‘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.
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114 comments Add your comment
Independence Bowl Decider:
November 29th, 2009
9:50 pm
I believe the almighty puppies belong in the Independence Bowl. I mean just look at what they accomplished. A 7-5 season and another loss to their favorite team, UF. Losing 17 out of 20 to UF isn’t so bad. LOL! I invite your team to officially accept an invitation to the Independence Bowl. It’s a great bowl and it’s usually played like, December 20th or something like that. See, this way our team is not in the national spot light, but rather our fans are chewing tobacco, drinking beer and hunting for the holidays while all the other successful teams will play in BCS bowls. THWG! JOKE!
30-24 We're just better than you.
November 29th, 2009
9:52 pm
We STILL own gtu. LMAO
Jesse Outlar
November 29th, 2009
10:07 pm
South Carolina – Defense makes game saving play
Auburn – Defense stops potential game tying drve
Tech – Defense stops potential game winning drive
Three times this year the defense held on to win big rival games. Let’s give Martinez creddit when it is due. This is a good man that loves Georgia and is a creddit to our school and the players love him. The great Erk Russell had a lousy defensive team prior to the 1975 junkyard dawgs. Be careful what you wish for. All you have to do is look at the debacle at Auburn.
30-24 We're just better than you.
November 29th, 2009
10:38 pm
gtu… consistently our b*tch since 1893. LMAO
StateChamps
November 29th, 2009
11:28 pm
Now is the time of year when tech trolls:
a. Make fictional comments about being my boss
b. Make fictional claims about admission standards for athletes at the trade school
c. Change their handle and morph into lifelong Florida fans
d. Whine about officiating
e. All of the above
Blackberry Cobbler
November 30th, 2009
9:29 am
If CMR, Coach BooBoo, and UGA had tried to run the ball more all season, perhaps the season results would be much better. UGA put way too much of the outcome on Joe Cox. Why did UGA not run the ball more against other teams, or was GT defense just really that bad?
DamnGoodDawg!
November 30th, 2009
10:18 am
Thoughts after the game.
Act like we’ve been here before…Not like Techies who give out ring for a 1 game win streak.
Those rings probably will increase in value because of the rarity of Tech wins.
A 5 loss SEC team beats a 10-1 ACC team. What’s new?
I wish I had had more faith.
Techies, I’m glad it hurts so much.
Now the excuses start. “We was robbed!”
The local TV guy referred to the “Student Athletes” of Georgia Tech…yeah, sure….
Alabama Dog
November 30th, 2009
11:57 am
To the IDIOT Techie fans pictured in Sunday’s AJC with the sign “Kentucky, Really? Kentucky, I have one for you: “GEORGIA, YES! GEORGIA”!!!!!!!!
Alabama Dog
November 30th, 2009
12:01 pm
To the Techies pictured in Sunday’s AJC holding the sign “Kentucky? Really? Kentucky?” I have one for y’all: “GEORGIA! YES! GEORGIA”!!!!!
Alabama Dog
November 30th, 2009
12:46 pm
Sorry I said the same thing twice, but it bears repeating. Another note to you Techies: take solace in the fact the game was MUCH closer on the scoreboard than it had been on the field! Y’all come back now, ya hear?
Alabama Dog
November 30th, 2009
1:31 pm
Blackberry Cobbler: YES! Their defense IS that bad!!!! It’s the ACC against the SEC for cryin’ out loud! ‘Nuff said!
30-24 We're just better than you.
November 30th, 2009
9:28 pm
Yep, we are STILL better than you gnats.
Big L
November 30th, 2009
11:35 pm
I believe it is time for UGA fans to lay off Joe Cox. I think it was prved that if Bobo were to have game planned properly all season, we would have had at least 2 more wins. The less Joe had to do, the better he was. Hell that game coulda been won by 13 if Troupe don’t drop a td. He looked shocked that Joe nailed him with a perfect pass. Believe if Joe were able to come back jext year, he would be a great QB.
Jacob1
December 6th, 2009
5:28 pm
IM SOOO HAPPY FOR THE JV SQUAD OF THE STATE ON WINNING THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GOOD JOB!!