Georgia, Vanderbilt coaches discuss postgame skirmish
NASHVILLE – Forget Georgia-Florida, Georgia-Auburn or Georgia-Georgia Tech. The new white-hot rivalry for the Bulldogs may be with Vanderbilt.
Players and coaches had to be separated following the Bulldogs’ hard-fought, emotional 33-28 win. The game wasn’t decided until Vanderbilt tight end Branden Barden of Lincolnton, Ga., was corralled at the Georgia 16-yard line as time expired.
Immediately afterward, a skirmish ensued between the teams that appeared to be mostly yelling and gesturing and little actual physical confrontation. Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was a central figure in the fray.
Grantham pretty much refused to comment directly what went on with Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin at the end of the game. All he would say and kept repeating was, “I love our players. I’m going to stick up for my players. Everybody’s competitive.”
Franklin was a little more telling with his comment: “We just had a tough, emotional game and some things were said that I didn’t think were appropriate. I went to find Coach Richt and didn’t find him, so I found one of his assistant coaches and it didn’t go well. We’re not going to sit back and take it from anyone.”
Franklin said he eventually found Richt.
“I explained to him what happened,” Franklin said. “That’s for me and Coach Richt to deal with. Hopefully we’ll learn from that experience. Those things happen.”
Replays after the game show Grantham screaming at Franklin in the middle of the field as the players from both teams stood across opposing lines separated by coaches in the middle.
Grantham was reprimanded by Richt last year when he made the choke sign toward Florida kicker Chaz Henry as he prepared to make a game-tying field goal attempt to send the game into overtime. Henry made the kick and the Gators went on to win.
Georgia was called for three personal foul penalties in Saturday’s game and Richt clearly wasn’t happy with the way his players or his coaches acted at the end of the emotional contest.
“I don’t know exactly what happened. Maybe TV picked it up and we’ll get a better view of what was going on. But we are grown men and we need to act that way. But we’re also competitors and we all have emotions and xometimes when you get a little fired up it’s hard to keep from getting in some kind of jawing contest.
“I’ll say this: There were times when I was ashamed of some of the choice things that came out of my mouth during the game. So I’ve got to be disciplined, too.”
On the fracas between the two teams at the end of the game, Richt said:
“I don’t know for sure what heppened. I’ve heard a couple of different sides of the story. It’s hard to know which one is 100 percent the truth. But the bottom line is when the game is over the game’s over. You shake hands and you be thankful for the victory. Just like at the end of a play. When a play’s over, it’s over. Go to the sideline. We didn’t do a very good job of that at times.
“It was heated. It IS battle. It’s not war with real bullets but it’s a war in a sense and it’s very physical. Tempers do get flared up. I don’t mind our blood getting hot but we have to be able to get excited or maybe even angry but not foul.”
Georgia was penalized 11 times for 89 yards in the game and generally played sloppy and without poise. When the Bulldogs were trying to salt the game away in the fourth quarter, they threw an interception, lost seven yards and had to punt on one possession, and finally had a punt blocked on its last possession.
Georgia senior punter Drew Butler should probably go down as the hero of the game. After the punt was blocked by another Georgia native — wide receiver Udom Umoh of Fort Valley — Butler managed to gather his wits quick enough to haul down Umoh at the 20 after Umoh had scooped up the ball.
After an illegal substitution penalty, the Commodores got off two plays before the game ended. The first was a pass in the end zone that bounced off the hands of receiver Chris Boyd, another Georgia native, from Roswell.
Said Grantham, whose unit gave up 349 yards to Vandy: “The bottom line is we stopped them three times in the fourth quarter when they had a chance to win the game.”
Said Richt: “I think Vanderbilt did a fantastic job. They were inches from winning the ballgame.”
Tailback Isaiah Crowell did not play the entire first quarter. Richt said it was “just a situation where it was a coach’s decision not to play him.”
Crowell. finished with 35 yards on 10 carries. He did not play late in the game because of the wrist injury that has plagued him the last three weeks, according to Richt.
Here’s some video of Coach Franklin’s postgame news conference:
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667 comments Add your comment
1980 was so long ago
October 16th, 2011
9:13 pm
Ah New Mexico State, whats the difference
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:28 pm
Get ready for your BEATING gtu!!! BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:33 pm
Hopefully Coach Grantham pushes in paul johnson’s coaches face after we beat gtu.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
WDE
October 16th, 2011
9:33 pm
Well we got the win overall the offense looked pretty good , Murray threw a pick that was actually much better than a punt and gave Vandy the ball on the 2.we had some defensive laples
NOBODYYOUKNOW
October 16th, 2011
9:34 pm
I got it. So UGA owns gtu? Thats like owning Furman. It means nothing. Lets own the Gators, or Auburn. To hell with gtu!
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:35 pm
November 26th will be win number 62 over gtu!!!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
WDE
October 16th, 2011
9:35 pm
@Raynard we beat who we were scheduled to play get your bunch to win vs the cupcakes .
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
October 16th, 2011
9:36 pm
Bo: If you can’t understand what CMR was saying then you are a very sad case. He went the extra mile to put it in terms a 5th grader could understand but apparently your “comprehensive capabilities” are near the bottom. Go back and slowly read the article(or have someone read it to you) and listen to how CMR explains what he meant. Apparently we are dealing with a double(not a compliment) digit IQ here.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:37 pm
62 wins and counting over gtu…! LOL
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:39 pm
That’s right 62!!!! I’m already counting the win on November 26th… LOL
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:40 pm
Chew on this nugget awhile gtu fans… 62 wins. Easy. You aren’t even a challenge.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:42 pm
gtu fans, do you think our victory (number 62) over you in November hurt more than last year’s beating?
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:44 pm
Oh, I’m just playing with you gtu fans… I KNOW the beating you guys are gonna take this year will hurt just as bad as last year’s did. LMAO
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:46 pm
We all KNOW that paul johnson is gonna cry and eat himself to sleep after UGA kicks gtu to the curb AGAIN in November.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
1980 was so long ago
October 16th, 2011
9:48 pm
I think Grantham was a bit embarrassed that his defense was punched in those nose last night by the likes of Vanderbilt. He has had tough sledding at uga – from last seasons debacle – to getting pasted by Boise State in a game he had 9 months to prepare his “dream team” for. Now, the conference lightweight, with all due respect to Vandy, the SEC perennial doormat lights them up.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:49 pm
Stop your sobbing gtu fans. You only have to lose to us once a year in football… even though it feels like so much more.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
1980 was so long ago
October 16th, 2011
9:51 pm
1980 was so long ago
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:51 pm
Ok, keep sobbing. Win #62 over gtu is only a little over a month away!!
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
WTF
October 16th, 2011
9:52 pm
Peggie, contrary to what you think not all athletes that have come through the University of Georgia are “just plain stupid”, and not all people named “Peggie” are as smart as they think they are.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:55 pm
Ownership has it’s privileges… we should probably have gtu’s stadium bulldozed. What a dump of a stadium.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
1980 was so long ago
October 16th, 2011
9:56 pm
“”"”I got it. So UGA owns gtu? Thats like owning Furman. It means nothing. Lets own the Gators, or Auburn. To hell with gtu!”"”"
Got to figure out how to own Vandy first.
I see Gator bait on the horizon.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:57 pm
Honestly, we might not get the opportunity to beat down gtu in November, all of the homeless people and bums will probably run all of the gtu folk off… LMAO gtu is such a DUMP.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
9:58 pm
It hurts you don’t it…! BWAAHAHAHAHAHAAA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:00 pm
Take it in gtu… you have no choice. LMAO
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:02 pm
gtu is such a DUMP. You gtu folk should be EMBARRASSED by the stench that comes off that giant pile of CRAP you call a stadium.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
SEC Fan
October 16th, 2011
10:03 pm
Georgia and Vandy are almost equals.
In football, I’d say they are equal. Last night’s game came down to who had the ball when the clock ran out. In the matter of basic human dignity, however, Vandy has Georgia completely out-classed.
gtu wit
October 16th, 2011
10:04 pm
Come on down to North Avenue and you can see the updated version of a National Championship trophy LMAO!!!!!!!!
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:04 pm
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA gtu is JOKE
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:06 pm
Feel free to practice falling down and getting your a$$ kicked… we’ll be there to finish the job November 26th. BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
gtu wit
October 16th, 2011
10:06 pm
Will all the money, stadium, and effort and you still have to come to North Avenue to see what the new version of the National Championship trophy looks like…it must just kill you to the core LMAO!!!!
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:08 pm
BEAT-DOWN #62 is getting closer!! tick tock tick tock…
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:10 pm
D@mn it feels good to OWN gtu… BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
gtu wit
October 16th, 2011
10:10 pm
It must hurt everytime you try to talk about National Championship with a gtu fan, they hold the trump card ….LMAO!!!!!!!!
Alaways have and always will. (Added to show how creative I can be)
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:12 pm
24/7/365… it’s ALWAYS good to be a DAWG!
WE RUN THIS STATE!!
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:14 pm
We will ALWAYS RUN THIS STATE!! And we will ALWAYS OWN gtu.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:16 pm
I absolutely LOVE that I am getting to all of you gtu fans. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
All SEC
October 16th, 2011
10:16 pm
Grantham acted like a classless redneck idiot….just an embarrassment to the dawgs. This topped the choke sign he gave the Fl player last year. He makes us look like the U…Stupic
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:16 pm
To absolute HELL with gtu.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
aubietiger
October 16th, 2011
10:24 pm
Grantham looked like he was ready to kill…..what an idiot. Slive should take a look at the video….games get heated but I have never seen an asst coach act so totally crazy an classless.
grow up please, you are embarrassing us
October 16th, 2011
10:42 pm
UGA OWNS gtu, I am one of the biggest UGA fans you’ll ever come across and dislike the Georgia Institute of Technology with a passion. But will you please stop. You are embarrassing us!
Hey 1980
October 16th, 2011
10:44 pm
Was 1980 so long ago?
l jones
October 16th, 2011
10:46 pm
The Vandy coach talked about his team having class, but he showed no class himself. He gave Georgia’s players no credit for anything, whined about the ball not bouncing their way, and his offense not being organized enough. If he was yelling at a Georgia player after the game, Grantham was right to get in his snot-nosed face.
Dawg85
October 16th, 2011
10:47 pm
Congratulations on the win Dawgs! Wish all the talk about the end of the game didn’t overshadow the fact that we got another “W” – #101 for Richt. Rest up, heal up and go to Jacksonville and GATA! GO DAWGS!
Hit A Single
October 16th, 2011
10:49 pm
Vandy Coach has alot to learn. His inexperience of being a head coach showed. It is over and let’s get ready for Florida, a team that is going to be very hungry.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:52 pm
Let me repeat myself… WE OWN AND RUN THIS STATE!!!
To absolute HELL with gtu. Choke on it bugs.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
LABULLDAWG
October 16th, 2011
11:30 pm
A WIN IS A WIN! ESPECIALLY ON THE ROAD IN THE SEC! I DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH COACH GRANTHAM’S EMOTIONS AT THE END OF THE GAME! SH#@T HAPPENS! WAIT UNTIL THE FLORIDA GAME, AND WE WILL SEE 10 TIMES THE EMOTION DURING AND AFTER THAT CONTEST! EVERYBODY IS HUMAN!!!!!!
UGA Football + UGA Fans =
October 16th, 2011
11:37 pm
bunch of classless rednecks.Stay classy UGA.
bitter fair is fair
October 17th, 2011
12:25 am
lissen trolls===ga was winning just fine when they fell asleep and allowed a kick off for a touch-down
—————–no killer instinck————im tired of the richt and dumb bo and murry show
too much lets f$$%# k up and let a weak as—-s team back in the game—-rogers kid will be a starr
————-what is up with the poor special teams play———ps bite somebody;s ear grantham–haha
THE DAWGS D RULES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 17th, 2011
12:27 am
vandy compeating with class? thats a laugh!!!!!!!!!!!
bitter fair is fair
October 17th, 2011
12:32 am
my sources tell me that caouch franklin has been in georgia on recruiting trips “BAD MOUTHING”
the entire georgia coaching staff—————-thats why COACH GRATHAM wanted to pound frankie face
————into pulpwood——————franklin is also using the EVERY READY RACE CARD
———to try and steal recruits from georgia and from UT—–frankie is a fa—-0g—-hahahahahah
————————go daws———————–aaron rogers brother is the real deal—great arm
—————————-anybody tired of the murry show