Moreno leads No.
20 Bulldogs over No. 9 Gators
Running back has
188 yards on 33 carries
By
CARTER STRICKLAND
The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
Published on:
10/27/07
Jacksonville, Fla. — People have
come to expect certain things
from Georgia and Mark Richt.
There has
always been an unflagging
steadiness about the coach and
his program. Each was a
reflection of the other. They
are going to win some games,
lose a few along the way, but
comport themselves with more
than a modicum of decency and
composure through it all. They
were, to a degree, above the
fray of college
football.
All heck —
c'mon it is still Richt — broke
loose Saturday and Georgia
finally joined what used to be
one of college football's best
rivalries.
Unbridled
and unabashed No. 20 Georgia
stomped all over what had been
its and Florida's recent
tradition in a 42-30 win over
the No. 9 Gators in front of
84,481 fans Saturday at
Jacksonville Municipal
Stadium. Go ahead, don't be
ashamed, go back and read that
score again. After all, Georgia
fans have waited for a result
like that for decades. Florida
had won 15 of the last 17.
Georgia, which has reemerged as
an SEC East Division contender,
now has a streak of one.
It also
has a new coach.
Richt
apparently digging back into his
early '80s Miami roots decided
to toss aside his staid
personality. Not since Pat Boone
went metal has such a
transformation taken place.
Seriously
check this out, the first
touchdown Georgia scored, the
one it scored after running nine
straight times, Richt pushed his
team back on the field for a
celebration - the whole team.
Suddenly,
a mosh pit erupted on the field
with 70 players in the middle of
the game. It was followed by the
skies being littered with
yellow.
"I told
them if they didn't get a
penalty after the first
touchdown I would be mad at
them," Richt said.
Like kids
are apt to do Georgia took it to
the extreme and picked up four
more personal fouls in the first
12 minutes. Richt appeared
unmoved. Georgia was inspired on
both sides of the ball.
The
defense, maligned after the
debacle that was Tennessee, gave
Tim Tebow the breathing room of
a casket. The quarterback was
sacked six times. He had been
sacked five times all season.
The
offense, uninspired in two other
SEC games this season, worked
Knowshon Moreno for his second
consecutive 100-plus yard game.
He finished with 33 carries for
188 yards. Georgia quarterback
Matthew Strafford hit Mohamed
Massaquoi for an 84-yard
touchdown, the longest since
2003. Not satisfied and not
looking like the player whose
light hadn't shone as brightly
as Tebow's, Stafford went up top
again to Mikey Henderson for a
53-yard breathing room touchdown
early in the fourth quarter.
Thing was,
Georgia exhaled. The fans
gasped.
Florida
went tit for tat with Georgia.
The Bulldogs, as they are wont
to do against this team, helped
the Gators' cause.
Brandon
James busted a 52-yard kickoff
return, Tebow hit Percy Harvin
for 33 yards and 1:23 after it
was 35-24 Georgia it was 35-30
after a failed two-point
conversion.
No doubts
molars were being ground into
powder all over Dixie. That is
if they were not already ground
to dust through the years of
frustration. Remember this was
Florida, a team that had
flaunted its success in the face
of Georgia for so many years.
The Gators were the team with
two national championships,
Georgia was the team that
thought one year it might, just
maybe, could possibly, beat
Florida.
Finally
Georgia mustered the intestinal
fortitude necessary. Never more
so than after Florida drew
within five at 35-30. The
Bulldogs, steeled by the nerves
of a suddenly mature Stafford
and supported by the legs of a
redshirt freshman, drove 68
yards on 11 plays and took
ultimate control with 3:54 left
when Moreno dove in from three.
Now the
fans could exhale. And it was a
long time in coming, especially
considering what took place for
the majority of the game and
quite frankly the majority of
many fans' lives.
But this
was about living in the moment.
There were a few that were
dicey.
In the
second quarter Stafford threw an
interception top Wondy
Pierre-Louis for a touchdown.
Prior to that score, the
secondary, apparently struck by
temporary colorblindness,
allowed Louis Murphy to wander
alone into the end zone while
Tebow took his time finding him.
Those two
plays equaled out Georgia's
first quarter touchdowns from
Moreno and Massaquoi. Georgia
struck back with a Moreno,
assisted by Chester Adams. The
redshirt freshman bounced off
the girth of the senior guard,
changed his direction and
changed the scoreboard, 21-17.
For the
time since 2004, Georgia had a
halftime lead. It grew larger as
Georgia went 69 yards to start
the second half and went up
28-17.
No. 20 Georgia Upsets No. 9 Florida In Jacksonville
10/27/2007 Photo by Radi Nabulsi
The Georgia Bulldogs celebrated in the end zone early and on the sideline late. They probably should have hoisted Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford on their shoulders for both. Full Story...
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Victory
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