Georgia can't afford slip

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- After losing at South Carolina to open SEC play, Georgia Coach Jim Donnan said the Bulldogs have left themselves no margin for error if they hope to break the Florida-Tennessee stranglehold on the Eastern Division title.
"For us to have any chance of winning the SEC East, we're going to have to find a way to win the rest of our games in the league," said Donnan, whose No. 25-ranked Bulldogs (2-1, 0-1) play at Arkansas on Saturday. "And getting this first (SEC) win will be a monumental task based on their record at home."
The Razorbacks have won 16 consecutive in-state games and are 15-0 at home under Coach Houston Nutt.
"They know how to win," Donnan said. "Houston's done a good job of rallying that state, and there's a lot of pride in that program."
There's also a lot of pride in the Georgia program, and fans were hoping that with 18 starters returning from an 8-4 team, the Bulldogs would be able to win their first SEC championship since 1982.
But a 21-10 loss at South Carolina on Sept. 9 has put the Bulldogs in an unexpected hole. The Gamecocks broke an 18-game SEC losing streak by beating Georgia and are 4-0 overall and ranked No. 23 nationally after beating Mississippi State last Saturday.
"I certainly give (South Carolina Coach Lou) Holtz and his staff and players a lot of credit for turning that program around like they have in one year, it is really monumental," Donnan said. "But as I've mentioned probably 999,000 times, we're a lot more capable football team than we showed in that game, and it was a bitter pill to swallow.
"And the way we lost it certainly added a lot of fuel to the fire because we looked so lackluster offensively and had such high expectations."
Bulldogs junior quarterback Quincy Carter threw five interceptions against South Carolina, which is a big reason why Georgia ranks last in the SEC in turnover ratio at minus-2.0.
Carter was supposed to lead a potent passing attack aided by a group of talented young receivers, but thus far the Bulldogs have struggled.
Georgia ranks 10th in the SEC and 83rd nationally in passing offense, averaging 167.3 yards per game. Carter has thrown more interceptions in three games (seven) than he did all of last season (six) and completed just 51.4 percent of his passes (38 of 74) for 493 yards and three touchdowns.
Donnan said Carter has played better than the stats indicate because his receivers have dropped a lot of passes.
Sophomore Terrence Edwards is Georgia's leading receiver with 14 catches for 166 yards -- an 11.9-yard average -- and 2 touchdowns. He should have three touchdown catches, but he bobbled a pass from Carter against New Mexico State last Saturday and had the ball bounce off his shoulder pads for an interception.
No other Georgia wide receiver has more than four catches this season.
"We've kind of suffered a little bit with our receivers, because some of our younger guys are still trying to adjust, and then our No. 1 receiver (freshman Michael Johnson from Tulsa Union) still isn't eligible," Donnan said. "(The receivers spot) is something that certainly has been a situation we thought would be better, but it's definitely hampered us."
Georgia beat New Mexico State 37-0, but Donnan said he wasn't happy with the passing game results, especially on some missed opportunities with dropped passes.
At least the Bulldogs are balanced on offense. They're averaging the same number of yards rushing (167.3) as passing, and their running game will get a boost this week with the return of junior tailback Jasper Sanks, who sat out the New Mexico State game because of an ankle injury.
Defense, which was a question mark coming into this season after the Bulldogs ranked last in the SEC in total defense (yielding 382.6 yards per game), has been improved under new defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs.
The Bulldogs lead the SEC and rank second nationally in pass defense. They're holding opponents to 93.7 passing yards per game and have yet to allow a touchdown pass.
"Without question, our defense has been the strength of our team," Donnan said.
The New Mexico State game marked Georgia's first shutout since 1997, when the Bulldogs beat Mississippi State 47-0, and Donnan said it was a good overall showing to get his team back on track for the SEC.
"Even if you're playing a team that's not highly ranked, you still have to go out there and do it and make the best of it," Donnan said. "I feel like we did bounce back in the New Mexico State game.
"But we didn't play anybody even close to what we're going to play the next two weeks in Arkansas and Tennessee."

This article was published on Tuesday, September 26, 2000

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