FanNation - The Republic of Sport

As an avid observer of SEC football this season, Florida and Georgia have been on opposite ends of the spectrum.  As a student at UGA(but an fan of Florida since my youth in Washington, D.C., for reasons I won't discuss), I gave us no chance and got my foot lodged in my mouth.  I'm definitely not the type to boo my own team but despite only suffering two losses thus far this season, the Bulldogs have been pathetic against elite competition(see: Tennessee's throttling of UGA & South Carolina's boorish defensive standoff).  Florida, however, has been the best team in the nation at their peak and looked like the worst team in the NFC South in their lowest depths. 

Tim Tebow has delivered a Heisman-caliber season at quarterback, Percy Harvin has been spectacular at running back AND receiver while Georgia's Stafford has been held at bay in losses (48% completion percentage at Tennessee, 43% vs. South Carolina).  The only bright spot on offense has been the ground game which entered the weekend without seniors Kregg Lumpkin and Thomas Brown.  On defense, the Bulldogs had the advantage with their "bend but don't break" approach  while the Gators inexperienced secondary has been vulnerable this season. 

At the World's Largest Cocktail Party Richt must have had a few jello shots himself.  How was I supposed to know Georgia receivers were going to drop the popcorn and cacth passes or that the usually conservative, even keel Coach Richt was going to go all in with an inspirational ultimatum worth 30 yards on the field but a mountain of momentum.  Matt Stafford even began connecting on deep throws.  Georgia's opening drive celebration lit a fire under a team many accused of not having enough emotion as they hit harder, ran faster after the emotional uplifting.  Turnovers didn't help either for Florida as Kestahn Moore coughed up two fumbles, one of which could be lamed on Meyer's excessive ingenuity.  

The paramount reason for Georgia's victory besides the obvious in the elusive Knwshon Moreno, has to be Urban Meyer's aversion for traditional running backs.  Florida's lack of a consistently physical running game allowed the Georgia defense to blitz relentlessly without the fear of getting burned in the running game because of Tebw's delicate shoulder.  As a result, Tebow was sacked, and hurried more times than he was in every other game combined. 

Starting running back Kestahn Moore was relegated to cheerleader duty and backup Brandon James is too tiny at 5 foot 6, to take the pounding for 4 quarters.  
Versatile playmaker Percy Harvin ran for 97 yards on 10 carries but Meyer's stubborness blinded him from what was most evident.   Prior to this game,the Bulldogs defensive line has rarely stuffed runners in the backfield.  That is our achilles heal, yet Florida stopped running it up our gut.  

This offense is going to be extremely dangerous when the heralded running freshman running back Caleb King, and high school All-American wideout A.J. Green enters the mix in 2008.