Bulldogs celebration bad enough, but defense lost it

Classless. Flagrant. Over-the-top. Cheap. Dramatic. Brilliant. Effective. Gutsy. Passionate. Desperate. Emotional. Cathartic. Ingenious. Gamesmanship. Memorable. Hypocritical. Genius. Unprecedented. Brazen. Orchestrated. Disrespectful. Unnecessary.

A quick scan of the message boards and media Web sites Sunday morning revealed each of the words above used to describe the premeditated celebration by the entire Georgia team that took place in the end zone following Georgia’s first score of Saturday’s game. After Knowshon Moreno capped off an eight-play, all-run drive by diving over the pile and extending the ball over the goal line, the entire team left the sideline to join the offensive unit in the end zone for an extended celebration of dancing, jumping, taunting and yelling.

Flags flew from every zebra on the field and when the dust cleared Georgia was penalized once for 15 yards on the kickoff and another for half the distance, both for unsportsmanlike conduct. But the statement was made: Georgia was going to leave it on the field this year and the players were pulling out all the stops that have plagued them during these past 18 years of Florida dominance.

To be sure, it was not the celebration that caused the Gators to lose the game. The game was lost because the Gators gave up 188 yards of rushing on 33 carries to a freshman tailback who started the year third on the depth chart. The game was lost because the Gators gave up 10 of 13 third downs to Georgia. The game was lost because the Gators gave up passing plays of 84, 53, 42, 26, and 21 yards. The game was lost because Tim Tebow was sacked six times after being sacked only five times in the first seven games.

The Gators last season showed that defense wins championships yet defense is what will prevent us from winning any championships this season. The defense is young, and for this game, was significantly banged up. The offense, even with a banged up Tebow at the helm, was fine. In fact, the losing team has never scored 30 or more points in the entire history of this rivalry so 30 should have been enough.

But let’s get back to the celebration for a moment. I’d like to add two more words to the list of words used to describe it — regrettable and spicy. No one has said yet that the incident was regrettable. I hope it becomes regrettable when the SEC suspends Mark Richt for a game or fines him significantly for his ringing endorsement of the flagrant flouting of the rules.

The incident could have led to a brawl replete with player ejections and suspensions and could have unnecessarily put his and our players in jeopardy. That being said, I do appreciate Richt’s insertion of some badly needed spice into this rivalry.

For all the Gators crying foul, I believe they fall into one of three categories: a small percentage of old-fashioned purists who were truly offended by the behavior, a larger percentage of folks jealous our coach didn’t think of it first, and the largest group (count me among them) who were most upset that our own guys did not turn that disrespect into the fire necessary to stop the Dawgs and force them to regret their decision.

Trey, let’s plan on 11:30 a.m. Thursday for the wheelbarrow ride down Centre Street. I’ll wear the comfortable shoes this time. Lunch, of course, also will be on me.