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:
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
667 comments Add your comment
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:16 am
We flat-out OWN gtu.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
Mad Dawg
October 16th, 2011
10:16 am
Coach Grantham – love the fire keep it up! It is emotion which keeps these young guys fired. To those of you who want to criticize an emotional coach who fires his players up and will stand by them – you wouldn’t know how to put on a jock strap if your life depended on it. That should cover all of the Techies posting on here.
Snoop Dawg
October 16th, 2011
10:17 am
Well, all you geniuses who have such a love fetish for Richt and Bobo- How did you like them apples?
A famous person once said that sheep will mill around aimlessly until the shepard leads them. These talented UGA players were let down in spades last night by Marjoe Richt and Bobo. Anyone who denies that needs immediate psychological help.
How long must this BS go on? We’re paying the two of them $4M a year when there is 20% unemployment in the country. That’s unearned income as far as I’m concerned. The State of Georgia is getting ripped off.
And watch this prediction: Grantham is the only one of the senior coaches who displays any passion, spitit, emotion whatsoever. The players feed off this. I don’t know about you, but I am not upset that Grantham exchanged words with the Vandy coaches at the end of the game. But watch this–Richt will reprimand him like he did last year. This is poisonous for the team.
And what’s with them playing number 36 all night after he received not one, but two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that I must say were well deserved? Is this what Righteous good Christian coaches do? No, he should have been benched after the first one and sent to the locker room after the second one.
We were lucky to get out of Nashville with a win last night. Not because of the players, but because of Richt and Bobo. Wake up!
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:19 am
We probably need to bulldoze gtu’s stadium down. It’s one huge pile of crap, like gtu’s team.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
Scott
October 16th, 2011
10:19 am
Chip Towers stirring the pot again. Non-story and no journalism applications applied in neither this ’story’ nor his story of the game.
ryan
October 16th, 2011
10:19 am
Glad to see CTG sticking up for our players from what i heard the Vandy player Franklin started the fight Marlon Brown did good job in Mitchell place and so did the WR’s Bennett and King thank god we have bye week to rest up and get ready for UF great win Go Dawgs .
Mad Dawg
October 16th, 2011
10:21 am
There should be no reprimand for Coach Grantham. Give him a bone to stick on his coach’s hat.
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
10:22 am
Well said ryan and Mad Dawg.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
ryan
October 16th, 2011
10:24 am
Grantham is the man love his intensity i will say this we have got to stop playing so sloppy in the 2nd half we need to fix second half problems .
:LogicalUS
October 16th, 2011
10:24 am
This is not the first time that Grantham has embarrassed the University of Georgia and will not be the last. He is a ticking timebomb.
More embarrassing by his defense getting slapped around the field by VANDY, a team who had like 36 rushing yds against Bama and 4 yards against SC????
Obviously the fantasy of the great DC and the improvement of his defense is that they were playing the Coastals of the world. Everytime he plays a above bad team he gets slapped around like a doll and ends up embarrassing UGA by some juvenile stunt in front of the cameras.
treyingeorgia
October 16th, 2011
10:26 am
Guy’s a couple of people are spot on – this is the worst 5-2 I have ever seen. The same old crap we’ve seen for 5yrs: sloppy, undisciplined play. So you’re chop blocked, it’s part of the game just like crotch grabbing when your in a pile or the occasional elbow get over it and grow a pair. The fact they respond is a testament to the lack of coaching, fundamentals and discipline which we haven’t seen in this program in years. Do you think Saban would put up with that crap, say what you will about his morality; but, football is a business plain and simple and he would bench their A$$!!!
It is amazing to me that Richt is this blind to what has and is going on. Leadership starts at the top and boy’s this team has no leadership. These players respect know one that much is apparent.
Mad Dawg
October 16th, 2011
10:26 am
I’ll give you a hint Techies – when you put on a jock, the straps don’t go behind your ears.
James
October 16th, 2011
10:31 am
Give Coach Granthem a bone.It’s great to have a nice guy as head coach but it’s also good to see some fire and passion.I saw Coach Franklin’s post game press conferance and could not believe the arrogance.I’d bet the farm that he said something stupid that set Granthem off.
Snoop Dawg
October 16th, 2011
10:32 am
So this is what the once-proud UGA football tradition has devolved to…
Most of the UGA fan base seem OK with it…
Losers begat losers.
ryan
October 16th, 2011
10:33 am
Positives Ray Drew, Shawn Williams, Jenkins and Rambo played awesome this is one the best UGA defenses i have seen in a long time junkyard dog is back woo woo woo you know it .
beanster
October 16th, 2011
10:34 am
Kevin Butler was just asked on the Bulldog Brunch “Why did we change punt coverages on the last play?”
His answer: ” I don’t know. Is that simple enough for you?”
Classic. He seems a little more than irritated this morning. Maybe his son won’t be such an ardent Richt supporter much longer.
Nashdawg
October 16th, 2011
10:38 am
Are you stupid take it somewhere else. Your job is just to get people riled up and you do a good job of it. Now learn a little football and then come back with some intelligent conversation. I was at the game and yes it was a little heated at the game but as a whole the officials called a poor game. It is all good Franklin and company get to come to Athens next year. Go Dawgs!
Z Dawg
October 16th, 2011
10:39 am
Congrats to coaches and players for winning the battle with Vandy. However, we should give credit where credit is due. Vandy coaches did a good job of preparing their team to play Dogs. We should learn from this game how coaches can take average recruits and prepare them to play this well against top recruits. Go Dawgs and beat Gators.
An Independant Observer
October 16th, 2011
10:41 am
UGA fans and coaches and players = Idiots. ‘Nuff said. Walmart, redneck, Budweiser drunk trash who trash everyone and everything. Coaches who never grew up and playesr who don’t have to. An embarrassment to the school and the state. The whole program needs to grow up and face reality.
MY 2 cents
October 16th, 2011
10:44 am
Observer, why dont you go back to being an independant and keep your teeth together!
wastedyears
October 16th, 2011
10:44 am
lattimore out brantley out even IF we beat fla wich i doubt ,and back into the ga dome.we will be the sacraficial lamb for lsu or bama either one will take ga apart like a jigsaw puzzle.ga look like south vandy last nite,all last year,dont get your hopes up this season like the last 3 will be a disaster ga needs new coaches ,new direction FIRE CHARLES ADAMS,FIRE VINCE DOOLEY OH AND AS ALWAYS …..HERE IT COMES…..FIRE MARK RICHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY 2 cents
October 16th, 2011
10:50 am
Who the heck is Charles Adams, Vince Dooley hasnt coached there in decades you idiotic puke! You must have wasted your years away!!
nwfladawg fan
October 16th, 2011
10:51 am
hey we need match between grantham and that cop , vandy coach…TODD WILL KICK THEIR A!@#$%^&*&())))………SHOW SOME EMOTION ……I LOVE IT….THIS IS BETTER THAN TALKING ABOUT FIRST TWO GAMES ……………………..PERIOD…….FOOTBALL IS A CONTACT SPORT
AND ALL YOU SPORTSMANSHIP CRYBABIES ………CRY BITC!@#$%^&*()_
ryan
October 16th, 2011
10:52 am
Vandy players were classes ones chop blocking is dirty no need for that garbage Grantham stuck up for his players typical haters on here accusing UGA .
PMC
October 16th, 2011
10:55 am
With coaches acting in this manner it’s no wonder S Williams has as many 15 yard brainless penalties as he does good plays.
Why do they put up with such sloppy, undisciplined play? This kind of foolishness is going to cost them when they are playing teams with equitable talent.
Probably why Mark Richt is on the hot seat in the first place.
wastedyears
October 16th, 2011
10:57 am
HEY 2 CENTS YOU KNOW ALOT ABOUT GA FOOTBALL WUZ YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER ,…LETS SAY BROTHER AND SISTER
PMC
October 16th, 2011
10:57 am
My guess is the skirmish was about repeated clipping and low blocks. Typically what defensive coaches and players get hot about.
ryan
October 16th, 2011
10:59 am
Williams played awesome the hole game defense played great they did there job special teams played sloppy not the D .
An Independant Observer
October 16th, 2011
11:01 am
Thank you MY 2 cents for making my point for me.
Cain/Grantham 2012!
October 16th, 2011
11:03 am
Yeah!
Be happy with a an SEC win on the road and stop whining. Tied for 1st in the East!
ryan
October 16th, 2011
11:03 am
i admit the run defense was not that good but the secondary and DB’s did good job of breaking up passes .
paratiger
October 16th, 2011
11:04 am
Apparently Ga was being a little too rough as usual, considering they lead the SEC in Personal Fouls. The Vandy coach was trying to find Richt but when that didn’t happen he found Grantham instead. If the Vandy coach was yelling at a player then it was one of the players that were taking dirty shots all night, as once again they were rampant throughout the game from Ga. Even in the post game interview Grantham was asked about the personal fouls and he said that although you don’t want penalties, Ga is going to stay agressive but I don’t really talk to the players about being too aggressive(douche alert!). It would have been funny if the Vandy coach would have punched Grantham in the face!
The Grinch
October 16th, 2011
11:04 am
Did Grantham run the length of the field at the end of the game and grab and choke a ref like “Joe Pa”? No. But of course, Joe Pa is revered and a “credit to the game”.
red&black
October 16th, 2011
11:04 am
UGA is in trouble folks. Don’t see this getting better any time soon. Hope this is just the dreaded “sophmore jinx” for Murray. Unfortunately this will not be evident until next year. Our issues are numerous. Where do I start? I don’t, I’ll just stop now, as I’m sure everybody can see these flaws without me taking up space and pointing them out.
Call me Snake
October 16th, 2011
11:09 am
Richt is teaching them to be men, and I admire his poise.
LILBURNDAWG
October 16th, 2011
11:12 am
Vandy was cut blocking all night. That is why Geathers punched that one olinemen while he was down and was called for a personal foul. Vandy’s coaches wanted this game REAL BAD for Georgia state recruiting. That is all.
ryan
October 16th, 2011
11:13 am
Tied for first and 5-2 if our defense keeps playing good will be fine at least this year we are not 0-4 so we have improved from last year i look at the positives and not be so negative like some dawg fans .
UGA OWNS gtu
October 16th, 2011
11:13 am
We love watching gtu fans cry after we beat them… priceless.
UGA OWNS gtu
Always have, always will.
My View
October 16th, 2011
11:19 am
I agree with dawg cop. CMR should have backed his own team with his public comments. If questions the stories he gets from them, he should deal with that in private.
My View
October 16th, 2011
11:22 am
I too see this game as an abberation. While watching the game, I got the opinion that the focus was not totally on Vandy during the week of practice. Makes you wonder if they got an early jump on prepping for Jax. At least they played that way. But I am not any more concerned by the performance.
Paddy
October 16th, 2011
11:23 am
chase……how is heavens name could one Vandy player chop block Geathers???????????? It was either a clip or a late hit!!!! Buy a rule book!!!!!!!!!! It takes 2 or more offensive players to create a chop block violation!
ryan
October 16th, 2011
11:27 am
Richt looked he was trying to be peacemaker and get players off the field before something bad really happened .
Monroe's first Redcoat
October 16th, 2011
11:34 am
Secondary was great all night. Run defense….WHAT run defense??? UGA’s matador “D” – here comes the RB….OLE’!! Here he omes again….OLE”!!! what, you mean we have to TACKLE him???? – is infuriating to watch. That we couldn’t put Vandy away is inexcusable,The Dogs should have laid a beatdown on the Commodores, but instead we made them look like defending SEC champions. Glad to see Walsh hitting the target again, especially after his first kick hit the upright. But to have to count on a bunch of FGs every game to stay in it is indicative of a far bigger problem on offense.
Marvin Daniels
October 16th, 2011
11:36 am
I think this may be the last year for Ricth or at least his offensive and defensive co-ordinators. Both defense and offense played awful. Flowery Branch probably has better of both. The offense couldn’t open a hole with a bulldoz And our cornerbacks and safeties were absent from the field and the defense had no answer for the run. No blitzes!! I was ashamed to be a Ga. fan for the first time in a long time. Aaron Murray?? What can I say. Overthrown passes to wide open receivers all game long. He is just not a good player in my opinion And talk about predictable, I could call the defenses for the other teams. Up the middle, up the middle, throw a 30 yard pass on 3rd down when you only need 6 yards. Give me a break Ricth and retire. The next few games are going to be worse and Ga. will lose all but one. I think I’ll pull for Alabame.
ryan
October 16th, 2011
11:37 am
I just glad we have a bye week give everyone chance calm down rest easy dawg fans no game next weekend .
Chip hit the nail on the head when he predicted
October 16th, 2011
11:38 am
Dangerous Vanderbilt team awaits Bulldogs in Nashville
The bottom line is, we won even if it wasn’t pretty. Vandy is a team who has always been a pain in the side of SEC teams, but seemed to fall short in the ability to win close games. What I heard in Coach Franklin’s post game interview was pretty muct he was trying to build a team who was not content with being the doormat of the SEC. Isn’t this the very thing all the Georgia fans are screeming for now? He and his staff do not get the 3, 4, & 5 star players like Georgia, Florida, and Alabama do, nor does the money roll in to support the program. But yet they take the left-over players and give some pretty big boys in the SEC a run for theit money right down to the wire. The way they ran the ball on us shows we have a lot of work to do before we can think about stopping Tech. All this talk about Georgia winning the east hinges on South Carolina getting beat and us winning out. Right now can anyone say that’s a sure bet? We can say what we want but the facts are, our coaching staff “is what it is” and we are going to live with it until either coach Richt makes a change, or his bosses make a change. I will have to say it was good to see that Tarvas King really can catch a ball. I would have to also ask why Bogata is not being used on kickoffs? To have a kickoff ran back 96 yards when we have players who can kick the ball out of the end zone could speak to the fact that we play not to lose rather than play to win. Overall this was a well rounded game of Good, Bad, and Ulgy. Now get ready to turn the table on the annual beatdown by the Florida Gators!!!!!
Rogie
October 16th, 2011
11:39 am
There’s a difference between chop blocks and cut blocks. Chop blocks are penalties. Cut blocks are legal. I think there’s a lot interchangeability being used in this blog. There were a lot of cut blocks in that game and it wasn’t just Vandy doing that.
John UGA 1978
October 16th, 2011
11:39 am
Grantham was in a foul mood because a SEC bottom dwelling offense pushed his D around and almost won the game. He is a no-class slime ball who has no place at the University except in the Richt world where anything goes other than discipline.
Get Kirby Smart back home as soon as possible!!!! WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?
Old School Dawg
October 16th, 2011
11:41 am
I, for one, will not be seen in public wearing University of Georgia gear while this coaching staff remains in control of the UGA football program.
I consider myself a DGD, and I can deal with the losses and keep pulling for my team. I can’t, however, allow my good name to be associated with a football program that has no class. The red bloomer DUI incident last year (among others) have been embarrassments, but the behavior of our coaching staff last night was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.
If this is Georgia Football©, then I don’t want to be a part of it any longer.
Benadawg
October 16th, 2011
11:45 am
Enough is enough…….Bobo is a complete idiot and if CMR keeps him the they can go coach elsewhere. He has lost his mind throwing passesd when a field goal puts us up by eight….resign now BoBo and save yourself the embarrassmnent..Also i have been told that Blair Walsh is in the bars most nights with the Ladies…Better keep him in or let him watch the games the rest of the year, he has lost it.