With both Florida and Georgia expected to be in the national title race this season, a lot of people have been talking about Georgia’s on-field celebration last season. A lot of people have also been throwing around a lot of bunk, so hopefully I can set the record straight.
Did it work?
It depends on what you’re talking about.
In the context of the game itself, it’s far from certain that it made a huge difference. Florida immediately drove back down the field and scored, and took a 17-14 lead with 7:11 to go in the first half.
Florida lost the game because the Gator defense couldn’t get a stop when it needed one. Tim Tebow plowed into the end zone with 9:40 to go in the game to pull within five points.
Had the defense made a stop on Georgia’s ensuing drive (which included a conversion on 3rd-and-12), Florida would have been in position to go on a game-winning drive.
The inability to get a critical stop factored heavily into Florida’s losses to LSU and Michigan, too, so the fact that Georgia was able to get crucial scores in this game was hardly a unique occurrence.
In the context of the Georgia fan base, it definitely worked. Since Georgia had lost 15 of 17 in the series, the Dawg fans were hungry for something to happen that made them feel like the aggressors.
Mark Richt didn’t need to do it to save his job or anything—only the lunatic fringe of the Bulldog faithful is genuinely upset over his not having won a national title yet—but he needed to do something in regards to Florida given his 1-5 record against UF at that point. Mission accomplished.
Was it a smart move?
Your answer to this question inevitably will come from where your allegiances lie. I will say that it was not intelligent from a risk management perspective.
On the play that prompted the celebration, Knowshon 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-for-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.
On top of that, Richt could have been thrown out
53 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL
A TRADITION . . . SINCE SEPTEMBER 7, 1991
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McLeod Neale 11 months ago
Wilbur Marshall, Emmitt Smith, and Steve Spurrier all came before 1991.
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
"Wilbur Marshall, Emmitt Smith, and Steve Spurrier all came before 1991."
But wait a minute... How many SEC Championships did Florida win, PRIOR to the 1991 season???
That's right... 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
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
Don't respond when he does this. He's just fishing for a reaction.
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
"Don't respond when he does this. He's just fishing for a reaction."
What are you talking about???
I am NOT fishing for a reaction, lolz :)
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Rob Sansing 11 months ago
but, david, jimson is such an easy target!! let us have our fun (at his expense!!).
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Hank Poteat 11 months ago
alabama football: irrelevant since 1999.
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Rob Sansing 11 months ago
hank: you are a lot smarter than jimson!!
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
"alabama football: irrelevant since 1999."
omg, I know... That is why Alabama has NOT WON an SEC Championship - or even an SEC West Championship, for that matter... since 1999, lolz :)
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Evan Wiley 11 months ago
Good article
I think it was well calculated
take a look at UT and Vandy vs the florida game.
the uninspired play was gone
I think he shoulda waited til it was ruled td as you said....I hate it when people count their chickens before theyve hatched
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Rob Sansing 11 months ago
david: after everything I have read about georgia's celebration these past 2 days one thing that hasn't been mentioned: congratulations to the florida team for NOT retaliating. maybe the gators didn't respond because they were in shock, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt and credit the gators with being men, and just looking the other way. you and other writers are correct, it could have been nasty...south carolina-clemson nasty. hey, this is praise for a gator team from a long time gator-hater, but only florida's non-reaction prevented a disaster.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
Thanks, Rob. I was kind of surprised there wasn't a retaliation because I've seen Spurrier and Zook teams get in fights with FSU in years past, but this one didn't take the bait.
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Will Lewis 11 months ago
i agree pretty much all the way, rob, im a huge Dawg fan, and i was at the game and saw the celebration and the florida fans LIVE. Let me point out that even as a UGA fan it didnt really strike me as anything particularly crazy at time, but i didnt realize that something like this hd never really happened up until that point in CFB history. But i thank florida for really not giving too much of a crap when it happened, other than meyer trying to get his boys jumping around on the sidelines which was kinda pathetic to watch. but i think that if a brawl had broken out, it wouldve been because a florida player through the first punch. period. the uga players new what they were going out there to do, and though it may have sparked something in the gator players it would be on florida for instigating the actual fighting itself
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Burgess Shaw 11 months ago
Just think how much bigger this would be if UF retaliated
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Alex Ferguson 11 months ago
Nice piece. I liked it.
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Jordan Tippitt 11 months ago
decent article but most of your reasons were bias.
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Corey Gautreaux 11 months ago
Nice article, but I agree with Jordan to an extent. Mark Richt has said several times he didn't know the WHOLE team was going to rush the field. Whether this is true or not, I didn't think it was Georgia trying to play dirty. I think it was Georgia knowing they needed a spark and the emotion got the best of them. To hold Urban Meyer in a "high and mighty light" was a bit much too. Let's not forget Woody punching the player.
As Richt said on College Football Live the other day, if Georgia would have lost that game the Dawgs would have looked like idiots. It was a good show of emotion, and hats off to Florida for taking it like a man and going to the sidelines. Georgia was just a better team last year. This year though, that will def be shown to the team several times by Urban to make sure they havem't forgotten. However, I don't think either team will try anything to that extent.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
Richt didn't intend for his entire team to run onto the field, but did tell them to take an intentional celebration penalty. That fact doesn't invalidate anything here except the possibility of Richt getting ejected at the game last season.
I also didn't bring up Woody Hayes to hold him up in a saintly light; I don't really care about Hayes, it was just to prove a point.
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Burgess Shaw 11 months ago
It was nice to see the whole team come together and celebrate to get that extra "spark." But I never want to see this again. Maybe make a rule on the head coach gets kicked out of the game and a persounal foul penalty if something like that happens again?
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Brandon Ridgway 11 months ago
It's time to move on bud. To be honest, it doesn’t matter how or what led to the win for Georgia. A win is a win. Who cares how it was obtained, with exception to cheating. The better team won last year. The better team will win this year. Either way, a win is a win.
Everyone is out to make Mark Richt look like a villain for what he did. It was meant to be nothing more than motivation for the 11 players on the field and the team took it too far.
Gators need to get off their soapbox and realize that Richt, Meyer or any coach they want has the same intentions every year. Educate and motivate -- period. It's not about Tebo being hurt or the excessive celebration. The team, who came to win, won.
Why is it that when Florida doesn’t get the win, there is always an excuse? Why can’t they just say the better team, at that time, won? I’m not cracking on UF. But I don’t understand why people make excuses and don’t just accept that you win some, you lose some. Instead, Meyer has to put it in his book about how dirty the celebration was. Give me break. That screams of hypocrisy!
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
I quote: "Florida lost the game because the Gator defense couldn’t get a stop when it needed one. Tim Tebow plowed into the end zone with 9:40 to go in the game to pull within five points.
"Had the defense made a stop on Georgia’s ensuing drive (which included a conversion on 3rd-and-12), Florida would have been in position to go on a game-winning drive.
"The inability to get a critical stop factored heavily into Florida’s losses to LSU and Michigan, too, so the fact that Georgia was able to get crucial scores in this game was hardly a unique occurrence."
Part of not being able to get a stop was the Georgia O-line controlling the line of scrimmage as well as Stafford and Moreno playing their best game of the year. A lot of that was enabled by poor defensive play by Florida. Yes, the better team won, but it doesn't change the fact that the lesser team on that day had a chance to win the game if only it could have gotten a stop in the fourth quarter.
And like I said, the celebration had little to do with the actual win on that day. Also, most coaches find ways to motivate their guys without showing up the other team, and if Georgia had followed Richt's intentions it still would have been showing up the other team.
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Patrick Shields 11 months ago
It was nice and all to hear Meyer condemn the actions of the Bulldogs a few days ago, but I will be interested to see his and his teams actions come their first score in Jacksonville this year. Given the potential BCS championship implications could have, I wouldn't be surprised to see UF attempt a similiar ruse to boost their momentum and try for the win.
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Brandon Ridgway 11 months ago
BTW -- Rob has a great points!
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gbase 11 months ago
I thought the celebration was awesome . . . I know I laughed. Good thing Ronnie Wilson wasn't on the field, I bet he would've pulled his AK-47 out of the trunk.
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Brandon Ridgway 11 months ago
Please understand, I'm not trying to start a flame war, but I have certain issues with your article.
Why, when ever the history of the UGA - UF rivalry is written about, either published or on a board, do most people not refer to the all-time win/loss record? In this instance, you went back to 1990. That’s relevant how?
Why not use the actual all-time record? Is it because historically UGA has the better record? Were you just trying to prove a point with skewed statistics in order to build UF up? To me it's a distortion of facts, which adds to the bias of your article.
While your story, for the most part, was decent, to me, your bias ruins the credibility of the argument.
PS – for those who are interested, the UGA – UF all-time record is 45-37-2
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
"Why, when ever the history of the UGA - UF rivalry is written about, either published or on a board, do most people not refer to the all-time win/loss record? In this instance, you went back to 1990. That’s relevant how?"
omg, I know... I was wondering how that was relevant, too! But wait a minute... Florida WON ZERO SEC Championships, PRIOR to the 1991 season. That is probably why he chose to go back to only 1990, lolz :)
FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL
A TRADITION . . . SINCE SEPTEMBER 7, 1991
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McLeod Neale 11 months ago
Brandon, he uses that fact because recent success puts into perspective the current state of the rivalry and which team has the momentum in the series. I think it is a valid point.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
It is relevant because without the recent history of Florida doing well, the celebration would not have meant as much. It would have simply been something to get the season jump-started before it was too late.
Instead, it became not just that but a symbol of an attempt to turn the tide of recent history. I have an uncle who is a big Georgia fan, and that's what he told me so that's what I'm going off of. Plenty of Georgia bloggers have made a similar case. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Georgia does have the lead in all-time wins. However, what happened in the 1980s and before really doesn't affect what is going on today much. Heck, what happened in the 1990s only still matters today because they combine with Florida's wins in this decade to form a remarkable streak.
I understand that you would prefer to look at it as the Bulldogs having won two of four rather than three of eighteen. However, I have yet to find a single other Georgia fan besides yourself try to make the case that Florida's streak of success played no part in what went on last year.
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
"Georgia does have the lead in all-time wins. However, what happened in the 1980s and before really doesn't affect what is going on today much. Heck, what happened in the 1990s only still matters today because they combine with Florida's wins in this decade to form a remarkable streak.
I understand that you would prefer to look at it as the Bulldogs having won two of four rather than three of eighteen. However, I have yet to find a single other Georgia fan besides yourself try to make the case that Florida's streak of success played no part in what went on last year."
This statement is just PURE Florida Gators BIAS, lolz :)
FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL
A TRADITION . . . SINCE SEPTEMBER 7, 1991
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McLeod Neale 11 months ago
Actually I believe Florida has the series lead since WWII.
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McLeod Neale 11 months ago
From 1940-present Florida is winning the series. I think it is really stupid to brag about wins that came before that far back.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
The "modern era" of college football is from 1946 on. In that time period, Florida has a 33-28-1 record against Georgia.
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Reggie Garcia 11 months ago
Who care?! This celebration was funny. I dont understand why everyone is getting mad about it. There kids, there playing a serious game against a rival, let them have fun with it. If I was Richt I would let them do it more than once.
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Brandon Ridgway 11 months ago
"It is relevant because without the recent history of Florida doing well, the celebration would not have meant as much. It would have simply been something to get the season jump-started before it was too late."
FYI -- the average cost of gas in 1990 was $1.10 a gallon. Now, that’s not very relevant to the cost of gas today, now is it? ($3.89 a gallon
Your stats added nothing to the story but a one sided, biased view; plain and simple. I'm not saying that I am not biased to UGA, but I'm not writing articles claiming to "put the issue to rest" and using warped information. Skewing the facts to simply make your point more visible hardly makes a good argument.
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
"FYI -- the average cost of gas in 1990 was $1.10 a gallon. Now, that’s not very relevant to the cost of gas today, now is it? ($3.89 a gallon
Your stats added nothing to the story but a one sided, biased view; plain and simple. I'm not saying that I am not biased to UGA, but I'm not writing articles claiming to "put the issue to rest" and using warped information. Skewing the facts to simply make your point more visible hardly makes a good argument."
I couldn't agree more with your comments :)
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
If you don't think the 15-of-17 streak was a big deal, you're welcome to take it up with the most prominent Georgia blogger I know of, Kyle King of DawgSports.com: http://www.dawgsports.com/2007/10/28/0314/0207
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James Doker 11 months ago
"FYI -- the average cost of gas in 1990 was $1.10 a gallon. Now, that’s not very relevant to the cost of gas today, now is it? ($3.89 a gallon"
It IS relevant to what people think about the price of gas, and that's the same reason the past stats of this rivalry are relevant. Any UF or UGA fan under the age of, say, 40, will remember the trend of Florida dominance since the '90s far more than the games from before they were born. And anyone who's of current college age (i.e. all of the players on both teams) will have grown up almost entirely in the era of Florida dominance.
It doesn't matter so much what the overall record in the rivalry is when the current climate is so one-sided. That's why it's relevant.
I know I'm a Gator fan, but I think that there's far less bias in this article than you're projecting. I don't think any uninvested viewer would see the celebration as a good thing, but I doubt many people think of Richt or Georgia as a bunch of rude thugs, either.
Richt said what he said, and his team did what they did, and it's probably safe to say that Meyer's team wouldn't have done something like that. (The only time I've seen Urban Meyer celebrate during a game was when there was under two minutes left in the BCS championship against Ohio State. He's about as all-business as a coach can be. That said, I always held Richt in a similar light, so maybe Meyer would have been capable of it himself.)
Nobody is--or at least, nobody should be--judging the Dawgs or Richt based on the celebration. In particular, David's article was, at least as I interpreted it, not targeting Richt (which is how I assume you interpreted it), but rather targeting the media and blog communities for discussing the incident ad nauseam (thus "putting the issue to rest").
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Matt Scalici 11 months ago
From an outsider's perspective (I'm a Bama fan), the dance was bush-league. I have no doubt in my mind it helped Georgia win the game because it got into the heads of the Gators. The problem is, when you conduct yourself like that, it makes everyone in America want to smash you in the face. It's why Miami always got everyone's best game in the late '90s. People hated them so much for acting like fools that they never had the luxury of an opponent coming out flat and playing without emotion.
I like Georgia and I'd love to see them represent the SEC again in the National Title Game but stunts like that come back to haunt you. Expect some punishment from the football gods this season for that act of hubris.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
Funny you should mention Miami. Mark Richt was a quarterback for the Canes form 1979-82. Not saying that's related to last year, just an interesting tidbit.
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Matt Scalici 11 months ago
What's surprising is that Richt has never conducted his team in that Miami Hurricanes fashion. They've always been a subdued, well-behaved group with an emphasis on Christian charity work in the offseason. Suddenly last season, he orders his team to dance on the field, then gives them gangsta black jerseys for a game and now suddenly he's got six players suspended. Very confusing and sudden change of attitude in Athens.
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Jo Valentine-Cooper 11 months ago
I dunno. I absolutely loved it then, and I still absolutely love it, and it still gets me grinning. But then again, I'm a third-generation Buckeye and still annoyed that Gainesville Still Won't Shut Up, so I'm undoubtedly biased. :)
More objectively put - I would honestly be shocked if that had lead to a brawl or something similar. The mature reaction to that sort of thing, if you're on the receiving end, would be to sit back and recognize that the opposition is making fools of themselves over one early touchdown. There's absolutely no reason to take that sort of thing personally - there's three full quarters left in which to teach hubris. Letting it get to you leads to doom.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
Florida's reaction in the game was to go back to its sideline, get everybody fired up by jumping up and down on its sideline (not on the field of play), and to immediate score a touchdown on the ensuing drive. That's about the best reaction you could hope for given the circumstances.
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James Doker 11 months ago
Once again another very enjoyable article, David. I was just today watching the media day interviews and then ESPN's College Football Live, and I was getting bugged by the hype being built around the celebration. I know it's obviously motivational material for the Gators, but I think the overall event has been blown way out of proportion.
It's really just become news fodder because it was an easy symbolic "turning point" in Georgia's season for the college football press to mindlessly latch onto. Whether or not the actual celebration had anything to do with UGA's late-season upswing is anybody's guess (and totally unprovable). I'm sure there are far more lurking variables that led to Georgia's performance in the second half of 2007, particularly Moreno's expanded role and some sort of coagulation on defense.
Anyway, I liked the article, and thought that the treatment of the issue wasn't very biased at all. In fact, as I read it I was happy that a Gator fan seemed to be level-headedly discussing the event instead of incorporating team loyalty. Apparently there are some Georgians who didn't see it that way.
As for 2008, I wouldn't be surprised if Meyer has the Gators resist celebration of any kind after their scores. Just hand the ball to the ref and walk off all-too-quietly, like you're taking care of business.
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
FLORIDA GATORS FOOTBALL
A TRADITION . . . SINCE SEPTEMBER 7, 1991
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Brian Hood 11 months ago
Jimson, the tradition line is funny but do I have to read it whenever Florida or LSU or anybody else is brought up...enough already!
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BabyTate 11 months ago
Jimson's just getting the goat of David. If you look at Jimson's series of the college football season he has Florida #1 in the country, undefeated, and playing for the national championship. He's gone out on a limb to be Florida's #1 promoter this season. If the Gators go down, he's going down as well. He's just "walking around the Midway having a good time at the Fair" during the summertime as Gene Stallings used to say when people critcized him at Texas A&M.
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Jimson Cuenta 11 months ago
"Jimson's just getting the goat of David. If you look at Jimson's series of the college football season he has Florida #1 in the country, undefeated, and playing for the national championship. He's gone out on a limb to be Florida's #1 promoter this season. If the Gators go down, he's going down as well. He's just "walking around the Midway having a good time at the Fair" during the summertime as Gene Stallings used to say when people critcized him at Texas A&M."
What are you talking about???
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Jackie Parker 11 months ago
Meyer needs to grow up. If he wrote in his book what he says he did, sounds like a spoiled child to me. His problem is UGA beat them and he can't deal with it. Also, he's mad because he didn't think of something to do to motivate his team. Like I said, he needs to let it go, move on. This is another season.
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Ga Dawg 11 months ago
"Hayes and Bruce would never have pulled a stunt like that. That’s just not the way you did things back then"
Are we talking about the same Woody Hayes? You know the one that attacked and blindsided a Clemson player during a bowl game and the one who was eventually fired for attacking a camera man. Nice mentor.
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David Wunderlich 11 months ago
1) Hayes' attack was an heat-of-the-moment thing, not a premeditated thing. Not that it has anything to do with this article.
2) Earle Bruce is Meyer's mentor. Hayes passed away more than 20 years ago.
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Kevin McHugh 11 months ago
I'll admit to being a Dawg fan, but a realistic one. The one thing that most people miss is the motivation it provided to the team PRIOR to the game. UGA has lost some tight games recently to Florida and like it or not, losing 15 of 17 is in the minds of the kids suiting up for the game. By suggesting that they get the penalty after the first score, changed their mindset to thinking about the celebration--and scoring! I loved the celebration, it was one of the best moves by any coach--like it or not. It worked, despite this writer's opinion that it did not.
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Ga Dawg 11 months ago
"Hayes and Bruce would never have pulled a stunt like that. That’s just not the way you did things back then" Are we talking about the same Woody Hayes? You know the one that attacked and blindsided a Clemson player during a bowl game and the one who was eventually fired for attacking a camera man. Nice mentor
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Thomas Brown 11 months ago
Crocodiles had a chance to do something about it last season, as it was - after all - the first score; and did NOT. That's their problem and you are a crybaby to talk about it now that Florida does NOT have a Winning Record over Georgia over the last 4 years, nor a Winning Record at Jacksonville's Gator Bowl, nor a Winning Record All-Time against UGA.
Waaah. Get a life the lot of you.
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