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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 25
Sunday, November 25, 2007
A season to savor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I really wasn’t surprised when I went to the ajc.com home page Saturday night and saw the downer headline “No Dome for the Dawgs.” That’s just how sports coverage in this town goes. Remember back after the South Carolina game when we were provided five reasons the Jackets were on the rise along with five reasons the UGA football program was sinking?
OK, so Georgia isn’t in the SEC championship this year because the loss to Tennessee gave the Vols the tie-breaker over the SEC East co-champion Bulldogs. No, instead, the Dawgs are ranked No. 4 in the country, AHEAD of both LSU and UT, the teams that will be battling it out in the Dome. And this a mere seven weeks after Georgia was given up for dead by most sports pundits, and many fans were lamenting the prospect of a “lost” season and a date in the Music City Bowl at best.
The fact that Mark Richt’s team managed to turn it around after the Dawgs’ inexplicable showing in Knoxville and win six straight, three over ranked teams (including Florida and Auburn), makes for one of this season’s Cinderella stories in college football. The Bulldogs may not be playing for the SEC crown, but this season has been easily Richt’s best coaching job in his seven years in Athens. He found a way to change course and his players’ mindset by making them believe in themselves again and rediscover the fun of playing football.
As Georgia awaits a BCS bowl appointment (wouldn’t the Rose be so cool?), the underclassmen can look ahead to next season’s much tougher schedule (picking up Arizona State and LSU) with a renewed confidence that hopefully will pay even bigger dividends down the road.
No need for what-ifs, as in “what if the Dawgs hadn’t dropped those passes against the Gamecocks and had won that game like they should have?” Yeah, Georgia probably would be in line for the national championship game even with the loss to Tennessee, thanks to what a screwy year it’s been in the college rankings. Dwelling on that stuff is unnecessary, though. What UGA accomplished this season is unbelievable enough to merit the inevitable DVD retrospective.
But, of course, that wasn’t the sweetest part of Saturday afternoon. Humbling the smack-talking boys in gold from the North Avenue Trade School for the seventh consecutive year was what most Georgia fans were primarily focused on, not what was happening in Lexington between Kentucky and the Vols, and the Dawgs delivered. Sure, they made it a little more exciting than it needed to be early on thanks to a lack of focus in special teams play, but the team’s remarkable balance paid off in the end. The Jackets held Knowshon Moreno in check but couldn’t handle Thomas Brown, Matthew Stafford, Mohamed Massaquoi and Sean Bailey. And motormouth Tashard Choice got his yards like usual, but not enough points. And so the Dawgs ended up dancing at Grant Field as the Redcoats did their version of Soulja Boy.
Vintage Bulldogs-Jackets, in other words.
Like the headline said, no Dome for the Dawgs this year. But keeping the Governor’s Cup and making the Top 5 and the BCS is a pretty great “consolation” prize.
MORE THOUGHTS ON THE GAME: The way the Jackets were crowding the line Saturday worked against a shifty runner like Moreno and in favor of a slasher like Brown, who hits the hole a lot faster. A classic example of the wisdom of having at least a couple of running backs with differing styles. … Moreno’s best play Saturday wasn’t a run but stripping the ball from the Jackets’ Morgan Burnett on that blown lateral, resulting in one of the game’s three touchbacks for Georgia instead of a touchdown for the insects. … Stafford’s own 31-yard touchdown run on the same play that burned Kentucky (guess the Jackets didn’t watch the film closely enough) fit right in with the way Georgia’s offense was evenly split between the run and the pass. While Stafford was off-target several times in the first half, he got his game going in the second half, threading the needle on several remarkable throws. Stafford definitely seems to throw the ball better on play-action passes than when he drops back. … Georgia’s receivers were making some great catches, too. Besides the aforementioned Massaquoi and Bailey, Kris Durham managed to use all of his height to go up and snag one high ball. … Interesting to see Richt dancing around on the sideline to keep from getting an ice bath in the chilly weather. Willie Martinez got it instead. His defense had a good day Saturday but, as usual, it could have been even better. Just about every time the Dawgs pressured a Jackets QB the result was just what Georgia wanted. Which made me wonder why our defenders sometimes sat back and let them have all the time they needed to find a receiver. … Jackets fans can gripe all they want about that pass interference call Saturday, but the Dawgs drew plenty of flags from the SEC (natch) refs, including several for holding, while Jackets players were getting away with numerous blatant holds. A typically inconsistent day for an SEC officiating crew. … All that blitzing by the Jackets and only one sack to show for it. The young Georgia line has really grown up fast this season. Meanwhile, the Dawgs had five sacks, two by Geno Atkins. … It’s understandable that some Jackets fans were singing “Rocky Top” Saturday. After all, some Georgia fans were chanting for the Kentucky Wildcats. But there were some in the Tech student section who went so far as to wear Tennessee jerseys. I’ll admit to always rooting against the Jackets, but putting on another team’s colors? That’s pretty pathetic.
