‘I Run This State,’ tailbacks say

Georgia’s football players –- even its passer -– got a kick out of the way the Bulldogs ran the ball in Saturday night’s victory over Georgia Tech.

“Some guy in the stands behind me yelled, ‘Joe Cox, you [stink]. Your coach won’t even let you throw the ball,’” Georgia’s quarterback said. “I wanted to turn around and say, ‘We don’t need to!’”

Georgia ran the ball on each of its first 13 offensive plays, not throwing a pass until the second quarter, and by game’s end had run for more yards –- 339 –- than in any game in nine seasons under coach Mark Richt. Conversely, Georgia passed for fewer yards (76) than in any game under Richt.

Running the ball was Georgia’s not-so-secret plan all along against the Yellow Jackets. It was even written on tailback Washaun Ealey’s face.

Under one eye were the words “I Run,” and under the other  “This State.”

Fellow tailback Caleb King had written the same message on his arms.

Despite the well-laid plan, the extent of the running game’s success exceeded even the Bulldogs’ expectations.

“I never could have predicted that,” Richt said of the 339 yards rushing. “We knew we wanted to run the ball, control the clock, keep the ball away from Georgia Tech as long as we could. We wanted to at least do a decent job in that area.”

“Hopefully we do a lot more of this in the future,” Ealey said.

Richt said the offensive line, tight ends and receivers all did an exceptional job of blocking. And Ealey and King accelerated their late-season progress.

Both had the first 100-yard games of their collegiate careers, Ealey carrying 20 times for 183 yards and King 18 times for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including a pivotal 75-yard run that immediately answered an early second-half Tech touchdown.

It was the first time since 2004 that Georgia had two 100-yard gainers in the same game.

“They were feeding off each other,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. And they were keeping Tech’s offense off the field. “That’s what you’ve got to do against their offense — try to make them impatient a little bit,” Bobo said.

Ealey, a freshman, and King, a redshirt sophomore, were prized recruits whey signed with Georgia, and their recent play bodes well for the future.

“Caleb is finally starting to run like the guy we saw in all those Rivals clips,” said Cox, referring to videos of King as a high school star on the Rivals.com website.

114 comments Add your comment

dooley

November 29th, 2009
5:06 pm

As a true red and black UGA fan, i really don’t feel good about all the trash talk. We still had way too many issues with penaltys, turnovers, and kick coverage. there are a lot of things we NEED to do to be great.

" I RUN THIS STATE " ....GO DAWGS !!!!!!

November 29th, 2009
5:08 pm

AND THE HELL WITH THOSE MAGGOTS !!!!!!!!!!

W.E AND CK4 .....GOOD DAMN DAWGS !!!!!

November 29th, 2009
5:11 pm

HOW BOUT THEM DAWGS !!!!!!

AltamahaDawg

November 29th, 2009
5:20 pm

Leave all that to the coaches, We gonna trash talk a few days out here.

St. Simon's

November 29th, 2009
5:22 pm

Everyone in Atlanta has been talking about me today, so I thought I would come out of the closet and let you know that I woke up this morning to scrambled eggs and sauted crow.After watching last nights game I had to go to dance at Marvin’s All Male Review Club, so I haven’t had time to congratulate Georgia on it’s crushing victory over our Top 10 team. In the future I will stick to being a complete putz, will not run my mouth and continue my career as a male dancer.

UG '71

November 29th, 2009
5:23 pm

It likely won’t show up in the stats, but I ran for over 100 yards against GIT last night as well………….and I’m 61. Run baby run.

Film for 365 days

November 29th, 2009
5:29 pm

Caleb, right, left and middle. Washan, right, left and middle. Q. Why do Tech defensive players not wear numerals on their backs? A. No one can see them. They’re always flat on their arse.

Frank

November 29th, 2009
5:34 pm

Bye bye, to Bey Bey, Morgan, Dwyer & Burnett as they get out of that cesspool known as Georgia tick and enter the NFL draft.

PAUL JOHNSON

November 29th, 2009
5:42 pm

WHAT DO I DO NOW, MARK BRADLEY…WILL YOU PLEASE GIVE ME SOME OF THOSE TIPS YOU HAVE BEEN GIVING COACH RICHT…DRAW ON ALL OF YOUR ABUNDANCE OF FOOTBALL KNOWLEDGE AND LEAD ME THROUGH THIS CLEMPSON GAME…I UNDERSTAND COACH RICHT HAS BEEN PAYING YOU FOR THE ADVICE AND CRITICISM YOU HAVE LEVELED HIS WAY, AND WITH THIS ONE YEAR ADDITION ON MY CONTRACT, I WILL PAY YOU ALSO FOR YOUR DEARTH OF FOOTBALL KNOWLEDGE AND HOW TO RUN A D-1 FOOTBALL PROGRAM…THEY RAN FOR 300 PLUS YARDS AND WE STILL DID NOT LOAD THE BOX FOR THE RUN…EVEN WITH AJ NOT PLAYING…

Coastal Dog

November 29th, 2009
5:47 pm

Please know that “Coastal Dog” is a St. Simons Island Dog that bleeds red and black. Not to be confused with the SSI tech guy with mush for brains By the way, he and the others of his / her kind have gone back in the closet. THANKS UGA AND RICHT FOR A GREAT NEXT TO LAST GAME THIS SEASON. On to Atlanta.

hop

November 29th, 2009
5:47 pm

dawgs clearly showed what they could do if the did not turn the ball over or have a shower of flags thrown at them.

georgia has the players to be a top ten team and they proved it against a very good tech team who will always be highly competitive if the keep paul johnson.

the dawgnation need to let mark richt be the coach and let him decide what the team needs to do to be a top ten team again.

CHARLOTTE DAWG

November 29th, 2009
5:48 pm

As soon as Georgia clinched victory, ten of thousands of people in India and Southeast Asia committed suicide. So sad. so sad

Saint Simons is getting a lot of attention but if you ask me, he wasn’t the worse. That title should go to the following a$$wipes in a tie: m, yellow fuzz, god and greyhound, ramble on, and my favorite “Pi$$boy” I mean, Pi$$onadog.

Paybacks coming boys. You are hiding now but you’ll start posting and reading again as the Clemson game approaches and then we’ll have our fun with you.

Good luck on that “championship”. ahahahahahahaha…pitiful…i think the SEC just won the ACC championship on three different fields of play.

Athenzdawg

November 29th, 2009
5:49 pm

((((((30-24)))))) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA St Simons

KentuckyDawg

November 29th, 2009
5:55 pm

Dear Tech defense,

Thanks for putting us in Heisman consideration.

See you in Athens,

Washaun and Caleb

crazy dawg

November 29th, 2009
6:00 pm

It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog today. To Hell with Tech those big mouth front running fans can go back to the basement and play with there dolls and games. I hope the Tigers up 85 whip you this weekend. Go DAWGS 30-24 Ha Ha I hope my Brother in Law enjoyed his streak is over shirt that he got for Christmas last year it will be filled with moth holes before he can wear it again.

ratherBgambling

November 29th, 2009
6:17 pm

To bad they couldn’t “Run the State” for the other 11 games.

30-24 We're just better than you.

November 29th, 2009
6:19 pm

It’s so nice being better than gtu.

Urban Meyer to NFL?

November 29th, 2009
6:23 pm

dO YOU FOLKS THINKING uRBAN IS HEADED TO THE nfl LIKE cbs sPORTS SAYS, R MORE LIKELY TO nOTRE dAME, LIKE uSA tODAY SUGGESTS?

Hi Georgia Basher Dude

November 29th, 2009
6:25 pm

Nice to see you back with all your fake names, they all sound like the same guy. Come on your an advertising guy, you can do better than that, right? You must be out of work, you’ve been here for like 10 hours today?

Gatorgrad32

November 29th, 2009
6:28 pm

Gators 4ever! Those Bulldogs stink!

Hi Georgia Basher, I see You're Back!

November 29th, 2009
6:29 pm

DOESN’T THE STATE OF fLORIDA HAVE A BLOG FORUM FOR YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT HOURS? WE DON’T NEED YOUR VAPID AND USELESS DRIVEL.

YellowandBlackAttack

November 29th, 2009
6:36 pm

Well, congrats Dawgs. You were the better team last night. You’ve put up with alot of ripping over the last year, so go ahead…I’m braced.
Anyway, this game was definitely won in the trenches. I’ve heard alot of talk about how your OL has struggled, but they sure looked good to me last night. Your center, Ben Jones, is particularly impressive. He’s just a big ol mean looking redneck plowboy from Alabama. He turned our nose tackle into astro-turf pancake a couple of times last night. I’m not very happy about the fact that they’re all coming back next season. Anyway, good luck in the Chick-fil-a bowl against Va Tech or Miami or whoever shows up there to play ya. As for my Jackets, I’m not going to crawl in a hole. We got alot left to play for. We can’t give up on this team now, not with the ACC championship and a lucrative BCS bowl at stake. Let’s rise to the occasion one more time Jackets and we can get out from under this cloud with a big win next week. Go Jackets!

85dawg

November 29th, 2009
6:55 pm

Georgia, Really?…Georgia

Dawgs RULE!

November 29th, 2009
7:06 pm

Yellowandblackattack…gotta admit, you are the classiest Tech poster I have seen in 365 days…kudos to you, as I think you are one of the few Techies that actually LOVE their team instead of HATE UGA like the rest of your fanbase (what is with all the “to hell with Georgia” stuff….we had God on our side for all that hatred last night! Way to go DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flemming

November 29th, 2009
7:19 pm

WORLD OF WARCRAFT clap, clap, clapclapclap.

jason

November 29th, 2009
7:21 pm

goldwreck, I agree. UGA need to run the and not worry about AJ. Aj will get his. He is to talented not to. Every team knows about AJ, and they double him every play. AJ helps UGA by keeping the defense honest where they can’t walk the 8th man into the box for run support. Football is really simple afterall.

E

November 29th, 2009
7:23 pm

Oh snap, guess what I saw
oh snap, guess what I saw
oh snap, guess what I saw

jason

November 29th, 2009
7:24 pm

YellowandBlackAttack, I second DAWGS Rules. I congragulated Tech on an earlier blog on their great season. You guys played a tough game and UGA had to earn it. I for one knew Tech was going to make a run in the second half. When Thomas went 75 for the TD, I was not worried. I was prepared for it. Thomas is a physical beast that smaller CBs will have trouble with. I know he must be sick about the dropped pass. And again, go whip Clemson’s arse and get your BCS Bowl.

joydawg

November 29th, 2009
7:29 pm

C. King just scored again!!! Put that in your pipe and smoke it, you tech b@#$*7ds.

St. Simon's

November 29th, 2009
7:39 pm

This just in… Caleb scores another TD and Georgia runs for 4 million yards.

martin

November 29th, 2009
7:49 pm

Good game gt….glad we won, but good game. We Dawg fans need to realize we need some changes to be really competitive and win more next year. Tech still could go to a BCS bowl so congrats to them. But it’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog!

buzzkill

November 29th, 2009
8:02 pm

GT FAN shows the kind of class and dignity that I wish all Tech fans could have. My remarks of poor taste are strictly reserved for St. Simons. And GT FAN I have to agree, this should become a more relevant rivalry. Although I can’t bring myself to pull for Tech in any game, GT FAN deserves to be addressed with a little class.

Go Tech

November 29th, 2009
8:09 pm

Hey dogs fans, I know your happy about the close game your team won.What about the 5 that you lost and all the pizza you will be eating at your bowl game.Oh yea, you need to look at techs record,we scored 56 and 42 on your sec teams and the sec is how much better than the acc. Grow up!

30-24 We're just better than you.

November 29th, 2009
8:25 pm

Yep, we STILL own gtu.

Foots

November 29th, 2009
8:27 pm

Great game, DAWGS! Did anyone notice a no punt game! When has that happened last? Why would Mark Richt and Paul Johnson suddenly start passing. Georgia is running the ball so great and the GT team doing so well on the short option passing/run. Georgia took away the automatic field goal on 3rd and 3 for the pass and GT starting throwing the ball hail mary type passing late in the game for no reason(3 times in a row)
PJ just was so sure of the automatic 4th down conversion he gambled and lost and so did Mark Richt with a long field goal try that would have iced the game earlier in the 4th quarter.

Josh Smildress

November 29th, 2009
8:27 pm

what happened to all the ajc columnists who were all claiming johnson>richt? I haven’t seen any posts taking that claim back?

Deemack

November 29th, 2009
8:38 pm

First, of all I am neither a Bulldog or a Yellow Jacket. I am a Miami Hurricane fan living in the ATL. I must say I was surprised at the UGA win over GT. But I was not suprised at the running of Caleb King. I have been waiting for him all year and see he finally showed up in the end. He is one hell of a running back and will break many records at UGA. Watched him in high school and saw how special he was. Glad to see him finally get his chance to SHINE and shine he did! It looks like he has a partner who can run with him as well. They both probably weren’t ready during the season, but it sure as hell look like they are ready now. MR didn’t hold anything back with this game. He packed both barrels with this GT game. Congrats to UGA Bulldogs!

NorthGaDawg

November 29th, 2009
8:41 pm

TO ALL THE TECH NERDS::::

Where are you???
I haven’t seen you on our blog much today…
Your ACC is so powerful huh??? Looks like your conference Championship teams both got smacked down by a couple of SEC East teams that aren’t even the top of our conference!!!! Yall stink!!!!! Losers…..

NorthGaDawg

November 29th, 2009
8:41 pm

TO ALL THE TECH NERDS::::

Where are you???
I haven’t seen you on our blog much today…
Your ACC is so powerful huh??? Looks like your conference Championship teams both got smacked down by a couple of SEC East teams that aren’t even the top of our conference!!!! Yall stink!!!!! Losers…..

william cranman

November 29th, 2009
8:43 pm

Why is their not one picture in the AJC of Russ, the temporary UGA. Amazing.

bugsquacher

November 29th, 2009
8:44 pm

where are all those mouthy tech nerds? pi$$onadawg, saint simon, tech gold, …… what one good beat down and your are no where to be found. Oh well, you’re team along with your fans, SUCK….. shut the hell up! GA owns this state!

NorthGaDawg

November 29th, 2009
8:45 pm

GO Tech:

Just as happy as your (close game) you won last year…..

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Starring Saint Simons Starring as Mister T in the World of Warcraft

November 29th, 2009
9:19 pm

I am a ninth level warrior Mohawk fool, I don’t need no state championship.

mgdawg

November 29th, 2009
9:21 pm

Let’s not get carried away. Yes this was a good finish to a terrible season, but this game doesn’t make up for the entire season. Truth is UGA still couldn’t cover tech’s wrs, they just can’t pass.
But the rb’s had a great game and the offensive line actually created holes for them to run through.

HW Dawg

November 29th, 2009
9:24 pm

Not too early to look ahead to 2010 schedule which has us dropping LSU, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Tenn. Tech for Mississippi State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Idaho State and Colorado. On paper, at least, this slate seems a whole lot easier.

Go DAWGS!

Dennis

November 29th, 2009
9:29 pm

Okay, get up off the ground, dry those teary eyes and blow that snotty nose. There now, don’t that feel better you inbred idiots that have only bad things to say about your own team all year. Fire everybody and kill the QB. What a bunch of stupid ingrates. Oh, by the way, UF rules the state of UGA.

Duke

November 29th, 2009
9:31 pm

Borat’s take on Georgia Tech…..Paul Johnson is a coaching genius……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..NOT.
Suck it Saint Simons – 30-24

DawgSinceBirth

November 29th, 2009
9:33 pm

GT Fan…that’s a good one…show “class.” You must not have seen your Techmite comrades running that mouth UNBELIEVABLY as we (the DAWG fans) were heading into the cess pool (I mean stadium)…you wouldn’t know class if it bit you in the butt….

Go Dawgs!

30-24 We're just better than you.

November 29th, 2009
9:39 pm

Same song 60th verse. We’re simply better than gtu.

Pizza Man:

November 29th, 2009
9:46 pm

Who are we playing in the kick azz Papajohns bowl? Does anybody know? Also, why isn’t UGA ranked? I mean we are 7-5 and play in the SEC, which is the Sorry Education Conference. I cannot believe we aren’t ranked. hmmm……….Oh, that’s right………….It’s next year that we win it all. I say we play DUKE. Now, that will be a tough bowl game. LOSERS UGA! THWG!