Bulldogs can punch their ticket to Georgia Dome with win over rival Auburn
Gene Chizik will coach Auburn against Georgia on Saturday amid reports that the school has already decided to dismiss him at the end of the season. (AP photo)
AUBURN, Ala. — The line of Georgia’s detractors could probably wrap around Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday and Steve Spurrier would probably be at the front of it.
“They lost to us by four touchdowns,” the South Carolina coach would shout. “They didn’t have to play Alabama or LSU from the West; they got Florida the week after the Gamecocks had softened them up.” And so on.
But all the squawking won’t change this fact: No. 5 Georgia will be the Eastern Division representative in the SEC Championship game if it can get by a troubled Auburn team Saturday on The Plains. And for the Bulldogs, who would be playing in the Georgia Dome for the second year in a row, that accomplishment is not one to be diminished.
“I don’t think the average fan realizes how tough it is every game,” said Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, who was sacked five times just last week against Ole Miss. “I’m not belittling other conferences, but this isn’t the Big 12 or Big Ten or Pac-12 or whatever they are now. This is SEC. It’s tough to win the East or the West.”
First things first. The Bulldogs can’t do anything until they’ve renewed their spot in the Deep South’s oldest rivalry. Georgia and Auburn will play a football game for the 116th time since 1892 Saturday at 7 p.m. in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN2. And that’s not some minor obstacle.
The Bulldogs (8-1, 6-1 SEC) are two-touchdown favorites, understandable considering Auburn (2-7, 0-6 SEC) is winless in conference play and coach Gene Chizik’s dismissal reportedly already is being planned. But the series wouldn’t be as tight as it is – Auburn leads 54-53-8 – if the underdog didn’t trip up the favorite every once in a while.
In fact, the Georgia-Auburn rivalry has decided the conference fate of the respective teams, whether for a division crown or an overall title, 20 times since the first year of SEC football in 1933. The Bulldogs are 11-8-1 in those games, and the trail of heartbreak is well worn and littered with unclaimed hardware.
In all, the Tigers have denied Georgia an SEC title of some sort nine times. It started that very first year in 1933, when Auburn won 14-6 in Columbus to knock the Bulldogs’ out of the first-ever SEC championship.
It has gone the other way as well. As recent as 2006, Georgia brought a 6-4 team to Auburn to face the fifth-ranked Tigers (9-1), who were still in the national championship picture. But a freshman quarterback named Matthew Stafford and a defensive back named Tra Battle led the Bulldogs to a 37-15 victory and Auburn’s SEC hopes were ruined.
That’s why Richt laughed out loud when asked this week whether there was any danger his 8-win Bulldogs could overlook the 2-win Tigers.
“Oh, no,” he scoffed. “Are you kidding me? There’s no chance. No chance.”
Adding yet another wrinkle to this year’s proceedings is the behind-the-scenes maneuverings at Auburn. According to news reports citing high-level sources, Auburn president Jay Gogue has already made the decision to fire Chizik at the end of the season.
If that’s the case, it would be one of the fastest falls from grace we’ve seen in college football. Less than two years ago, Chizik was hoisting the crystal football symbolizing the BCS national championship. But on his radio show Thursday night, Tiger Talk, Chizik sounded resigned to that fate.
“Our team really feels a responsibility to go out there and play extremely hard for our fan base, the rivalry and for Auburn,” Chizik said on the air. “With the circumstances of the season, and us understanding we have three opportunities left and we’ll never be together again, I think that’s another case in point for our guys to go out there and have a blast.”
Therein lay the question: How will Auburn play amidst all its internal adversity? Richt and the Bulldogs think they know the answer.
“We don’t expect anything different,” Richt said. “We’ve been recruiting against Auburn for years; we know they’ve got great players. We know that they have outstanding coaches and we have a lot of respect for them. We know that the rivalry certainly brings the best out of both teams. So we’re expecting quite a challenge and quite a battle.”
If Georgia wins, there are many who will say it beat yet another bad team and “backed into” the league championship yet again. But you can be sure the Bulldogs won’t see it that way.
“I just don’t think people know the blood, sweat and tears that goes into it all year long,” junior defensive tackle Garrison Smith said. “All the practice hours, the meeting hours, the workouts, and you’ve got to balance all that with school. There’s just so much that goes into it behind the scenes. It’s not just showtime on Saturday. It’s hard.”
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269 comments Add your comment
Tough opponent
November 10th, 2012
1:18 pm
Wow, these dawgs sure know how to play the toughies and get to the top of the division, don’t they, LMBO.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
1:22 pm
GT must be getting :humped already. The nerds are coming out…
NCDawg
November 10th, 2012
1:22 pm
Beau di o do… come back with some real facts and we’ll talk about it. Good luck in your search. Any old idiot can say that someone is a sleazebag but serious people back it up with facts or in the case of Petrino no digging is necessary. He broadcasts it loud and clear.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
1:24 pm
Listen to the commentators making excuses for SCs blowout at Fla…
GIGO
November 10th, 2012
1:25 pm
Hahahaha…..we don’t care who we play…hater
NCDawg
November 10th, 2012
1:28 pm
SC is irrelevant now. They controlled their own destiny and blew it. How it happened doesn’t matter. The commentators can spin it any way they like. Truth is SC lucked out with Petrino screwing himself and Ark ending up being a joke. They could be looking at loss #3 otherwise.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
1:29 pm
NCDawg
Bo-di-o-dho, is winded from blowing up his life-size sex partner, lol…
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
1:32 pm
Doesn’t matter, I’m pulling for Arkansas for 4 quarters…
DawgNole
November 10th, 2012
1:38 pm
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
1:32 pm
Doesn’t matter, I’m pulling for Arkansas for 4 quarters…
____________________
Same here. A third loss is about the only thing that will quiet the g’chickens.
Joey
November 10th, 2012
1:52 pm
“Same here. A third loss is about the only thing that will quiet the g’chickens.
**************************************
Better question – what the hell will quiet the Techies?
DawgNole
November 10th, 2012
1:56 pm
Joey
November 10th, 2012
1:52 pm
“Same here. A third loss is about the only thing that will quiet the g’chickens.
**************************************
Better question – what the hell will quiet the Techies?
_____________________
Answer to better question: The Dawgs will address that issue Nov 24 at Sanford Stadium.
Discount DoubleDawg
November 10th, 2012
1:57 pm
a dragoncon parade? or at least that would distract them.
NCDawg
November 10th, 2012
2:04 pm
Watching the replay of the game last year. It was 7-7 with 6:13 left in the 1st quarter. Auburn scored on that first drive and then that was it for them. So if we are tied going into the 2nd quarter all is not lost folks. I don’t want it to happen but it might… and we can still throttle them.
Music City Dawg
November 10th, 2012
2:05 pm
Although from this article it appears that Spurrier didn’t actually say those words, he still sucks!!! He is such a whiner and everything is all about him, always! Regardless, GO DAWGS!!!!
Joey
November 10th, 2012
2:14 pm
Yes. You know PJ isn’t looking forward it – nothing worse than a very talented team, that is also motivated. That game could be one of the worst for Tech in the entire series, if Richt was that kinda guy. He will take it easy on PJ.
Richt has done that a few times, for coaching brethren who wouldn’t have thought twice about running the score up on Richt’s teams. Most blatantly with Houston Nutt last year. Richt will probably take it easy on Chitzik tomorrow, if he gets the game in hand.
NCDawg
November 10th, 2012
2:20 pm
The Plain Truth – where are your facts? Coach Richt has nothing to do with how a player behaves off the field. They are punished..and much more severely than our competition if they screw up. If CMR looked the other way or favored specific “star” players in his discipline, I would have an issue with that. But he doesn’t and I challenge you to give a specific incident , even one, that proves otherwise. Give up now…because you can’t. If you are going to accuse someone of being sleazy then back it up with facts. Otherwise go crawl back into the slime pit that spawned you.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:20 pm
Joey
Why beat a dead horse? If the game is in hand, why not put LeMay in for a few snaps or even P.W.? Just as long as they don’t turn the waterhoses on us again…
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:24 pm
NCDawg
lil stevie just suspended Garcia again. Look for him to sit out at least half a practice…
Discount DoubleDawg
November 10th, 2012
2:26 pm
I wonder what Lemay’s future holds… With Murray possibly coming back and Hutson Mason and Ramsey on deck I just don’t see where his opportunity is to really contribute (of course, unless there are injuries). I had high hopes for him but in limited action he has not looked good. Maybe you’re right though, he needs more action/reps in order to really see what ability he has…
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:28 pm
More cheapshots at CMR by anonymous sources…
Joey
November 10th, 2012
2:28 pm
Oh I’m not complaining kd. It’s who Richt is, and part of why he is so respected.
I did like Spurrier’s reply way back when a reporter asked about his running up the score. He said, when they quit trying to score, I’ll quit trying to score!”
By the way kindaddy, wish I had been around for the ambush the other night – I saw the next morning, that you were on your own vs a pack of scumbags on Shultz’s blog.
You were a lot nicer than I woulda been . . .
NCDawg
November 10th, 2012
2:31 pm
Damn sad the way these trolls come on here and throw out BS of that sort…they must be liberals because only they have enough nerve to throw out baseless allegations with no facts and expect people to believe it. And sadly alot do.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:33 pm
Triple D
The kid just needs to play more. I would never had bet that Murray would stay healthy behind his Oline for the last two years. Even with a great Oline, its hard to keep your QB healthy. Christan is a DGD…
DawgNole
November 10th, 2012
2:35 pm
Joey
November 10th, 2012
2:14 pm
Richt will probably take it easy on Chitzik tomorrow, if he gets the game in hand.
______________________
I’m just hoping he doesn’t take it easy on him before the 4Q.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:35 pm
Joey
I wasn’t talking about you bro, lol. You are anything but anonymous. We good…
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:40 pm
Joey
was talking about The Plain Truth (nerd-alert) …
Bopper
November 10th, 2012
2:41 pm
I challenge anyone to watch the replay of the Georgia-Florida game, and you’ll see how hard it was for Georgia to win the SEC East.
had to knock off the No. 2 team in the country, and it was a tough game that went down to the wire.
Murray came up big near the end fo the game, Jarvis stripped #11 at the goaline, and then Gurley ripped off a 20+ yard run on 2nd and 15 to ice the game and run out the clock.
People don’t realize how good Florida was, Florida DOMINATED LSU, and LSU gave Bama EVERYTHING BAMA could handle.
UGA SHOULD have shot up to No 2 after that win over No 2 Florida, that’s how impressive it was.
Bopper
November 10th, 2012
2:43 pm
Malcolm Mitchell made some HUGE plays in the 4th quarter against one of the best corners in football, Florida’s Purifoy, Mitchell just whooped up on him, and Murray’s passses to Mitchell had to be perfect, and they were.
NCDawg
November 10th, 2012
2:46 pm
Bopper… minus Murray’s 3 picks and all the penalties..we would have. Everybody just blew it off as ugly. It was a slugfest… a slobberknocker. It ranks right up there with the defensive battles we used have against Clemson in the 80’s. No it wasn’t pretty but we beat UF at their own game.
Draggin' Fly
November 10th, 2012
2:49 pm
Looseyanna Lafayette 17 – Gaiters 13 3d quarter.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:50 pm
Joey
we lost . Isay give them what they want. Don’t stand in their way, that way they won’t have us to blame the trashing of America on. Even though they still will. Give them enough rope and monitor the election better. I’m still being attacked on Schultzies blog by a couple of putzs, but they are paying with a pound of flesh, lol…
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:59 pm
Go to Schultzies blog before he closes comments. I had to spank JJS pretty hard, but he seemed to enjoyit. I think I struck a nerve, lol. You know me…
DawgNole
November 10th, 2012
3:01 pm
Don’t look now, guys, but ULL is taking it to the gators in Gainesville.
DawgNole
November 10th, 2012
3:03 pm
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
2:59 pm
Go to Schultzies blog before he closes comments. I had to spank JJS pretty hard, but he seemed to enjoyit. I think I struck a nerve, lol. You know me…
____________________
I watched that exchange with interest. Just wish you’d direct some of those guns toward Thomas Brown, too. That demented dirtbag makes JSS look like a saint.
Joey
November 10th, 2012
3:03 pm
kd, like my momma used to say, “in this world, there are givers and there are takers.”
I’m a giver, but I think we are vastly outnumbered now.
Draggin' Fly
November 10th, 2012
3:07 pm
Cajuns 20 Fighting Muschamps13 – 4th Q
Discount DoubleDawg
November 10th, 2012
3:09 pm
Kingdaddy had I been aware of what was being said on that blog I would have hung in there with you. I tangled with gtbob on some similar issues and as I have said before its funny how some react to facts and logic… some just can’t handle it.
Discount DoubleDawg
November 10th, 2012
3:09 pm
The gators can’t lose to ULL can they? damn…
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
3:13 pm
DawgNole
I try not to address TB. Takes up too much blog flogging…
DawgNole
November 10th, 2012
3:17 pm
He needs to be flogged.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
3:19 pm
I really hate SC…
Joey
November 10th, 2012
3:20 pm
Dang, NC helped PJ find his offense again, huh?
Discount DoubleDawg
November 10th, 2012
3:20 pm
I can’t follow his long rants… I lose interest quickly. Too many words with very little substance… At least some others in his world are concise with their nonsense.
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
3:24 pm
DawgNole
tb is pulling for UGA since UF game. I have ben sitting back, watching it unfold.
These announcers are killing me. The cocks D has stiffened, just doesn’t sound right on TV. At least it isn’t lou putz…
Joey
November 10th, 2012
3:31 pm
“The cocks D has stiffened…?”
There goes your ESPN gig . . .
Cdpridg
November 10th, 2012
3:38 pm
Well Spurrier just beat an elite Arkansas Razorback football team…..too bad he gets to sit at home wit a box of tissue while watching the Dawgs play for more hardware….hahaha!
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
3:38 pm
Just didn’t sound like they wanted it to. Too bad for Arkky. I like how Brando claimed SC was beatup when they went to UF, lol. They beat UGA 35-7, but got beatup, really. No, those guys aren’t biased…
Discount DoubleDawg
November 10th, 2012
3:39 pm
gators just blocked a punt and ran it in with 2 seconds to go to win
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
3:40 pm
What’s up Cdpridg???
kingdaddy
November 10th, 2012
3:43 pm
3D
are you kidding me???
who has the live feed at the Dawgs game tonight???