During month without games, Bulldogs try to put SEC title game defeat behind them
By Ryan Black
For the AJC
One month.
By the time Georgia takes the field for the Capital One bowl on Jan. 1, exactly one month will have passed since it lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship. On Friday, the Bulldogs had their last practice in Athens before they head to Orlando to continue their bowl preparations in the Sunshine State. All the while, Christian Robinson knows people are unsure how the Bulldogs will respond to their crushing, 32-28 loss to the Crimson Tide. Doubters’ questions are grounded in Georgia’s bowl results the last two seasons, falling to Central Florida in a humiliating 10-6 loss in the Liberty Bowl in 2010 and a 33-30 triple-overtime defeat to Michigan State in the Outback Bowl last year, a game the Bulldogs led 16-0 at halftime.
Despite that evidence, Robinson assured he and his teammates are motivated to end the season on the right note.
“We all realize we came up a little short and that’s really disappointing,” the senior inside linebacker said of the SEC Championship game loss. “It was kind of sad around here for a little bit, but getting back out there and practicing we realize that we have a lot to show. We can still go down as one of the best teams in Georgia history. Just because you’re not playing for the national championship doesn’t mean you can’t be a special team. We have those types of players here and that type of leadership that hopefully we’ll show up and not give the (bowl) game away like we did last year.”
Robinson acknowledged the gap the Bulldogs have to fill between their last game and the next could derail some teams. However, he was confident the leaders on this year’s edition of the Bulldogs will make sure they give their best effort in Orlando. But if Georgia shows up lethargic and still thinking about its SEC Championship loss, Robinson said it won’t be hard to tell.
Just see how many big plays the Bulldogs give up.
“That’s usually what shows up when you have a long break — hustle plays,” he said. “Plays you normally didn’t have. You might have people loafing a little bit more, but coaches have done a great job conditioning us and honing in on those things more than X’s and O’s, because those are what win (games), especially with the type of talent we have. If we show up and do what we’re supposed to do and play physically, (we’ll) make plays.”
More than any conditioning the game planning or conditioning the month-long gap will allow, the bigger question is whether the time off will help the Bulldogs cope with their loss to the Crimson Tide better than playing the next week might have. Coming up just short against Alabama will always haunt Arthur Lynch. Even so, the junior tight end admitted he’ll have to “get over it sometime.”
All he and the Bulldogs can do now is look forward to playing the Cornhuskers.
“It’s just like anything else,” he said. “If you don’t do as well as you’d like in school, you’ve got to move on and take whatever is given. Right now for us, it’s the Capital One bowl. We’re grateful for the opportunity. Did we reach our goal? No. But are we sitting there dwelling on the fact we didn’t reach our goal? No. We’re going to prep the way we do and we’ll go in there and hopefully execute and come out with a win. That’s all you can ask for. There’s no going back.”
Being an impatient person, though, Lynch would have preferred to have the bowl game played the week after the SEC Championship.
“I don’t like any bye week. I want to get into it and get into the game, because practice can get pretty tedious,” he said. “But bowl practice is a necessity. It’s kind of like spring ball. You get 15 practices, and for the young guys, it helps out a lot. I think that’s a big deal, but I’m ready to play.”
As disheartening as the loss to the Crimson Tide was, senior cornerback Sanders Commings said it was much easier to stomach than the other one the Bulldogs suffered this season, a lopsided 35-7 defeat to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Oct. 6. Georgia’s showing against South Carolina was inexcusable in Commings’ eyes.
“You never want to get blown out by anyone, so I think we’re more proud of the way we played in that Alabama game,” he said. “Even though we lost, we were right there. You never want to get beat the way we did against South Carolina.”
Robinson couldn’t have disagreed more with his fellow senior. Losing by four touchdowns and getting thoroughly beaten was something he could easily expunge from his memory bank, the type of “bad game” nearly every team is bound to have once during the course of a long season.
But having everything in front of them — an SEC title and a chance at the national championship — and not finishing the job was too painful for Robinson to be able to forget.
“Just because, if you take any play back anywhere before getting to that, it could have been positive,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons that no one blamed anybody. It’s not like people were pointing (fingers) and saying, ‘It was this guy,’ because literally we were five yards away. If you take any play that would give you that distance before on offense, defense or special teams, it would have won the game. I just think we ran out of time, and the last play, we just weren’t able to make it. If the defense would have helped out sooner, they would have had more time. It’s no one’s fault.”
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274 comments Add your comment
WDE
December 26th, 2012
10:08 am
DonDog in the interviews after the game CMR and Murray both stated that Murray did NOT have the option to spike the ball when he made a spiking motion toward the bench the coaches signaled him to run the play..not his call or fault.and if Mason started that game we get beat by 3 TD’s….
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:11 am
You have to take your hat off to Alabama. They wanted the ball in Murray’s hands on the last play, they trusted him to make another bad decision, like he usually does in big games, and true to form, he did. They had done their homework, they knew Murray’s history of losing poise in big games, and they figured it was practically guaranteed Murray would crumble under pressure, especially when it mattered most.
Fans would have loved to have seen a poised UGA Qb like Mason or Lemay, who have a history of leading their team to late td’s in Spring games, in that situation. But you never had the chance. Richt went with the lowest odds at Qb in a big game with Aaron Murray, and got burned, again, for the 11th time out of 12 games against teams that finish top 25. Richt made a poor decision to start Murray this season over Mason or Lemay, and he knows that now, but will never admit it.
Poison Nuts.....
December 26th, 2012
10:12 am
I understand Ohio State fans get tired of the SEC rah rah. I do too and I support an SEC school. Just like Southerners are tired of the rah rah about the Steelers, Packers, and New York Yankees. Even when they suck they are the news.
Ohio State has a fine school and a proud tradition, but lowballing SEC schools because you can’t beat them is very un-flattering. Ohio State is currently on NCAA probation for some pretty “SEC-like” behavior. Maurice Clarette? OSU is lucky the NCAA still allows the buckeyes to claim victories from 2002. Woody looked pretty classy slugging that Clemson player.
Further there is no reason for Ohio State to bag on UGA when there only meeting with Georgia resulted in a loss.
Urban should have the Buckeyes in championship contention soon. And the big ten is terrible so they should be able to roll for 10 years.
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
10:14 am
Being undefeated in the Big 10 = undefeated in the ACC
The hangover | Get The Picture
December 26th, 2012
10:14 am
[...] it is), how much will it matter how Georgia’s last game finished? That’s the question Christian Robinson tries to answer for the AJ-C: “We all realize we came up a little short and that’s really [...]
WDE
December 26th, 2012
10:16 am
DonDog when did you attend Tech?
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:16 am
Murray has gone 1-11 vs. teams that finish in the top 25. Murray did get his first win against a team that finished top 25 against Florida in 2012, but had three turnovers in the game to make it close. murray will be remembered as the worst clutch Qb in the Rickt era. Murray will finish with the worst record in UGA history for a 3 year starter vs. teams that finished top 25.
If only we’d have gone with High School td and passing yard record holder phenom Hutson Mason….what might have been this season.
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:22 am
Hindsight is 20/20, but there’s no excuse for Richt starting Aaron Murray in a big game, when Murray is 1-10 vs. teams that finish top 25, Murray should have never started that game with that kind of record as a starter. richt didn’t go with the odds, Richt went with his emotions, and he got burned by Murray, yet again.
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
10:23 am
@Poison Nuts….
Right on with your post!!! Funny how arrogant OSU fans are. For some weird reason they think they are superior to all others….I call that “wishful thinking”. I laugh every time I hear OSU fans say they are from “THE” Ohio State University. They don’t realize that the rest of the nation is so incredibly unimpressed!!! We are “THE” SEC……and OSU fans are merely from “the” Little 10
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
10:25 am
DonDog = techie = moron
J.T.Keene
December 26th, 2012
10:34 am
Geez, can’t you people let the SEC Championship game go? UGA lost on the exact same play that Bama lost to A&M, but the game was over with and I don’t remember hearing Bama whining about it. If UGA would have won and then lost to N.D. would the whole campus have to dress in mourning for a year?
Dennis
December 26th, 2012
10:35 am
Poetic Justice! When you beg for other teams to beat the Gamecocks and beg for other teams to lose to let you have a chance to get into the picture for a NC, it is poetic justice that when you had to win for yourselves you came up short. Do your own work next year and earn the right to be where you want to be. Just win! Stop Crying!
UGA man here, class of 71&73
December 26th, 2012
10:36 am
UGA ought to be in the Sugar Bowl. I am afraid that UGA will lay down vs Nebraska and it could be very ugly. Murray will revert back to his usualtwics/costly fumble per game and the NFL bound guys and seniors will phone it in.
THIS GAME is hugely important for Georgia and Richt to show the world, that we are a solid, upper level, Second Tier team. Second tier is where most college teams desire to be. First tier are teamsnthat do routinely compete for the MNC.
Notre Dame, UGA, Oregon, Texas, A&M, Florida ( lately), FSU, Ohio State, and several others, are fine second tier programs.
ALL ACC teams except FSU ate third tier programs.
Buckeye
December 26th, 2012
10:36 am
neutral
“The” is part of the official name of the university dating back to its’ founding in the 1780’s.
So, jam that up your stove pipe and smoke it.
Buckeye
December 26th, 2012
10:37 am
neutral,
No conviction, eh? Just another SEC! SEC! conference loser. Probably an Auburn guy.
Erin "spike the ball" Murray
December 26th, 2012
10:38 am
I had another nightmare…. Nick Saban and ALABAMA ruined my life. Oh wait that happened.
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:40 am
Anyone like WDE, who think 1-11 vs. teams that finish top 25 Murray should remain the starter, is a South Carolina fan. South Carolina is one team that hopes Murray keeps starting.
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:41 am
Isn’t Murray 0-2 in Bowl game, with 6 turnovers so far? Big game, Murray is not.
Alphare
December 26th, 2012
10:42 am
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Hopefully dawgs will show up and have a bowl win in 3 years.
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
10:43 am
@WDE
I agree……smells like a Techie to me, but maybe too stupid since Tech students have almost the same SAT scores as UGa students. I think he may be more like an OSU grad.
2-18 when playing top 25 teams.
December 26th, 2012
10:43 am
Enter your comments here
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
10:45 am
JT…….it’s the Bama and GT bloggers rubbing it in, not UGa fans crying.
Buckeye
December 26th, 2012
10:49 am
Face it dogs,
Unless you are in the big game ( you lose most of them), no one cares. Watching the dogs lose on New Years is something to do while the wife takes the tree down.
Nebraska is a much more storied program. dogs are a 1981 one hit wonder.
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:49 am
There is no question Mark Richt made the wrong decision in going with Aaron Murray over the last 3 seasons.
Murray has only won 1 of the 12 games against teams that finished in the top 25.
Wonder why Richt never admits this?
Columbus Dawg
December 26th, 2012
10:50 am
Why is it that Richt will not own up to having several players ineligible for Capital One Bowl? Is it because his team is near the top in nation for ineligibility and suspensions? There are MANY UGA folks in this part of the state who are absolutely fed up with this Bulls@#% year after year. There needs to be some major changes at UGA. Can’t see things getting better with this group of clowns running things. Writers at AJC need to grow a pair and insist on info regarding eligibility of UGA players for Capital One Bowl.
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:51 am
how about those Gamcocks Neutral? I’m sure you’re hoping Richt stays with 1-11 Murray.
Moist Dawg
December 26th, 2012
10:51 am
buckeye, you make me sick.
For the holidays you should make some buckeye cookies.
Recipe:
Put buckeyes in a big bowl
Beat for three hours
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
10:54 am
For those of you slow in math, let me run the numbers for you.
Aaron Murray is 1-11 vs. teams that finish in the top 25.
That means Murray has lost 91% of these type of games.
Murray is 0-2 in Bowl games.
UGA has a 9% chance of winning the Bowl game, and a 91% chance of losing, if Murray starts.
Athens
December 26th, 2012
10:54 am
@Buckeye
Talk about a program that doesn’t matter. You guys haven”t beater an SEC team, including UGA, in 25 years. What a frigging joke……
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
10:55 am
@Buckeye @10:36
So what I hear you saying is that “THE” OSU has been arrogant since the 1780’s?!?!
Dang, I thought it was only associated with your football successes in the Little 10 conference!
Crimson
December 26th, 2012
10:56 am
Tide rising
You represent us badly. You did not attend Alabama. Go away
WDE
December 26th, 2012
10:57 am
Buckeye our rate of winning big games is a damn sight better that OSU’s record vs SEC teams, glad your not traveling today its going to be dicey between Columbus and ATL.
Athens
December 26th, 2012
10:58 am
DonDog, I mean DickDog…..
350 yards rushing.... up & down the field all night
December 26th, 2012
10:58 am
Lets discuss that hit on Aaron Murray… they should suspend Saban from the SEC for life!
ARdawg
December 26th, 2012
10:59 am
Too much is being made of the SECCG loss. Heartbreaking but life does go on. Spike the ball, don’t spike the ball makes no difference. It is the year Georgia was one good defensive play by Bama away from the NC. Ca sera
Buckeye, enjoy the bowl games! 0-10 beeyotch, 0-10
Erin "spike the ball" Murray
December 26th, 2012
11:00 am
Buckeyes have won more National Championships in the past 30 years than the PUPS have
Happy Holidays
BigDawg
December 26th, 2012
11:02 am
Fellow Dawgs what sticks in my crawl and I suspect a lot of other fans is that if the game had been called even by the officials it would not have come down to that final play with the Dawgs being so close to victory. I can live with a game when my team gets beat but when officials decide the outcome that really bothers me. Alabama has a great team no doubt about it, but except for terrible officiating Alabama in my opinion would not have been close. Anyways I hope Alabama sticks it to Norte Dame and Dawgs stick it to Nebraska.
Go Dawgs, Go SEC
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
11:03 am
@Dondog
And in Murray’s last 2 games against BCS “top 2″ teams he is 1-1 and neither game was on UGa’s home field. Those games were against possibly the top 2 defenses in the nation yet Murray out scored those opponents 45 – 41. Looks like he is finally putting it together and will win it all next year. In addition, he will likely break almost all NCAA and SEC records, and most of all he will destroy your team AGAIN!!!
WDE
December 26th, 2012
11:04 am
Moist Dawg now that was funny…..
ARdawg
December 26th, 2012
11:05 am
Buckeye
Look at the brightside, thanks to the continually cheating ways of THE ohio state university you won’t be playing in a bowl game and getting a mudhole stomped in your anus by an SEC team again this year.
SEC! SEC! SEC! 0-10 beyotch
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
11:06 am
@Erin…..
Yes indeed, they lead us in both categories ie. NCs and probations!!!!
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
11:07 am
In Murray’s last 12 games vs. teams that finish top 25, Murray is 1-11.
Neutral is a Gamecock fan.
Gman84
December 26th, 2012
11:07 am
A new UGA blog and immediately Bama fans flood the responses. As usual they are petrified that we might be talking about something other than Bama.
Buckeye
December 26th, 2012
11:10 am
moist,
Actually, “Buckeyes” are a popular treat year. Chocolate with a peanut butter center in the shape of a buckeye.
Think Reese’s and you get the picture.
Buckeye
December 26th, 2012
11:12 am
ardog,
Only someone from Arkansas (who is not an MD) likes the word “anus” before noon.
Alabama Jack
December 26th, 2012
11:12 am
I can see it now. Georgia wins the toss, chooses to receive. Kickoff goes into the endzone. Dawgs take over at the 25. First play, Murray spikes the ball.
Buckeye
December 26th, 2012
11:12 am
neutral,
Still unwilling to claim a team, eh?
DonDog
December 26th, 2012
11:13 am
In Murray’s last 4 games agtainst ranked SEC teams:
LSU- 72 QB rating, 40% accuracy, 1 td, 2 int’s
SC- 58 QB rating, 35% accuracy, 0 td, 1 int
Fla- 91 QB rating, 50% accuracy, 1 td, 3 int’s
Ala- 125 QB rating, 54% accuracy, 1 td, 1 int
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
11:14 am
I like the way you think ARdawg……THE osu can now claim a perfect season in the little 10 ……otherwise they would be 12-1 after another SEC beat down in the NC game!!! P.S. is THE osu the first team to go undefeated in the little 10 and not win the conference title?!?! Bummer! A real bummer!!!
Neutral
December 26th, 2012
11:17 am
Buckeye,
ALL regular readers on this blog know my team……and I don’t answer to trolls from the little 10….especially fans of THE osu!!!