This one hurt a lot.
For the past two years, Florida has come to Jacksonville and dominated Georgia. Florida was just better in every aspect of the game. Florida had better players and better coaches. That is not easy to accept, but it’s easier than what happen yesterday.
Georgia is not a great team and neither is Florida, but losing 34-31 in OT was just heartbreaking.
At halftime, you could see this game getting away from the Dawgs. 21-7 and all the momentum was with Florida. Florida was getting the ball to start the second half. But Georgia showed amazing fortitude by hanging in and chipping away at Florida’s lead. They even managed to tie the game at 24, and then the Gators came right back and took a 31-24 lead. Aaron Murray didn’t care. He lead the Dawgs down the field and threaded a pass through three defenders to AJ Green for another game-tying touchdown.
There will be some debate about the final Georgia drive of regulation. Georgia had 54 seconds to play, two timeouts and all the momentum. However, had Georgia gotten aggressive and gone three and out, Dawg fans would be killing Richt this morning. Richt played for overtime, and Murray through an interception trying to get the ball to the best receiver Georgia has ever had. Florida’s punter then kicked the game winning field goal, breaking Bulldog hearts everywhere.
Yeah this one is going to sting for a while.
It’s not that we were playing for a national title. Even an SEC East title was still a long shot with a win. It’s not that Florida was a great team and we had a chance to beat them. The reason this one is going to hurt is simply because we lost to Florida again. 18-21 games in this series have gone to the Gators.
When Florida is better they kill Georgia (2008, 2009) . When Georgia is better they manage to sneak by Georgia (2002, 2005). And this year, when both teams are not very good, Florida still beats Georgia.
This game was razor close by all statistical measures. On the scoreboard, it was a three point game. Florida had 23 first downs, Georgia had 22. Florida had 450 yards of total offense, Georgia had 439. Florida had the ball for 30 minutes and 38 seconds, Georgia had the ball for 29 minutes and 22 seconds.
What is even harder to deal with are the numbers that were in Georgia’s favor. Georgia was 8-15 on third down, while the Gators were only 4-14. Georgia had only two penalties while Florida had nine.
In reality there is only one number you need to know about the 2010 addition of Georgia/Florida, and that number is 4. 4 costly, game-changing, and heartbreaking turnovers. For the first time this season Aaron Murray played like a freshman. Murray has been nothing but solid under center for the Dawgs all season, but one bad half of football cost Georgia dearly. Richt took up for Murray after the game. Richt said that the first interception was a great play by the Florida defender, and he is right. Richt said the second interception probably sould have been caught by Aaron White, and he is right. But there is no doubt that Murray was rattled in the first half and it changed the way Georgia’s offense played. To his credit, Murray played at an amazing level in the second half, and showed poise and leadership in bringing the Dawgs back. Georgia scored 24 points in the second half. But at the end of the day, the interceptions and the fumble are the reason Georgia lost to Florida again.
I believe that Murray will eventually be one of the best quarterbacks that Georgia has ever had. He has the heart and drive to win, but he will have to get over costing his team the game yesterday.
Now the season comes down to this. Georgia must win 2 of their next three games to be 6-6 and make it to a bowl game.
You might be asking yourself, what does it matter if we go to a bowl game? It will be a crappy game that means nothing.
You would be wrong. Making it to a bowl game means you get to practice for that bowl game. It is an extra three weeks for the coaches to work with the players and I think we can all be sure that we need to practice as much as possible.
Georgia will beat Idaho State this weekend, and most of the starters shouldn’t have to play the second half. Then the Dawgs will get the number one team in the nation when they travel to Auburn. To assume anything but a loss at Auburn would be absurd. Which means that it will come down to the Saturday after Thanksgiving and Clean Old-Fashioned Hate between Georgia and Georgia Tech.
This Bulldog team will not be playing for a title, they will not be playing for a big bowl game. This Bulldog team has only one thing left to play for, but it is the purest pursuit in all of sports: Pride.
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