University of Georgia Athletics
Neil 'Hondo' Williamson's FOR BULLDOGS ONLY
October 11, 2011 | Football
Oct. 11, 2011
In This Edition
- Beating Tennessee in Knoxville - AGAIN
- Second and 57
- 100 Wins for Coach Richt
- The "Best" Victory
Beating Tennessee in Knoxville - Again!
Four out of the last six. Tell that to your friends who have harped about the Dawgs last two trips to K-town. All that really matters, though, is the most recent match-up. Nonetheless, in the event anyone's keeping score...we've beaten the Vols two straight overall and eight of the last 12.
Man, I love walking out of the stadium after a conference win on the road!
Second and 57
Never seen it in my life.
But I will say this. With emphasis. Todd Grantham's defense not only shut down Tyler Bray and his two TD passes per night/#1 offense in the SEC, it put the clamps on at two critical times when momentum could've swung to the 102,000 orange crazies.
Third Quarter
We've just roared down the field, 93 yards in three plays. Murray to Mitchell for 71 yards. Isaiah to the end zone for the last 17. Tennessee returns the kickoff to the 50-yard line. Fans are stomping. The Vols sideline reinvigorates.
Georgia's defense doesn't allow a first down. UT punts. Big Mo returns to the red and black.
Fourth Quarter
Following the Dawgs nightmare drive-in-reverse (2nd and 57), Tennessee's 20-yard punt return carries the Volunteers to their own 41 and a late hit by a Bulldog gives U-T a first and ten at the Georgia 44. The crowd wakes up.
But only for one play.
Georgia's ferocious pass rush pressures Tyler Bray into an intentional grounding penalty 14 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Tennessee punts three plays later. Dawgs defense again puts the full stifle on the Vols brief momentum.
100 Wins for Coach Richt
Coach Richt was his ever-humble self when asked about his 100th career victory after Saturday night's 20-12 victory over the Vols. He deflected credit to the players, coaches and staff who've been a part of every one of the 100 wins. No surprise there. Some facts and figures about the 100:
Overall record: 100-36
Record against the SEC: 58-29
Record against the SEC East: 33-19
Record against the SEC West: 25-10
Most wins against one team: Nine (Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt)
Most losses against one team: I don't want to talk about it
vs. ACC 13-1
vs. Big Ten 3-0
vs. Pac Ten 2-0
vs. Big 12 3-2
vs. Big East 0-2
vs. BCS schools (SEC included) 79-34
vs. BCS schools (SEC not incl.) 21-5
Bowls 7-3
A few notes:
Six of Georgia's 36 losses under coach Richt have been to eventual national championship and/or eventual undefeated teams.
Turnarounds: Georgia was 5-12-1 against Auburn from 1983 to 2000. Since CMR's arrival the Bulldogs have already won more games (six) in just 10 tries against the Tigers.
Versus Alabama 1990-2000: 1-3 (including three straight losses)
Versus Alabama 2001-2011: 3-1
Tennessee had won nine of its last 10 tries against the Bulldogs before CMR's arrival. Dawgs lead 7-4 since.
Georgia Tech had won three straight prior to CMR's arrival. Georgia Tech has won once in 10 attempts since.
The "Best" Victory
Sometimes it's hard to pick just one.
Your favorite child? No way.
Favorite childhood memory? No can do.
Your favorite Charlie's Angel? Tie.
Seriously, picking out the "best" of Coach Mark Richt's 100 career victories is a lot tougher than I imagined because there are so many great triumphs from which to choose.
I queried several Bulldog luminaries on this topic and left the question just vague enough to allow for subjectivity. Rather than "most important" or "biggest" win, I asked "Which was his `best' win?"
So, what are your criteria for "best" win in the Mark Richt era?
Does it need to be against a division rival because that's the first step to winning a championship?
How `bout the SEC Title game itself? We've won two under Coach Richt's guidance.
Bowl games? Traditional rivalries? Defending National Champions?
Do you even consider wins over Georgia Tech - a non-conference rival?
While you mull over which victory you deem the "best" check out these candidates.
Georgia play-by-play man Scott Howard's pick may surprise you:
"Yes, there are very many. I narrowed my choices down to two and they're both against Auburn, but not the win that put us in the SEC Championship.
The 37-15 win at Auburn in 2006. We had skated by Colorado and Ole Miss, got blasted by Tennessee after having a big lead and went on to lose a stretch of 4 games in 5 outings, with losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt included during that skid. The first time that had happened since 1973. We went into nationally ranked Auburn with a record of 6-4 and proceeded to beat the 5th ranked team in the nation handily with freshman Matt Stafford having his breakout game at QB. He had his career high in rushing yards that day as well. We played 3 ranked teams to finish the season in Auburn, GT and Virginia Tech in the bowl game and won all of them to finish at 9-4. I believe that win at Auburn started Georgia's fiery finish.
The second "best" win, in my opinion, is the Auburn game in 2007 with the black jerseys. I have never experienced a game with more electricity and energy generated by the crowd at Sanford Stadium than there was that night. The Dogs completed the year with 7 straight wins and mashed "undefeated" Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl to finish 2nd in the nation. The win over Auburn in Athens seemed to unite all Bulldog fans and provided the kick for Georgia's stellar finish. But it was the energy in the stadium, generated by the black jerseys and the outstanding performance by the guys wearing them that I will never forget.
Scott's choice of the 2006 Auburn game is interesting to me because it was #6 on my list and I didn't suppose anyone else would have it in a Top 10. I wonder if there was something about actually being in Jordan-Hare that day that makes it so special for the two of us. I remember it being a noon kick and the prospects for the Bulldogs being very dim. Then, we went out and torched the Tigers. Tre Battle with interception after interception, Stafford breaking out on foot and in the air and, as Scott noted, the team then went on a tear winning 18 out of its next 20.
As for the Sanford Stadium 2007 blow-out of Auburn, former Georgia safety Kelin Johnson ranks it number one for good reason -- he was wearing one of those black Georgia jerseys between the hedges on that unforgettable evening:
The Blackout Game...my senior year... first play of the game I pick the ball off -- it was the loudest I ever heard our crowd in years...Great win for Coach because that was the 1st time he allowed his team to just let loose. He gave those seniors on that team some room to shine in their own way. We had to earn that from Coach...great win because that was the game that gave that team the spark it needed to finish #2 in the nation..
Tailgate Show icon Loran Smith noted that beating Florida State and Bobby Bowden, Coach Richt's former team and mentor, respectively -- as the Seminoles were coming off of 14 consecutive seasons of finishing in the Top 5 in the nation - was "very important" for CMR. For Loran, however, the "best" victory occurred in the same venue as the most recent - Neyland Stadium in Knoxville:
I look at things...in the context of what's important. Beating Tennessee in Knoxville in 2001 really entrenched him in the minds of the Georgia people. In establishing his career the "Hobnailed Boot" game was a signature victory
Professor Bulldog - Jeff Dantzler - couldn't contain himself to a single game. Jeff's enthusiasm for everything Georgia, combined with his encyclopedic knowledge of the details of so many games made his reply of 14 contests in one paragraph kind of predictable. Not that the particular games he picked were predictable -- more so the fact that he would/could spew 14 answers in under 30 seconds.
"There have been a lot of great wins in the Richt era. The most important victory I think clearly was the '02 win at Auburn. My favorite was 51-7 over Tech in '02. Amongst the great accomplishments were beating Alabama and Tennessee (in back to back games both times) and Auburn in 2002 and 2003. The 41-14 win in Knoxville was unforgettable. The wins over Tech and LSU in '05 were special. And of course in '07, to beat Alabama, Florida, Auburn and Tech and win the Sugar Bowl, that was historic. With all of that, I'd go Auburn '02 as most important, Tech in '02 as most enjoyable, and Florida '07 as best overall."
Steve Bell, who has been part of our broadcast for 24 years, selected the drought-breaker. I both was and wasn't surprised that he was the only person to mention it. I wasn't surprised in that, obviously, it was BIG. I was a bit surprised simply because I think that - outside of the always cautious coaching staff - there wasn't a Bulldog alive who didn't go into that game thinking we were going to run Arkansas right out of the building. The blocked punt. That deafening roar. Let's hear from Steve who had a million dollar vantage point:
"I guess I would have to go with the 2002 SEC Championship Game in the Georgia Dome...I was shooting the game on the side line that night. There was so much electricity in the air it could've powered most of downtown Atlanta! I actually had to put the camera down for a moment and just absorb the fans' passion for this team. It was the same on the sideline. The strength of character and determination to win in every player was evident. There was no doubt. This was their time. This was their moment. This was their opportunity to be part of history. And they knew it. The Dawgs scored on their first five positions and the fans were loving having their beloved Bulldogs in the driver's seat the entire game. The reputations of Georgia legends like David Greene, Terrence Edwards, Boss Bailey and Musa Smith were etched in stone that night and written forever in the hearts of the Bulldog Nation."
Now to Uncle Hondo's Top 5 for the "best" Bulldogs win under Mark Richt:
5. Blackout vs. Auburn 2007
For all of the reasons that Scott and Kelin stated above. Plus, my kids wore their replica jerseys from that night till they were in tatters. The jerseys, not the kids.
4. At Alabama 2002
"Man enough" to be the first ever Georgia team to win in Tuscaloosa. With that victory, that day, The Bulldogs record was 5-0 for the first time in 20 years and the squad was on its way to our first championship in two decades. The game - it was a brutally contested match -- spoke not only of the team's stoutness, but of young Coach Richt's toughness as well.
3. At Tennessee 2001
Larry Munson and I walked briskly out of Neyland Stadium to the team busses soon after David Greene's TD pass to Verron Haynes had sealed Georgia's first triumph in Knoxville in 21 years. "I think I said something stupid back there," Munson confided to me. "Nah," I replied, "you made a great call...nothing out of the ordinary."
The following Monday when I heard the tape -- the "Hobnailed Boot/Crushed their face" berating that Larry had bared from his soul for eternity -- I realized how crazy we were in the booth at the time of the comeback. Larry, Scott Howard, Dick Payne, Charles Youngs, Joel Williams -- all of us hooting and hollering and then hooting some more. Pure radio magic...and coach Richt's signature win.
2. All nine over Tech.
1. Auburn 2002
Sean Jones trying to set the tone with two interceptions and a fumble recovery - all in the first quarter!!
Trailing the entire night until a buck-twenty-five remained on the Jordan-Hare clock.
Tackle Jon Stinchcomb falling on a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
David Greene, the hero quarterback -- directing the troops down the field in the final quarter - as he had previously that season in victories over Clemson and Alabama.
Michael Johnson - subbing for the injured, all-time leading receiver in Georgia history, Terrence Edwards - rising up in two forms. One, a career-performance with 13 catches for 141 yards. The other, a touchdown grab in the back of the end zone that will live in Georgia-Auburn football infamy.
Fourth and 15. Everything on the line. Miracle!
