When Todd Grantham sat down with Georgia players Monday to explain what went wrong on that fateful final play by Auburn on Saturday, he did not pop in the video from that contest. He showed them the last play of the AFC divisional playoff game between the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens in January.
With 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Ravens’ Joe Flacco threw a 70-yard touchdown to Jacoby Jones, who got behind defensive backs Tony Carter and Rahim Moore to send the game to overtime.
“The guy got beat,” the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator said. “The ball went over his head, and the Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl.”
That was eerily similar to what happened to Georgia safeties Josh Harvey-Clemons and Tray Matthews on Saturday, when Auburn threw a 73-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds remaining.
“My point was, that’s why you celebrate in the locker room because you’ve won a game and you’ve finished it,” Grantham said Tuesday. “It’s never over until it’s over. You’ve got to play every play and finish the deal out. My point was just showing them that it happens, and when it happens, you have to learn from it and not let it affect the next game. You can’t let it affect anything as you move forward. You’ll be stronger for it.”
Earlier in the day Tuesday, coach Mark Richt took the blame for not speaking up in the defensive huddle during the timeout before the play and reminding Georgia’s defenders to knock the ball down if it came their way rather than try to catch the ball. Both Harvey-Clemons and Matthews tried to intercept the pass. The ball deflected off Harvey-Clemons’ hands and into the arms of Auburn’s Ricardo Louis.
Grantham somewhat downplayed that as an oversight.
“Well, it’s fourth down,” he said. “If it’s an incomplete pass or an interception it’s over. You know, fourth down, get off the field. It’s all relative to where the receiver is to. At the end of the day, percentage-wise, you’ve got to knock it down. You don’t want to tip it up, (but) … those things happen. Learn from it.”
Harvey-Clemons, a sophomore, and Matthews, a freshman, have been unavailable for interviews since the game. But Grantham said they’re responding well to the coaching they’re receiving.
“I thought the guys did a really good job of bouncing back from it when we explained it to them and the reasons why,” Grantham said. “You’ve just got to move on. That’s why you play the games. That’s why you work on the situations that come up each week and they’re critical. And, hey, it’s something that if they’re put in that situation again, they’ll definitely know what to do.”
Injury update: Freshman inside linebacker Reggie Carter returned to the practice field Tuesday for the first time since having meniscus surgery on his right knee Oct. 29. Carter injured the leg in practice before the Florida game. He was held out of contact.
Starting linebacker Ramik Wilson, who had 18 tackles in the Auburn game, was unable to practice because of a sprained ankle. But he expects to play Saturday. Matthews also was held out of contact but practiced. He was listed with a shoulder sprain, but also suffered a cut in his mouth during the Auburn game.
Blackout? When asked about it on his weekly radio show Monday night, Richt said there are no plans for a blackout for Saturday's game against Kentucky. Quarterback Aaron Murray wouldn't mind if Georgia did, but he insisted Tuesday he is not lobbying for one.
“Last week someone asked me, ‘would you like to have a blackout for your last home game?’ I said, ‘yeah, that would be pretty cool,’” Murray said Tuesday. “I guess they turned that into I wanted one. If it happens I won’t complain about it. But I’m more focused on winning the game right now.”
Murray said he asked Richt, “are these rumors true? He said, ‘I’ve heard the rumors, too.’ But we haven’t really discussed it really.”
He said it: "We do have a championship to play for. We've still got the state championship to play for." — Sophomore tailback Todd Gurley, referring to the annual battle with Georgia Tech for the Governor's Cup. He was asked how the dynamic might change for the Bulldogs with no more championships to chase this season.
Etc.: Had the Bulldogs' comeback from a 20-point deficit against Auburn held up, it would have been their biggest fourth-quarter comeback since Jan. 1, 1942, when they came back from 14 points down to beat TCU 40-26 in the Orange Bowl in Miami. … Auburn's 566 yards gained against Georgia was the most the Bulldogs have allowed in any game since 2001. … Twenty-eight seniors will be recognized Saturday during Senior Day before Georgia's 7 p.m. kickoff against Kentucky. Because of the pregame ceremony, the "Dawg Walk" will be earlier than usual. It's set for 5:05 p.m. … UGA has lost to the Wildcats only 12 times in 74 years.
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