Georgia finally played its first complete game of the 2009 season today in dispatching FCS opponent Tennessee Tech in Athens 38-0. Such an easy and satisfying win would’ve been welcome earlier in the season when the Dawgs were playing BCS conference foes Oklahoma State and Arizona State.
Georgia found in this game that they can indeed run the ball with success on an opponent and can play solid, unyielding defense. The Dawgs ran for 301 yards and three touchdowns on the day. The defense pitched a shutout for the first time since Game 3 of the 2006 season against UAB, another Watson Brown-coached team.
Washaun Ealey scored twice for Georgia and totaled 88 yards on just six carries. Despite not starting today, Ealey appears to be Georgia’s best back. However, Caleb King put in a solid performance as well, rushing 12 times for 71 yards. Branden Smith scored his second touchdown of the season with a scintillating 52-yard run in the first quarter.
The defense held Tech to just 54 total yards in a dominating performance. After being criticized for much of the past two seasons, the Dawgs’ D was all about taking care of business today. Georgia held the Golden Eagles to -15 yards rushing on 31 attempts.
If anything was less than spectacular today, it was the pass defense, which allowed Tech quarterback Lee Sweeney to complete 8-9 passes for 61 yards. For the day, Tech passers were 11-16 for 69 yards.
Joe Cox also seemed to benefit from playing the over-matched opponent by completing 10-13 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Cox hit Orson Charles for a 23-yard touchdown in the first quarter and Michael Moore for a 6-yard touchdown pass in the third.
Cox did not throw an interception for the first time all year.
Which brings up the only negative of the day- the Dawgs did not cause any turnovers.
NEXT WEEK
It will be interesting to see how UGA comes out of this confidence-builder in the game against Auburn next Saturday. Following games against OSU and ASU within the first four games of the year to go with conference games against South Carolina and Arkansas, the Dawgs seemed to be out of gas in games against SEC foes LSU and Tennessee in Games 5 and 6, both losses.
Hopefully for future Bulldog teams, athletic director Damon Evans has learned his lesson about scheduling three BCS conference opponents in the same season to go along with eight SEC games.
The Oldest Rivalry in the South should be another wild SEC home game for the Dawgs. Dramatic games with South Carolina and LSU earlier in the season featured back-and-forth lead changes all day and several exciting plays. Since both Auburn and Georgia have had the Jekyll and Hyde persona this season, it will be interesting to see which team shows up with their best performance and which team can’t get out of its own way.
Auburn traditionally plays well in Athens, so the Dawgs need to be on their A game. A win over the Tigers will set UGA for a 5-3 SEC record and a possible 7-5 season if they can get past Kentucky the following week. That type of record may get them in the Chick-fil-a Bowl or, more likely, the Music City Bowl.
Either way, there is always a lot on the line in the Auburn rivalry, if only bragging rights this time around.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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