Defining moments
posted by LW, Thursday, October 29, 2009
There's been a lot of talk about last week's huge overtime win at Miami becoming one of those defining, transforming moments that alters the course of a season and perhaps an entire program.
None of us knows whether that'll end up being the case. We all remember a supposed defining moment that came in Miami five years ago, only to be followed by another defining moment ... an inexcusable loss at Duke.
We also remember the supposedly transformative triumph at Florida State in 2006, or the dismantling of Georgia Tech the same year. The Tigers lost four of their last five, including a loss to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.
There was also "The Finish" in 2003: Wins over Florida State, Duke, South Carolina and Tennessee by a combined score of 156-48. The Tigers lost four of their first five games in 2004.
So there's ample reason to take a wait-and-see approach in this case, to be skeptical that last week's vanquishing of the Hurricanes was truly transcendent.
Nevertheless, Saturday's overtime triumph reminded me of a moment I experienced in person while covering Mark Richt's first Georgia team in 2001.
The Bulldogs headed to Knoxville to face Tennessee in their fourth game, and keep in mind the Volunteers were a lot different then than they are now. They were ranked No. 5 nationally. They were just three years removed from a national title. They had pretty much owned Georgia over the previous decade.
Richt had taken over in Athens after a lengthy period as Florida State's offensive coordinator, back when the Seminoles were still one of the most powerful programs in the land.
Richt replaced Jim Donnan, a good coach who did plenty of good things in five years but just couldn't get Georgia over the hump.
Nobody was calling for Richt's head three games in, but he had already experienced some growing pains. The Bulldogs' lone loss was at home to South Carolina, a 14-9 defeat in which they failed to score a touchdown. Georgia suffered from some questionable play-calling and clock management in the fourth quarter, and the Gamecocks drove for the game-winning touchdown late to silence Sanford Stadium.
Georgia beat a pretty good Arkansas team in the next game, but not many people expected the Dogs to go to Rocky Top and win. Tennessee took a 14-3 lead in the first quarter and looked poised to blow Georgia's doors off.
But the Bulldogs battled back in the second quarter and snatched back the momentum thanks in large part to special teams (a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown).
The last minute of the game was amazing. When Tennessee's Travis Stephens took a screen pass and dashed 62 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 44 seconds left, I was standing on the field. That was -- and is -- the loudest I've ever heard a stadium. The ground shook as if a freight train was bearing down on the joint.
But Georgia answered. The Bulldogs drove to Tennessee's 6-yard line with 10 seconds left and needed a touchdown. They ran play-action out of the I formation, and a fullback named Verron Haynes managed to sneak behind the linebackers who were sucked in by the run fake. David Greene hit him for the touchdown.
The play, "P-44 Haynes," was immortalized in Georgia history and became the defining and pivotal moment for the greatness that was to come in Athens under Richt. The Bulldogs didn't exactly take off that season; they finished 8-4 after late-season losses to Auburn and Boston College, and Richt was criticized for poor clock management in those defeats as well.
But those SEC titles, all those 10-win seasons ... it all started that day in Knoxville.
I'm certainly not predicting a similar run for Clemson, but the parallels are interesting. Heck, the game-winning pass to Jacoby Ford was called "Vol."
If nothing else, Richt's experience demonstrates that sometimes it takes time for a first-year coach to work out the kinks and get settled in.
And for anyone who is interested, here is a video clip of that final play on Rocky Top -- complete with the famous "Hobnail Boot" call from the iconic and irreplaceable Larry Munson.
Speaking of signature wins under Richt, it's been a while since the last one.
Two years ago, Georgia made news with a team-wide celebration in the end zone. In retrospect, maybe the team should’ve pitched a tent there. The program hasn’t had a signature win since.
“I’m trying to think,” Mark Richt said Wednesday night. “Did we win any big ones last year?” And then he laughed, that little oh-jeez, has-it-been-that-long, kind of laugh.
It hasn’t been an easy season for Richt. The Bulldogs are 4-3. They’re given little chance of upsetting No. 1 ranked Florida. Bowl prospects include words like “Independence” and “Liberty,” which would be fine if this was something minor like a revolution, not college football in the South.
In the Greenville News, Clemson has made improvement in the red zone and you'd expect the Tigers to pad those stats Saturday.
The offense has, however, had some major malfunctions just outside the red zone. Those three empty possessions late at Maryland (missed FG, missed FG, lost fumble) ... and three at Miami (missed FG, lost fumble, lost fumble).
You know that's something the staff wants to get corrected.
In the Independent-Mail, a story on ... and this hasn't been written about Clemson in a few decades ... production from the Tigers' tight ends.
More on that in The State, plus their weekly ACC/SEC rankings.
In the Myrtle Beach Sun-News, a a blog swap with some bozo from TI.
Josh Hoke, who covers Coastal Carolina for the Sun-News, will take part in this week's "Enemy Lines" segment.
And Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett, a former GA at Clemson under Danny Ford, delivered some good quotes yesterday.
"I remember one time washing Coach Ford's truck and he had tobacco spit all down in the floor board," Bennett said. "He was just a good-old country man who I was blessed to be around for a couple years."
Talking about Saturday's game during his Wednesday press conference, Bennett said it's not "comparing apples and oranges, it's comparing oranges and grapes, and we're the grapes."
Know what? I'd bet Danny has the same truck after all these years.
LW
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There's been a lot of talk about last week's huge overtime win at Miami becoming one of those defining, transforming moments that alters the course of a season and perhaps an entire program.
None of us knows whether that'll end up being the case. We all remember a supposed defining moment that came in Miami five years ago, only to be followed by another defining moment ... an inexcusable loss at Duke.
We also remember the supposedly transformative triumph at Florida State in 2006, or the dismantling of Georgia Tech the same year. The Tigers lost four of their last five, including a loss to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.
There was also "The Finish" in 2003: Wins over Florida State, Duke, South Carolina and Tennessee by a combined score of 156-48. The Tigers lost four of their first five games in 2004.
So there's ample reason to take a wait-and-see approach in this case, to be skeptical that last week's vanquishing of the Hurricanes was truly transcendent.
Nevertheless, Saturday's overtime triumph reminded me of a moment I experienced in person while covering Mark Richt's first Georgia team in 2001.
The Bulldogs headed to Knoxville to face Tennessee in their fourth game, and keep in mind the Volunteers were a lot different then than they are now. They were ranked No. 5 nationally. They were just three years removed from a national title. They had pretty much owned Georgia over the previous decade.
Richt had taken over in Athens after a lengthy period as Florida State's offensive coordinator, back when the Seminoles were still one of the most powerful programs in the land.
Richt replaced Jim Donnan, a good coach who did plenty of good things in five years but just couldn't get Georgia over the hump.
Nobody was calling for Richt's head three games in, but he had already experienced some growing pains. The Bulldogs' lone loss was at home to South Carolina, a 14-9 defeat in which they failed to score a touchdown. Georgia suffered from some questionable play-calling and clock management in the fourth quarter, and the Gamecocks drove for the game-winning touchdown late to silence Sanford Stadium.
Georgia beat a pretty good Arkansas team in the next game, but not many people expected the Dogs to go to Rocky Top and win. Tennessee took a 14-3 lead in the first quarter and looked poised to blow Georgia's doors off.
But the Bulldogs battled back in the second quarter and snatched back the momentum thanks in large part to special teams (a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown).
The last minute of the game was amazing. When Tennessee's Travis Stephens took a screen pass and dashed 62 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 44 seconds left, I was standing on the field. That was -- and is -- the loudest I've ever heard a stadium. The ground shook as if a freight train was bearing down on the joint.
But Georgia answered. The Bulldogs drove to Tennessee's 6-yard line with 10 seconds left and needed a touchdown. They ran play-action out of the I formation, and a fullback named Verron Haynes managed to sneak behind the linebackers who were sucked in by the run fake. David Greene hit him for the touchdown.
The play, "P-44 Haynes," was immortalized in Georgia history and became the defining and pivotal moment for the greatness that was to come in Athens under Richt. The Bulldogs didn't exactly take off that season; they finished 8-4 after late-season losses to Auburn and Boston College, and Richt was criticized for poor clock management in those defeats as well.
But those SEC titles, all those 10-win seasons ... it all started that day in Knoxville.
I'm certainly not predicting a similar run for Clemson, but the parallels are interesting. Heck, the game-winning pass to Jacoby Ford was called "Vol."
If nothing else, Richt's experience demonstrates that sometimes it takes time for a first-year coach to work out the kinks and get settled in.
And for anyone who is interested, here is a video clip of that final play on Rocky Top -- complete with the famous "Hobnail Boot" call from the iconic and irreplaceable Larry Munson.
Speaking of signature wins under Richt, it's been a while since the last one.
Two years ago, Georgia made news with a team-wide celebration in the end zone. In retrospect, maybe the team should’ve pitched a tent there. The program hasn’t had a signature win since.
“I’m trying to think,” Mark Richt said Wednesday night. “Did we win any big ones last year?” And then he laughed, that little oh-jeez, has-it-been-that-long, kind of laugh.
It hasn’t been an easy season for Richt. The Bulldogs are 4-3. They’re given little chance of upsetting No. 1 ranked Florida. Bowl prospects include words like “Independence” and “Liberty,” which would be fine if this was something minor like a revolution, not college football in the South.
In the Greenville News, Clemson has made improvement in the red zone and you'd expect the Tigers to pad those stats Saturday.
The offense has, however, had some major malfunctions just outside the red zone. Those three empty possessions late at Maryland (missed FG, missed FG, lost fumble) ... and three at Miami (missed FG, lost fumble, lost fumble).
You know that's something the staff wants to get corrected.
In the Independent-Mail, a story on ... and this hasn't been written about Clemson in a few decades ... production from the Tigers' tight ends.
More on that in The State, plus their weekly ACC/SEC rankings.
In the Myrtle Beach Sun-News, a a blog swap with some bozo from TI.
Josh Hoke, who covers Coastal Carolina for the Sun-News, will take part in this week's "Enemy Lines" segment.
And Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett, a former GA at Clemson under Danny Ford, delivered some good quotes yesterday.
"I remember one time washing Coach Ford's truck and he had tobacco spit all down in the floor board," Bennett said. "He was just a good-old country man who I was blessed to be around for a couple years."
Talking about Saturday's game during his Wednesday press conference, Bennett said it's not "comparing apples and oranges, it's comparing oranges and grapes, and we're the grapes."
Know what? I'd bet Danny has the same truck after all these years.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.