And We're Back......

Athens, Ga is arguably one of the most beautiful places to be on a Saturday in October. Okay so maybe I am biased but with perfect weather, good friends and GREAT football…what more could you ask for? The unexpected 41-14 victory over Tennessee was an added bonus. I don’t think anyone predicted that our Bulldogs would prevail with such magnitude. It was a great day to be a Georgia Bulldog!

Let’s Review

The Offense

Aaron Murray would easily take player of the week in my opinion! It’s nice to have a QB who is not afraid to run the ball and one who can so powerfully. To take an early lead, Murray ran in a 35 yard TD. Murray’s ability to escape under pressure and still put up points is what makes him such a key asset to our program! And just think….he will be around for a while! Murray completed 17 of 25 passes for 266 yards. The O-Line still let a few defenders through to Murray but in general showed much improvements! AJ Green continues to impress-his double coverage catch and TD always puts us in a better position. I have said before that you lose together and you win together and I saw an offense that was determined to win and win as a team. Rantavious Wooten and Shaun Chapas also put points up and totaled the offense at 5 TD’s for the day! Assisting, Aron White and Orson Charles together brought about 76 yards and really stepped up this week!

The Defense

A much improved defensive line was also a key element to our victory. Their early stop on Tennessee’s offense brought about a great team morale and forced UT to punt-giving us good field position. I feel like UT took a good look at our past game footage and instead of learning from it they decided to imitate it – not the best choice. As a result of their turnovers we put up 17 points. Snagging those turnovers were Vance Cuff’s tip and Bacari Rambo’s interception, while Derek Owens and Blake Sailors recovered UT fumbles-way to look out boys. Twelve tackles for Akeem Dent tied his career-high for the second week in a row! Brandon Boykin is always a true asset anywhere on the field and he continues to play with force and impact whether he is blocking passes or just playing great coverage! There were still a few missed opportunities but an overall enormous improvement was displayed by this Georgia defense.

Special Teams

Blair Walsh successfully completed 2 field goals from 42 and 20 yards. While he is always appreciated it was good to see a game where he was not the only one putting points on the board!

Keep in mind that Tennessee did not display the greatest effort on the field and that worked in our favor; however, we have played mediocre teams this season who have handed us an upsetting season- so it was great to see a turnaround!

Prevailing over Tennessee this weekend was exactly what this football team and their supporters needed. There are still many games to be played and still many opportunities to snag. We need to use the next two games as preparation for Florida. With unreal upsets in the SEC this weekend, Alabama and Florida losses, it will be interesting to see how things play out. If you are or know of one of those fair weather fans that I like to address, I am assuming you will be back to supporting Mark Richt after this week. Whether it was the all week full pads-full contact practices, Richt’s decision to lead his team into Sanford Stadium, or the overall team consensus that they were determined to get better…all the above worked and worked well! There was no greater sound than hearing the victory bell rung on Saturday afternoon in Athens! It had been a while since I had heard that sound and it was truly music to my ears!