Dawgs taste Sugar after win over Arkansas

By

Posted 10:00PM on Saturday, December 7, 2002

ATLANTA - The Georgia Bulldogs knew their national championship hopes were scuttled before they even kicked off Saturday night. It sure didn't seem to bother them. Fourth-ranked Georgia ended 20 years of frustration by blowing out Arkansas 30-3 in the Southeastern Conference championship game, sending the Bulldogs to the Sugar Bowl. Miami's 56-45 victory over Virginia Tech earlier in the day ended Georgia's hopes of playing in the Fiesta Bowl. ``We still had a lot to play for,'' Georgia cornerback Decory Bryant said. ``It's been 20 years since we won a championship. The national title is something we would like to have done, but winning the SEC - one of the toughest conferences in the country - is a very special thing.'' Clearly pumped up by their first trip to the SEC title game, the Bulldogs (12-1) scored on their first five possessions for a 23-0 halftime lead. From there, Georgia cruised to its first SEC title since 1982, when Vince Dooley was the coach and Herschel Walker was taking handoffs. The coronation came just 75 miles from the Athens campus, before a crowd of 74,835 that was heavily tilted toward the Bulldogs. ``They're champions now,'' said Dooley, Georgia's athletic director. ``But you could see early on that there was something extra-special about this team. They were unified, they played hard and they grew as a team.'' Musa Smith rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns. David Greene threw for 237 yards and a score, earning the game's MVP award. Terrence Edwards had seven catches for 92 yards, becoming the SEC's career leader in receiving yards. Georgia has won 12 games for only the second time in school history - the 1980 national championship team was 12-0 - and outscored its last two opponents 81-10. Arkansas (9-4) had won six in a row to earn its second trip to the league championship game. This one wasn't much different than the first in 1995, when the Razorbacks were blown out by Florida 34-3. ``We weren't satisfied just being here,'' running back Fred Talley said. ``We wanted to win. But we made a lot of foolish mistakes. It was like it was always one block away.'' Georgia coach Mark Richt worried that his team, ranked third in the BCS standings, might be a little down if top-ranked Miami won earlier in the day. The Hurricanes did their part, jumping to a big lead on Virginia Tech and holding on for a berth in the Fiesta Bowl against second-ranked Ohio State. ``When Miami ran it up 14-0,'' Smith said, ``I was like, 'New Orleans, here we come.''' As it turned out, Richt had no cause for concern. This group of players was intent on ending the longest championship drought in the school's storied football history. ``I can't explain it,'' defensive tackle Ken Veal said. ``I got all choked up out on the field when it was over. It still seems like I'm in a fog. I just know we did something very special.'' If anything, the Bulldogs appeared a little too fired up. They were flagged five times for personal fouls, finishing with 115 yards in penalties to set an SEC title game record. It didn't matter. This game belonged to Georgia right from the start. The Razorbacks were stuffed on their first possession, the pro-Bulldog crowd whipped into a frenzy when Boss Bailey sacked Matt Jones on third down. The noise got even louder when Bryant blew past the line without being touched to block Richie Butler's punt. Bryant fooled the Razorbacks by lining up on the outside, then sneaking along the line as the ball was snapped. Bert Jones scooped up the loose ball and ran to the Arkansas 2. Georgia has blocked nine kicks this year - five punts and four field goal attempts. ``They never saw me,'' Bryant said. ``It worked out perfectly. We practice it every day, but sometimes it doesn't go that well.'' After Bryant's big play, Smith powered into the end zone standing up to put Georgia ahead 7-0. The game was just three minutes old, and the rout was on. The Razorbacks went three-and-out again. This time, Butler was able to get the punt off, but that didn't faze the Bulldogs. Greene threw an 18-yard pass to Edwards and a 22-yarder to J.T. Wall, then Smith finished off the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run around right end. The blocking was so complete that Arkansas didn't even get a hand on the Georgia runner as he glided into the end zone. By the time Arkansas picked up its initial first down, Georgia already had a 17-0 lead. The Bulldogs piled up 273 yards and 15 first downs in the opening half, while holding the Razorbacks to just 74 yards. Arkansas led the SEC in rushing offense with an average of 243 yards per game but managed just 65 against Georgia's dominant front line, led by Bailey, David Pollack and Johnathan Sullivan. ``We knew they didn't pass the ball,'' Veal said. ``We worked all week long on stopping the run.'' Fred Talley, a 1,000-yard rusher, was held to 51 yards on 17 carries, while Matt Jones' managed only 12 yards on nine carries out of the option. Jones couldn't do much through the air, either, completing 9 of 17 passes for 60 yards. Appropriately, Arkansas' final offensive play resulted in a sack. By then, Georgia's player had already given Richt a Gatorade bath, and the fans were chanting ``SEC! SEC!''