More often than not, there are multiple versions to a story.
It is no different with last year's Florida-Georgia game and the controversial endzone celebration that happened in Jacksonville last year.
There is obviously the Georgia Version and the Florida Version of what actually happened. I will give the typical version that I hear from Georgia fans, and then I will give the Florida perspective from my own orange and blue glasses.
Georgia Version:
The Georgia Bulldogs were a talented team, but they did not play with enough emotion for the first part of the year. They lost to South Carolina in week 2, barely beat Bama in OT in week 4, got stomped by Tennessee in week 7, and then they squeaked one out over a Vandy team in week 8. Georgia played the Gators in week 10.
The team was better than they had been playing, and Mark Richt needed to spark the team, so he told the offense to get a celebration penalty on the first touchdown in order to get his team to play with energy.
Well Mark Richt and his entire coaching staff were just as shocked as everyone else in the stadium when his entire team rushed out onto the field. Mark Richt was a genius for making the move, even though he did not know his team was going to celebrate like that.
Georgia went on to blow out the Gators, and did not lose a game the rest of the year. Georgia owned Tebow, sacking him six times and holding him to negative rushing yards.
Tebow's injury is an excuse. Tebow could obviously run since he ran for two TDs. Georgia was the best team in the nation, but got hosed by the BCS.
The celebration was a genius move by Richt, and the only reason Gator fans say anything about the celebration is that they are whiners and they are mad that they lost.
The celebration does not matter because Georgia won, and that is why Gator fans are angry. Georgia now has Florida off of its back and now they own Florida because of what they did in the end zone.
It was simply the highlight of the season, and it symbolizes how Florida no longer owns Georgia, and how the series has evened out recently with Georgia winning two of the last four.
It symbolizes how Georgia has broken free from the losing streak and choking against Florida. Georgia is about to start a win streak. Simply put, that one play represents how much joy it gave Georgia fans to finally beat Florida in a decisive fashion:
And Spurrier is the scum of the earth for what he said he would have done in reaction to what Richt did. He deserves to be beaten up by Herschel Walker.
Florida Version:
The Gators had one of the toughest schedules in the country, and they were the youngest team in the country due mostly to a defense filled with youth. It was a disaster for the Gators as they faced a slew of senior QBs, and that resulted in a defense that allowed more points than any Gator defense since the '60s.
A youthful secondary made one of the worst-ranked pass defenses in the country, but the Gators actually had one of the best rush defenses in the nation.
In a five-week span, the Gators faced Auburn at home, and played LSU, Kentucky, and Georgia on the road. Florida's first loss came against Auburn, where the Gators just came out flat.
The offensive coordinator had emergency surgery hours before the game, and Florida posted its lowest offensive output of the year with 17 points and lost on a last-second field goal.
Auburn had figured a scheme that worked against Florida's spread offense. The next week they went to LSU and were leading the eventual national champions most of the game, but a young defense folded and allowed five fourth-down conversions in a last minute drive that resulted in a touchdown that put the Tigers in the lead.
The next week LSU went to Kentucky and lost, while the Gators were sitting at home. After the bye, the Gators faced one of the hottest teams in the country in Kentucky who had beaten LSU the week before. They were able to overcome Kentucky in a 45-37 win.
- B/R Ticket Guide
The Gators rolled into Jacksonville having lost two out of their past three, and they were very beaten up:
-Four defensive linemen, two of whom were starters, were out for the game, which allowed Moreno to run all over the helpless Gators for 188 yards, while additionally giving Matthew Stafford all of the time in the world to throw the ball.
-Additionally, the Gators had lost FS Major Wright, who led the SEC in forced fumbles last year. He was replaced by Kyle Jackson, who played one of the worst games ever seen by a Florida safety, getting beaten deep in a way that can be described as "taking candy from a baby." This was a huge blow due to the quality of his backup and due to how well he did in run support.
-On top of that, Tim Tebow had a bruised non-throwing shoulder. Mullen and Meyer limited Tebow's ability to run due to the injury. As a result Tim Tebow, was reduced to a single threat as QB, which dramatically damaged the effectiveness of the spread offense. That was a huge blow due to the fact that the defense did not have to deal with a dual threat for most of the game.
The Georgia coaches decided to use the game plan that worked for Auburn. It worked almost as well. While the Gators had seen it before and probably made some offensive adjustments, Tebow was injured and that made up for any improvements that could have been made by the Gators. Thus, the Gators scored their second lowest point total of the year with only 23 points on offense.
The defense probably would have done decently without all of the injuries, but they were doomed from the start with loss of those four linemen and Major Wright. Either way Georgia fielded a better team and had a brilliant game plan. That is why they won. Not the celebration.
The celebration was a classless move by a desperate coach. Richt's team lost to South Carolina in week 2, barely beat Bama in OT in week 4, got stomped by Tennessee in week 7, and then they squeaked one out over a Vandy team in week 8. If he lost to Florida he may have been on his way to losing his job. Richt was desperate.
Richt claimed that he did not know that his sideline was going to empty, and that he was surprised. Well if that was the truth then why didn't his immediate reaction show it? Mark Richt was seen clapping and smiling on the sidelines as it was going on (0:33-0:40):
Is that the type of reaction that you would expect from a person in the state of shock? If it was a surprise, then wouldn't you expect at least one assistant to run out there and try to restrain the players? Certainly at least one person on the coaching staff would have looked as if they were surprised.
Based on the immediate reaction of Richt and his staff, it makes the coach look like a liar. He seems like a man who did what he had to do to win the football game, and then lied and apologized his way out of trouble. The coach, and a whole lot of players, should have been suspended for at least one game.
Even if Mark Richt did not know what his team was about to do, it happened and Mark Richt allowed it to happen. The unsportsmanlike conduct apparently did not upset him. He could have stopped it, but instead he is sitting on the sideline applauding and smiling while his entire team runs on the field and is taunting and disrespecting the other team.
Even if he did not know it was going to happen, he put his stamp of approval on it by not running out on the field and breaking it up like he did at the Vandy game.
What Richt did at the Vandy game makes him look hypocritical. It sent the message that you only have to have good sportsmanship when you are better than the other team, and it does not matter since it is Florida.
That is what his reactions from the Vandy and Florida games seem to communicate. He simply apologized to the right people to be politically correct. That could be a misinterpretation, but Richt would have helped his cause by reacting the right way.
Actions speak louder than words, and he really was not sorry based on his reaction to the whole thing. He actually seemed to enjoy the whole thing and let it go the way that it was going because he liked it and he would not have to take full responsibility for it.
In hindsight, it is no surprise that Richt would not care what his team did to the Gators. Just look at his resume. In college he played QB at Miami, a team that had developed a reputation for being classless and disrespectful in the 80's, where they have a deep rooted hate for the Gators.
He was the offensive coordinator at FSU where he learned the ways of the master, Bobby Bowden, whose team also celebrated and started an ensuing fight after the "swindle in the swamp" after stomping on the logo in 2003:
I actually do not believe that stuff about Richt and his resume in the last three sentences that I just wrote, but it is the homer in me wants to believe that Richt is the big bad devil that went up to Georgia from Miami and Florida State and should have been kicked out like it happens in the song, but he missed his chance.
It is just a funny coincidence. I actually kind of admired him and had a lot of respect for the guy until that game last year. He took care of that one for me.
It easily could have turned into an FIU-Miami, Florida-Florida State, or Clemson-South Carolina type of brawl, and it could have been a dark spot that followed around Mark Richt for the rest of his coaching career.
Georgia may have won the game, but Urban Meyer's Florida Gators walked off of the field that day as the classier team that was able to have restraint and prevent a fight. It takes two to fight, and Mark Richt is really lucky that the Gators were not up for a fight because then he would have been in a fight of his own, over his job.
Trust me when I say that if Spurrier were still the coach at Florida, Mark Richt would be somewhere else right now. Spurrier's comments were a relief to Bulldog fans due to the fact that they were now able to somehow legitimize what Richt did because he did not stoop to Spurrier's level.
If anything, it made Georgia fans feel better because it gave them somebody to compare Richt to, and anyone is going to look good compared to the guy that runs the score up and said that he would send a third stringer out on the field to start a fight.
It really proves why Spurrier earned the title of "evil genius" because if that really had happened, it would have been a move that is perfectly described by those two words. Thank goodness for Richt that Meyer is only a genius because if he was an evil genius something like this could have happened:
Now You Decide:
Is that celebration something that will turn the rivalry in Georgia's favor as Georgia fans suggest or is this something that will backfire on Richt and the Bulldogs as Jim Rome suggests?
Both sides of the argument are out there now. It is your choice. You can believe whatever you want, and feel free to comment on something if you think I missed anything.
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3 months ago
I was half way through a VERY long rebuttal to this, when I decided that it boils down to this. If that celebration changes the mental advantage that Florida has had over Georgia then it was worth it. If that causes CUM to have the same hatred toward Georgia that Spurrier had and he uses it to dominate Georgia, then it was a mistake. We won't know how it all unfolds, possibly for years, but probably come November 1st. Georgia MUST win that game now. If nothing else, it's returned the WLOCP to the great game that it should be and not a yearly Florida beat down.
from 3 months ago
well put Bob!
3 months ago
As a dawg fan, my immedieate reaction was something along the lines of oh sh#t what are we doing, why are trying to piss off those jean short wearing SOB's, they are going to kick our a$$ again. Thankfully it worked out! People forget how close that game was, the margin was 5 points until Moreno scored late to ice the game. If UGA doesn't win then Richt looks like an idiot, instead UGA wins, and Urban Meyer looks like an idiot when referencing the momment in his new book, he goes 3rd person. Unfortunately, the gators have motivation to return the favor, like they need it. Cannot wait to be in Jax Nov. 1st.
from 2 months ago
redneck!! jean shorts? There are people that make clothes other than Ralph Lauren!
3 months ago
I am neither dog or gator. I thought the team celebration was hilarious!!! the non-football highlight of the season. I don't believe for one second tho' that the celebration is what set georgia on fire for their remaining games. beating florida was what was important, the celebration was just a sidelight.
and last year's celebration will not effect this year's game one iota. if florida's offensive line can't block georgia again this year, the dogs will win again.
3 months ago
i really didn't focus on it too much. i was finishing watching knowshon run off left tackle, same play basically, 9 times in a row for 68 yards.
as for jim rome, what's with the queer freddy mercury mustache? he still hiding for jim everett and the ass whipping he took on his on show.
3 months ago
It was pretty rash, and if you look at the circumstances of the score right before the celebration, it could have been a disaster.
Moreno lunged for the end zone, but it was not clear at first if he broke the plane. The side judge signaled a touchdown, but it was close enough that the play was reviewed. Replay confirmed that Moreno did, in fact, get into the end zone so it was a legit TD; I'm not arguing about that.
Just imagine though if he didn't get into the end zone and replay overturns the score. Instead of 4th-and-inches, which probably would have resulted in a touchdown given Florida's defense, it would have been 4th-and-31 thanks to the two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties called on that play. You're now looking at a 48-yard field goal attempt.
Despite Brandon Coutu being a great kicker, he was just 1-5 from 48 yards or more last season, with the one make a 52-yarder indoors against Hawaii. There's no guarantee the Bulldogs get any points out of it, and you go from being hyped and motivated to having egg on your face with no points to show for it.
That more than anything is why I don't think you'll see that happen again. Replay could overturn the touchdown, and there's also the matter of late holding flags that no one notices until well after the play is done (a specialty of SEC refs). Taking an intentional penalty when points are at stake is just not a smart plan.
from 3 months ago
FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL
A TRADITION . . . SINCE SEPTEMBER 7, 1991
from 3 months ago
jimson: do you just make up these dates you use??? could you get somebody to show you how to use google, so you can do some research. I would call the 1966 Heisman Trophy "tradition".
from 3 months ago
Rob, just ignore it when he does that. It's his way of trolling, looking for a reaction. Don't give him one in the future, and maybe he'll stop because so far people asking him to stop hasn't worked.
from 3 months ago
"jimson: do you just make up these dates you use??? could you get somebody to show you how to use google, so you can do some research. I would call the 1966 Heisman Trophy "tradition"."
NO, I do NOT make up the dates I use, lolz :)
Wait a minute... How many SEC Championships did Florida win PRIOR to the 1991 season???
ZERO!
Therefore, the tradition of Florida Gators football could have NOT began... UNTIL Saturday, September 7, 1991 :)
FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL
A TRADITION . . . SINCE SEPTEMBER 7, 1991
3 months ago
i don't think that celebration had anything to do with the fla-uga series especially the future of it.
it had everything to do with winning that game on that day and giving uga an emotional edge.
i still think meyer regrets not thinking of it first.
from 3 months ago
I think it will affect the future of this rivalry dramatically. Meyer and this Gator team now understand why Spurrier hated Georgia so much. Since Spurrier left, the passion and hate has not been there from the coach.
Now Meyer should hate Georgia just as much as Spurrier did. It also gives this team some real motivation that goes beyond just beating Georgia. I think that Meyer will now run up the score, given every opportunity, just like Spurrier did. I think the difference in the rivalry is going to be the passion that the Gators will come out and play this game with. That has been missing since the coach with a passion for the Georgia game left for the NFL and ended up at South Carolina.
from 3 months ago
Meyer's offense might new "new school" and what not, but philosophically he's very much an old school guy. He's a disciple of Woody Hayes, and he even has a picture of Hayes hanging in his game room*. Earle Bruce is still very much his mentor. He's also pretty influenced by his time as an assistant under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame.
That is why there isn't a chance in the world that he's mad that he didn't think of that celebration first. Hayes and Bruce would never have pulled a stunt like that. That's just not they way you did things back then, and that's not how Meyer does things now.
He never would have thought of that, and he's not going to try to do it to Georgia this year either.
*Source: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121206/col_6764023.shtml
from 3 months ago
I completely agree David. It is a laughable proposition to say that Meyer is mad for not thinking about it first. Now if it had been Spurrier they were talking about, then I think it may have some legs.
from 3 months ago
I'm pretty sure Justin was kidding, but regardless, points are all well made.
from 3 months ago
Maybe Justin was kidding, but I've seen plenty of guys on TV and around the web who espouse that sentiment with a straight face.
from 3 months ago
McLeod, if Spurrier hated UGA so much, why did he apply for the job there in 1988?
3 months ago
Justin, obviously you are an idiot if you think Urban Meyer would allow his team to do something like that. Urban Meyer preaches sportsmanship and maturity; what Georgia did was classless and childish.
from 3 months ago
Sportsmanship? Sportsmanship isn't leaving your 1st team QB in late in the game against directional U just to push up his stats. Sportsmanship isn't allowing your team to stomp on your opposing team's logo before a game. Sportsmanship isn't putting a player convicted not only of discharge of an automatic weapon, but didn't he also get dismissed for 'undisclosed team violation', read failed drug test, back on the team just because you think you'll need him. Sportsmanship isn't lying to recruits just to get them to sign. No, we're looking at Tebow for LB not QB. You're still our #1 QB recruit. Meyer wouldn't know sportsmanship if it walked up and slapped him in the face.
from 3 months ago
Bob, Ronnie Wilson is one of the few players to ever get kicked off the team for a misdemeanor. And it was a semi-automatic weapon. What Ronnie Wilson did was harmless and impulsively stupid. If the guy has turned his life around, then I am OK with him back on the team.
Playing your first year QB as much as possible is something that is called smart. Tebow needed game experience. It is not bad sportsmanship to play him the entire game. It is just be truthful about how much better you are than the other team.
Meyer lying to recruits is just wishful thinking on your part. There is no reason not to believe that Meyer has lied about anything up until this point.
It is reactions like yours that prove that you know Richt was a bad sport. It is just admitting defeat when you don't defend him and attack the other guy because you and I both know that Richt is low class liar.
from 3 months ago
I meant to say that "there is no reason to believe that Meyer has lied about anything up to this point."
from 3 months ago
"Justin, obviously you are an idiot if you think Urban Meyer would allow his team to do something like that. Urban Meyer preaches sportsmanship and maturity; what Georgia did was classless and childish."
yeah, you're right, my bad. must have been a different team that stomped "the eye" before the LSU-UF game last year since it couldn't have been meyer's team.
i was actually saying it tongue in cheek but that moment kinda changed the game. so i said it as if to say if you ask a coach, any coach, before a game that if getting a celebration penalty could drastically improve your chances at winning by swinging momentum greatly in your favor, most coaches would do it in a heartbeat.
from 3 months ago
Justin, any smart coach, when they realize that it could start a fight, would make the right decision and not do it.
If you had 10 teams pull that stunt, I bet you half of them end up in an FIU-Miami type of brawl. It is foolish for any coach to put his entire team's season at risk for a slight change in momentum.
from 3 months ago
Richt and Georgia were real lucky. The same stunt is not guaranteed to have the same result. There is a good chance that it could have had a terrible ending.
from 3 months ago
Florida wasn't looking very "sportsmanlike" when they were jumping up and down on LSU's logo were they?
from 3 months ago
I do not remember seeing it or hearing about it, but if they were doing that then the team should have been punished. If they did it was classless.
from 3 months ago
Mcleod,
I never said anything about starting a fight.
but i do realize that could've happened and i'm not saying any coach is in favor of a FIU-UM situation.
i wish i had better video of it, but i was there for the LSU-UF game this year. i'm sure the team wasn't punished by meyer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThD4REnEk9M
other teams have done it, and none have left death valley with a win when they do it, so i would hope a smart coach wouldn't allow his team to do it whther or not it's classless.
from 3 months ago
If that happened, then Florida deserved to lose that game. I will ask some of the Gator insiders that I know what went on with that and if Urban Meyer did anything about it.
3 months ago
I think we've covered this a few times already.
Now Bob is on a rant about Tebow's apparent padded stats and Meyer's recruiting.
Can't we just let this lie and talk about it again on November 2nd?
3 months ago
Why does a "great coach" need to pull a stunt to motivate his team? Shouldn't the players be motivated enough to try to beat the team that has owned UGA for most of their lifetime? Even if UGA wins again this year, which they have a very good chance to, they might want to give it a year or two before declaring the UF domination over. They beat Meyer once and Zook once for their "2 of the last 4". They lost every other game this decade.
Meyer has won a national championship already and Georgia has not even played for one since the 80s. Florida is a top national program that gobbles up 4 and 5 star recruits annually. They are mentioned as in contention for the national title nearly every season. Georgia has made great strides under Richt and won some conference championships. They fielded arguably the best team since the 80s last year and most of those guys are coming back this year. But what about when Stafford and Moreno leave? Richt can't even motivate this outstanding team to compete without committing a personal foul. Yet, this guy is going to dominate one of the premier programs in college football over the next several years? Don't see it happening.
3 months ago
GET OVER IT!!! Georgia Won the game!! Enough Said. This is an old boring conversation about something that happened AFTER a play. It seems that Florida people would rather talk about the celebration rather than talk about LOSING the game. If Florida would have won the game, no one would be talking about the celebration. Period!
from 3 months ago
The fact that Georgia won does not legitimize what Richt did. It was cheap and classless regardless of who won the game. You are right about Florida winning, but what if a fight had broken out? That is the real question. Does Mark Richt still have his job?
3 months ago
OMG son, you are delusional.
from 3 months ago
how so?
3 months ago
Mark Richt is not a lier. Or maybe he is. How can you be so obsessed with the Bulldawgs? Mark Richt is a fine person, instead of vacation, he goes to Honduras with 20 of the team that you call undiciplined. Yet, you sanction the return of a player who fired a gun in the air. Okay, I am glad he has returned but how can you go on and on about UGA players and you don't even mention your own team's transgressions? And with statements on your other "Blog" you say that you are sure that there are more, 1/2 of them out doing this kind of stuff, but just don't get caught.
Get over it. It is over. You guys are the only ones re-living it over and over and over again. Get a life.
from 3 months ago
1. I did not mention anything about Florida b/c the other article was not about Florida. It was exclusively about Georgia.
2. I was not trying to question his character because I think Richt is a good guy. I just think that he messed up in this one instance and he will not admit it. Many great people make mistakes and I think this is one of them for Richt. I would just like to see him admit it.
3. I think that Ronnie Wilson made a mistake just like Richt did. Just like Richt, I am not going to eternally condemn the guy because he did something that he thought was legal.
3 months ago
Opps, mispelled liar
3 months ago
guys, you are way too serious. try to take some joy in watching your team play and let the hate & venom go. georgia's celebration was funny. you gators are way to wrapped up in this. the celebration DID NOT BEAT YOU. the fact that the gators did not block & tackle as well as georgia is what cost florida the game. there two sides to every game. there are winners & losers...both should be a lot more graceful about it.
from 3 months ago
I agree about the celebration not beating us, but it is amazing and ironic to me that Richt pulls a dangerous stunt like that and then the media and the Georgia fans somehow paint Meyer as being the bad guy, when all he really did was answer a few questions.
It is just unbelievable to me. It just proves that winners write history, and it even applies in college football I guess b/c the way that Georgia fans have been able to get the whole country behind Richt for what he did, and then Meyer gets criticized because he answered a question.
It is truly unbelievable.
3 months ago
Well said Rob. You don't see the tigers clawing for jumping on their logo do you?
3 months ago
Wow, Mcleod! Thank goodness that Meyer had enough class that game not to send his player on the field to fight or Richt would be a goner! This article truly exibits you lact of knowledge. It's still amazing to me how florida fans keep talking about that game. No one seems to mention the fact that when Meyer was coach at Utah, he placed BYU logo's in the bottom of all their locker room's urinals prior to the game. Which would make you the angrier? Someone celebrating a touchdown in your face or taking a leak on your team's logo? There's your "bad" guy. So now you've lost respect for Richt, right? WHO CARES? I lost respect for Tebow when taunted the LSU fans after a touchdown and then lost the game. WHO CARES?!!! Not me.
3 months ago
Another outstanding article McLeod. You have a terrific understanding that you are writing articles for informational reading and national pickup by Fox Sports and other national outlets. I appreciate the fact you understand this is not a chat room or blogging site, there are places for that but, it is not here. Comments are simply meant to discuss the body of work and improvements from fellow writers. Watch the writer rankings on the front page of CFB. You will find the fellow writers who can help you in the continued evolution of your writing inside the Bleacher Report and from whom to take input to help you.
Keep up the good work with your writing and we look forward to your next article.
from 3 months ago
Thanks. It is good to know that someone out there is enjoying my article. I just have to put up with these Georgia homers, though.
from 3 months ago
Ask your homers what year they graduated from the University of Georgia. That will usually take care of most of the negativity.
You keep up the good work and let's hear about the possible Florida—Clemson national championship game everyone seems to be pointing toward in the Palmetto State newspapers.
from 3 months ago
I have actually been telling people that is a real possibility. I may even write an article about that as my prediction for the national championship game.
The offensive line concerns me though.
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