Recap of Week 5

Well everyone deserves a bye week, so let's just call last week my bye week.

Although I didn't post, obviously I did watch the games this weekend. Good win for Miami, Notre Dame stays alive, USC gets back in the title hunt, and Florida had the best week of all, not having to play with Tim Tebow still stumbling around Gainesville.

But let's be honest. Around here, there was only one game that mattered and needs to be talked about now.

Georgia, between the hedges, falls in the final seconds to LSU.

I want to do this differently than I have in the past. I would like to take a few minutes to disprove most of the theories I have heard about the game this past Saturday.

1. Georgia lost because of the excessive celebration penalty.
False. 15 yards does not a game make. Whether it was a good call or a bad call, here were the facts following the penalty. Georgia had a 1 point lead with 1:09 to play at home. Even if Georgia were kicking off from the Tate Center, you have to win the game when those are the circumstances. You have just made the play to win the game, so win the game! By the way, the call was crap, but not the reason Georgia lost.

2. Joe Cox's terrible first half lost the game for Georgia.
False. Don't get me wrong, Joe Cox was as bad in the first half as any Georgia quarterback has been this decade. He was missing on passes that my mother could have made. It wasn't like the decision making was bad, he was taking the easy throws on most of his attempts and just missing. There is no excuse for that kind of play from a 5th year senior quarterback. All of that said, as bad as Cox was the score was 6-0 at half time, and Georgia was still in the game. You can't blame Cox for losing the game, because his bad first half play was still good enough to give Georgia the chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.

3. Georgia's defense had another bad game, and cost Georgia the game.
False. On the contrary, this was by far the best game the defense has played all season. With 6 minutes left in the game, the #4 team in the nation had only scored 6 points. The defense sacked the quarterback 6 times, made an interception in the red zone early in the game, and tackled as well as they have in the past two seasons. The defense came to play. Can't blame them for this one.

4. Mike Bobo's play calling cost Georgia the game.
False. Bobo didn't have a choice in the first half. Georgia's backs couldn't establish the run and Joe Cox was not on his game. You can't just throw the ball around the field when the defense can just sit their safeties back waiting on your inaccurate quarterback to fling the ball down the middle of the field. Bobo was working with what he had. In the second half, they put the Knowshon look-a-like in and got something going on the ground. When that happened, Georgia found a passing game. All of a sudden, Bobo remembered how to call plays? No, Georgia had no momentum and ultimately, the players on the field half to execute.

So why did Georgia lose?

Simple. One simple reason. One play.

As Georgia was kicking off from their own 15 yard line, following the A.J. Green penalty, LSU returned the ball to the Georgia 37 yard line. This kick return cost Georgia the game. Think about it, if LSU starts that drive at their own 45 or even the 50, they have to be thinking pass the ball down field to get into field goal range. At the 37, they were content running three times up the middle and kicking the game winning field goal. So what their running back broke one for the touchdown, they were content just winning by 1 point, they didn't need 7. This one play cost Georgia the game. Any of the other factors could have been overcome, but this one play changed the game.

One more thing to remember, Georgia is not going to win the SEC this year. This is a 9-3 team at best that will be playing on New Year's Day in either the Outback Bowl or the Capital One Bowl. Try not to lose sight of the reality of this team. They just aren't talented enough to compete with Florida and Alabama this year.

Let's go on the road, beat Tennessee, beat Vandy, and then get ready to hunker down against the Gators in Jacksonville. A miracle in Jacksonville, and no one will give a crap about celebration penalties.