Richt on late fumble: ‘That’s as basic of a play as we’ve got’
BOULDER, Colo. — Comments by Georgia coach Mark Richt after the Bulldogs’ latest loss, 29-27 to Colorado on Saturday night:
On the fumble on Georgia’s final drive: “That’s as basic of a play as we’ve got. You say, ‘What’s our No. 1 running play?’, and that was it. They got penetration, obviously, but you’ve still got to be able to secure that ball for a 4- or 5-yard loss. You’ve got to hold on to it, but we didn’t. They made a play.”
On Caleb King’s night otherwise [100 yards rushing on 12 carries]: “Yeah, Caleb played real good. He broke a lot of tackles. [On the fumble] I think he was trying to make a spin move as he was getting the ball. It was his instinct to try and make somebody miss. But you’ve got to get the ball first, and we just didn’t do that. Caleb gave great effort; he gave great runs. When the ball was secured to him, he wrapped it up real well. Unfortunately on the exchange, he didn’t.”
On the team’s morale: “Am I worried about it? It’s hard. It’s not easy. But I have a lot of faith in our guys. They’ll stay together; they’ll keep working. No one’s going to give in or quit, and nobody’s going to do a negative thing within our ranks. I’m confident that everybody on this football tam is going to keep working. … Losing is not good, but there are a lot of good things that come out of it as far as effort and attitude of the group. There are a lot of things that I can point to that the coaches will be proud of these games for. But the bottom line in football is wins and losses, and right now we haven’t gotten one in a while.”
On A.J. Green’s return: “It’s nice to have A.J. You could see tonight just how talented he is and how dangerous a player he is. He’s a momentum changer, and he did [change momentum]. We reversed the momentum of the game, and … he made our offense spark. He’s definitely a special player and a special kid…. There are plays you can call that go to a guy, but we didn’t go that way because of protection or coverage, so that’s where we started with him.”
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342 comments Add your comment
ADawg
October 3rd, 2010
9:05 pm
@Dawgmom – At the end of the day, you are right; however, I am concerned whether the Adams will give McGarity free reign (and money) to hire anyone of the caliber that UGA fans want. But with Richt already making $3M per year, they would only have to increase that number to around $4M to get the best of the best coaches out there. But wouldn’t that be fun…?
ANTI-HOMER
October 3rd, 2010
9:07 pm
@ FLA DAWG
Can’t let UGADAWG 1978 take the blame…I usually go by name YUCK…but wanted to have a little fun…just venting with a little sarcasm…I’m done…Sorry about the all caps…just thought that and the misspellings added to the satire…
Go Dawgs!
Yuck
October 3rd, 2010
9:09 pm
@ Just Sayin’
I like the way you think…We will beat UT this week
dawgmom
October 3rd, 2010
9:15 pm
@ADawg — yep, that would be fun! Now let’s just hope this new tandem of Adams/McGarity makes it happen!
fire Richt
October 3rd, 2010
9:39 pm
what have you done for us? even when you had Moreno and Stafford? you are a terrible coach for an underachieving team since you got here.
FLA DAWG
October 3rd, 2010
9:57 pm
Did you boys catch UT play LSU!?
What a great game. I submit to you UT scored a great victory in their loss.
They will beat our Dawgs by 21 points and UGA will have its worst record in 50 years.
Ironic that it will have been a Dooley who will do it to us.
RockyTopDawg
October 3rd, 2010
10:06 pm
Why is it that some fans are not true fans and just fair weather fans? I watched the Braves in the 80’s when they were terrible. Still watched them and I was still a fan. UGA has had some bad luck, but a DAWG fan hangs with the team and stays positive. 680 buck, are you kidding? Blame it on one player. What about the missed field goal? How many times has that happened. Come on Georgia Fans, be a REAL fan!
WITHOUT LINDSEY SCOTT,THERE'S NO 1980 TITLE
October 3rd, 2010
10:15 pm
SEC HAD A MEETING TODAY AND VOTED UGA OUT,AND VOTED GEORGIA STATE TO TAKE THE MUTTS PLACE,THE PANTHERS HAVE A BETTER RECORD!
P.S. WE WILL SHOW THE MUTTS HOW TO BEAT ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
fire Richt
October 3rd, 2010
10:16 pm
real fans demand for winning attitude, not mediocrity. all Richt bought us since he got here have been a bunch of underachieving seasons. and you all are too soft to criticize, including the Atlanta media
WITHOUT LINDSEY SCOTT,THERE'S NO 1980 TITLE
October 3rd, 2010
10:16 pm
GEORGIA STATE WILL BEAT ALABAMA AT END OF THIS YEAR!
WITHOUT LINDSEY SCOTT,THERE'S NO 1980 TITLE
October 3rd, 2010
10:17 pm
DONT FIRE SAINT RICHT!
Mark (another one)
October 3rd, 2010
10:30 pm
Georgia’s players need to look around at the next practice and realize the only people they can count on are their teammates. The grousing, etc. that is occurring all around them needs to put a chip on their shoulders and they need to support each other. That is why being a teammate is special.
No player has lost four games. Georgia has lost four games. No one wanted it to happen, but the players at practice are the only people they can count on to turn this season around. Look at the seniors. This is their last year. Play for each other and hold each other accountable. Finish the drill is a cute call, but the heart of a dawg is what we need to see. Play with heart, play with brains, play for each other, and make someone pay.
Red Pantie Dawg
October 3rd, 2010
10:44 pm
Gratulations to the Dawgs for sucking big time.
biggestdogfan
October 3rd, 2010
10:56 pm
Even though we are having a down year all bulldog fans should check this bulldog song out. It got my spirits up!!
http://www.jfareal.com or youtube search jfareal go dawgs. At least there is one bright spot.
TMac71
October 3rd, 2010
11:05 pm
Us UGA fans have to stick with the program. You know how to fix this? Work their arses off at practive mon-thurs! Look at Beamer at VT. Been there 20+ years and he is havinf a bad start to the 2010 season, but they don’t hang their heads. We can’t win a National Championship without a steady coaching staff and a whole lot of LUCK! Look at BAMA last year. without a blocked punt against UT, they may not be even playing in that title game. Let the staff work thru their problems and support the guys. The type of recruit needs to be looked at from here on out. The hell with the # of stars by their names, look for heart! GO DAWGS!
TMac71
October 3rd, 2010
11:07 pm
check that, blocked field goal from the UT/BAMA game
fire Richt
October 4th, 2010
12:02 am
all these so called fans calling for patience just make me sick. go learn how to be a real fan with real expectations from other wining programs… stop being such a soft fan base with losing attitude. what? you are afraid to be vocal against losers? this Richt guy should have been fired right after totally underachieving 2008 season.
TMac71
October 4th, 2010
12:08 am
you play in the sec.. name one person who can do a better job? ur expectations are unreal.. how many national championships have been won at UGA in football? any given day ur ass can get beat.. good coach or not.. are they sucking this year? yep! does firing coaches fix anything? nope.. get a freaking clue loser
Rickt needs to take of the play calling bebo needs to go
October 4th, 2010
12:36 am
Rickt is not the one calling the plays It’s Mike Bebo, Rickt needs to take over PLAY calling and either Fire Mike bebo or have him go back to coach the qb’s
59bulldawg
October 4th, 2010
8:08 am
Bwell, blind loyalty is not support. Nothing ever gets fixed that way. You can hope all you want that things will get better but that doesn’t mean that they will. Everybody has a point where they stop believing and I’ve reached mine long before this 1-4 start. Maybe you don’t see it but our 1-4 record is the end result of an undisciplined poorly performing team that is poorly coached. And it didn’t just start last year either. I had problems with Richt’s/Bobo’s playcalling since they arrived in Athens. Winning just helped cover it but sooner or later this was bound to happen. Now the wheels have come completely off and there are still defenders who think we still have a shot at winning the SEC East. To me that’s just incredible. Richt’s failure to seriously address team discipline before problems arise and his refusal to deal with incompetent staff members who seem to misjudge the talent we recruit and then mismanage the talent we sign got us to this point. I like Richt as a man. But the University of Georgia was never intended to be a halfway house for wayward young men who just happen to possess athletic talent. And the distractions that those young men have been to our football program has added to these other problems. But the buck stops at Richt’s desk. You can’t give him all the credit for winning and then refuse to blame him for anything when they lose. He is the head coach and all the players and all the coaches on the team are there because of him. The buck stops at his desk. He is responsible and he needs to go and go soon. Georgia football did not begin when Mark Richt arrived. And it will not end when he leaves.
MURPHY
October 4th, 2010
8:21 am
Im totally disgusted with this program and have been for 2 months. Im not going to keep commenting on our troubled program.I do sense some kind of coaching change in the near future. It was nice to see AJ show why he is one of the premiere players in the country.
Lsu-how lucky can Les Miles be? He is the worst coach in the nation concerning time management. Congrads to UT for playing a great game.As I have said the past month Dooley will win a couple he isnt suppose to win. UT plays hard and they wont give up.Im afraid Dolleys return to Athens wont be enjoyable for us Dawgs.
Bama-WOW!! They are nasty! As good as Bama is though Im sticking with my 3 week ago prediction that they lose in Columbia this week.
Down South Dawg
October 4th, 2010
8:33 am
I’m with Richt just as far as he want’s to take this thing!—I believe he will do everything he can to straighten this thing out and I’m with him all the way!
This is a serious and difficult process!—Either get on or get out!
Saint Simons
October 4th, 2010
8:49 am
((((( 1 & 4 ))))) hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
GATA
October 4th, 2010
8:52 am
The goal of UGA football has gone from winning championships to achieving “bowl eligibility”. That says it all.
dawginduluth
October 4th, 2010
8:53 am
Time to dust off the old resume, coach.
Sug
October 4th, 2010
9:09 am
Richt’s finished at Georgia:
2002- #3
2003- #6
2004- #6
2005- #10
2006- #23
2007- #3
2008- #10
THAT’S PATHETIC!!!
SHOULD HAVE BEEN #1 EVERY SEASON!!
Au67
October 4th, 2010
10:38 am
As an Auburn fan It still would not surprise if you beat us for a 5th straight. Chin up guys, you guys will be fine.
OedipusTax
October 4th, 2010
11:14 am
How about a midnight curfew for anybody on the team? The arrests always seem to come after midnight. And I wonder how much alcohol, not to mention other substances, were consumed by the team before the sun came up Sunday morning, or before they went to class Monday morning? Demand drug testing for the entire team before they play.
LMAO
October 4th, 2010
11:19 am
IT WASN’T A FLEA FLICKER YOU PEOPLE ARE MORONS. THE GUY FUMBLED
MIke T.
October 4th, 2010
12:48 pm
Your a moron if you think it wasn;t a flea flicker.
he fumbled attempting to flip it back to Aaron Murray.
Altitude...
October 4th, 2010
12:57 pm
Observations from a CU fan…Seems like you’re pretty hard on your players lack of conditioning. I think you are underestimating the effects of playing at altitude. In fact, it was kind of fun for us to watch your fans try to climb the stairs at Folsom Field and fit their oversized a*%&#@ into their assigned seat.
Thanks for the lack of respect, maybe we deserve it. Maybe y’all should get off the couch and cut out the fried vegetables!
Richard Gueard
October 4th, 2010
1:44 pm
When the going gets tough the tough get going. I hear these big shots with all their comments about what needs to be done. Most of them have never played the game of football in High School much less college. I know they have never coach a pee wee team either. I say to them sit down shut up and hold on. Coach Richt will bring the Dawgs back to greatness. Stop playing the blame game and buying into all the crap. Get behind the coach and the team. Believe me they don’t like where they are.
S FL Chapter of the Bulldog Nation
October 4th, 2010
2:30 pm
BEAT UT!!!! That’s all that matters at this point! That’s all our boys need to focus on…Leave it all on the field Sat and that will be a step back in the right direction…
LET’S GO DAWGS!!!!
Jay Sulkowsky
October 4th, 2010
5:14 pm
Larry Munson is turning in his grave….wait he isn’t dead is he? He will be after he watches a couple more of these games
chris
October 4th, 2010
6:36 pm
fire bobo fire bobo mark listen to what the bulldog nation is saying fire bobo fire bobo
Brad
October 4th, 2010
8:00 pm
Why did you 100 yard rusher, averaging 6.7 yards a carry, was breaking tackles , on touch the ball only 12 times. The reason they lost is play calling. Bobo is lost on play calling. Caleb should have had at least 20 carries in the game. The defense is crap, but they do not have the personnel to run a 3-4, the d-line is a joke. The nose tackle is a converted d-end, weighs like 280. The nose should be 315+. But that has little to do with the tackling that has plagued UGA all year.
bloodrunsred
October 4th, 2010
8:06 pm
YOU people yelling about a flea flicker called have obviously never played football. King fumbled making a spin move to try and pick up yardage from a blitzing man off the edge who happen to come untouched! Geesh, everyone and their UGAMOM’S knew we were going to run the ball. My only complaint is throw a short, safe pass or screen there. Or to our steady handed fullback. It all starts with blocking and tackling, the 2 most fundamental things you are taught at 6 years of age on the football field. Get those 2 corrected for 4 Q’S and you won’t lose another game. GO DAWGS, Get to practice and work your tails off!
bloodrunsred
October 4th, 2010
8:16 pm
I am the biggest dawgs fan there is out here, but you negative people are talking like UGA has won multiple national championships. Last time I checked there was only one won. Think Frank Beamer had a few down years at VT? Go check the records. Let the man do his job and build a program. If you aren’t wanting to stay a dawgs fan, go pull for another team. But there won’t be any room on the bandwagon in years to come! Keep ur chin up and stop whining! GO DAWGS!
godawgs7
October 4th, 2010
9:56 pm
Murray is looking better each game , Comeon dawgs we can beat Fla, Tenn, Auburn , Kentucky , Vandy we still have a good year . Bo Bo the screen works use it more we got grat athletes in open field use them.
Jeremy
October 5th, 2010
11:57 am
Did everyone miss Richt’s comment here? A DRAW play is what was called. Does no one else see the horrible strategy in that?
The game is down to seconds, you are within field goal range of the best place kicker in the country, if you kneel it you have a winners chance, so basically you are playing for 2 yards and a cloud of dust yards on the road….why the HELL would you call a draw play? Did Bobo think the CU defensive coordinator was expecting a pass? Was a delayed hand off giving time to our stellar offensive line to clear out the entire defensive to let King waltz to the end zone from 27 out?
Maybe I am just applying to much logic to game time situations. Maybe not so different to running out of timeouts in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half against Arkansas. Our players are a bit outmatched at times, but our offensive play calling is killing us. Our defense needs all the help it can get, and they are always on the field.
5 mouths to feed or not, you got to get rid of Bobo. If you can’t, then stamp your own ticket out the door because this is a slow bleed. We have just become Notre Dame.
Adrian Perry
October 5th, 2010
1:49 pm
My take on the team is that we need a true nose tackle that is the right size to occupy the center and a guard. This would allow the DE’s to get into the backfield and do their thing. Once we have that, the linebackers can do a lot more blitzing and cover the run better. Pressure is the key and we just do not have the horses to exert that pressure. Hopefully, we will have recruited one big ole boy to do the job at nose tackle. We could probably use a little upgrade at safety also, but it all starts with the boys up front.
On offense, I think our play calling is too predictable and vanilla. It appears that the other teams defense picks up our game plan through film studies. The head coach might want to consider hiring a true offensive coach and with the talent we have and our recruiting, we should do just fine.
I am supportive of the head coach but think, he needs a offensive coordinator. I believe that our defensive coach will be terrific after he recruits a few of the big ole boys he needs to make his 3-4 defense work. Alabama was not a whole lot of good when they first started using it as I recall.
Richard Dawson
October 5th, 2010
3:18 pm
Here is why you lose a football game. It is not because a player made a mistake that Richt is not responsible for. Richt is responsible for everything the players do. Regardless, this particular fumble was due to Richt’s highly predictable decision to run up the middle to set up a field goal. Colorado, I, and my dead grandma saw this coming from 1000 miles away. They blew up the play, forced a fumble, and won the game. Blame lies squarely and only with Mark Richt, who is responsible for the terrible, predictable playcalling (and why would you want to set up Walsh for a 40+ yard FG when he already missed one? Go for the TD. Go for the win.), responsible for Bobo’s playcalling, responsible for recruiting good players, and responsible for how they execute. Richt and Richt alone is responsible. Here’s what Colorado’s DC had to say on this horrendous decision.
From ESPN.COM:
During a timeout in the waning minutes and with the Georgia Bulldogs already in range for a game-winning field goal, Colorado defensive coordinator Ron Collins decided to turn linebacker B.J. Beatty loose on a blitz.
“I told him, ‘Let’s run it,” Beatty said. “Because we knew they were going to try to run the ball, milk the clock and kick a field goal. I knew I had the opportunity to come off the edge and maybe disrupt the hand-off.”
Lining up with the Buffs clinging to a 29-27 lead, Beatty was just hoping for the Bulldogs to run the ball, and sure enough, it played out exactly like he envisioned.
Beatty stripped Caleb King just as he got the handoff from quarterback Aaron Murray at the Buffaloes’ 30-yard line and he held King back while teammate Jon Major smothered the loose ball.