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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > November > 15
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Dogs have talent, but lack coaching, discipline
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Auburn, Ala. — There is an saying in sports: What’s most important is not “how” but “how many.” Build a 9-2 record the way Georgia has built a 9-2 record — with twigs and a rabbit’s foot — and it follows that’s what players will cling to.
But if it’s true that polls and perceptions have generally reduced college football’s pecking order to a beauty contest, then the Bulldogs were eliminated in the early rounds with Miss Winnipeg.
They won despite committing another nine penalties covering nearly a full field (95 yards). They have elevated the personal foul to a mutant art form (committing six).
They won despite the rarely seen double-whammy on a punt return: roughing-the-kicker at one end, a fumble at the other.
They won despite seeing Auburn, the nation’s No. 102nd rank scoring offense, — a unit so miserable that it scored three points at Mississippi State and seven at Ole Miss — do silly things to them: a 90-yard touchdown drive; a 52-yard touchdown pass; a last-minute drive from its own 20 with only 1:44 remaining and no timeouts to the Georgia 14, only to have the final pass fall incomplete.
What did the Bulldogs do at the end of a 17-13 victory over the Tigers? Congratulate themselves. There must be something about the clock ticking down to 0:00 that causes amnesia.
Asked if he felt the team had escaped with a win, quarterback Matthew Stafford said, “Not at all. I don’t think you escape with wins. You earn them.”
The Capitol One Bowl had a representative in attendance Saturday. So did the Independence Bowl.
Sorry. But postgame spin notwithstanding, this nine-win team has a Shreveport feel to it.
Two weeks ago, the Dogs were drilled by Florida. They haven’t been the same since. They look like a team that has lost both its edge and its focus. And folks, they didn’t have much to start with.
They don’t play smart.
They sputter too often on offense.
They miss tackles on defense.
They commit so many infractions it’s a wonder no official has suffered a torn rotator cuff from throwing so many penalty flags.
They don’t look well coached.
Nine wins? They are more the residual of sheer athletic talent than actual performance, or discipline, or plan.
“I think we were kind of spent at the end,” coach Mark Richt said. He was alluding to the lack of great celebration when Kodi Burns’ final pass from the Dogs’ 14-yard line fell incomplete in the end zone.
Should it be that difficult?
Last week, a mediocre Kentucky team was driving for the potential winning score in the final seconds.
This week, a less-than-mediocre Auburn team was given a shot and nearly pulled off the upset.
The Tigers have won exactly two of their last eight football games. One came over UT-Martin, which most didn’t even realize had a football team. The other came over UT-Knoxville, which we all know doesn’t have a football team.
They will focus on the “how many.” Why? Because the “how” makes you want to cover your eyes.
Georgia accumulated 141 yards in offense on its first two possessions, but came away with no points. Of course. It fell behind 13-10 in the fourth quarter after Mario Fannin’s 35-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 90-yard drive.
Maybe the Dogs need another one of those cool player-only meetings.
Stafford’s 17-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green with less than nine minutes left gave Georgia the lead. Give the offense points for resolve.
But Auburn’s offense, anemic against most, drove the ball deep into Georgia territory twice in the final minutes. The first drive stalled at the 21, where coach Tommy Tuberville decided against going for a field goal that could have closed the lead to a point. The Tigers’ final possession reached the Georgia 14. But Burns missed Rod Smith on third down in the end zone and was pressured into an overthrow to Ben Tate on fourth.
“We dodged a big bullet,” Dannell Ellerbee said. “But a win is a win. We’ll take it.”
Take it and run.
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