will Bummer be a 15 favorite over UGA if UGA wins out. Bummer was LUCKY to beat LSU and Florida was better against LSU than Bummer. UGA handled Florida. Bummer will be a 3 point favorite. Who besides LSU has Bummer beat? Michigan is way over rated. Til LSU has ahd a soft schedule. Did not have to play S.C., UGA or Florida. Not saying Bummer is over rated but am saying they aren’t invincible and an LSU team that has a weak offense took it to them and out played Bummer. Saban said so in his interview. Bummer better beware the Dawg. It may surprise you but Saban is 3 – 3 against Richt. This IS the year of the DAWG!
Now 7-19 Against End of Season Ranked Teams Since '05
November 4th, 2012
12:18 am
If Bama loses, no way they can be in the BCSCG. K-State will not be chosen over a 1-loss UGA, being that they play in the Big 12 (even tho there is only 10 teams) and have no championship game. However, the voters will choose undefeated OR and ND over 1 loss UGA
CigarDawg
November 4th, 2012
12:18 am
“Coach” Richt:
LSU gave you tHE GAME plan to beat Alabama in Atlanta. WATCH THE DAMN GAME TAPE!!! YOU WILL SEE THE SCREEN PASS – START PRACTICING HOW TO DEFEND AGAINST IT!!!
There is no excuse for the Dawgs not to show up ready and able to beat ‘Bama after seeing how vulnerable they were against a less talented LSU team tonight. NO DAMNED EXCUSE!
atlfalconsfan0125
November 4th, 2012
12:19 am
LMAO. People actually believe that one guy makes a difference? Lol. Obama or Romney, same thing. You really want to change this country? clean house in Congress and make sure corporations dont buy the new congressmen.
DawgNole
November 4th, 2012
12:20 am
Mobile Dawg
November 4th, 2012
12:14 am
We lost control of our destiny when we didn’t show up for USCe, nobody to blame but Coach Richt. How could we show up so flat for such a huge game? I still want an explanation from Richt for that !
____________________
Yeah, we did. But we still have a CHANCE, MD, and that’s all you can ask for after that no-show in Columbia.
CigarDawg
November 4th, 2012
12:20 am
Screw the AJC filter!