Ad Disclosure
Following Saturday’s 24-point home win against Clemson, Georgia now turns their attention to a bye week before headed to Columbia, S.C. for a SEC East showdown with the Gamecocks.
The rout of the Tigers has garnered national attention, but the Bulldogs will use the bye week to correct mistakes before turning their eyes to South Carolina.
“That was just one game,” head coach Mark Richt said in his Sunday evening teleconference. “It was a great, emotional day. We were at home. We fed off the crowd and we finished strong. That was good, but it was just a start.”
The ‘Dawgs blew the doors open after halftime, turning a close game into a blowout. The Georgia defense gave up just 15 total yards in the second half, outscoring Clemson 24-0. According to Richt, though, no major adjustments were made during the break.
“I’m not so sure it was a big turnaround,” Richt said. “I think we played hard in the first half and second half. We did give up fewer big plays on defense [in the second half], obviously. I think we just made some calls to minimize the man-to-man coverage, just putting those corners on an island.”
The Georgia defense that dominated the second half struggled early, though, resembling the defense of 2013.
“As the game went on, everybody settled down and began to take better angles and began to tackle better,” Richt said. “I think the communication went better as we went. There were a lot of young guys, a lot of anxiety out there. When they all settled down, they all played better.”
Aside from the defensive performance, it was the Bulldog rushing attack that turned heads. Georgia rushed for 328 yards, led by Todd Gurley who had a career night.
“When you have fresh backs and tired tacklers, you get those kind of results sometimes,” Richt said. “You’re hoping to be fresh in the end through conditioning, obviously, but also through substitutions.
Despite the big win and the accolades and attention that have followed it, Richt wants to focus on a game at a time.
“We’re really young in so many ways,” Richt said. “There are a few veterans that understand. I don’t know how good we are, quite frankly. We had a good performance. We had one good game. And even in that game, there are so many things that need to be corrected. So I’m not going to get too excited yet. We’ve got a long way to go.”
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
