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Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Whiney Dogs need to look in the mirror
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Before we reach the section that should cause Georgia folks to bark, let’s make sure the Bulldog Nation doesn’t have amnesia: It wasn’t the BCS that lost to mediocre South Carolina at Sanford Stadium and then later to sputtering Tennessee in Knoxville.
It was Georgia.
So put a muzzle on this silly BCS bashing and save your anger for what the Bulldogs should have done regarding their national championship hopes. They should have taken control of their destiny. It’s a gaffe from the past that will do wonders for Georgia’s future, which we’ll discuss after a review of that gaffe.
If the Bulldogs beat South Carolina, Tennessee or both, they are preparing right now for a Superdome date on Monday night in the title game instead of whining after playing and prospering Tuesday night in New Orleans during the Sugar Bowl against overmatched Hawaii.
Take it from Asher Allen, Georgia’s splendid defensive back and return man, who already is among the team leaders at putting things in perspective as only a sophomore. “Especially in the SEC, you have to try your best to win most games that you play in, because with the BCS, if you lose just one game, it’s kind of hard to recover,” Allen said Wednesday. “In the Tennessee game [a 35-14 blowout], we had never played like that before, especially when they jumped on us early. But after that game, we just stopped being uptight and started having fun.”
Thus Georgia’s victory sprint of seven consecutive games, including a rare conquering of Florida, a bashing of rivals Auburn and Georgia Tech and a thorough dismantling of Hawaii to end the season with a 41-10 victory.
Remember, too, that Georgia did so with a youthful and inexperienced bunch. Not only were the Bulldogs without the significant likes of defensive ends Quentin Moses and Charles Johnson, both destined for NFL rosters after the 2006 season, but they were missing accomplished leaders.
Now the Bulldogs aren’t so youthful and inexperienced. They’ll have the full maturation of leaders such as Allen. They’ll return 17 of 22 starters from an 11-2 team that likely will finish among the nation’s top five. Mostly, they’ll have players who’ll remember this year’s gaffe and work to keep another “South Carolina” and “Tennessee” from happening.
They’ll also benefit from experiencing other stuff this season, so you may bark now.
“Through the wins and the losses, we stayed tight as a team, and we didn’t point fingers,” Allen said. “The seniors helped us to stay focused. That’s why the sky is the limit for what we can do. We showed this year that we had the ability to contend for it all with a bunch of underclassmen on both sides of the ball. Obviously, just from what we did against Hawaii, we learned that we can play with the best teams.”
That’s true. Except Hawaii isn’t one of the best teams. Hawaii beat only two opponents with winning records, but Georgia couldn’t control that. Hawaii nearly lost to shaky squads from Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, Nevada and Washington, but Georgia couldn’t control that. Hawaii hasn’t much depth, because of a recruiting budget that is $50,000 compared to the millions associated with most Division I-A programs, but Georgia couldn’t control that.
Hawaii also was a fraud at 12-0, with the historically flawed run-and-shoot offense and a slew of beefy but immobile linemen who couldn’t protect quarterback Colt Brennan and his famous arm. But Georgia couldn’t control that.
Georgia could control Georgia, and Georgia did so impressively against Hawaii. Courtesy of a flawless game plan by Mark Richt and his assistants, along with intensity from their players from start to finish, the Bulldogs took the Bob Knight philosophy to heart: You don’t play the opponent. You play the game.
If you’re Georgia, for instance, you play the game as well in September (South Carolina) and October (Tennessee) as you do in January (Hawaii), or you won’t play for a national championship.
End of controversy. Not that there even should be a controversy.
Permalink | Comments (491) | Categories: Terence Moore, UGA / SEC
Tech’s Johnson shoots straight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
This has to be some kind of record in college football. For the third time in a row, Georgia Tech hired a head coach who says what he means, and means what he says.
Good.
If nothing else, the Yellow Jackets will lead the ACC in straight-talk next season with Paul Johnson, the new guy who is as direct as the old guy (Chan Gailey) and the guy before that (George O’Leary).
For instance: What happens if you want a player to switch positions, but he would (ahem) prefer to stay put?
“It’s usually been my take that I’ll let guys start where they want to,” Johnson said. “Then we’ll look at them, and I may say, ‘You have a better chance to play (on a regular basis) over here.’ “
Johnson flashed a quick smile, before adding, “Now if they’d rather be third string somewhere else, then more power to them. You know?”
The Jackets will know sooner than later that the plain-speaking North Carolina native who managed a 107-39 record as a head coach at Navy and Georgia Southern already has an outline of what he wishes to accomplish.
“We’ll get them together (next week), and I’ll start going over my way of doing things,” Johnson said, with his way of suggesting the following to Tech players about that upcoming meeting and those afterward: Don’t show up if you (ahem) prefer not to hear the truth.
Permalink | Comments (72) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
Everyone but BCS saw Dogs maturing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
New Orleans — It had been five years since Georgia ended its season with a win in the Sugar Bowl. Mark Richt was in only his second season. He had already won an SEC title. We now can consider that foreshadowing.
The Bulldogs ended another season in New Orleans on Tuesday night. They often toyed with an unbeaten but overmatched opponent. The same team that looked so lost early in the season appeared mature and resolute at the end. Feel free to consider it foreshadowing.
This season, they were very good. Next season, they should be the next level up.
Presumably, this time the BCS will notice.
If the Dogs wanted to make a statement about playing in the wrong bowl game, they did so. They led Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl 24-3 after their first four possessions. They led 38-3 when the game wasn’t even three-quarters old, though it already was clear that Hawaii would be four-quarters awful.
It was another nightmarish result for the BCS, which was not to be confused with the nightmarish result in the Rose Bowl earlier in the day. Southern Cal smacked Illinois in the Rose Bowl 49-17. Georgia was on the way to doing much the same to Hawaii. Once again, the system created muck, not magic.
There are many who believed that the Bulldogs and Trojans, not LSU and Ohio State, should’ve been matched in next week’s BCS title game. Nothing that happened on New Year’s Day will change those sentiments.
Hawaii brought a perfect record to New Orleans. They also brought hula dancers, the “ha’a” dance and band members with war paint. If window dressing and pageantry counted for anything, the Warriors would’ve led before the kickoff.
That would’ve been their only lead.
After zipping through the season 12-0 against a schedule most would consider soft — the toughest opponent: Boise State — Hawaii looked out of place in a BCS bowl. Coach June Jones had admitted concern about how his players would react to being on this stage (“This is a Sugar Bowl for Georgia, but it’s a Super Bowl for us.”), and his worries were justified.
From the outset, the Bulldogs looked at home. Hawaii merely looked in awe.
The Warriors were penalized twice before their first official snap, first for delay of game, then for a false start. Colt Brennan, who threw 38 touchdown passes and finished third in the Heisman voting, looked rushed and nervous on his first two pass attempts. Hawaii’s first possession ended with a punt, after which the Warriors’ Keenan Jones drew a personal foul for hitting returner Mikey Henderson early and illegally (helmet to helmet).
Henderson suffered a concussion. That would be the closest Hawaii came to having its presence felt. The Bulldogs’ first four possessions of the game went touchdown-touchdown-field goal-touchdown as they built a 24-3 lead. They were bigger, deeper and better.
Hawaii’s defense had no answer for Knowshon Moreno, who had two early touchdown runs of 17 and 11 yards. (Actually, in that sense, Hawaii fit right in with the rest of the SEC, which also didn’t have an answer for Moreno.) Hawaii’s offense and Brennan didn’t have an answer for Georgia’s defense, which in the first half sacked the quarterback five times and forced two turnovers.
If the Bulldogs were still upset Tuesday about being snubbed by the BCS, they did what good teams do: They vented on the field.
Consider this another step in the maturing process for a young team that had some early season hiccups, then closed the regular season with six straight wins. The youth that was so painfully apparent in losses to South Carolina and Tennessee, and in a narrow escape at Vanderbilt, looked remarkably stable in New Orleans.
Growing pains shouldn’t be a problem next season. The Dogs return 17 of 22 starters next season, including the quarterback (Matthew Stafford), the running back (Moreno), three-fifths of the offensive line (which started three freshmen this season) and all but one defender in the front seven (end Marcus Howard).
For a fan base that sometimes has difficult maintaining perspective, it’s hard to imagine Georgia fans keeping their feet on the ground heading into next season.
But it’s hard to imagine any projection being excessive. Maybe this time the BCS will notice.
Permalink | Comments (342) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, UGA / SEC
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