Five yards short: In bitter defeat, a winning Georgia effort
The final moments of a fabulous game: Chris Conley catches the ball. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
There are people who say that only championships matter, that finishing second is the same as finishing last. To those people, we say this: Go away now. Go away while we honor — and yes, that’s the proper word — as gallant a runner-up as we’ll ever see. Go away and let us speak of the Georgia Bulldogs.
They’d waited 30 years for a game this big, and they came as close as you could come to winning it without actually winning. Three times they took a lead over the mighty Alabama, and even after what should have been a crushing Tide touchdown with 3:15 remaining, even after what seemed a clinching Bama interception inside the final minute … even then, these Bulldogs found themselves with first-and-goal and time flying.
That they fell five yards short, that a tipped Aaron Murray pass for Malcolm Mitchell was caught by a falling Chris Conley and the final five seconds ticked away, cannot take away from the effort spent and the excellence displayed. The Bulldogs arrived as a underdog, but they carried the fight to the reigning national champion and they left five yards shy of the most thrilling victory — apologies to Lindsay Scott — Georgia football has ever known.
This was easily the best of the 21 SEC Championship Games, and it was one of the finest displays of collegiate football ever witnessed. “Alabama’s a great football team,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said, “and we were pretty good, too.”
Has a losing team ever had more championship-caliber men and moments? From Sanders Commings intercepting an AJ McCarron pass in the end zone to the same Commings catching a pass from tight end Arthur Lynch to convert a galvanizing fake punt; from Cornelius Washington blocking a field goal and Alec Ogletree taking the carom the distance; from the freshman back Todd Gurley pounding the midsection of the nation’s best defense to Murray taking his team downfield in the final minute … has there ever, in the long and distinguished history of Georgia football, been a prouder loss?
Alas, the Bulldogs needed 85 yards, and they could manage only 80. Are five yards sufficient reason to characterize them as losers, to suggest that this four-point loss is living proof that Richt and/or Murray can’t win the Big One? No and no, and if you’re of such a mind didn’t you hear me when I said, “Go away”?
Contrary to popular belief, not every winning effort translates to winning. Alabama was just a bit better (and much stronger up front), but the Bulldogs spurned every opportunity — and there were many — to throw up their collective hands and say, “We’ve given it a go, but this isn’t our day.” And that fighting spirit nearly turned this into the Dogs’ day after all.
“They played well, we played well, the clock ran out,” Richt said. “What are you going to say?”
It was the game for which Georgia had waited since Herschel Walker left Athens in the spring of 1983, the game Richt had waited 12 seasons to coach. It was a game to win one championship and go play for another, and there can be no dishonor in the way the day played out. Quibble with the ending if you will — should Georgia have spiked the ball before Murray’s last throw? Probably not, for Bama was clearly rattled — but you cannot fault the Bulldogs’ skill or heart or pride.
If you claim to be a Georgia fan, you cannot be disappointed with the performance — only the result. How many teams could have stood in against Alabama after the Tide ground out 350 rushing yards? Alabama is the nation’s best program and has the nation’s best coach, and with 10 seconds left there was no assurance that regal Bama would leave the Georgia Dome as the winner.
“I shook every man’s hand,” Richt said, speaking of his crestfallen Bulldogs, “and if someone had his head in his hands I rubbed his head and told him I loved him.”
If you love anything about competitive sports, anything at all, you had to love this game. “That was a great football game by both teams, and they could have won today the same as us,” said Nick Saban, the hard-driving Alabama coach. “It came down to the last play.”
That the final play on this frenzied day was made by Georgia’s opponent in no way diminishes Georgia. If anything, the Bulldogs stand ennobled after falling to Alabama in a way that they hadn’t after any victory of the past half-dozen years. They didn’t win, but they didn’t really lose. “The clock just ran out,” Richt said, and there was no better recap of these stirring events than that.
Alabama played great. Georgia played great. And then the clock ran out.
Further reading: Bama’s backs, Saban’s gaffe and a classic SEC title game.
By Mark Bradley
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1,506 comments Add your comment
CDAWG
December 1st, 2012
9:16 pm
UGA has nothing to be ashamed of! Good job Dawgs!
smitty
December 1st, 2012
9:16 pm
damn i hate bama…….this jacket fan has never been more down about a dawg loss…..
Red Stick
December 1st, 2012
9:17 pm
It’s tough to win when you give up 515 yards of offense.
Nevertheless, great effort by Georgia. That said, the coaches cost the Dogs the game. Why not clock it and settle down instead of hurrying up to run a play? There still would have been time for 2 plays. I like my chances down there with Georgia’s offense in that situation.
Geaux Tigers
Go SEC
mike
December 1st, 2012
9:18 pm
Bradley, your article is a load of crap. We all know that everybody says winning is everything in sports. And scoreboard watching is the how you determine winning and losing. Alabama won and Georgia lost. Did UGA play a good, maybe even a great game? Yes, but they scored fewer points and most people agree that that’s all that counts, right?
Reality
December 1st, 2012
9:18 pm
UGA played 3 ranked teams this year, record 1-2
UGA played 9 teams with a record of .500 or less (mostly less) and won those.
Their stats and their team is overhyped. Since 2008 UGA has played 22 ranked teams, they are 6-16. Three of those wins were against Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt.
UGA is FAR from elite. They got lucky this season with a chance to play and played decent, but only ELITE teams win these games.
Wake up Bulldog nation, you may never win another NC.
Once Recent Reader
December 1st, 2012
9:18 pm
FalconUGAFan . .. . I noticed:) I was kind of surprised at the quickness of the sudden turn from some. I mean, I’ve seen it somewhat from the Falcon bloggers, but just not that drastic of a turn from rooting to bashing. I thought this was a great game. No horse in this race, but seeing I blog with a few of the folks on Falcons games, I was rooting for UGA to pull it out, and maybe change the perception of the fans about big games. I think UGA showed a LOT today, even with the outcome.
Fools Gold
December 1st, 2012
9:19 pm
Im Tired of the moral victories……. Im tired of losing to South Carolina, Im tired of the acceptance of mediocrity by some of our fans. Im tired of struggling to the Kentuckys . Im tired of losing out on Big time recruits to Bama, Clemson, Florida and Florida State. Its getting old watching other teams in the SEC winning the Big one.
mike
December 1st, 2012
9:19 pm
Oh, and how many players and coaches have said they’d rather win ugly than lose pretty?
pat way
December 1st, 2012
9:19 pm
hey Tucker check your facts Murray looked over to the side line and told them he was spiking the ball coaches told him no. That last play was clearly on the coaches
Go Gator....
December 1st, 2012
9:19 pm
ahhhh, 2008 1 vs 2 when florida came back in the 4th quarter to win was just as good…. and the 1994 game was probably just as good and propelled florida to the national title game BEFORE the time when SEC winner was virtually guaranteed a shot in the title game…. this was a good game between 2 teams that don’t stack up to past SEC winners. I wouldn’t be surprised to see ND give BAMA all they want in the title game.
Dumpster fire
December 1st, 2012
9:20 pm
Dawgs, good game, you fought till nothing was left on the clock. good game! no matter what the experts say! Good-game!
dbc
December 1st, 2012
9:20 pm
“It’s a shame that Georgia won’t get an opportunity to play in a BCS bowl game. The Dawgs played Alabama dead even in what figures to be the game of the year. Instead of representing the SEC in New Orleans, it will go to a lesser bowl behind a Florida team that it defeated earlier this year.
Let’s see how the new playoff system addresses this issue.”
Shine
December 1st, 2012
9:20 pm
Congrats to Richt and the Bulldogs
well to Bama too.
gotta say the Bulldogs did Ga proud. much improved. wish they hadda spiked the ball at the end and got two plays but that’s the way it goes.
poor notre dame. there are at least 6 SEC teams that can probably beat them…Bama, Ga, Fla, Texas A&M, LSU, And South Carolina even with Lattimore out and with the new QB considering what he did to Clemson last week.
Accepting 2nd Best
December 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
a tradition among sports teams in Georgia that seems like it will never die ……….
cb795
December 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
Coach Saban going for the two points was way ahead of the GA staff. Good effort just wish a team from GA would win a championship sometime. Maybe Richt should have talked to the offense while the defense was getting the ball back and cover different situations they might encounter. These young men could have used his advise.
Tron5000
December 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
Nice job, “yearofthedawg.” Resorting to violent thoughts certainly makes me feel more sympathy for your side.
Hubie Green
December 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
When your defense gives up 350 yards on the ground AND a long TD pass, it’s hard to win. The better team won.
Dog Island Gator
December 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
What a heart breaker. This one may well hurt more than any other. But you are right Mark that this Bulldog team played a gallant football game. Damn, one play with seconds left. The Bulldogs made the SEC EAST proud tonight. Go Gators.
smitty
December 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
explain it to me LakeDawg, stupid me, how not spiking it resulted in the LOSING play but that was the correct decision?
Fools Gold
December 1st, 2012
9:21 pm
Our defense is not that great.. Both South Carolina and Bama exposed it which was a farce against a weak weak schedule…..
The Monger
December 1st, 2012
9:22 pm
Man I am sick of Richt and Murray, with 14 points handed to us, with a blocked field goal and a once in a lifetime fake punt conversion. We still lose 32-28. Alabama mauled us up front to the tune of 350 yards on the ground, and we gave up over 500 total yards….with 9 NFL CALIBER STARTING DEFENDERS!!! And we congratulate this at UGA? If Saban had 9 NFL quality defenders on his starting defense, what would the score have been? 30-0? 30-7? I mean this was UGA’s greatest chance at a National Championship and it proved THOROUGHLY we just don’t have the coaches to get us there. No spike with 15 seconds left, 1st and goal? Terrible play calling on the 2 previous drives… UGA just gets outcoached in every big game. Murray and Richt 1-11 in big games now, with that ONE win being a 17-9 victory over a Florida team that turned it over 6 times. I am sorry to say this but Richt needs to step down as Georgia’s head coach for the sake of the program. Hasnt won a big game since 2007. See ya Mark, sorry
VtDawg
December 1st, 2012
9:23 pm
Smitty you are pathetic
Hairy Dawg
December 1st, 2012
9:23 pm
I would have spiked the ball because Bama was no longer in prevent mode. The field is compressed. Our guys were having to run up and down the field, too.
Nevertheless, our front seven was absolutely dominated in the second half. Guys weren’t shedding blocks (and don’t blame it all on refs not making holding calls) and it was really pathetic. I don’t know what Grantham told them at halftime, but any adjustments that were made had absolutely no effect. Gaps were left unfilled and it was really disheartening to see.
Anyway, our defense won’t be anywhere near as seasoned next year, but maybe they’ll play better against the run. I wouldn’t mind that. The offense should be just fine. Gonna be really tough to make it back to this game for a third year in a row, though.
pat way
December 1st, 2012
9:24 pm
Hey Reality does not matter what Ga does against ranked teams. Ga could have won tonight if theyspiked the ball then your point would not have matter but then again ti does not matter anyway
Fools Gold
December 1st, 2012
9:26 pm
These kool aid drinkers are at it again by accepting this underachieving and mediocre coaching staff.
stendek
December 1st, 2012
9:27 pm
Let me see. Destiny only sets sports teams like the lowly Dawgs up once or twice per lifetime. The SEC football Gods set up the Dawgs in 2012. Schedule comprised of girl schools, technical institutes and Tech. Passed the lingerie gauntlet all but once. Overrated QB praised to high Heaven but is non factor in every game of any significance. Legend in his own mind. Winning QBs finish that last drive in EZ not three yards short. Dawg QB not legend, great or even above average. Not hard to rack up big numbers against patsies. Dawg coach no match for 99 percent of mentors in major college football. Should have been sent packing years ago. Will never lead Dawgs to promised land. Offensive coordinator? Should be fired solely for that run up middle on third down and less than a yard! Bye bye momentum. Love Dawgs as a team. Utterly despise coach, offensive coordinator and QB. Hope all three are gone in 2013. Alas, no such good fortune. Nauseating ending. Completely unacceptable for all TRUE Dawg fans!
Matt
December 1st, 2012
9:27 pm
This was the toughest loss I’ve ever seen, but also the proudest. Once a Dawg, always a dawg. How sweet it is!
Now Roll Tide and kill the Irish!!
stendek
December 1st, 2012
9:27 pm
Let me see. Destiny only sets sports teams like the lowly Dawgs up once or twice per lifetime. The SEC football Gods set up the Dawgs in 2012. Schedule comprised of girl schools, technical institutes and Tech. Passed the lingerie gauntlet all but once. Overrated QB praised to high Heaven but is non factor in every game of any significance. Legend in his own mind. Winning QBs finish that last drive in EZ not three yards short. Dawg QB not legend, great or even above average. Not hard to rack up big numbers against patsies. Dawg coach no match for 99 percent of mentors in major college football. Should have been sent packing years ago. Will never lead Dawgs to promised land. Offensive coordinator? Should be fired solely for that run up middle on third down and less than a yard! Bye bye momentum. Love Dawgs as a team. Utterly despise coach, offensive coordinator and QB. Hope all three are gone in 2013. Alas, no such good fortune. Nauseating ending. Completely unacceptable for all TRUE Dawg fans!
menlobrave
December 1st, 2012
9:27 pm
Not a UGA or Bama fan, but what a great game. Both teams fighting until the end-the way football is meant to be played. Any fan of SEC football should be proud of that game. Well done both teams. Those who think only winning matters have never really played competitive sports. Lombardi did not say “winning is the only thing”. That is a mis-quote. He said (paraphrasing) “winning is not everything, but making the effort to win is”. Those 2 teams left no one questioning their effort. A game for the ages.
MORAL VICTORIES...................
December 1st, 2012
9:27 pm
DON’T MATTER!! BAMA RULES THE SEC!!! RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!!!
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
December 1st, 2012
9:28 pm
Didn’t the CBS guys say UGA/defense has a few NFL high drafts?
So what happened? UGA may not get another chance like for years.
Athensdawg
December 1st, 2012
9:28 pm
FOR ALL OF YOU STUPID JERKS, any real Georgia fan is proud of this team. If you do not believe in this team then find another team to pull for. Georgia does not need any fan that can not stand behind this team. We did not play a perfect game but we did play the best game we have played in five years. ALL of you STUPID JERKS take it somewhere else.
Paul in NH
December 1st, 2012
9:29 pm
That was a heck of a game.
Hairy Dawg
December 1st, 2012
9:30 pm
Conley: “You want to know the situation, and you want to know what you’re going into. You want to be prepared for those things. Unfortunately with the chaos I wasn’t thinking straight. So I wasn’t able to make the smart play.”
See that right there? “Unfortunately with the chaos I wasn’t thinking straight.”
We were in a big hurry in that drive. Spiking the ball gives our guys a chance to catch their breath and be able to think. It might have helped the defense, but it certainly would have helped our offense.
Fools Gold
December 1st, 2012
9:31 pm
Hey Athens Dawg STFU….. We passonate fans are tied of moral victories. This loss lies squarely on Mark Richt!!!!
Michael Scharff
December 1st, 2012
9:31 pm
Mark, you may not even see this comment in the inevitable flood of responses, but I wanted to say thank you for a terrific piece of writing!
JoeFann
December 1st, 2012
9:32 pm
Well said, Mark. Agree completely. Never been prouder after a loss. It was right there! Had our fingertips on it. Game was never lost. It just ended. Congrats to Bama. Great program, great tradition, great coach. Bama gets the spoils, and deservedly so. This was the MNC game.
Mr. SEC
December 1st, 2012
9:32 pm
All I want to say is that Mark Richt shoud be fired because he ain’t got the balls to get rid of Mike Bobo. Again, Bobo showed his ability to go brain dead in play calling. Whatever is working for UGA at the time, I grant you your ass Bobo is going to go in the other direction asap! He has cost UGA 2 SEC titles in 2 years. AGAIN, the defense stayed on the field way to long and could not hold out; they did do their job as well as they could being that they had to be on the field everytime you turned around.
UGA can not win big games with this coaching staff; now that the PT players have used their eligibility up, or for some reason or other, they want to turn pro (ain’t but 2 that go pro and be able to play) I hope this coaching staff (all but Grantham) will go with the players and get the hell out of UGA!
The Monger
December 1st, 2012
9:33 pm
Georgia fans…..you may be in denial, but you have to except the reality of the situation. Georgia has not won an SEC championship since 2005…. Which is for those of you not good at math, 7 LONG years ago. We lost thoroughly last year….42-10, and we gave up over 500 yards today and lost 32-28 in a more competitive game. IF THOSE UGA FANS THAT STRIVE FOR MEDIOCRITY ARE HAPPY WITH 10-2 SEASONS AND A PAT ON THE BACK THEN THAT’S FINE FOR YOU, BUT THE REST OF US PROUD UGA ALUMS WANT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, AND AT THE VERY LEAST SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS. Mark Richt is 0-7 in SEC Championships, and 0-7 in National Championships since 05, I will not support that….especially for a coach that gets top 10 and top 5 recruiting classes EVERY YEAR!! Unacceptable….and I have already emailed McGarity to ask for Richt’s firing (if he refuses to resign)…..Let’s try to embrace Kirby Smart as our new head coach UGA PROUD BULLDAWGS!!!!!
ALUMx2
December 1st, 2012
9:33 pm
Tough one to lose. We came up short, but those young men showed up to fight. I have been a fan since the late Dooley days, and I have seen our team fade, in many horrific times, like USCe this year. This was not a loss to be ashamed of, unless you feel all losses are shameful. This was a disappointing loss, despite being the underdog, because we were there. We were close. It’s easy to say close isn’t good enough, or that it doesn’t count. That is true. It is also true that sometimes, you get beat. The team represented The University with strength and resolve. This is an excellent team that all Dawg fans can be proud of, even if the naysayers at the work water cooler say otherwise. Being a fan means being fanatical, and that’s why all fans hurt right now. It also means dusting yourself off, and focusing forward. CMR is not the issue, we have lost far more games with as much talent, and so have other champions. Bobo is not the problem, as we have produced points in all but that SC loss, which was irrelevant in the SEC title race. Murray showed up, and that was his only knock in all his career. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes it eats you, or something like that. We’re still UGA, we’ll still be there, and that’s just what it is. Can we break through? Sure, as long as we keep getting there, and these coaches and players are able to do it. Chase perfection and hope to catch excellence along the way. Richt runs a team that will break through, and when it does, it will be a thing a beauty. Of course, Glen Mason could have accepted the job instead of Donnan, and then we probably would have had even more championships.
Alumx2, classes of 01 and 04
DILLIGAF
December 1st, 2012
9:33 pm
All of you “fans of other teams” that are trolling on here and yapping about how much the Dawgs suck need to shut up and go away. You’re just stating your ignorance of anything football related.
Let me lay it out for you…
The #3 ranked team in the BCS Division 1 standings lost to the #2 ranked team (and defending NC’s) by four points and eight yards.
A bad coaching decision let time run out when it shouldn’t have. I’m not an armchair QB, I actually pace in front of the TV, screaming at it the whole game but as soon as the prior play ended, I shouted, “Spike the Ball, spike the ball”. But the bottom line is:
If your team hasn’t beaten the Dawgs, the Tide or the Irish this season, then go pound sand.
GATA!
UGA/85′
TDone
December 1st, 2012
9:33 pm
The double standard of the AJC never ceases to amaze me. How can Mark Bradely defend the indefensible?
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
December 1st, 2012
9:33 pm
15 round title bout with Bama getting a decision by 5 yards.
Go Gator....
December 1st, 2012
9:33 pm
and don’t worry bama fans, we took a few years off while going through a coaching change but we’ll soon reassume our rightful place as the flagship program in the SEC… we’re going to want that nice shiny SEC trophy to come back home next year. It will probably start in a few months when we land the number 1 recruiting class and really come into focus when we’re preseason number 1 and then become clear as we’re celebrating in the georgia dome like we’ve done 7 times…. I applaud your run.. But it’s now to time to take back what is rightfully ours…. first go beat ND…
chuck
December 1st, 2012
9:34 pm
Bama pretty much tried to give the game to UGA and yall still lost.
Athensdawg
December 1st, 2012
9:35 pm
Fools Gold, you STFU, you are right you are a FOOL, go pull for TECH, or just go to HExx
Fools Gold
December 1st, 2012
9:35 pm
These kool aid drinkers never cease to amaze me… They will never want UGA to be better. This loss just shows everyone that Richt cant win the Big one. Its will be used against him in recruiting too. This loss was huge with the poor clock management. Richt needs to move on!
BgTimeTECHFan
December 1st, 2012
9:36 pm
Winning effort?
Bama run all over Georgia.
Dispite UGA attempt to take Bama’s DT out of the game with cut blocks, trying to take Bama players eyes out, cheap shot on Bama’s QB. Bama manhandled Georgia with strait up power blocking.
Lacy by far the best Frosh RB in SEC, he’s almost as good as Gio Banard.
Georgia got luckie a couple of plays, behind the back with eyes closed block punt, and big time hold on one TD, to make the game close
Eddie Lacy 181 yards TJ Yeldon 152 yards
December 1st, 2012
9:36 pm
They didn’t really lose??? Bullshyte. UGA had a series of breaks that kept them in the game. Breaks like a converted punt team pass for a 1st down while Bama’s same attempt would have worked but failed due to a clock error. Breaks like Bama throwing an int into the end zone. Breaks like a bogus tipped pass call that resulted in a lucky blocked field goal return for a td.
The reality is that Bama manhandled the dawgs and deserved to win. They completelt dominated. 119 more total yards, 8 more first downs, 37 minutes time of possession, and 350 yards rushing with 2 backs going for over 150 yards each. That game was a statistical asskicking that really wasn’t that close except for a series of breaks that kept the dogs in the game.
DP
December 1st, 2012
9:36 pm
Best column I’ve ever seen from Mark Bradley. I have been as hard on Georgia as anybody but Bradley is right, any Dawg fan who is anything other than proud of their effort in this game should get lost and find another team to pull for. This was one of the greatest college football games I’ve ever seen and everybody on both the Alabama and Georgia sides should be congratulated.