To what should be nobody’s surprise, Georgia’s defensive coordinator was asked last night at the UGA Days event in Buckhead what he thought about Will Muschamp’s promise to make Georgia’s winning streak over Florida short-lived. Grantham’s response was, I thought, fairly muted and expected, but about one area he felt strongly enough to offer a rebuttal.
Muschamp cited the Gators’ turnover issues in last year’s 17-9 Georgia victory and characterized them as self-inflicted.
“Obviously, when you turn the ball over six times, you’re not going to win many games,” Muschamp said. “We fought through a lot of adversity we created for ourselves in the game. It just didn’t work out.”
Grantham took exception to that. He clearly feels the Bulldogs should be given some credit for coming up with the football.
“We actually created six turnovers and we were plus-3 for the game,” Grantham said. “In this league, when you turn the ball over you’re going to have a hard time winning. The last two years we’ve had 62 (takeaways), which is second only to LSU. If we’re plus-1 since I’ve been here we’re right around 92 percent win. It’s a critical point, we emphasize it and we work it every day. It’s a part of the game. You have to protect the football.”
A little professional pride’s showing there. And Grantham does have a point. While some part of turnover margin can be chalked up to random luck, such as fumble recoveries – hi, Mayor! – it’s been clear from the get-go that Grantham’s emphasis on putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks hasn’t been mere lip-service. And that Georgia defense Florida saw played hard, physical football. That +3 was earned, Boom.
(As an aside, if you need proof of what tends to make AJ-C coverage so obnoxious these days, this piece is a good example. There’s nothing wrong at all with what Towers wrote, but check out the header and the photo used with his article. Clearly somebody wanted to give the impression that there was something angry and controversial in what Grantham had to say. And just as clearly, there wasn’t. So let me just say to you, nameless editor, you’re an ass.)