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Time heals all wounds. Georgia welcomed the bye week to get a little healthy and remove the nightmares of Alabama from its consciousness. Then they just needed to beat Tennessee...

Tennessee Has a Rocky Day in Georgia as Bulldogs Top Vols

by daniel cox (Senior Writer)

23

572 reads

Opinion

October 13, 2008


Time heals all wounds.

Georgia welcomed the bye week to get a little healthy and remove the nightmares of Alabama from its consciousness.

Then they just needed to beat Tennessee.

They exorcised a few Tennessee demons as well, having lost to the Vols the last two seasons.

The Bulldogs welcomed the return of Sr. fullback Brannon Sutherland, and he got the 'Dawgs going early with a one-yard TD run in the first quarter.

Georgia's performance was workmanlike, and there seemed to be no secret that a win was necessary, yet unlikely to help their national championship cause greatly.

While the score, 26-14, reflects a closer game, the Bulldogs dominated Tennessee's offense, allowing 208 yards passing, and one yard—yes, that says one yard—rushing.

The defense, led by Prince Miller and Rennie Curran, swarmed to the Tennessee running backs, making timely plays and backfield tackles.

Tennessee made a few timely plays of its own, however, capitalizing on two Matthew Stafford interceptions inside the Vols' 20, both of which landed the Vols touchdowns.

Tennessee didn't help their cause, however, with 10 penalties for 97 yards. Georgia, the most penalized team in the nation, has yet to fully correct this problem: They were flagged 11 times for 76 yards. However, three of these were delay-of-game penalties to run off clock.

Despite the two interceptions, Stafford had a career day, throwing for 310 yards. Senior wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi led the way with 103 yards and one touchdown.

Knowshon Moreno was quiet all game until the fourth quarter, when he flexed his running muscle as he led the Bulldogs on a 17-play, 76-yard drive that lasted 10:59 and essentially snuffed out the Vols' hopes of a comeback.  

"They knew we were going to run it; we knew we were going to run it. We were just trying to get first downs and keep our defense off the field to limit their chances of coming back. I challenged the guys up front, and they did a good job of making it happen," Stafford said of his battered O-line and Moreno on that fourth-quarter drive.

Moreno finished the day with 101 yards.

Sanford Stadium heard very little of "Rocky Top" Saturday, and the Tennessee Vols gave the band little reason to play. They, at times, seemed resigned to the belief that this season is a lost one.

Georgia had another critical loss of its own though. Junior left tackle Vince Vance left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and will not be returning this season.

The Bulldogs' O-line could ill-afford any more injuries, yet they must now figure out how to piece together five players who can protect Stafford and the rest of their season.

"It's critical now. We still have Justin Anderson and Clint Boling who can play tackle. With Kiante Tripp, we will have to do some soul searching and decide what to do. We actually had a tackle jersey ready for him in case we lost one more guy. Cordy (Glenn) is also a capable tackle. We will have to look at that situation and decide what's best," Coach Richt said following the game, regarding a line that has now lost two opening day starters.

With further upheaval in the college football rankings on Saturday, the 'Dawgs remain in the thick of the championship hunt, but the next three games will surely decide the fate of the season.

Vandy is up next on the heels of a disappointing loss to Mississippi State. A game in Baton Rouge follows against what appears to be a flawed LSU team after the loss to Florida.

Finally, the Bulldogs face what looks to have the makings of an epic and season-on-the-line showdown in Jacksonville against Florida.

Few believed Georgia could run the table with this schedule, and they haven't. One loss to what could be this week's top team in the country doesn't look so bad. If they can pull that line together and continue to cut down on those penalties and timely mistakes, this team can still make it to Atlanta in December for at least one championship.

And the second? Well, they've gotten a lot of help so far.

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23 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. GeorgiaDawg 8 months ago

    Great recap Daniel. I was in Athens and got to watch a win that was needed after the bama loss. Dawgs did what they had to do. Take care of Vandy this week and then LSU and Florida... can't wait!!

    POTD

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      gd,

      thanks for the pick!

      yeah, it's clear what needs to happen for this team.

      i look forward to your good, bad and ugly this week.

      thanks again!

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  2. J Wiley 8 months ago

    Watching the game from a few rows behind the GA bench, I had many concerns. Sometimes it seems that the only thing that is consistent about the Stafford era teams are their inconsistencies - play calling, pass execution, great gains erased by penalties. We started the game so sharp and melted down in Q2, then scored to end the half with 20. Not bad. Then we could not find the end zone in the second half, although we put together one of the longest drives in recent history to own Q4.

    After all my malaise and malcontent, when I read the team stats yesterday, I said OK - not so bad. But that was against a relatively week TN team. The next 3 teams will be much stronger, and Auburn and Tech will not exactly lie down, either.

    Can we reconfgure the O-line 1 more time? Sure, they're used to the changes by now. And hopefully the coaches can tune up the offensive play book and stop the bleeding from penaty yards.

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      j, sound observations.

      this team can be madeningly frustrating at times. protection issues, penalties and at times, a lack of a running game have caused some big problems.

      call me naive, but i don't think the lsu game is going to be a HUGE problem. when i watch that game against florida, they look so flawed.

      thanks for reading!

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  3. Robert 8 months ago

    Nice read Daniel.

    The lack of red zone production this weekend was surprising. We have been one of the best teams in the nation inside the 20 this year. I put that on Bobo, the play-calling was scary, but I forgive him. We were moving the ball at will, AJ dropped a touchdown pass, Stafford did toss some bad fades and the receivers ran some bad routes, with help from a hold or two.

    Why get away from our workhorse(KnoMo) though? That's what I want to know...I hate seeing a 0 beside his stats in the TD department.

    We left a lot of points on the field, and with the beauty contest that is the top 10 this year, we can't afford for that to happen.

    If coach Bobo happens to read this---please leave the Stafford/Moreno read play outside of the 20. It's a good call anywhere else on the field when the D is over-pursuing, but we have to have points when they are 10 yards away.

    When we are getting leap-frogged by two teams that both lost to un-ranked teams, and are behind teams like Texas Tech, BYU, and Oklahoma State, we can't have a 12 point spread in a game like this. We should have had 35 points in the game, but we won.

    We dominated this game. The score doesn't show it, but that has been the case in both the ASU and the Tennessee games. They both should have been 20-25 point wins.

    The injuries are not good. I sure hope we are recruiting some O-linemen hard.

    Go Dawgs! Beat Vandy!

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      robert, well said.

      the line issues is a real red-alert. this is going to be a real problem going forward.

      this season, i've been concerned with richt's attitude towards "running up the score." sometimes, i feel like he lacks that killer instinct to really lay it on a team. we all know around the country, people look at scores and this score certainly does not reflect the way the bulldogs outplayed the vols.

      thanks for the pick and for reading!!

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    • Gray Ghost 8 months ago

      Robert, I agree on some of the play calling. Hopefully, that improves.

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  4. Mike Dockery 8 months ago

    Congrats to the Bulldogs for the win. Georgia's certainly not out of the National Championship race yet; if they run the table their national ranking will line up, and a rematch against Alabama in the SEC Championship would be the perfect place to make their case to the voters.

    Nice work, Daniel.

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      mike,

      thanks for reading. this has been one interesting season. i think for the bcs conferences, one win win will get you in the conversation. no two-loss teams in that game this year, at least that's how it looks to me.

      thanks again mike.

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  5. Silver Fox 8 months ago

    Thank you for this article. GA lost to Tenn the previous 2 years because of the coach who is leading Duke now. It's great to see our Bulldogs rebound but we will see how real our team is later in the season with our annual rivalry battled versus the Florida Gators. Not to overlook any opponents until then, as anything is possible on an SEC Saturday, I believe tha the GA-FL game will determine the SEC Esst champion. Alabama or LSU will be the SEC West champion.

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      silver, i totally agree. uga-florida is going to be epic. i just hope it doesn't turn out like the last epic game we had, 'bama-uga.

      i don't see how lsu wins the west. like i said before, maybe i'm naive, but i just don't see it.

      thanks for the pick! and thanks for reading...

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  6. Evan Wiley 8 months ago

    Good recap...Stafford just needs to take a little more time....it's like his eye is drawn towards the most motion in many cases as he almost never threw to people who were wide open/

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      evan, yeah, he made a few mistakes, but aj green didn't help him out too much with that dropped td pass.

      if he stays for his senior season, the 'dawg nation has a TON to be excited about.

      if he's gone...well, the timing is a little off, b/c you expect the line to gel next year and who knows what knomo will do.

      i almost feel like this is THE year. the 'dawgs were built for this season.

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  7. Evan Wiley 8 months ago

    I honestly think staff will stay for his senior year if there's no BCS championship game....

    honestly he needs to win an SEC championship first....I just see it as a goal of his, if nothing else it makes him pricier come draft day, sure you only have to stay 5 yrs in the nfl to collect your pension and move on but staying in the nfl five years is easier said than done, ask david greene.

    knowshon may be a little different but I think he feeds on a college crowd...he seems to enjoy himself too much. Then again, nothing will make you leave things you love for things you tolerate like a big fat paycheck.

    Not that I'm already looking forward to next year or anything....I just don't see them leaving

    Of course I didn't see UGA IV dying this summer either so my clairvoyance leaves a lot to be desired

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      evan, you make some good points.

      i guess i can never blame a young player for following the money. you never know what can happen--injury, sudden poor play, etc.

      but these guys kind of give me the feeling as well that they'll come back, kinda (and i'm sorry to make this correlation) like the florida basketball players came back for a second title. this georgia team has a feel sort of like that.

      don't get me wrong, not looking forward to next year just yet either, just sort of thinking outloud.

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  8. J Wiley 8 months ago

    Stafford and Moreno's stock will go up in value so much if they stay another year to capitalize on what they've started and on the promise of next season. Don't sell yourselves short, guys. Don't accept "the deal" that you'll be offered. Stay and pay the price and you will see the bigger reward.

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  9. Gray Ghost 8 months ago

    Good job Daniel! The pass D is driving me crazy! I am losing my mind watching them watch the receivers get exactly where everyone in the stadium knows they're going! POTD

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      gg, hah, i guess sometimes i have to remind myself that they're 8-9 years younger than me and if i were actually out there i would look like the biggest fool in the world.

      but i hear what you're saying. but hey, how 'bout that run D??

      thanks, as always, for reading and definitely for the pick!

      anxiously awaiting your next piece.

      thanks!

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  10. Micah Green 8 months ago

    Great recap. The score doesn't show how bad Georgia dominated this one. The reason the margin isn't wider is b/c of what else than what has haunted Georgia in the past the receivers. The play calling wasn't hot, but that should change when they watch the tapes.

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      micah, thanks for reading.

      i agree about the dominance. as usual, i ifeel like richt doesn't "run up the score." unfortunately, when other voters and cfb fans around the country look at the box scores or the highlights, they too often only notice the scores. if georgia's going to get back in this thing, they need to score at a high level, which they're certainly capable of.

      thanks again!

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  11. John Doe 8 months ago

    Nice Article...The Defense and lack of Red Zone scoring is my biggest concern. We are getting killed with that bend, don't break Defense scheme. Let's hope we turned the corner this weekend.

    Go Dawgs!!!!
    www.thedawgsden.com

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    • daniel cox 8 months ago

      john,

      i agree. they stop the run in their sleep, but then they acknowledge that teams have to pass and they just drop back and let the dink-and-dunk happen.

      it does get a little frustrating.

      and the dropped passes, how many times has that been discussed in the last few years? still a problem...

      thanks for reading!

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