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SPORTS
The Red & Black | Monday, November 13, 2006 13
Poor Aubie ... NOT
Auburn mascot, Aubie, sulks across the field after
Saturday's Bulldog victory.
— Photo by Tom O’Connor
POLL
AP Top 25
1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Arkansas
6. Notre Dame
7. Rutgers
8. West Virginia
9. LSU
10. Louisville
11. Texas
12. Wisconsin
13. Boise State
14. Wake Forest
15. Auburn
16. Oklahoma
17. California
18. Georgia Tech
19. Virginia Tech
20. Boston College
21. Maryland
22. Tennessee
23. Brigham Young
24. Nebraska
25. Clemson
USA Today
1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Notre Dame
6. Arkansas
7. West Virginia
8. Rutgers
9. LSU
10. Wisconsin
11. Texas
12. Louisville
13. Boise State
14. Wake Forest
15. Auburn
16. Oklahoma
17. California
18. Georgia Tech
19. Virginia Tech
20. Boston College
21. Maryland
22. Nebraska
23. Tennessee
24. Brigham Young
25. Clemson
IN THE SEC
SEC record, overall
East
West
Florida (3)
Arkansas (5)
7-1, 9-1
6-0, 9-1
Kentucky
Auburn (15)
4-3, 6-4
5-2, 9-2
Georgia
LSU (9)
4-4, 7-4
4-2, 8-2
Tennessee(22)
Alabama
3-3, 7-3
2-5, 6-5
South
Mississippi
Carolina
State
3-5, 5-5
1-5, 3-7
Vanderbilt
Mississippi
1-6, 4-7
1-5, 3-7
TOM O’CONNOR | The Red d Black
A Tight end Martrez Milner (87) hauls in a pass Saturday. Milner caught three passes,
most of any Georgia receiver, for 41 yards on the afternoon. Aided by no dropped balls
and a more vertical offensive scheme, the Bulldogs logged 219 pass yards in the win.
Long passes help out Dogs
By PETER STEINBAUER
psteinbau@randb.com
Mark Richt looked at his
offensive game plan the night
before Saturday’s game and
wasn’t happy.
It was the lowest he’d felt
all season.
“I was like, ‘This is the
worst thing I’ve ever seen,”’
Richt said.
He didn’t see his team
completing the long pass
plays he planned to call.
After all, Georgia had com
pleted only two passes for
more than 40 yards all season.
But Richt stayed with the
gameplan.
Matthew Stafford dropped
back twice after Richt called
“P44 take-off.”
Tiger coaches saw film
from Georgia’s game against
Kentucky when the Bulldog
passing game was nonexist
ent and decided to play tight
single coverage on Georgia’s
receivers.
The safeties instead
crowded the line of scrim
mage, looking to stop the
running game.
Receiver A.J. Bryant ran
the first take-off route four
minutes into the game and
came down with the ball 53
yards later.
In the second quarter,
receiver Kenneth Harris ran
the same play and caught a
40-yard reception.
Both were key plays in
touchdown-scoring drives.
“That’s not a very high per
centage throw,” Richt said.
“But we hit it. It really gave
us confidence, but I think it
changed the dynamic of how
they were playing us defen
sively.”
“I knew if you don’t make a
play with those receivers in
single coverage, you’re going
to have a hard, long day run
ning the football.”
After a season filled with
criticism, Georgia’s receivers
dropped no passes on
Saturday, catching 14 balls
for 219 yards.
Tight end Martrez Milner
led Georgia in receiving
yards, catching three passes
for 41 yards.
“One thing Matt Stafford
told us this week is we’re just
playing backyard football,”
Milner said. “In backyard
football, you don’t worry
about catching the ball or
dropping the ball — you just
go out there and play and
that’s what we wanted to do
today.”
Seven different Georgia
players caught a pass on
Saturday.
“We’ve still been pushing,
regardless of what everyone’s
been saying,” Bryant said.
“We knew we could do this.
We do it all the time in prac
tice.”
The performance was
clearly Stafford’s best as a
Bulldog. He threw for 219
yards, one touchdown and
had no interceptions.
Richt was most proud of a
ball Stafford threw away in
the back of the end zone
when Georgia was close to
scoring.
“I was more excited about
that play than any play in the
whole game,” he said. “I can’t
tell you how many times
I’ve told him prior to a
play if it’s not right, throw it
away.”
Stafford’s confidence grew
as he made plays, and he
looked more comfortable
than he has all season.
“I would say this is a signa
ture win (for Stafford),” Richt
said. “It could be a
defining moment for him. I
hope it is.”
VICTORY: Win equals redemption for Bulldogs
► From Page 1
the Liberty Bowl in
Memphis, Tenn.
The Chick-fil-A Bowl,
which had a committee
member at the game, has the
fifth pick among SEC teams.
The Tennessee bowls follow,
working together to take the
sixth and seventh SEC
teams.
Before Saturday’s win,
Georgia’s bowl hopes
seemed to be slipping away
as nothing recently had gone
right.
Since the start of October,
the Bulldogs had lost four of
five (including to Vanderbilt
and Kentucky), dropped
from the rankings for the
first time in 85 weeks and
had many wondering what
was wrong in Athens.
“You got to understand,”
senior center Nick Jones
said, “after last week, we
were hurt.”
This weekend was
redemption for it all.
“Considering peoples’ per
ception of what was happen
ing to our program, it’s
huge,” head coach Mark
Richt said. “There’s no ques
tion. It’s a huge victory for
us.”
Maybe, several Georgia
players said, the win even
makes up for losses to those
SEC East bottom feeders.
“In my mind, it does,” sen
ior defensive tackle Ray
Gant said. “To a lot of fans, it
might not, but in my mind
this is the sweetest win I’ve
ever experienced.”
Senior tight end Martrez
Milner, maligned for much of
the year, said he and his
teammates can’t look at
what happened in the past.
Still, there are some
thoughts of what might have
been.
“We know that if we would
have played like we played
today against Kentucky,
Vanderbilt or even Florida or
Tennessee, we could be
undefeated,” milner said.
William Draper, a fourth-
year landscape architecture
student from Columbia,
Tenn., said after the game
that he wasn’t thinking
about the past either.
He was looking to the
future, saying that the win
was a signature victory
for freshman quarterback
Matthew Stafford and will
give the team momentum
heading into the 2007 season.
“It’s a young team, they
got to grow,” he said, yelling
as a large section of Georgia
fans cheered after the game.
“This was the team every
body thought we could be
when we got that lofty rank
ing at the beginning of the
season.”
THE BEST & WORST OVERHEARD ON GAMEDAY
Best way to show up after a dismal
game: Last week’s loss at Kentucky
was nothing short of miserable for
Georgia. The Bulldogs came out this
week and looked like a different team.
They took the opening drive 80 yards
for a score, and the defense followed,
forcing a three-and-out. From there,
the rout was on.
Best way to avenge a thoughtless
moment: On his second interception
of the first half, rover Tra Battle made
an unnecessary dive across the goal
line as he scored and was flagged 15
yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Auburn used the good field position
from the penalty on its ensuing drive
and scored its first points of the game
on two plays. On the Tigers’ next drive,
Battle intercepted his third pass of the
half and set up a Georgia touchdown.
Best way to finish strong: Georgia
played well in the first half against
Tennessee. Then everything fell apart
in the second and Georgia lost a 17-
point lead and the game. There were
some parallels - Georgia allowing its
opponent to drive down for an easy
score late in the half and a turnover on
the first drive of the second. But
Georgia didn’t collapse late and left
with a win this time.
Worst way to ruin an almost flaw
less day: Through the air, Matthew
Stafford was about perfect. He looked
good running the ball, too, but just
wasn’t holding the ball tight enough.
Twice Auburn defenders knocked the
ball free on Stafford scrambles, forcing
two of Georgia’s three turnovers.
Worst way to return to old defensive
habits: Twice, the Georgia defense
returned to its past ways, allowing the
Auburn backs to run through and pro
viding spotty coverage in the second
ary. Near the end of the first half,
Auburn needed two plays and less
than a minute to move the ball 41
yards to score. It took Auburn two-and-
a-half minutes to score its second
touchdown on a 34 yard pass,
Worst way to leave the stadium
health-wise: Running backs Kregg
Lumpkin (mild left ankle sprain) and
Danny Ware (right knee and ankle
sprain) both suffered leg injuries late in
the game and Georgia was forced to
go with a one-back set, using full back
Brannan Southerland to run out the
clock. Lumpkin had performed well,
running for 105 yards, and Ware fin
ished with 20.
— Matthew Borenstein
“I think words are fairly cheap until you start
making plays.”
“I’m sure in my mind it will be one of the games
that’s maybe most important to me.”
- Mark Richt
“We needed something to bring some life back into
this team, and I think this did.”
- Gordon Ely-Kelso
“There’s a lot of redemption, especially since this
is my last SEC game. I issued a challenge to all the
DBs to help me go out on a winning note and play a
full game.”
- Tra Battle
“It does for me (save his senior year). I feel great
today. I know you can’t atone for the whole season,
but I feel great today.”
- Nick Jones
“That’s just a flat-out ass-whippin.”
- Auburn supporter in the press box at halftime
QUARTER-CAPS
COLIN SMITH | The Red & Black
▲ The Bulldogs converted on their first drive, as Kregg
Lumpkin (6) scored his first touchdown of the day.
FIRST QUARTER 7-0
Kregg Lumpkin rushed for an eight-yard
touchdown after Matthew Stafford connected
with A.J. Bryant on a 53-yard pass. Georgia's
defense held Auburn to 0 passing yards in the
first quarter. Tra Battle intercepted a pass and
returned it 20 yards to the Auburn 40.
Bulldogs Tigers
7
Points
0
112
Yards
19
6
First Downs
1
3-14
Penalty-Yards
4-35
8:31
Possession
6:29
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TOM O’CONNOR | The Red & Black
A Rover Tra Battle (25) dives for the end zone on his sec
ond interception, which he returned for a touchdown.
SECOND QUARTER 30-7
Gordon Ely-Kelso kicked a 34-yard field goal,
and Brannan Southerland rushed for a 1-yard
touchdown, set up by a 40-yard Stafford pass to
Kenneth Harris. Battle returned his second pick
for a score. Kregg Lumpkin scored Georgia’s
final points of the half on a screen pass.
Bulldogs Tigers
23
Points
7
124
Yards
60
5
First Downs
5
2-10
Penalty-Yards
0-0
8:07
Possession
6:53
TOM O’CONNOR | The Red & Black
▲ Auburn’s Jerraud Powers (8) is chased by Martrez
Milner (87) as he returns Matthew Stafford’s fumble.
Bulldogs Tigers
7 Points 8
121 Yards 95
4 First Downs 3
2-10 Penalty-Yards 4-35
9:25 Possession 5:35
THIRD QUARTER 30-15
Cox threw a 34-yard touchdown pass and
then completed a pass for a two-point conver
sion, cutting Georgia’s lead to 30-15. Paul Oliver
intercepted an Auburn pass, but Georgia was
unable to convert the field position into points.
Georgia lost two fumbles in the quarter.
TOM O’CONNOR | The Red & Black
A Matthew Stafford (7) converts a
quarterback draw play into a touch
down, sealing Georgia’s victory.
FOURTH QUARTER 37-15
Stafford drove Georgia's offense 80 yards
for a touchdown with 12:28 left in the game, giv
ing the Bulldogs a 37-15 lead. Auburn punted on
the next possession. Georgia ran nine minutes
off the clock with their next drive, sealing the
victory.
Bulldogs Tigers
7
Points
0
89
Yards
-3
5
First Downs
0
2-15
Penalty-Yards
0-0
12:09
Possession
2:51
— Peter Steinbauer