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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 29
Monday, October 29, 2007
What next, a shaved head?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Six touchdowns against the Florida Gators?
A piece of cake considering how pumped up the Dawgs were Saturday after Mark Richt’s masterful motivational ploy.
Now comes the hard part: not slipping back into the Bulldogs’ bad habit of coming out for a game flatter than day-old Coke. Especially after a big win. It’s hard enough for any team not to be slightly deflated after an emotional victory; ask LSU and Kentucky. But Georgia teams have a history of coming out flat even for big games, as happened this year with Tennessee.
That’s why Richt’s forget-the-penalty-and-celebrate-the-touchdown move was a brilliant stroke. It not only got the team pumped, it helped them overcome the mental block that Georgia seemingly had developed about playing the Gators.
In some of Georgia’s past losses to Florida, the Gators arguably had a more talented team. But in several cases, including in the Richt era, Georgia sometimes entered the game clearly the more talented side and yet played tightly wound, obviously with a fear of losing in the back of their minds, while Florida was loose and seemed to be having fun. The Jacksonville curse, some called it.
This time around, it was the Dawgs who were loose, playing all-out, at times barely in control. And obviously having a lot of fun. That’s just what was needed.
So now what will Richt do to keep his team from suffering what some would see as the inevitable next-week letdown, which might make them ripe for an upset by a not-too-shabby Troy team? Coaches have tried a lot of tricks in the past, from Jackie Sherrill’s ridiculous castrating of a bull to Vince Dooley’s much more effective promise to shave his head back in 1976.
Hey, maybe Richt wouldn’t look so bad with a chrome dome. Whatever he decides to do, getting his team in the right frame of mind to play up to their capability while having fun seems likely to be the key to winding up this season more successfully than might have seemed possible a couple of weeks ago.
DAWG BITES: Since we won, we can gripe about the officiating in Saturday’s game without it looking like an excuse. Whether all those yellow flags were caused by the officiating crew just trying to keep control of the game after Georgia’s celebration, or whether they were looking to punish the Bulldogs for flouting the rule, a couple of the calls against Georgia were just plain mystifying. Where was the second face-mask grabbing on that play, and how come they didn’t see the Florida player also had a handful of face mask like everyone else (including the CBS crew) did? And the call about not enough men on the line that wiped out a big pass play? Can SEC officials count? And why was that flag thrown by the official farthest away from the play? If the conference comes down on Richt with a fine or reprimand for his flouting of the celebration rule, they also need to take a hard look at the subsequent calls, too. … Percy Harvin is a special player, but Georgia’s resurgent defense still showed a tendency not to tackle well sometimes Saturday. Our pass coverage in the secondary left something to be desired, too. Kudos to Willie Martinez and his crew for vast improvement, with six sacks of Tim Tebow really remarkable, but the Dawgs still need to get better. … Georgia’s interception was, as ESPN put it, an “ill-advised” throw by Matthew Stafford, but I think most of the blame on that play goes to Mike Bobo for an ill-advised call at the 1-yard line. And Stafford still needs to work on his penchant for throwing low-percentage passes into double coverage. If one of our receivers has two men on him, that usually means someone is open elsewhere. … The 84-yard Stafford touchdown pass to MoMass was really beautiful. That’s what having a running threat like Special K will open up for you. … Poor clock management cost us again on that rushed missed field goal attempt where Richt tried too late to call a time out. … Knowshon Moreno should be the poster boy for second effort; two of his touchdowns wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t made that extra effort after initially being denied.
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