I had a little time to kill yesterday, so I popped on the replay of the Georgia Tech game. One thing that really struck me was how quickly the opening series went: Mitchell returns the kickoff almost fifty yards to the Tech 44 and four plays later the Dawgs are in the end zone. It barely took a minute.
That got me to wondering if that was Georgia’s easiest opening score of the season. With a little research, here’s the list (every successful opening drive resulted in a touchdown, by the way):
- Buffalo: 7 plays, 53 yards, 3:10
- Missouri: did not score
- FAU: 7 plays, 71 yards, 2:25
- Vanderbilt: 7 plays, 47 yards, 2:11
- Tennessee: 13 plays, 84 yards, 6:06
- South Carolina: did not score
- Kentucky: did not score
- Florida: 3 plays, 20 yards, 1:23
- Ole Miss: did not score
- Auburn: 6 plays, 76 yards, 2:05
- GSU: 10 plays, 79 yards, 3:39
- Georgia Tech: 4 plays, 44 yards, 1:03
- Alabama: did not score
- Nebraska: did not score
Yes, you read that correctly – it took more time off the clock for Georgia to score after the Florida fumble than that drive against Tech took. That all being said, honesty compels me to admit that the opening drive against Auburn may have even been easier. What do you guys remember?
Get The Picture 
I am most impressed with the 13 play drive against TN.
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The Tech game and the Auburn game were similar in that they were both such complete mismatches. The difference, though, is that the 2012 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets would have slaughtered 2012 Auburn. The Auburn game was the easiest game I’ve seen Georgia play against a historic “power” program since the 51-7 game against Tech in 2002.
Towards the half, I remember Georgia had something ridiculous like a 3rd and 20 or something and converted it on a draw play. Auburn’s defense clearly had just quit on the play. I think we ended up punting on the drive, but at that point it was clear that Auburn didn’t have anything for the ‘Dawgs that day. I think the opening drive against Auburn was easier just because it felt inevitable. I walked into Jordan-Hare knowing that it was an easy win for Georgia. I also had zero doubts in my mind about Tech, but with them I’ve come to expect some early game hiccups as the team gets settled in against that cut-block offense. But Auburn… yeesh. What a terrible team that was.
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An Auburn pal of mine insisted that they shored up the personnel gaps from 2011 and that 12 would be much improved. A clear victim of pre season happy talk. I almost –yes ALMOST–felt bad for him this game.
Those guys deserve what they get and more. They get a two hour suspension of Cam Newton, and we can’t bend the NCAA (despite staking our staff’s professional integrity on the issue) to allow a kid who CLEARLY is not using performance enhancing drugs to play a down in a Georgia uniform. Crap I’m all pissed now.
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Yup. I’ve got dozens of Auburn friends, literally, but I felt zero sympathy for them in the last two years for just that type of reason.
And, they’re already engaging in preseason happy talk on the Plains this year. And, really, it’s hard to imagine them not being better than last year simply because my goodness… worst Auburn team I’ve ever seen.
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Make that three votes for the Auburn game. This season comes close to finishing heat production to my viscera when thinking of that nearly 3-yr old game. One more mopping of the floor, with their team and spirit suffering immensely, ought to do it.
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There’s never, ever, no way in Hell a way to ever beat Auburn badly enough or often enough to establish Cosmic Justice, except maybe if we score on every O possession and keep them from getting any first downs for about 50 years straight. The last 2 years come close, tho.
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Speaking of the Happy Talk. Mr. Tennessee Fan, my neighbor that flies the giant T flag on game days and has the coon-hound with the orange sweater too…..swears that uT is UT again. That is some serious denial.
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Mr. Tennessee Fan will soon learn that Butch is SOD without the eloquence of good stand-up
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The folks at StingTalk feel like their game was closer than the score indicated because they outgained Georgia in the final stat sheet and if they had scored instead of fumbled at the goal line, the whole tenor of the game would have been completely different. No chance that they were just completely outmatched.
Admittedly, there are a few astute Techies that have noted the only reason they weren’t outgained was because of that pesky goal line that Murray and Co. kept crossing. But hey, if they want to keep believing that Fish Fry is the superior coach and Richt only gets the best of him because all Tech players are rocket engineers and all Georgia players are thugs destined for jail time, I’ll just keep on taking those W’s.
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neither the auburn nor the tech game was as close as the score would indicate. Had Lynch not dropped a 3rd down pass against AU right before the half, we easily get another 7. Obviously, in both games, we subbed out and stopped trying to score points at some point in the third quarter, with the notable exception that we left the first team in on defense late against Auburn to preserve the shut out.
What was most striking about the tech game was how easy Gurley and Marshall had it. The tech DL was virtually no opposition and the safeties were so deep that once our backs broke through the line of scrimmage they have 10-20 yards of green ahead of them virtually every play. Of course, the funny thing was our WRs just blew by their DBs and Aaron generally had all day to throw.
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The bowl game (Nebraska) was a little easier than I thought it would be. Georgia left some points on the field. We all knew Tech and Auburn would be cakewalks, but Nebraska was supposed to be better than they showed,(and they might have been…Georgia may have just come into full bloom after the Alabama game). With a rested team and the balance (running and throwing) and confidence Georgia developed over the season, Nebraska was just over matched. It’s possible, also, that Neb. was overconfident in their lofty (esp defense) ratings and didn’t believe the conventional wisdom that the SEC is a higher level of competition than they had been seeing. I’m hoping that the opener against Clemson will be in similar fashion…not that Clemson will be suprised by Georgia’s excellence, but they just won’t be able to handle the rested and balanced Dawgs.
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Martinez’s mouth didn’t help Neb’s chances either. They were all juiced up with “Revenge against the overhyped SEC ” crud and false bravado. Murray’s production of a “New Testament” game was ironic and timely. Five pass TDs vs the best pass D in the country was no small feat of which he has never been sufficiently lauded. Most people read that as a stat and don’t view it as the passing clinic we knew it was.
Hail Murray, full of Grace.
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Should’ve been six, but TK dropped it. Would’ve been a great way for him to go out.
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I think you’re mis-remembering that game. NEB had a lead in the 2nd half, no? Or it was neck and neck well into the third quarter. The first half NEB did whatever it wanted on offense. UGA pulled away in the 2nd half, but it wasn’t a beatdown like you’re insinuating.
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Not a beatdown at all, but Nebraska was clearly overmatched.. I was referring to the fact that Nebraska’s defense was so highly rated against the pass (mainly). Most respectable programs can play tough for a half or three quarters…it’s what happens from the middle of the third on that tells the tale. I was biting my nails in the first quarter…but… I though Nebraska was pretty much through by the third. I just expected it to be closer, and honestly it wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Kentucky gave Georgia more trouble than possibly any other win in ’12 (29 -25 I think)…so you never know how a game will go..
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There is also the image of a feisty Martinez mouthing off at the D until he got stuffed under a bench. Beautiful hit when Martinez was provoking it as he hesitated near the sideline to get a yellow flag for an ob hit. The D player (remembered his name for a month , but not sure now whether it was Williams or someone else) moved faster and creamed him before he could step out. Martinez’s trash talking then toned down.
When UGA played a game last season, there was the worrying part for about a qtr when usually it lasted until the final whistle. Those guys would have kicked anyone’s butt at the end of the year and Neb was no exception in my mind. When we were behind, I just patiently waited for Murray to get us right back in it and the game wasn’t as close as the final score makes it seem, thanks to Bobo’s O Machine.
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Both the Tech and Auburn defenses contained roughly equal amounts of suckage, so it’s hard to contrast the two. One difference; AU didn’t want to be there from the start, while it took a few minutes of getting manhandled by a physically superior team before Tech quit.
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I don’t remember the Auburn game last year. I’m pretty sure the series was cancelled.
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WarD, Kristi says shut up! She and Gus need a benchmark for improvement and therefore a Hamiltonian-like contract extension package from Jay and what better year than last year.
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Yep, she’s a sideshow alright. Wonder which charismatic church won’t interview her this year? I figured her daughter is in Ca or further away by now while fleeing her mother’s God-tempered punishments of control.
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They must have renditioned her to a black site in Phenix City for sequestration. Jay and Gus are the most likely suspects. I can’t wait until Kristi breaks out again because who isn’t already tired of hearing from Bielema about how many eggs his wife can eat?
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If she keeps on eating 3 egg omelets like that she’ll soon be looking like Bret instead of just sharing his name.
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Suppose some day there weren’t any chickens
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Is this from ‘Pink Flamingos’?
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If she keeps eating three egg omelets like that she’ll be looking like Bret instead of just sharing his name.
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Oops! Sorry about the repeat. 🙂
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I have no idea what you just said
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I don’t either but I think it ended up having something to do with eggs
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As the years go by and my capacity to remember anything diminishes rapidly, I’m afraid I can only compartmentalize UGA season’s into a key moment or two. 2012 is surely the final 5 seconds of the SECCG…everything else is but a blur.
Still have not watched the 2nd half stored on the DVR. July 4th weekend looks like a good time to try.
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Would you like a nice brownie for a holiday desert? Really makes individual plays stand out, but you’ll need someone else to work the DVR, otherwise you will discover that you have been cheering your lungs out for 15 minutes over the same play that you looped earlier. Sometimes you get 3-D without your TV being capable. It’s the best when you finish watching and cheering a game because you can disremember, play the same game over and over and increase your pleasure exponentially.
Hint: play the Au game second. All the brownie “flavor” will have kicked in by then. Us ole Dawgs have to take care of each other since we know that the same young Dawg mind sits in an older delivery vehicle.
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Ha!
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A diminutive Tom Cruse recommends a peaceful and easy Memorial Day re-viewing. He has bad vibes about being in the shit on the Fourth of July.
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The most impressive stat to me there is that Bluto had time to kill. What’s that like?
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But what if Bluto didn’t have time to kill? Who would kill it for us and would we have to wait until June and July?
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I blog, therefore I have time to kill. 😉
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Senator,the General sends his regards…but says take it easy on his Alma Mater.
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The Tech score WAS fast but I can’t remember a more dominant Georgia game. I remember riding over and all the Dawgs fans coming up with reasons why we would lose and the Barn would be “up”. Damn were we wrong! Auburn was bad, sure, but we also saw just how good our offense could be.
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I can remember many more dominant games where Georgia won. Alas, I am old. I remember a game at Grant Field in 1975 that was dominated by GT. Of course some of you weren’t born yet or you were too young to be there.
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Probably most of them were there in their spirits and disremember as a form of mental health through the years.
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