It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for the nearly unstoppable force that is Georgia receiver A.J. Green. After scorching Arkansas (137 yards, two touchdowns) and Arizona State (153 yards, touchdown) in consecutive weeks, Green mixed in a third consecutive dose of awesome (99 yards, touchdown) in catching a leaping touchdown to give Georgia a 13-12 lead over LSU with just over a minute left on Saturday. Then, while being mobbed by teammates he somehow drew a celebration penalty, going 'Locker 2.0' on his teammates.The penalty was crucial, contributing to a lengthy kick return by LSU's superfast dwarf, Trindon Holliday. Holliday took the kick to the Bulldogs' 42 yard line, almost into field goal position. LSU back Charles Scott did him one better, shedding several tackles on the way to a 33-yard touchdown run several plays later for the eventual 20-13 margin. Effectively, that was ballgame despite Georgia thoroughly dominating the second half in escaping the hole of a nearly game-long 6-0 deficit.
For good measure, Scott's equally mundane celebration -- he dropped the ball in the end zone and pointed both arms into the stands -- also netted a celebration flag. Whatever, the damage was already done. Neither celebration, from what was presented on television, merited such a dire penalty especially given the game atmosphere.
This writeup commenced with the opening line from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and well, the game was a tale of two halves. LSU dominated the first half in building a 6-0 lead while dismantling the Dawgs' offense. However, Georgia opened the second half snagging three consecutive sacks to throttle LSU's first possession. They later took the game over with an 18-play, 60-yard, seven-minute touchdown drive spanning into the fourth quarter that gave them a shocking 7-6 lead. Georgia converted several consecutive third downs on the drive, frustrating the Tigers' defense while eating up the clock.
In the end it was wasted motion, Green's soaring catch (redemption after having two similar 50/50 balls broken up earlier in the game) being the high water mark that quickly sewed their demise.
Of little consolation but perhaps major future dividends for Georgia, the appearance of freshman back Washaun Ealey sporting Knowshon Moreno's No. 24, seemed to spark the offense. His numbers were pedestrian (4.1 yards/carry, 33 yards) but he ran hard and the offense responded to his style. Established veterans Caleb King and Richard Samuel have been uninspiring, leaving Ealey a window from which to build a case he should be the team's lead back.
Meanwhile, LSU earned the victory and remain undefeated but confirmed many peoples' suspicion that as of right now, they're not a top-five team. The date with Florida next Saturday will go a long way to confirm or deny those suspicions, but for this week, they earn a slight downgrade if folks are being honest about the Tigers.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-03-2009 @ 10:04PM
sambourne said...
ignat p saddlesoap
Trindon Holliday probably wouldn't like you calling him a dwarf. How fast can you run?
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10-03-2009 @ 10:34PM
TKO said...
A.J. GREEN CAN'T BE STOP
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10-03-2009 @ 11:17PM
StevefromSacto said...
The two umsportsmanlike conduct calls on Georgia and the one on LSU were some of the worst calls I've ever seen. No way were any of these guys taunting their opponents or "rubbing it in." In the Notre Dame/Washington game, people were doing far worse and nothing was called.
A college guy scores a big touchdown and he's not supposed to be excited? The way it's going, we'll wind up with robots playing the game instead of people.
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10-04-2009 @ 1:20AM
secrivals1 said...
I agree with you Steve ... no way in the world that game needs to be either decided or nearly decided on those two flags...ridiculous.
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10-04-2009 @ 1:43AM
ekakarott said...
A slight downgrade Grummel? If that's the case who would be upgraded? The hating needs to stop now!
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10-04-2009 @ 8:06AM
Ron Perry said...
Everyone hates LSU because they keep on winning And not because the flags. Look out tebow your next
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10-04-2009 @ 11:00AM
dsrimages said...
You have to admit, it was a good game all the way to the end. Glad LSU came out on top, but honestly, we got lucky. Had there not been a penalty against Georgia, we probably would have lost that game. The cards fell in our favor this time, be grateful. Don't be so enthusiastic about Florida coming to town, they are very much a force to be reckoned with. Noticed alot of Georgia fans had the game in the bag before it started figuring they would walk all over LSU, we dare not make that same mistake, especially against Florida, the number 1 team in the nation as very well deserved and earned. Even if Tebow doesn't play, we are by no means out of the water. Florida has an extremely good football team. I just hope we don't have a repeat of last year's game as Florida dismantled our offense and defense. It could very easily happen again folks. Be grateful we got out of Athens with a win when in reality we could have very easily lost that game, but by no means take for granted that Florida is going to be a W in our win column. Give respect where respect is due and by no means ever underestimate your enemy or opponent. This is going to be a very tough game for us and most likely our toughest challenge of the year. If our team manages to come out and decide to play football as a whole, we have a chance, but if they show up where half of the team is playing as it has been all year, we're going to be in for a very long day in "Death Valley". Encourage our guys this week to focus on Florida and to make the plays necesary for us to win this game. We can win if we play well, but so far this year, LSU has not played to the capability of what our potential says we should be. Last week everyone was questioning if we stood a chance against Georgia, well, we got lucky there, but we face a much tougher opponent in our own stadium this coming week. I hope we come out on top! Geaux Tigers!
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10-04-2009 @ 6:52PM
cjgdnight said...
This was one of the best High School football games I have seen in a long time... neither side played like they have been coached in the last two years... the athletes (Holliday aside) were unimpressive and the game was good because it was evenly matched ineptitude. SEC has fallen big time if these are their better teams.
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10-05-2009 @ 1:59PM
jimthomjr said...
OK. I don't get the point of this blog story. Lemme see if I get this right - Georgia lost the game because of the referee's call (at home, in their stadium) but when the very same thing was called on LSU a short time later, it was too late to make a difference - the "damage was already done?" Huh? Georgia certainly could have run back the short kick-off and scored again, like LSU did. But they didn't, did they? Was that because of the referee, too? And, oh by the way, LSU fans won't forget Georgia's selfish whining about not making the title game after the 2007 season, when they didn't even win their division. Their President called a press conference to complain about the BCS on the day after LSU beat Ohio State for the title. In other words, instead of letting LSU fans have their day, they chose to draw attention to themselves and whine about their inability to play for it all. So, Georgia fans, if you need to complain about something else, go ahead and make it about the refs.
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10-08-2009 @ 9:21PM
amarie505 said...
UGA would have won, the run, by scott, was a clip and not called. Along with a helmet to helmet hit, on Caleb King, earlier and not called. Seems lsu has things handed to them on a silver platter and so does fl. Which will have to larger silver platter this week? WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
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