South Carolina game mars an otherwise promising first half for Bulldogs
ATHENS – Everything was rosy with Georgia football until this past weekend when it ran into a buzz saw in South Carolina operating under the name of Gamecocks. Then the nation’s No. 5-ranked team, the Bulldogs fell behind 35-0 before scoring save-face touchdown in the game’s final minutes.
Now Georgia finds itself having to pick up the pieces. All the optimism the Bulldogs had gained in by annihilating their opponents by an average of 26.3 points in the first five games was wiped away in one nationally-televised butt-kicking.
Since that game, Georgia coach Mark Richt has anybody who would listen – including his own players — not to read too much into one lopsided loss. As ever, he believes the Bulldogs are still a top-tier team that can win the rest of its games and contend for the SEC championship
“Whether you lose by a point or you lose by 28 points, it’s only one loss,” Richt said this week. “It’s not five losses. It feels like three or four losses, but it’s only one. The way the world works in the Southeastern Conference is the team with the best record at the end wins the East. There’s a lot more football to be played. Let’s see how it shakes out.”
He chalks up South Carolina’s domination to “a perfect storm” of atmosphere and performance that was reminiscent of what the Bulldogs were able to do against Auburn in their first black-out game at Sanford Stadium in 2007.
“It was kind of a perfect storm for us that day, too, with the emotions of the fans, the excitement of the fans and the emotion of the players when we kind of sprung that thing on them,” Richt said. “They were just at an emotional peak. We had something big happen early and it snowballed for us that day.”
Georgia scored 25-unanswered points to win 45-20 in 2007. But, he said, the Bulldogs weren’t 25 points better than Auburn. Neither, he said, are the Gamecocks four touchdowns better than Georgia.
“This game was a little bit like that for South Carolina,” Richt said. “Momentum got grabbed and they just kept rolling. We had opportunities that might could have made a difference. The first pass of the game, if [Bacarri] Rambo squeezes the ball a little tighter and comes down with it, that’s a big momentum play for us. Maybe we turn around and score, I don’t know. But we just never got momentum going in our direction.”
Richt’s point is less about South Carolina and more about the rest of the season. The 14th-ranked Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1 SEC) arrive at the halfway point still feeling like they’re a team that can fulfill all its goals from the outset of the season. As Georgia is off with a bye this week, here’s our assessment of what they’ve done so far:
OFFENSE
The South Carolina performance brought them down a notch, but it’s hard to deny what the Bulldogs have been able to do in the rest of their games. Georgia remains second in the SEC in scoring (41.3 ppg) and third in total offense (484 ypg)
It features an experienced quarterback in Aaron Murray, top-grade tailbacks in Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall and Ken Malcome fleet of proven wide receivers. The Gamecocks exposed Georgia’s weakness on the offensive line. But even with their failings in that game, the Bulldogs nine sacks allowed is fourth in the league.
“I think we’ll be fine,” said Murray, who “I thinknwe’re still very confident with who we have, with the play-calling and everything that’s going on. We just didn’t execute when the time came against South Carolina. There plays were there to be made; we just didn’t hit them. . . . I don’t think we’re shaken up at all.”
Assessment: Very good.
DEFENSE
This is the biggest mystery regarding the 2012 Bulldogs. They returned nine starters from a unit that finished fifth in the nation in total defense. Yet halfway through this season they’re ranked 51st in total defense, 68th against the rush and 79th in quarterback sacks. Worse, Georgia is giving up a lot of “explosive plays.” It has allowed 14 of 30 or more yards.
The easy answer is that Georgia had two starters out with suspensions the first four games and two others out for the first two contests. But Richt refuses to point to that.
“We don’t have any excuses,” he said. “We haven’t played as well. We’ve given up too many big plays. Some of it has been gap control; some of it has been communication on the back end. We’ve just got to get better.”
Third-year defensive coordinator Todd Grantham hasn’t been sharp in the area of game-planning. Ninety-four of the Georgia’s 135 points allowed – or 70 percent — have come in the first half, which suggests the Bulldogs haven’t been ready for what teams have thrown at them. However, with a 6.83 points second-half scoring average, Georgia is clearly making good halftime adjustments.
Assessment: Very average
SPECIAL TEAMS
Georgia is 91st in the nation in field goals at only .67 per game, but at the rate the Bulldogs have been scoring touchdowns (34), that isn’t necessarily been a bad thing. And when freshman Marshall Morgan has been asked to make a big kick, he has come through. Two of his four field goals (he has attempted only five) came from over 50 yards. However, Georgia has failed on three point-after attempts – two were plain missed – and have had three others bounce through off the upright.
Of course, special teams encompasses much more than placement kicks. The Bulldogs allowed a 70-yard punt return TD to South Carolina and are last in the SEC in net punting and punt return yardage allowed. But they’ve also blocked two punts and an extra point, snuffed out a fake punt and returned a kickoff for a score.
“The coaches are keeping us motivated,” said freshman Josh Harvey-Clemons, who was named the Bulldogs’ special teams captain for the Kentucky game. “We’re really emphasizing special teams a lot. We know how important it is to the game.”
Assessment: Decidedly average.
COACHING
Obviously Georgia wasn’t ready to play in the South Carolina game this past Saturday. The Bulldogs didn’t appear to have a specific plan for dealing with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney beyond letting tackle Kenarious Gates handle him and the defense was gashed with big plays early and could not contain quarterback Conner Shaw on the zone-read, option keeper.
That said, that was the second “game of the century” kind of atmosphere the Bulldogs faced this season. Missouri was eyeing its SEC opener versus Georgia as one of the most important in school history. And after last-season’s post-game run-in with Vanderbilt, this year’s game featured a highly-charged environment. The Bulldogs obviously handled those challenges with aplomb.
“Overall I think we’ve coached pretty well,” Richt said. “A lot of really good things have been happening. When you lose a game the way we did [to South Carolina] you start to evaluate everything and we have. . . . But I still think we have good coaches and good players. I think we’re still a very good team and the future is bright.”
Assessment: Decent
PROGNOSIS
The Bulldogs finish against Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Auburn, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech. They’ll likely be favored against them all except for the No. 4 Gators on Oct. 27 in Jacksonville.
As such, Georgia is still very much in the SEC picture. If South Carolina loses two SEC games – the Gamecocks are on the road at LSU and Florida the next two weeks – the Bulldogs could regain control of the Eastern Division with a win over the Gators in Jacksonville. Should South Carolina beat LSU and lose to Florida, Georgia could forge a three-way tie at the same juncture.
“We’ve got an opportunity to get back on a winning track,” Richt said. “The best thing we can do is correct our mistakes. We had to assess some things we need to get better at. That’s what you do. . . . Hopefully we can go out and have a good performance against Kentucky and get our momentum going again.”
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653 comments Add your comment
Layinlow
October 12th, 2012
10:12 am
Actually bryant coached at maryland his first two seasons just to set the recored straight.
Bear Bryant- 6 national championships
Mark Richt – 0 national championships
How bout that one ole sammy?
HoneyBadger Has the Munchies
October 12th, 2012
10:12 am
I say replace the strentgh and conditioning coach too….these guys on defense look gassed before halftime. I know that the O sustaining drives helps this issue but really observe. Hands on hips before halftime? Really?
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:13 am
SC made 5 more plays than UGA on that given day. It happens.
Whien, whine, whine.
No suggestions to improve = not a real fan.
j
October 12th, 2012
10:13 am
I also don’t understand why UGA-y fans think their program is good. 1 national championship in the history of your program is not good. Georgia Tech has more and has won one more recently! That is too funny.
HoneyBadger Has the Munchies
October 12th, 2012
10:14 am
It is all in the details folks…..details. Every aspect of the game.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:14 am
If we correct those 5 plays, we beat Florida.
Gurshall Walker
October 12th, 2012
10:16 am
Why are we all such whiny babies? Why come we cant win the big games? Where is Altamaha Dawg? I’m scared.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 12th, 2012
10:16 am
Sammy writes “No suggestions to improve = not a real fan”
Again Sammy if you would put down the bong you would have read all the suggestions to improve
oh
Still waiting on the Saban vs Richt we put more players in the NFL response from you
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:17 am
Sure, a head coach who has 6x more top 10 finishes than Bear Bryant did in his first 11 seasons, and 2x more top 10 finishes as Nick Saba did in hist first 11 seasons, needs to be fired?
Wow, that’s some funny stuff.
Why hasn’t McGarity fired Richt if it’s SO OBVIOUS? Why hasn’t the UGA Board come out with some anti-Richt statements?
Conspiracy theories have no proof.
Mobile Dawg
October 12th, 2012
10:17 am
Sammy, I’m sure Obama is still taking donations. Your rose colored glasses are masking your perception of reality son and you’re showing your ignorance. Stop while your behind.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:18 am
Go back and heck to see how many players Saban put into the NFL in his first 11 season as a head Coach, and how many Richt has in his first 11.
Dawg Tired
October 12th, 2012
10:20 am
Really? Until Murray performs well against a top team, our performance against mediocre teams is irrelevant. The litmus test is how he (and the team) perform against the best teams on the schedule, not the Missouris or Buffalos of the world. Everybody looks good against those teams.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:21 am
Bear Bryant has to wait unitl past his 15th seaosn to win a National Championship. Richt still has a few years to get that done.
But make no bones, Richt’s proven his pedigree in 2002 & 2007 with top 3 finishes with different personel and staff.
westvirginiawill
October 12th, 2012
10:21 am
Its the Year of the Mountaineeeeeeeeeer…whats all this overrated SEC fuss!!
Dawg Tired
October 12th, 2012
10:23 am
It’s good to see some folks think Richt is doing a great job in leading us to the point where SOuth Carolina has a better program than we do. I need to work for someone with Sammy’s expectations.
Mobile Dawg
October 12th, 2012
10:23 am
Richt proved his pedigree in 07 by losing to two teams we should have easily beat. He would have had his NC if he were able to get his teams prepared Sammy.
Hanky Panky
October 12th, 2012
10:23 am
HIRE JON GRUDEN.
DRAFT JON GRUDEN FOR UGA HEAD COACH.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:24 am
UGA as 37 guys on NFL rosters, Bama has 32.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:25 am
NFL drafts more players from UGA than Bama, NFL teams L-O-V-E Mark Richt and UGA.
Chris Mike
October 12th, 2012
10:26 am
Its time for a change. I know you get what you ask for. The future coach might be as bad as dooley in tennessee, but he might have one good year like Chiznet at Auburn. Right now at this point I will take one championship year than ten overall ten wining season. Let me know how yall feel
Mobile Dawg
October 12th, 2012
10:26 am
Your doing a great job proving Flat’s point. More talent, less results. How does that happen?
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:28 am
Sounds like a blogger from 2010 is trying to get Richt fired again, who could be, perhaps a Tech fan?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 12th, 2012
10:31 am
Sammy
I dont need to go back and see
UGA has put more players in the NFL than any other school in the SEC since 2001
But guess what????
Since 2001
FL 2 National Titles
AL 2 National Titles
LSU 2 National Titles
Aub 1 National Title
Saban 3 National Title
Mark Richt 00000000000000000000000000000 National Title “”"”APPEARANCES!!!!!!!”"”"”"
Mark Richt Has yet to beat every SEC East team in the same season (yet Spurrier has now done it at SC)
Mark Richt has backed into every SEC championship game thanks to other teams losing out
Sammy
Havent you heard Bong Smoking is bad for your brain
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:32 am
Hey Whiners,
Back up your opinions wiht some proof.
1- Which legit polls say Richt can’t coahc or should be fired?
2- Where and when did McGarity express concern over this season after the SC loss?
3- Why hasn’t UGA dropped below 10 in the BCS poll if they’re so horrible?
4- Why do NFL scouts draft 37 players from UGA only 32 form Bama is Richt stinks?
5- How has Richt finished in the top 10, 6 of 11 seasons at UGA is he’s so bad?
Ralph
October 12th, 2012
10:32 am
Once again it seems that Georgia’s offensive line is the Dawgs’ Achilles heel. The players on the line themselves apparently realized their inexperience and worked admirably hard to raise their level of play, but it hasn’t been enough. Murray was rushed all night. The defense wasn’t stellar, either, but without a couple fluke SC touchdowns, they might have kept it close enough if the offense had produced as usual. As I remember, when UGA was rated No. 1 preseason a few years ago, with Stafford at quarterback, Knowshon Moreno carrying the ball, and several excellent receivers, it was again the line that fell short. Coach Richt should coolly evaluate his staff in that area closely for possible changes, as he did with defense.
Me
October 12th, 2012
10:32 am
I love to read the UGA blog. A bunch of losers trying to raise the dead. I have a prayer cloth I can sale yall.
DAWG with two bags over head
October 12th, 2012
10:33 am
Our coaching staff has given us:
-numerous humiliating national TV performances (Bama 08, Boise State 11, SECCG 12,USCe 12, Almost any game in Jax)
-two straight bowl game losses, one of which was a completely unmotivated, embarrassing loss to UCF.
-a team that is constantly unprepared, undisciplined, and outcoached (see above)
-An 6′1′ (barely) quarterback that lays an egg in every big game while the 6′4′ one sets on the sidelines or is redshirted
-a reshirted Knowhown Moreno that only ended up playing two seasons
-Willie Martinez for 2-3 years more than we needed
-the unproven and clueless Mike Bobo
-a severely polarized fan base
-a perennial lock on the Fulmer Award
-a staff that thought Cam Newton should be recruited as a tight end
What other evidence do we need? Losing to USCe is not a single, rare event. It is the norm against teams of equal talent, but way better coaching. We all deserve better. Regardless of this season’s record we need to make a change at the top!
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:35 am
UGA’s OLine is doing better than Bama in offensive rushing AND sacks allowed.
Mobile Dawg
October 12th, 2012
10:37 am
Flat, Sammy is a troll, trolling a string along blog. He says the same thing over and over looking for a response. Kinda like Richt strings us along all the while collecting that big fat paycheck that he hasn’t earned a “dime” of. Want to see a real coach, look over at Bama, down at UF, USCe, even Ole Miss is starting to get attention for the right reasons.
old dog
October 12th, 2012
10:37 am
O-LINE O-LINE O-LINE O-LINE O-LINE O-LINE O-LINE………………
We can run no type or kind of offense against the better teams until this is addressed……..no play calling improvemets, etc. until this is addressed.
Mobile Dawg
October 12th, 2012
10:38 am
And Mark Richt has scheduled the UF game on the moon so there will be less gravity, he thinks that gives him an advantage sammy.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:39 am
Hey Whiners,
You’re right, we made 5 bad plays against South Carolina. The plays took less than 1 minute. Played well the other 59 minutes.
We can correct those 5 mistakes and 1 minute of bad plays. If we do, we beat Florida and finish 11-1.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:43 am
Clowney is ranked #3 in the nation in sacks. We held him to 1. Not too bad overall.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 12th, 2012
10:44 am
Sammy
I will tell you how UGA puts more players than AL in the NFL
The state of GA ranked #1 in Highschool recruiting last year
Has consistantly ranked #4 the last 10 years
Has been a top 5 recruiting state for 20+ years
AL raids our state
AL is never in the top 5 in high school recruiting
Sammy lay off the bong
Concerned and confused Dawg
October 12th, 2012
10:47 am
The Richt lovers use the “we’ve sent so many players to the NFL” arguement to defend keeping ths guy. Looks like a negative to those with common sense. If you can’t win big games with superior talent, you get results like the final scores in SC, Boise, LSU, Bama, etc.
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:48 am
To say 12 loss mars 5 wins is beyond reasonable, especially when you’re ranked #10 in the BCS at the halfway point in the season, with chances to climb by beating Florida, maybe beating Alabama, and getting to the #1 ranking.
A LOT to play for, and a LOT of football left.
Bloggers wanted Richt fired in week 2 in 2011, then Richt won 10 in a row and got a contract extension.
Roll Tide with Pride!!!
October 12th, 2012
10:48 am
Again, UGA football and Coach Richt have proven themselves that they are not elite. But are a good program.
Not only is UGA losing these games – but it is HOW UGA is losing these games.
Look at the number of blow out losses over the last few years to Florida, Lane Kiffin, LSU, last week at South Carolina.
My predictions for this season are right on:
USCe beats down UGA
Florida beat LSU
USCe will beat LSU
It is now between USCe and Gators for SEC East Title
UGA will finish 6-2 in the SEC East – which is pretty dang good – but understand that KY, Vandy, Mizzou are not very good. Tennessee is improving and this was a good win for UGA – as it now helps better position to play at either the Outback bowl or Peach bowl – which are good bowls.
After the Florida game – the only other team of concern for UGA is Ole Miss – which chould pull the upset. UGA will beat KY and Auburn – and Ga Southern and GT are probably the same caliber program at this point. My guess is that Ga Southern will give UGA a better game than GT!
Once again – BOTTOM LINE – when it comes time to step up against the real big boys – Richt and UGA are ALL HAT – NO CATTLE! Blow out city baby!!!!
Roooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllll Tide!
University of Georgia Tech Technical Institute of Technology
October 12th, 2012
10:50 am
Differential X,
Differential Y,
A square, B square,
Integral of pi….
Engineers touchdown,
Engineers yell,
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Fight like hell!
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 12th, 2012
10:51 am
Sammy
Once again lay off the bong and kool-aid
10 wins in a row against no one last year
LOL
You come up with the stupidest arguments Ive seen you really must be on a 2nd grade level of education
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:51 am
Not elite?
1. Top 10 in recruiting every year
2. top 10 finish 6 out of 11 seasons in final polls
3. More guys to the NFL than almost anyone
4. 2 top 3 finishes in first 11 seasons as Head Coach
5. Top 10 most profitable college football program
6. top 10 in apparel college football sales nationally
7. top 10 ranked this week in BCS poll
8. coach has a batter win % than Saban or Spurrier
University of Georgia Tech Technical Institute of Technology
October 12th, 2012
10:53 am
Who cares about hitting homerun baskets with a football bat. We RULE at cheers (and WoW). We don’t need a full stadium, when we have these great motivational math related cheers that our athletes get fired up about.
E to the X dy dx,
E to the X dx,
Tangent Secant Cosine Sine,
3.14159,
Square roots, cube roots, Poisson brackets,
Disintegrate ‘em Yellow Jackets!
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:53 am
Whners all said UGA would lose to Florida in 2011. How did that work out?
Roll Tide with Pride!!!
October 12th, 2012
10:54 am
What is UGA going to do next year when UGA loses to Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida.
Richt got passed by Urban – and then got blown in several games.
Pyscho Muschamp is now passing UGA.
Spurrier passed UGA 3 years ago – as head to head UGA is now 0-3.
Saban blew by UGA is 2 short years
LSU is down some this year – but Les Miles has proven more consistent than Richt.
If UGA and TAMU palyed tomorrow – my money is on TAMU.
Tennessee is getting there – and thinking they beat UGA next year as UGA’s defense will be depleted and Grantham the savior has proven to be mediocre.
Yep – change is good. Brian VanGorder will be your next HC.
Hey suckers …… ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!
DirtyDawg
October 12th, 2012
10:55 am
It’s the O-line, stupid – to borrow a political line – and that’s not a ‘quick-fix’. Why in hell we didn’t have a fullback and/or tight end(s) keying on their D-ends to give our tackles more help, I don’t know…cause if we did but it wasn’t obvious. What’s up with kid with the steroid testing issue? Hell, call Lance Armstrong and find out what masking agent he would recommend…anything to get these kids some help.
old dog
October 12th, 2012
10:56 am
Anybody could look good the first part of the season when we have played the Left-handed One-eyed Ethiopian Co-pilots, The Sisters of Mercy field-hocky team, the Midget League all stars, and the Booger-eatin’ Morons! Then, we play a REAL team and get whacked! We cannot compete right now woth the big boys!
Sammy
October 12th, 2012
10:59 am
UGA OLine is ranked:
#1 in SEC in rushing yards per game
#4 in SEC in sacks allowed.
They have been stellar this season and performed WAY ABOVE expectations. No one thought UGA would be leading the SEC in rushing after Crowell and Thomas left and losing OL to NFL draft.
OLine better than media darling Alabama in RUSHING AND SACKS ALLOWED.
How bout em Dawgs?
Pulpwood Smith
October 12th, 2012
11:01 am
Anybody who thinks we can beat Florida obviously didn’t watch tte disgusting performance saturday night! We will lose 4 games this year. The picture of Richt with the big smile on his face shaking hands with Spurrier after that ass whipping made me want to puke, what a looser.
dawgfan
October 12th, 2012
11:01 am
Sammy, we understand that you are content with all of those things. We understand that you don’t care about getting exposed against good teams as long as we are putting guys in the NFL and are Top 10 in the all important apparel battle. We are all aware of your mediocre half azzed standards. You have made it very clear. We have also made it very clear that we are not content with just those things. We want to win championships. You don’t. We get it. Good grief son. Were you born in a barn?
Thanks.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 12th, 2012
11:01 am
Sammy
In case you missed it FL was terrible last year
Oh again thanks for bringing up the top 10 classes
Yep UGA has had more top 10 classes than any school since the late 90’s
And what has Richt done
Yep nothing but back his way into the SEC championship game cause he cant beat all the SEC east teams in the same year
Sammy
Your arguments make you look ignorant and yes like you only made past the 2nd grade
beanster
October 12th, 2012
11:02 am
McGarity is on record stating that he evaluates all coaches after the season is complete, never before, which is the fair (and correct) way to handle it, in my opinion. One of his stated criteria compares the team’s improvement relative to its goals for that season (i.e. compared to last year, is the team headed in the right direction towards SEC, BCS champs?). Even though he schedules OOC games, he’s also on record recognizing the paltry W-L records of opponents that were Ws for UGA. Make no mistake, CMR didn’t want to sign the new contract because the buy-out clause was drastically swung in UGAs favor compared to his previous contract. McGarity sold it by giving CMR the freedom to walk if he ever thought the time was right.
I am as disgusted with the team’s play Saturday as anyone. But I also know that all the belly-aching in the world isn’t going to change anything. Not until there’s a clear body of work to evaluate anyway.
If the 10-2 includes two embarrassing losses to East rivals, I think CMR is in big trouble. That won’t be decided for awhile yet though.