When you’re down by 14 to your conference rival, it’s easy to get down. It’s easy to give up and be defeated; however, the easy road is never the road of champions. Finally, the Georgia Bulldog’s chose the path of winners. After many college years of watching my Dawgs give up to Florida, I witnessed the determination of champions in Georgia’s 24-20 win over the Florida Gators!
Was this a perfect win? No. At times it was sloppy, poorly executed and downright ugly, but a win in Jacksonville is a hard mental and physical battle to the end. The Bulldog’s can walk away from the 2011 season knowing they fought and deserved this W.
I’d rather highlight the defense this week since their comeback was stellar. Jarvis Jones had an amazing day with five tackles and a forced fumble. A total of six sacks were recorded. Jones is credited with four of those drills while Bacarri Rambo and Shawn Williams recovered fumbles, too. The line as a whole stood strong in the midst of battle and appeared to be a different team after the half.
The offense isn’t to be left out, but it wasn’t their best day by a stretch. QB Aaron Murray took some beatings, finished with 169 yards, and went 15-for-34 on passing. Isaiah Crowell led the team on the ground with 81 yards on 18 carries, and Tavarrres King led through the air with three catches for 44 yards and a TD. After trailing 17-3, Georgia scored on two fourth downs to tie the game in the 3rd quarter. Props to both Mark Richt and Mike Bobo for some really gutsy calls. This shows confidence in their players that some would say has been lacking in the past.
Florida wouldn’t keep the tie long when Andre Debose returned the kickoff 63 yards. Georgia’s defense knew crunch time was arriving and they held the Gator’s to a field goal making it 20-17. The Bulldog’s would answer with an impressive nine-play drive to take a 24-20 lead. Richard Samuels deserves major credit for his extreme effort to finish strong while running in the last TD. He came close to scoring again, but instead the clock would run out and he would be assisted off the field. Here’s to hoping he is not injured badly for his resilient exertion.
There isn’t much to be said of special teams. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t horrible, but it isn’t living up to the caliber that is the Georgia Bulldog’s. In my opinion, many improvements need to be made and it’s not all major things. A lot of the errors look to be a lack of preparation, miscommunication and a mental block that has to be overcome.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t in Jacksonville this year for the “World’s Largest Cocktail Party.” I missed the excitement of heading down to Jax, pre-gaming with crazy obnoxious fans, stomping of people’s “pet” gators, and everything that goes along with this historic rivalry. No doubt I will be back next year ready for another WIN!
The SEC East race is still alive and these days I watch South Carolina football just as religiously as my beloved Dawgs! As always, GO DAWGS!!!!
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