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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2007 > September > 23
Sunday, September 23, 2007
“One and done, baby!”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The last time all three King brothers watched a Georgia football game together on TV was the 1999 game against the Insects, but we had all gathered at my parents’ home in Athens earlier Saturday to celebrate my birthday, so we decided to watch the Dawgs and Alabama on my brother’s big-screen set in Watkinsville, joined by my daughter and one of my nieces.
We wanted to hear how the Scott Howard-Eric Zeier broadcast team did in their debut without Larry, so we muted the sound on ESPN (where they seemed to spend a lot of time talking about things other than the game anyway) and instead listened to the Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network while watching. It took us a little while to get used to the audio running a couple of seconds ahead of the picture, but that wasn’t really a problem.
That 1999 game we’d all watched together went to overtime and didn’t turn out well, so when this one also went to overtime, we were more than a bit nervous. Literally on the edge of our seats, in fact. Thank goodness Matthew Stafford and Mikey Henderson were as cool as could be, though.
The Dawgs indeed proved they were still man enough (thank you, Pat Dye) to handle the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, and that big old Dogpile in the end zone was one of the prettiest sights I’ve seen in a long time (though I was concerned about poor little Mikey at the bottom). My son, who was at the game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, said pandemonium reigned among the UGA fans there for about three minutes after the catch, while those Bama fans who weren’t pelting the Dawgs with cups sat there stunned. News alert: Saban doesn’t walk on water.
Every SEC win is crucial nowadays and the Bulldogs face some tough (and tougher) challenges ahead, but Saturday’s win was the kind you can build a team and a season on. Stafford might have been maddeningly inconsistent over the course of the game, but when it mattered, he delivered. Likewise the still sometimes drop-happy receiving corps. Our running tandem was steady if not spectacular. The Georgia defense might have looked winded and wilting in the fourth quarter, letting Bama rip off some runs up the middle, but when it came to OT, they were nearly perfect. And Georgia’s young and much-questioned offensive line played well, seemingly getting better as the game progressed.
There’s a lot of room for improvement, but this is one to savor. Georgia winning over the Tide in Tuscaloosa and the Yellow Jackets losing. Quite a birthday!
MORE GOOD STUFF: That first drive by Georgia was the best so far this season, with a good mix of play calls by Mike Bobo. Adjustments by the Bama defense took away those easy screen-pass completions on subsequent drives, but Georgia still managed to move the ball when it had to. … Sean Bailey came up big, and Stafford throwing to Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown continues to be one of the Dawgs’ best weapons. … Both Bailey and Moreno showed a lot of second effort. I wish Moreno’s fire and spirit would spread throughout the team. … The Dawgs were remarkably successful on third down, definitely a good sign for the offense.
NOT SO GOOD STUFF: At least four dropped passes, three by tight end Trip Chandler alone! He did, however, partially redeem himself with a key catch on the final drive for the ultimately unsuccessful field goal attempt (though we would have been even closer had he not had one of his drops earlier in that drive). … Two interceptions. On the first one, a pressured Stafford didn’t square his shoulders and threw into coverage instead of throwing it away. And on his second interception, Stafford simply overthrew his receiver. There were other passes he threw too high or behind his man. And still his numbers were pretty good, and he maintained his composure. If this guy ever clicks for an entire game, watch out! … Our secondary (notably Bryan Evans) got flat-out beat on a couple of long Bama passes. … Georgia continued to have to waste timeouts early because of personnel and organizational problems (one even called by the defense), leaving us working desperately against the clock at the end. … Will someone at UGA please tell Dannell Ellerbe how to fasten his helmet properly? … Penalties hurt Georgia, limiting one drive to a FG and keeping a couple of Bama drives alive. … The Georgia defense needs to work some more on handling a no-huddle offense. We’re likely to see a lot more of that down the road.
ON THE AIRWAVES: Scott Howard was informative and steady handling the play-by-play, though for most of the game we found ourselves missing the tension-building Munson laments and colorful descriptions. At the end, though, the fan in Howard came bursting out with his voice breaking like a teenage boy as he screamed “Touchdown!” after the overtime score. Installment #1 in the Scott Howard “best of” compilation. As for the audibly nervous Zeier, he started out sounding like Joe Piscopo’s “I’m screaming and I don’t know why” sportscaster on “SNL” as he shouted every word breathlessly, but he calmed down a bit as the game went on and provided knowledgeable and pertinent analysis of pass routes and strategy. And for those looking for a bit of comforting homer-ism, there was Zeier’s frequent use of “we” and “our” throughout the game. … It was interesting that ESPN’s Lee Corso, who earlier on “Gameday” had predicted a Bama victory by putting on the elephant’s head, was already sounding like a UGA convert when sideline man Loren Smith talked to him shortly after Georgia’s first drive. … ESPN completely missed a play while showing a feature on tailgate food. They should keep that stuff contained to halftime. … And on a non-Georgia note, even the Old Ball Coach had to crack a half-smile/grimace Saturday afternoon when LSU pulled that beatifully executed flip pass on the fake field goal. That’s the kind of stuff that makes college football so much fun.
