Opinion: Grantham's public flogging a welcome sight

ATHENS -- While pouring over game notes late in the second quarter of Georgia's 55-7 destruction of Louisiana-Lafayette, many of us in the press box heard the cheer begin slowly and then watched as many of the announced sellout crowd of 92,746 began to take to their feet cheering.

The problem was that the Dogs had just been victimized by a 60-yard bomb from Ragin Cajuns quarterback Chris Masson to cut the Georgia lead to 24-7 with just over a minute left in the first half. "Odd time for the crowd to be cheering," remarked one of my colleagues as we tried to find the source of the impromptu celebration.

It took a moment but we eventually found the source and witnessed what had not been witnessed - at least publicly - for several years on the Bulldogs sidelines: new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was giving his defense what-for and a good piece of his mind all at the same time.

Strong safety Bacarri Rambo, who was caught out of position on the play, said Grantham's public flogging was actually a welcome sight.

"That's what we needed," Rambo said. "All that talking he was doing, that yelling, that didn't really get to me, it just motivated me to go out and make plays and make up for that play I gave up."

Watching the scene unfold on the sidelines you would have thought the Dogs were down 24-7 instead leading the game. I enjoyed it, I have to admit. While I could not hear the actual words, and many reports say it was profanity-laced, listening to the comments from fans on the post-game call-in show on the drive back to Gainesville, most of the reaction was like mine: positive.

Profanity doesn't bother me much. It is part of sports. I like to see coaches show fire on the sidelines, when it is needed. And say what you will about whether the language was appropriate, when was the last time we saw former DC Willie Martinez get any of his players faces after allowing a big play to the opposing offense?

In his post-game interview, Grantham said the three key areas he looks at - third downs, stopping the run, and turnovers - were all battles won by the Bulldogs defense.

"We were plus-2 in turnovers, we held them to 14 yards rushing for the game, and we shut them down on third down, especially in the first half (0-for-8)," he said. "We need to do that every game. But we also know that one play can turn a game around and against South Carolina and the other top teams in the SEC we cannot afford to take a single play off.

"I thought we were very solid in the first half. I thought when we came out of the locker room we were able to keep them backed up. We played the game I felt we had to play based on field position, based on the quarterback in the game, based on the formations they were giving us. I thought the players did an excellent job of handling those things."

The sight of Grantham publicly and immediately challenging his defense after one bad play in the opening game of the season could well go a long way and foreshadow events for the rest of the season. Grantham may also have been doing his first bit of coaching to prepare his squad for what is sure to be a titanic struggle against South Carolina on Saturday in Columbia.

In my opinion, no team in the SEC East looked better over the first week than the Gamecocks. We knew the defense would be good, but their much-maligned offense, which struggled against just about everybody last season, looked sharp and in sync in a 41-13 win over a good Southern Miss team.

Driving down to the game I was trying to decide which would be the bigger story: how redshirt -freshman Aaron Murray handled his first-ever start or how the defense adjusted to its new 3-4 scheme against a La.-Lafayette team that put some big offensive numbers at times last year.

After witnessing the Dogs dismantling of the Cajuns offense (take out the 60-yard pass and they had just 68 total yards for the game) Saturday, the Dogs may have found the kind of defense they have been looking for since the Junkyard Dog days. The defense will hold the key to whether the Dogs can make a possible run at an SEC East title. Murray has enough weapons at his disposal to overcome growing pains.

But after what Georgia fans have witnessed the last several years, even a great offense cannot overcome a defense with shortcomings. Hopefully Grantham will not need another public dressing-down of his squad, but we all know it's football and nothing is ever perfect.

Just ask Bacarri Rambo.

"That's part of coaching, what he was doing," Rambo said. "If that's what it takes to make us great, I'll listen to it all day long."

So will Georgia fans I'm sure. And cheer it on.