Let The Big Dog Eat!!!

[Warph]

Georgia 51 - Tennessee 44

GO Bulldogs - GO SEC

[Warph]

 LET THE BIG DOG EAT!!!


                             

                     


                             

     


(5) Georgia Bulldogs vs (6) South Carolina Gamecocks


                             

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The season's first Eastern Division showdown in the Southeastern Conference is set: No. 5 Georgia at No. 6 South Carolina on Saturday.

The matchup between the 5-0 teams should again go a long way in settling who will represent the division at the Georgia Dome in the SEC title game Dec. 1. The winner won't have a clear path -- the Gamecocks (3-0 SEC) face undefeated No. 10 Florida on Oct. 20 while the Bulldogs (3-0 SEC) play the Gators a week later -- but will have an edge the loser will need help to make up.

"It's a huge game," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday. "We all know it."

And it features some of the best the SEC East has to offer this season.

Young Georgia tailback Todd Gurley leads the league in rushing and has made the sort of impact Gamecocks junior runner Marcus Lattimore did two years ago. Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones and South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney are two of the top pass rushers in the country.

Georgia, last year's SEC East winner, have lost two straight in the series. The Bulldogs have never dropped three in a row in the rivalry that began in 1894.

"We've got something to prove," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "If we can keep improving, get prepared and stay together, we have a good chance to get after it."

Richt's offense will be missing a key piece, however. Wide receiver Michael Bennett, who leads the team in receptions (24), yards (345) and has caught four touchdown passes, tore the ACL in his right knee during practice Tuesday and is out for the season.

While Georgia will certainly have to adjust without quarterback Aaron Murray's top target, both programs shook off challenges Saturday to remain perfect.

The Bulldogs seemingly had their game with Tennessee in hand at several points, yet had to hold off the Vols in a 51-44 shootout. Gurley and fellow freshman Keith Marshall powered Georgia's running game, combining for 294 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

The Gamecocks trailed last-place Kentucky 17-7 at the half in one of their sloppiest showings of the year. However, they tightened up after the break to pull out the 38-17 victory.

Lattimore ran for 120 yards, just his second game over 100 yards this season. He also rushed for two touchdowns. Lattimore says he's almost back up to speed from the knee surgery and rehab that cost in the final six games a year ago. He knows he'll need to step up his game for what's upcoming.

"I know I have to get way better if we're going to have success against Georgia," he said.

Lattimore's first opened people's eyes as a freshman against the Bulldogs in 2010. In just his second college game, Lattimore gained 182 yards and scored both South Carolina touchdowns in a 17-6 victory. The win jump started the Gamecocks run to the SEC East title and their first trip to the championship game.

The Gamecocks won again in Athens last year, a 45-42 victory, on the way to a 5-0 mark against SEC East teams. But losses to West opponents Auburn and Arkansas cost South Carolina and sent Georgia to the title game.

Spurrier proposed during the offseason that only SEC division games should count to the league race, an idea that didn't gain much traction in SEC meetings.

Spurrier, though, kept on poking Georgia, joking this summer that moving the game from early September as its been for several years to October would help the Bulldogs because they usually have a couple of key players suspended for offseason transgressions.

"I think that's funny," Richt said in response. "That sounds like Steve."

Get ready for more Spurrier laugh lines this week since ESPN GameDay will be on campus for the weekend. Spurrier recalled the last time the sports network's show came to South Carolina was in 2010, the weekend the Gamecocks surprised then No. 1 Alabama 35-21 -- the program's first and only victory over a top-ranked opponent.

"That was one of the best days in Carolina football," Spurrier said. "It sort of lets the world know, the country know, `Hey, South Carolina's football pretty good."

The Gamecocks have shown that the past few seasons. The Kentucky win was their ninth straight, matching a program record set in 1984.

Jones and Clowney figure to have large says in whether that streak goes forward. Clowney is second in the SEC with 9 1/2 tackles behind the line with Jones right behind at eight.

Both sides say they're ready for the challenge.

"The rest of the season hasn't been a whole lot of drama," Richt said, "but I'm sure there will be drama Saturday."

[Warph]

Woooo-eeeee.... I guess the big dog wasn't that hungry... huh?

What South Carolina did to Georgia was like what Romney did to Obuma... 35 to 7.

The 2nd biggest joke of the game came when Spurrier let Georgia score.  
First time I have ever known him to feel sorry for any team.

The 1st was Georgia showed up to play... but they forgot to bring their game with them!

Well... like I said before:

           


         

[Warph]

Ga. has to get past Auburn this weekend to win the SEC East.  I look for Texas A&M to give Alabama a tough game this coming weekend.

GO Dawgs!

[Warph]

Georgia Bulldogs Win the SEC East Championship

UGA linebacker Christian Robinson (45) and cornerback Devin Bowman celebrate with fans after 38-0 win at Auburn
clinched SEC East championship Saturday night. (AJC photo/Brant Sanderlin)

[Warph]

UGA Coach Mark Richt, Georgia Bulldogs Prove Worth Despite Loss

If there were ever such thing as a signature loss, Mark Richt earned one on Saturday night in Atlanta.

Following Chris Conley's accidental catch with five seconds to play in the biggest Georgia football game in 30 years, seconds felt like minutes for Bulldog fans. It might have been the hardest loss to swallow in the program's entire history.

For 30 years, Georgia has flirted with greatness—greatness being a national championship in the south, which treats college football with the same esteem as church, if not more.

And had Aaron Murray's final drive gone five more yards, Georgia fans would be celebrating possibly the greatest victory in program history. There is no denying it.

Alabama will suit up in Miami on Jan. 7 for a chance to further cement what is undoubtedly one of the top dynasties in recent memory, with a coach who will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest in college football history to not wear a houndstooth hat.

To dethrone Alabama football in that fashion, after all of that drama, would have meant the greatest feeling of elation a sports fan can feel.

This game suddenly felt bigger than a national title play-in game. It not only lived up to the billing that surrounded it before the week, but it also became an epic that made the thought of the national championship game seem more like a dessert than an entree.

Georgia came up just short. Considering the circumstances—the fact that the Dawgs were so close, yet so far away in the end from the pinnacle that all fans have dreamed of for so long—one would think this loss would mean utter devastation.

Surely, "devastation" was the word used most after the game by Georgia fans to describe the emotionally draining finish to what was the best SEC Championship game ever, but there was more than enough proven in that game to ensure Georgia fans can hold their heads high and be proud.

After all, unlike other SEC powerhouses, Georgia is the one marquee giant from the conference that hasn't hoisted the most meaningful trophy in the sport in the BCS era. Alabama, LSU, and Florida have. Georgia has been next in line plenty of times and failed to come close to justifying itself as one of the four elite teams in the 14 team league.

After tonight, the Dawgs and their fans don't have to feel inferior anymore. For years, Georgia has felt a little like the middle child.

It doesn't have a national championship in this century or the last three decades. Georgia has always been seen put on a pedestal for its label and done an underwhelming job at taking care of its side of the business.

During the Mark Richt era, Georgia became the butt of jokes by magnifying its dysfunction—its inability to take advantage when the cards were dealt right.

Heading into Saturday, pundits knew what everyone else has known for so long. Yes, Georgia had just as much talent, if not more, but who were we to think they would do anything with it?

In other words, the ones that didn't give Georgia a chance were well aware that Mark Richt teams don't just lose big games; they fail to show up for them.

After all, Georgia reinforced that fact earlier this season when it fell, on the road, to South Carolina by 28 points.

But Georgia players, coaches and fans insisted that they turned a corner after beating Florida this year (to start a winning streak against Florida for the first time in over 20 years).

Tonight they proved it. Georgia has finally arrived. The Bulldogs may not have won the biggfest game in 30 years, but they still passed the test and changed the minds of a nation.

Nick Saban looked like the most relieved man in America when he talked to CBS' Tracy Wolfson immediately following the contest. You could see in his eyes that he had been a nervous wreck from start to finish. In fact, Georgia had plenty of moments where it looked like it was outcoaching the best coach in college football, notably when Georgia converted a fake punt just minutes after Alabama failed one.

Georgia showed Saban the same level of talent, as freshman tailback Todd Gurley ran for 122 yards against the Crimson Tide defense, making experienced Alabama defenders look more like traffic cones than wrecking balls.

Georgia put up 28 points against a team that was allowing just under nine per game all season.

And if it wasn't for the gift of time, Georgia would have had another lead against Alabama. Nick Saban got an even game, and he could not have been happier to have gotten out alive.

Even Georgia's last play, which was heartbreaking to see, came in one of the most excusable ways. Aaron Murray was going for his best throw, a back-shoulder fade to Malcolm Mitchell. The pass was tipped, and sophomore receiver Chris Conley instinctively caught the pass to allow the clock to run out. You cannot fault Conley for catching the pass. He's been trained to do that his entire life as a receiver.

In the end, some fans criticized the fact Georgia didn't spike the ball with 15 seconds to go. Some fans didn't realize Murray's pass was tipped and criticized Murray.

That sputtered away, however, in the wake of Georgia fans simply having nothing more to say than "good game."

For years, we've seen Georgia get trounced in big games and heard criticism after criticism as fans continued to cope with the fact it was once made clear to the country Georgia's nearly elite status would always be nothing but a stagnant curse.

But what we saw tonight is that Georgia's 11-1 record and No. 3 ranking was not just a result of voting protocol and an overrated name. Georgia proved it was one of the best teams in the country.

Had the Bulldogs gotten five more yards, the entire country would be saying exactly that. This is what Georgia fans wanted from the beginning: respect.

Alabama will force Georgia and the rest of the SEC to take a step back, again, in a month.

But Georgia fans should be more than excited for the future of the football program. That performance, on that stage, against that opponent, was what had seemed like only a thing of dreams for so long.

Sure, five seconds turned 30 years into 31 years. That's the pain all fans felt. But Georgia has arrived.

Who says the Dawgs can't finally be the team that makes a run to the national championship much less than a once every 30 years affair?

Alabama has done it. Surely this means Georgia can do it too.