Georgia Bulldogs Cowboy Up To Oklahoma State

by Christopher Byrne | September 2, 2007 at 08:00 pm

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Athens, GA, Sept 2, 2007 - Going into last night's college football game between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys and the University of Georgia Bulldogs, there were a lot of questions about what kind of team the Bulldogs would field. How much had true Sophomore Quarterback Matthew Stafford matured since his trial by fire in his freshman season? How would the young, inexperienced defense fare against a team that was ranked 16th nationally in NCAA Division 1A offense last year? The answers were provided quickly and emphatically as the 13th ranked Georgia Bulldogs (1-0) cowboyed up and defeated Oklahoma State (0-1) 35-14.

It did not take long for Georgia to come out of the gate. In the first 59 seconds of the game, the Bulldog defense did not let Cowboys get a first down. A bad snap on the punt was downed on the Oklahoma State 14 yard line. The Bulldog offense took over, and on the very first play, Thomas Brown took the handoff and ran 14 yards for the score. Brandon Couto added the extra point and the bulldogs were up 7-0. The Georgia faithful could not have been happier. In the post game news conference, Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt said that opening the game this way could not have been a better inspiration for the team, the coaches and the fans. He said that it was a very good thing that it started this way and not the other way around.

On the next Oklahoma State possession, Georgia once again forced OSU into a 3 and out, and people had to be wondering where the vaunted Cowboy offense was hiding. But an old problem for the Richt coached Bulldogs came back to haunt Georgia: unnecessary penalties. When the Cowboy defense held Georgia to 3 yards on their next possession, an untimely substitution infraction penalty forced Georgia to punt from deep in its own end zone.Starting on the Georgia 47 yard line, OSU drove 47 yards on 4 plays to tie the game at 7.

However, Georgia answered back two possessions later when they chewed up 4:15 to drive the ball 70 yards to take a 14-7 lead into the 2nd quarter.

At the start of the 2nd Quarter, the Georgia defense continued to show that they are made of despite their youth and inexperience. Forcing OSU into another 3 and out, Georgia then drove the ball 77 yards on 9 plays to increase their lead to 21-7. But Oklahoma State was not going to give up easily. Catching Georgia off guard with a no-huddle offense, they immediately came back with their own 11 play, 75 yard drive (4:00) to cut the lead to 21-14.

Coming out of the locker room for the 2nd half, Georgia was not ready to let up on the Cowboys. They took the ball and methodically drove the ball 72 yards on 9 plays to increase the lead to 28-14. Despite their best efforts, the Cowboys could not score again. Georgia added a touchdown in the 4th quarter for the final 35-14 margin.

Watching Matthew Stafford, it is clear that he has indeed matured going into this season. He has learned how to truly throw touch passes, and when to tuck the ball to protect it instead of throwing it away. By the time the game was finished, Stafford was 18-24 for 234 yards and 2 Touchdowns (184.4 efficiency rating). The Georgia defense held Oklahoma State to a total of 266 yards in offense.

While it looks like Georgia dominated the game, Coach Richt is looking at it realistically. "It wasn’t by any means a dominating performance. We had a lot of problems. We had some backs who made us look better than we were, a quarterback who made us look better than we are up front, and we just have to continue to get better. We’re going to get better, but we have a ways to go."

With next week's game, the SEC conference opener, against the University of South Carolina, Richt knows that the team has to know there is room for improvement. He knows that the Steve Spurrier coached Gamecocks will be a stronger defensive test than Oklahoma State. "We know that they’re very physical up front and strong. Southeastern Conference defenses are just better than everyone else’s. There might be a couple around the country that could fit in that mix, but for most part our conference has the best defenses in America, and South Carolina is one of them."

For now, the Bulldogs are the toast of Athens and their fans are hunkering down awaiting coaching nemesis Steve Spurrier. The winner of this game usually is in the mix for the SEC East crown, and the loser is left to watch. So while the Bulldogs looked impressive last night, for them the real test starts next week.

Notes From the Pressbox

Georgia started 2 true freshmen in the game. Trinton Sturdevant at left tackle and Bruce Figgins at tight end. This was the first time since at least 1964 that a true freshman has started at tight end for Georgia...Figgins first reception for Georgia was for an 11 yard touchdown...Georgia Senior Split End Sean bailey played for the first time since the 2005 SEC Championship game against LSU. Last night he tied a personal best with 5 receptions, and eclipsed his personal best with 87 yards...Georgia was called for a clipping penalty in the second quarter. How often does that get called?