SEC Championship Extra

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SPECIAL EDITION

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Put the Golden Islesin your little Dawg’sstocking!Give a unique, limited edition of the “ColorYour Way Through the Golden Isles withEdgar” coloring book by legendary Universityof Georgia artist Jack Davis. Lots of coloring fun,finding loveable Edgar hiding in the pages. Allproceeds support Amity House and Hope House.

On sale now on ST. SIMONS ISLAND at• Bailey Boys • Dutchman’s Casual Living• GJ Ford Bookshop • Maggie’s • Ronnie’s• Pat’s Hallmark • Planter’s Exchange• St. Simons Drugs • Sun Trust Bank (Demere)

In BRUNSWICK at • Hattie’s Books • Lai Lai’sOn JEKYLL ISLAND at • The Island House • Jekyll Island Museum

Top Ten Things to do in Atlanta for SEC Championship TripBy Cheri Leavy

What’ll ya have? I would get a chili cheese slaw dog and ring one, which is one order of onion rings. The original Varsity was opened in 1928 and their claim to fame is they put the comfort in comfort food.

Head over to the hole-in-the-wall dive bar in Buckhead and maybe you will run into Bulldog owner John John Delladonna and have a moment of uga nostalgia you know from “back in the day!”

With more than 10 million gallons of fresh and marine water and more aquatic life than found in any other aquarium, you are sure to see things you’ve never seen before! The Georgia Aquarium prom-ises wonder and excitement around every corner. It really is a great chill activity in Atlanta and quite wondrous.

Hugh Acheson is the chef/partner of Empire State South. Acheson is a four-time James Beard Founda-tion nominee and chef/partner of the lauded Five & Ten and The National in Athens, GA. A com-munity restaurant that appeals to a broad range, Empire State South is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a to-go lunch pro-gram, courtyard bocce ball and an extensive coffee bar.

Photo by Rinne Allen

The Tennille and CompanyHome décor, childrens’ clothing and more in BuckheadPeoples Upscale women’s clothing in Buckhead

With more than 100 world-famous works assembled exclusively for the High from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, this exhibition features fourteen twentieth-century artists, seen together for the first time in the southeast.

Owned by two Bulldog brothers, Robby and Greg, this is the best haberdashery in the south. Stop by this stylish Buckhead shop and enjoy a beer or bourbon while browsing some of the most select lines in menswear.

New York Prime, located in the heart of Buckhead, provides the true steak-house experience. They serve only the best USDA Prime Beef for every cut including Filets. In addition to their wide selection of Prime Steaks, enjoy their Triple-Cut Lamb Chops and live Maine Lobsters. The service is impec-cable with Georgia class.

“Best pancakes in the world” is what they tout but they are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner since 1946. Their southern cuisine is beloved by many for decades in Atlanta. Owner operated which is why the service is so good too.

Smith’s Olde Bar is an Atlanta institution and neighborhood joint, offer-ing some of the best music to be found anywhere in the city and good food too. Ask about Smitty’s Famous Burgers. The Elvis Show is one of the most energetic, fun-filled events of the year in Atlanta. Held every year in early December, The Elvis Show has a huge following that grows larger and larger each year. Advance tickets sold and will sell out!

1. Eat a naked dog at The Varsity

7. Have a drink at the Pool Hall

9. Visit the Georgia Aquarium

10. Eat Southern Food in Midtown Atlanta at Athens’ own Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South

8. Shop lots of spots owned by Bulldogs

2. Picasso to Warhol at High Museum of Art

3. Shop at Miller Brothers, Ltd

4. Eat a Filet at New York Prime

5. Eat breakfast at Evans Fine Foods in Decatur

6. Don’t miss The Elvis Show on Friday night at Smith’s Olde Bar

GOD BLESS YOU LARRY MUNSON

He’s Pouring sUGAr from the Sky!

GO DAWGS! SEC EASTCHAMPIONS!

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From the editor : vance leavyExtra … Extra … Read all about it …Ahhh, those words are music to my ears because whenever I get

to write them that means our boys in red and black have earned them-selves another trip to Atlanta to play in the Southeastern Conferencechampionship. And with that, everyone here at Bulldawg Illustratedgets pulled into action to produce an issue that we hadn’t otherwiseplanned on doing.

But you’ll get no complaints fromany of us because playing in the Geor-gia Dome the first Saturday of Decem-ber is our number one goal inproducing this publication about ourfavorite football team and its fanbase.

Wow, what a year it has been andcredit must go where credit is duewhich is why a happy Mark Richtphoto is on this page. He is too hum-ble or probably more like he is too su-perstitious to boast about his recordagainst Georgia Tech. However, thesign being held up behind him saying,“We Own this State” is dead on, indeed.

Coach Richt’s 10-1 record versusthe Jackets is incredible, particularly forthe folks from my late father’s genera-tion who attended Georgia during thedreaded drought years in the ’50s. Makeno mistake about it, that’s when the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate sloganbuilt up the most within the Bulldog Nation. There really isn’t anythingworse than losing to the Bees. I can only imagine what eight times in arow must have been like.

Although, I actually can appreciate it because during my time atGeorgia in the early ’90s included a (not so) perfect record versus Ten-nessee and Florida … 0-10.

And it is for that reason that leading into the Florida game thisyear, I really was as hard (but fair) as I’ve ever been on Coach Richt inthis space. In fact, a Georgia newspaper publisher friend of my brother’s

actually made a case that it was too harsh.Now I did find that kind of funny becausethe editorials that community newspapersmust write from time to time are muchharsher and much more important thanmy pleading with our coach to get it to-gether against our number one rival in theSEC East.

Thankfully the 2011 season will re-flect getting it together was exactly whatMark Richt did in Jacksonville. And from

the Florida victory on, his team has grown and grown with each ensu-ing win. It’s been a helluva ride and a real pleasure to cover. Richt shouldbe proud of himself, his staff and his team as they truly have been oneunit joined together which has yielded a ton of success.

And now on Saturday at 4 p.m. the mighty Goliath, LSU rolls intothe Georgia Dome with their perfect 12-0 record to face Richt and com-pany for the SEC Championship. Sure Georgia is a double-digit un-

derdog, but I hope Les Miles and his TigerBaits areready because they are going to get the fight of theirlives if they want to remain unbeaten heading into thenational championship game.

All the pundits have been quick to say howGeorgia’s schedule didn’t include any of the three big-gies from the SEC West. However, I would like tocounter that by saying none of their schedules in-cluded playing Georgia, which very likely would haveresulted in a blemish for at least one of the three.

Perhaps I’m off my rocker or have entered intoa utopian world by having to produce this SEC Extra,but I’m thoroughly looking forward to seeing whatthis Georgia Bulldogs team can do versus college foot-ball’s best team.

We welcome LSU and its stellar fanbase to thegreat state of Georgia. We hope your time here is filledwith many great moments, except, of course, a SECtitle.

Good luck to Coach Richt, who brings his fourthGeorgia team to play in the SEC Championship in eleven years. Nowthat’s strong. And good luck to Coach Mike Bobo who has had a re-markable season. He received a ton of scrutiny over the last few yearseven though his offenses had put up some mighty impressive num-bers. And good luck to defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham. Pleasekeep those boys playing nasty. And of course, that’s “nasty” within therules of the game.

Please enjoy this SEC Championship Extra. Like in all our issues,there’s a great mix of sports and fanfare coverage. Let’s hope it helpsbring home a title.

Finally the news of Larry Munson’s passing literally came as I wassending our last few pages of the Tech issue (8 days ago). Thankfully Iwas able to include a tribute on the cover and a paragraph in my space.Instead of rushing this last week to include a Munson send-off in theSEC Extra, we decided to include it in our final issue of the year, theBowl Preview on December 13. This also allows us to include in ourcoverage the memorial service to be held Saturday, December 10, 1p.m. in Sanford Stadium. Like all of you, everyone here at BI lovedLarry. And boy wouldn’t it be Sugar Sweet to capture another SEC Titlein the year of his passing.

See you in the Dome. Go Dawgs!!!

SEC Championship Extra

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Cha Cha Cha PublishingEditor

Vance LeavyEditorial & Ad Director

Cheri LeavySports GuruJeff Dantzler

Public Relations DirectorAndrew Miller

SalesKelley BlantonAndrew MillerHolly StanfillAlan Lanier

SportsMurray Poole, Travis Ragsdale

Layout/DesignVance Leavy

Sports PhotographersRob Saye, Ryan Scates

Ad DesignCheri Leavy, Andrew Miller

Cover DesignBoyd Martin

ColumnistsCarlton DeVooght. Al Hickson

Reg Murphy, Rob SherrellLoran Smith. Chad White

Online Student EditorTravis Ragsdale

InternsAshley Hanna, Janell Niederriter,

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SEC Extra, November 29, 2011

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With four different schools producing thelast five national champions, and most likely alock for a sixth as LSU and Alabama seem des-tined for a rematch in New Orleans no matterwhat happens Saturday, the mighty South-eastern Conference has lapped the field with astring of unprecedented dominance.

For a major program in the toughestleague in the land, what it takes to win at thehighest level is right in front of every teams’face. A power running game (see Tim Tebow,Mark Ingram/Trent Richardson and CamNewton/Michael Dyer), explosive big playability in all three phases (see LSU and Ala-bama this season) and nasty, stingy, fast, phys-ical defenses.

Every top rate program, no matter theleague, has running backs, receivers and de-fensive backs who can run. But what puts theSEC over the top is the speed and power ofthe front seven.

Think back to the signature momentsand plays in the SEC’s five straight BCS Cham-pionship Game victories.

Defensive end Jarvis Moss ran downHeisman Trophy winner Troy Smith to makethe signature play in Florida’s 41-14 annihila-tion of Ohio State to capture the 2006 nationaltitle in Tempe. That was a 6-7, 265-pound de-fensive end chasing down the record settingdual threat All-American.

A year later in New Orleans, defensivetackle Ricky Jean Francois racked up sacks,tackles for loss and a blocked field goal. LSUrolled past Ohio State 38-24. Four years ear-lier, the Fightin’ Tigers beat Oklahoma in NewOrleans to capture the big prize, with defensiveend Marcus Spears coming up with an inter-ception and return for a touchdown as the sig-nature play.

Florida downed Oklahoma 24-14 inMiami to win its second national champi-onship in three years, hoisting the 2008 Crys-tal Ball. The Sooners were averaging 60-pluspoints over their final five games, and quarter-back Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy.All-American defensive end Carlos Dunlapwas the star of the game, chalking up 2.5sacks, harassing Bradford throughout thegame. The win marked the third straight sea-son that an SEC school won the national titleand beat the Heisman Trophy winner in theprocess. Keep in mind, LSU beat Florida andTim Tebow in 2007.

The next two Heisman winners and na-tional champions came from the SEC.

But in the BCS Championship Games, itwas havoc-wreaking dominating defendersthat spelled doom for Texas and Oregon.

In Alabama’s 37-21 win over Texas inPasadena, Marcel Dareus knocked Longhornquarterback Colt McCoy out of the game andthen made a remarkable deflection, intercep-tion and run to paydirt on the final play of thefirst half.

The Ducks had never seen anything likeAuburn’s awesome beast Nick Fairley. Hecompletely dominated the game and led theTigers shutdown of the nation’s most prolificscoring offense.

As Athens radio star Chris Brame said,“think REM, Ignoreland, ‘Defense, Defense,Defense, Defense.’”

While fielding some of the nation’s bestdefenses with a horde of stars like David Pol-lack, Thomas Davis, Boss Bailey, Sean Jones

and Johnathan Sullivan, Georgia put togetherone of the nation’s best records from 2002-2005, winning two SEC Championships,going to Atlanta three times, and finishing inthe top ten four straight years.

But the talent level dropped off and Geor-gia’s defense fell to the middle of the pack in theSEC. Therefore, in four of the last five seasons,the Bulldogs finished with disappointing cam-paigns – the exception the 2007 squad thatfinished No. 2 nationally with an 11-2 record.

Through two games this season, thepoint totals looked as bad as the record. BoiseState beat the Bulldogs 35-21 and South Car-olina won in Athens 45-42 – with 28 pointscoming from the Gamecocks defense and spe-cial teams.

Since then, the Bulldogs defense has beendownright outstanding.

Newcomers Jarvis Jones and AmarloHerrera are the kind of players Georgia had inthe first half of the 2000’s and look like the big-timers at LSU and Alabama. When Alec Ogle-tree, who moved up from safety to linebacker,returned for the Florida game, the defense hitits stride.

With a vastly improved defensive line,talented defensive line and this all-star line-backing corps, Georgia’s front seven has madean enormous jump.

And that’s the most important factor inthe Bulldogs 10 straight wins and return to theSEC Championship Game. That, and a veryfavorable schedule that didn’t have dates withLSU, Alabama or Arkansas. Those threeheaded into the final week of the regular sea-son ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 nationally.

But for the program, it was a season ofhistoric accomplishments. The Bulldogs beatTech, Auburn, Florida and Tennessee in thesame season for the first time since the power-house 1981 SEC champions that went 10-2and finished No. 5. The 10-game winningstreak is the Bulldogs longest since the power-house 1982 SEC champions had a perfect 11-0 regular season.

In the victories over Tech, Auburn,Florida and Tennessee, Georgia’s defense gaveup a combined five touchdowns (the Gatorshad a kickoff return for a score).

A year ago, Georgia’s run defense wasgashed in critical losses. But this season, invengeance victories, the Bulldogs run defensewas absolutely awesome against MississippiState, Florida and Auburn. The three com-bined averaged less than two yards per carry.

To cap it off, the defense held Tech’s pow-erful offense, one of the nation’s top rushing at-tacks which also features the nation’s leader inyards per reception, totally in check.

This will be an animal unlike any that theDogs have faced this season. LSU is an awe-some football team, making a historic runthrough the season.

Georgia is a heavy underdog. The Bull-dogs chance to pull off the upset – providedthe Dogs avoid giving LSU points via turnoversand in the kicking game – is on the shouldersof this defense. Almost all of Georgia’s defen-sive starters are back next season, and with thisyear’s performance, the defense is trending up-wards sharply. The Bulldogs have taken bigsteps this year, and to get where Saturday’snight’s opponent is in the near future, it startswith the key to Georgia’s 2011 success – de-fense!

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Beat LSU!Avid Dog fans weigh in on SEC title game

Knocking out these columns on Georgiafans and supporters this fall has been most re-freshing.

After interviewing players and coachesfor so many years, it’s been very informative,and enlightening too, to listen to what theBulldog Nation feels about their football teamand their beloved university.

Let’s go back to the beginning of this sea-son when, as you painfully know, Mark Richt’steam started things on a 0-2 note. But even asI chatted with these UGA fans and alumniafter those two losses to Boise State and SouthCarolina, not a single one of them was readyto throw in the towel on this 2011 season.Sure, they were sorely disappointed in theBulldogs’ start but at the same time they, to aperson, expressed confidence that Richt andhis coaching staff could right the Red andBlack ship in a hurry and get Georgia backamong the elite teams in the SoutheasternConference.

And, boy, did this team live up to thatvote of confidence. At that time, after the Bull-dogs dropped that 45-42 heartbreaker to theGamecocks on Sept. 10, as optimistic andhopeful as these Georgia supporters were, Idon’t think any of them envisioned this teamrunning the table the rest of the regular season.

But, as you UGA fans are now happilyaware, that’s exactly what this team did. Tenconsecutive wins, including victories over ri-vals Tennessee, Florida, Auburn and GeorgiaTech, have produced a 10-2 season, a final 7-1 mark in the SEC and the Bulldogs’ first East-ern Division championship since 2005.

Now, of course, comes the very biggestfootball game of the season for Georgia … thematchup with the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked LSU Tigers in the SEC Championshipgame Saturday at the Georgia Dome.

And keeping in the spirit of my fancolumns this season, we quizzed several avidDawg supporters on what they think will haveto happen for 12th-ranked Georgia to pull offwhat would amount to a monumental upsetof the Tigers, who seem to be favored any-where from 12 to 15 points. You must knowup front, that of the five Bulldog fans I talkedwith, at least three of them are calling theGeorgia upset of LSU. And, sure, they’re ad-mittedly all Bulldog homers but at the sametime they think if the team continues to per-form at the same high level it has during thiswin streak, an upset of LSU is not only possi-ble, but probable. They feel the Dogs haven’tgotten the respect they deserve, nationwide.

Said former UGA golfer Mike Cook of St.Simons Island, an instructor at Sea Island andnow the current head golf coach at the Collegeof Coastal Georgia in Brunswick: “LSU is talk-ing about still going to the national champi-onship game even if they lose to Georgia. So,they might be looking ahead. Our team latelyhas been turning turnovers into points and ifwe get our running backs back and can get atleast 150 yards or so rushing, that will help(Aaron) Murray a lot – we need a balanced at-tack. We surprised LSU in the 2005 game and(D.J.) Shockley was a hot quarterback in thatgame and we also have a hot quarterbacknow. So I’m going out on a limb and pickingthe Dogs. I’ll say we win by a field goal.”

Another loyal Bulldog fan, Rick Ramsey,who is an insurance agent in Conyers, is alsotabbing Georgia for an upset and, like Cook,he’s thinking the foot of Blair Walsh will spellthe difference Saturday.

“We’re going to have to run the ball,” saidRamsey. “I don’t think we can beat LSU with-out running the ball. We have to play errorfree and have to play our best defense of theyear. If we can do those three things and ourpassing game continues at the level it wasagainst Tech, we have got a chance. We mighthave to pass first to establish a running gameand that would be OK … whatever it takes.But I believe we’re going to win and I’ll say byabout 24-21,” said Ramsey.

Ashlee Hawke Hill and her hus-band, Scott, are both pharmacists inCharleston, S.C. with Scott having grad-uated from the UGA School of Phar-macy in 2004. She also feels confidentabout how the team will answer thishuge challenge in the Georgia Dome.

“I definitely think we pull off theupset this weekend,” she said. “I havecomplete and total faith in our boys. Itreminds me of the statement my hus-band always says, we’re playing withhouse money and have nothing to lose.We’ve come this far, we might as well goahead and seal the deal. I definitelythink our defense will be the key to vic-tory and that it will be a low-scoringgame,” said Hill. “But I think the Geor-gia boys will come out on top. I’ll say21-16, Bulldogs.”

The youngest member of this fanpanel is Houston Gaines. He’s a juniorat Athens Academy and an aspiring fu-ture journalist who is already doingsome writing for the Athens Banner-Herald.

“Obviously, Georgia will need tocontinue its good rush defense becauseLSU brings a lot to the table,” saidGaines. “The offense has to step up butthe defense is the key this week, forsure. Georgia and LSU match up prettyevenly on paper but then, Georgia has-n’t really played anybody and LSU hasplayed one of the toughest schedules inthe country,” said Gaines. “I think eitherLSU blows Georgia out, by 30 or so, orthe Bulldogs win a close one, maybe athree-point game.”

Bill Major, an Atlanta attorney, sayshe’s a terrible forecaster and reallywouldn’t want to hazard a guess onwhat the final score will be in the SECtitle skirmish.

“Given the team speed LSU has,particularly on defense, it’s going to becritical for us to establish a runninggame, in order to open up our passinggame,” Major related. “I think it’s alsocritical that we contain their specialteams and make sure we don’t give upany big plays on special teams. I thinkwe have shown we have the ability tothrow over the middle, particularly to(Orson) Charles, (Malcolm) Mitchelland (Chris) Conley, who once theycatch the ball can turn a short pass intoa big play. We have to also win theturnover battle and are going to have toplay for four quarters because they(Tigers) have the ability to hurt you atany point of the game with their speedon the field. A turnover here and a bigplay there can totally change a game andthat’s why it’s so hard to predict what’sgoing to happen. As Larry (Munson) al-ways said, ‘suddenly happened,’ andthat can change the complexion of agame.”

What do I think about the Bulldogs’biggest football game since 2005, whenthey won the SEC by mauling a thenthird-ranked LSU team by 34-14? Thesportswriter in me says it’s LSU by fromseven to 10 points but since this is againa fan column, what the heck? That’s allsportswriters are anyway, glorified fanswho do have the privilege of sitting inthe press box and eating free food. Makeit the Dogs, by a shaky 21-17.

poole shotsBy Murray Poole

www.bulldawgillustrated.com 5

Mike Cook Rick Ramsey

Houston Gaines Bill Major

Ashlee and Scott Hill

GeorgiaSeptember 3 (Atlanta) Boise State – 35 Georgia – 21For the season preview of Bulldawg Illustrated, editor Vance Leavy characterized the chal-lenge of the 2011 campaign as “Operation Double Dome.” In a deal that was completed inthe spring, Georgia met State in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic. The Bulldogs grabbed a 7-0lead on an 80-yard touchdown dash from Brandon Boykin. Boise State then dominated themiddle of the game, scoring 28 unanswered points. The Bulldogs had no answers. The em-barrassing 35-21 dismantling that Georgia suffered left the Bulldog faithful thinking that theonly chance of returning to the Dome would be for the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Not the SECChampionship Game.

September 10 (Athens) South Carolina – 45 Georgia – 42In one of the most painful losses the Bulldogs have ever suffered against South Carolina, theBulldogs fell to 0-2 while gift-wrapping 28 points to the defending SEC East champs. TheGamecocks scored a pair of defensive touchdowns – including a climaxing fumble return thatgave South Carolina a 45-35 fourth quarter lead – ran in a fake punt for a TD and set up an-other with an interception return to the Georgia five. Freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell wasoutstanding in his Sanford Stadium debut, but the Gamecocks magnificent Marcus Lattimoreplayed like a true All-American Heisman front-runner, gashing the Bulldogs for 176 yards on27 carries, with 92 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter. Though the Dogs were apainful 0-2, Georgia was certainly battle-tested. The Bulldogs showed that Saturday that theywere capable of competing with a top ten team and beating one if Georgia could overcomeone major obstacle. Beating itself.

September 17 (Athens) Georgia – 59 Coastal Carolina – 0Coastal Carolina, a Division I-AA or FCS school, was obviously outmanned. But any way youslice it, Georgia looked good and played well. For the defense, this win started a very impres-sive string of four straight dominating performances.

September 24 (Oxford) Georgia – 27 Ole Miss – 13Special teams were again awful and the Bulldogs missed numerous opportunities, making thisgame much closer than it should be. Ole Miss returned a punt for touchdown and recoveredan onsides kick. But Georgia’s defense was really good. Jarvis Jones, a Southern Cal transfer,and true freshman Amarlo Herrera were showing that they were instant impact standouts atlinebacker, and the nucleus of a vastly improved front seven.

October 1 (Athens) Georgia – 24 Mississippi State – 10A year ago in Starkville, the Bulldogs were physically beaten up and whipped by MississippiState. The Maroons dominated the fourth quarter and got their first victory over Georgiasince 1974. This was one of those statement game for Georgia. How much better, howmuch tougher was Georgia this season? The Dogs dominated MSU and it was the defensethat stood out again, holding State to under two yards per carry and keeping their offense outof the end zone. Mississippi State’s touchdown came on a pick-six. It was clear that thisGeorgia team, which focused in the off-season on improving the program’s toughness,strength and endurance had made significant strides.

October 8 (Knoxville) Georgia – 20 Tennessee – 12 It was a dogfight, tied 6-6 at the half. Then Georgia took control in the second half. The de-fense was tremendous again, totally stuffing the Tennessee run game. True freshman re-ceiver Malcolm Mitchell, coveted five-star recruit, had an explosive performance, hauling in apair of deep bombs that led to Georgia touchdowns. The second long reception was costly,as Mitchell pulled his hamstring, an injury that kept him out for a month. The win was Geor-gia’s second straight over Tennessee and the third in the last four years. It also ended a two-game Knoxville losing streak in which the Dogs were embarrassed 35-14 and 41-19. All ofsudden, after that 0-2 start, the Bulldogs had something going.

October 15 (Nashville) Georgia – 33 Vanderbilt – 28Had Drew Butler not kept his balance and made a saving tackle on a blocked punt that waspart of an F-minus, horrendous special teams performance, well, it’s safe to say things wouldhave been very different in Athens. But he did and the defense held. A game that Georgiashould have won going away took every drop of gas in the tank. There was a fake punt, akick return for a touchdown, missed field goals and the punt block. But Georgia found a way.Marlon Brown, with Mitchell sidelined, had his best night as a Bulldog. There were certainlysome parallels between this season and that great 2007 campaign when Georgia went 11-2and finished No. 2 nationally. The Bulldogs were very fortunate to beat Vandy that season,winning 20-17. Then came an open date and then the Gators.

October 29 (Jacksonville) Georgia – 24 Florida – 20How far the Bulldogs have come since trailing Florida 17-3. It seemed like “here we goagain.” The Gators hit a long fourth-down touchdown and ran a kickoff back for a touch-down. Georgia missed field goals. But Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow and Steve Spurrier are his-tory. The Bulldogs cashed in on turnovers and hit a trio of magic passes, including a pair offourth-down touchdowns. Trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Georgia turned to the powerrunning attack of Richard Samuel, who scored the go – ahead touchdown and then clinchedthe game – on the heels of an enormous completion from Aaron Murray to Chris Conley for aclutch first down – with a churning run on fourth and three, driving inside the Florida one.Unfortunately, Samuel, who has overcome tremendous adversity in his Georgia career, wasinjured and lost for the remainder of the regular season on the run that turned out to be thegame’s final play. The constant was that defense, that just saved the day time and timeagain. Jones had a phenomenal performance, his four sacks the most by a Bulldog in Jack-sonville since the great All-American Freddie Gilbert. Georgia needed a win in Jacksonville sobadly. 3-18 is history. Will Muschamp is 0-1 vs. the Bulldogs, the first Florida coach with alosing record against Georgia since interim Gary Darnell in 1989. This series just may haveshifted back Georgia’s way.

November 5 (Athens)Georgia – 63 New Mexico State – 16Keep in mind New Mexico State did beat Minnesota, which played Southern Cal tough.The Bulldogs, with sheer jubilation in the wake of the win in Jacksonville, lookedmighty sharp. Georgia scored 42 points in the second quarter. Aaron Murray and Hut-son Mason did a great job. With all of Georgia’s scholarship tailbacks suspended or in-jured, walk-ons Brandon Harden and Kyle Karempolis did an excellent job behind theoffensive line – their performances likely sparking the dual 100-yard performances thefollowing Saturday.

November 12 (Athens)Georgia – 45 Auburn – 7Everything came together for Georgia that magic Saturday between the hedges. TheBulldogs steamrolled the Tigers in historic fashion, posting the largest margin of victoryover the old rival since the powerhouse of 1946 beat Auburn 41-0. Crowell and Carl-ton Thomas, back from suspension, both ran for over 100 yards, Aaron Murray wasrazor sharp, the kicking game was solid and that defense was awesome. Georgia shutdown Michael Dyer and Auburn’s strong running attack, while a Baccari Rambo pick sixthat put the Bulldogs ahead 28-7 proved to be the backbreaker. It’s just not everydaythat Auburn is beaten like this. That’s three straight in Athens over the tigers and fiveof the last six overall.

November 19 (Athens)Georgia – 19 Kentucky – 10 Lowly Kentucky hung in with Georgia the whole way. The Bulldogs who punched intouchdowns in clutch spots against Florida and Auburn relied on field goals to surviveand win. And that defense. The Bulldogs shut down the Wildcats running game, andforced four turnovers, helping offset Georgia’s four turnovers. This capped Georgia’sfirst nine-game in season win streak since the great Southeastern Conference champi-ons of 1982 went a perfect 11-0. The schedule makers and circumstance smiled onthis team, and after the 0-2 start, Georgia pushed to 9-2 with a pair of huge show-downs in Atlanta on deck – starting with the biggest game of all on the flats.

November 26 (Atlanta)Georgia – 31 Georgia Tech – 17In the biggest game of all, Georgia took an early lead and never relinquished it. Thedefense was strong and the offense kept the pressure on. It could have been a biggermargin, but Georgia missed on some opportunities. Murray and Georgia’s talentedpass-catchers – headlined by Orson Charles and Malcolm Mitchell – had excellent per-formances when the Dogs, crippled by injury at tailback, needed it the most. Ken Mal-come ran strong to help run down the clock and Jarvis Jones put the punctuation markon the victory with a big sack. The defensive front, hampered by an injury to DeAn-gelo Tyson, was stout – John Jenkins, Garrison Smith and Abry Jones standing out.That’s 10 out of 11 in the series for Georgia and six straight wins at historic Grant Fieldfor the Bulldogs.

— By Jeff Dantzler

The road to the Dome

EAST CHAMPIONS

photo by Ryan Scates

Georgia #26 Malcolm Mitchell, WR

Both Georgia and LSU put together outstanding recruiting classes, something theTigers have been doing for years, while the Bulldogs slumped. One of the big getsfor the Bulldogs was Valdosta’s Malcolm Mitchell, who picked Georgia over Alabama.He’s the field-stretching difference-maker for Georgia, a special athlete. Mitchellmakes Georgia in every way and gives the running game a big boost. When he’s inthe game, defenses have to play the safety over the top for help. Mitchell’s bestperformance this season came in Knoxville, where he pulled in a pair of bombs toset up Georgia’s two touchdowns, while tallying 126 yards on three receptions.

Georgia #29 Jarvis Jones, LB

Infused with talent, Georgia’s newcomers have had an enormous hand in the Bull-dogs improvement from a 6-7 record to the SEC Championship Game with a chanceto win 10 games. At the head of the class is Jarvis Jones, havoc-wreaking Colum-bus native who transferred in from Southern Cal. In this league that is loaded withdefensive dynamo’s, Jones is right there with the best of the best, ranking amongstthe SEC’s leaders in sacks and tackles for loss. His place in Georgia history is as-sured after that incredible four-sack performance in the Bulldogs desperately needed24-20 win over Florida, a showing that earned him national Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors. Jones true freshman Amarlo Herrera, converted safety Alec Ogletreeand Michael Giliard form an outstanding linebacking corps, and this is a positionwhere Georgia’s talent and depth had been lacking for several years.

Georgia #11 Aaron Murray, QB

A talented sophomore who is on his way to joining the list of Georgia’s finest everquarterbacks, Murray is at his best when he’s on the move. He is clearly one ofGeorgia’s best runners and throws very well on the move out of the pocket. Instraight drop situations, Murray, who is not textbook tall, is good on the deep ballin straight drop-back situations when Georgia has a strong running game going.But when Georgia isn’t running well, those straight drop-back plays are when theDogs have made most of their offensive miscues this season. LSU will be comingfast, hard and furious and the Dogs have to slow down that rush. Getting Murraymoving by design is the best formula. The Tampa, Florida native has already setthe school single season record for touchdown passes, and is coming off of an ex-cellent performance in Georgia’s 31-17 victory at Tech.

Georgia #7 Orson Charles, TE

One of the nation’s premier tight ends, Charles is a different-looking athlete. He’sthe real deal, and a nightmare for any team to defend. Even the powerful Tigers.Charles had a sensational game against Tech, adding some physicality to thepassing attack with Georgia’s short-handed tailback situation. Georgia is at itsbest with a good running attack, big plays from itchell and Charles roaming themiddle of the field. Against South Carolina’s excellent defensive front, Charlesstayed in to block for a vast majority of the game. This is a different beast here inLSU. Georgia must devise a way to give as much blocking help as possible, whilekeeping Charles a primary target in the passing game. That’s easy to say, huh.LSU will be aware of where Charles is at all times.

The Studs that got them there

www.bulldawgillustrated.com 7

photos by Rob Saye

— By Jeff Dantzler

Georgia 31Georgia Tech 17

Margot Wallis, Scott Smith, Sanders Wallis and CeCe Wallis Sam Holmes, Mark Slonaker and Chuck Smith Scott Woerner, Rob Saye and Rex Robinson

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andDanielle

Chambless

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Royal andCarsonRoyal

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LSUSeptember 3 (Arlington, Tx.) LSU – 40 Oregon – 27

From the first game of the season, it was clear that LSU would be a force. Yes theTigers were a consensus preseason top ten pick, even top five. But the brutal schedule,suspensions of key personnel and the loss of top flight defensive talent made hopes fora perfect season seemingly a long shot. But a 40-27 pasting of Oregon, last season’sNo. 2 team, at the Dallas Cowboys stadium illustrated just how talented and dominantthis Tiger team is. LSU shut down Oregon’s vaunted offense and showed explosivenessin all three phases – a trait that has been with the Tigers all season. Jarrett Lee steppedin for the suspended Jordan Jefferson and kept LSU’s offense right on track.

LSU – 49 Northwestern State – 3, September 10 (Baton Rouge)

It was so sweat for LSU, as expected. In the lone game played at Tiger Stadium inSeptember, LSU got to bask in the win over Oregon and get set for a short week Thurs-day nighter at Mississippi State.

September 15 (Starkville, Ms.)LSU – 19 Mississippi State – 6

Whoever put this schedule together for Mississippi State got duped. While LSU had acakewalk, Mississippi State was locked a thrilling 41-34 loss at defending national cham-pion Auburn. It was nip-and-tuck, but LSU pulled away in the fourth quarter. TheTigers defense had one of its most dominating performances, coming up with a slew ofsecond half three-and-outs. Rueben Randle got loose for the clinching touchdown andLSU’s kicking game was superb. This would be one of just two games in which theTigers didn’t score 35 or more points.

September 24 (Morgantown, W.V.)LSU – 47 West Virginia - 21

LSU roared to a 27-7 lead and the Morgantown faithful, buoyed by ESPN College Game-day’s presence were realizing they were greatly outclassed. Then LSU dropped a touch-down and missed the field goal. Geno Smith and the Mountaineers offense got rollingand West Virginia scored back to back touchdowns, pulling within six at 27-21 andsending the crowd into sheer bedlam. Then Morris Claiborne ran the kickoff back 99yards for a touchdown. Game over. The Tigers tacked on a couple more scores andcompletely dominated the fourth quarter. And that’s LSU. They constantly keep thepressure on teams – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. For 60 minutes.And they are capable of scoring a touchdown on any play. In the month of September,LSU had now beaten Oregon, Mississippi State and West Virginia all away from home.

October 1 (Baton Rouge)LSU – 35 Kentucky – 7

The Tigers got up big early and played great defense again. Tyran Mathieu had a sec-ond straight phenomenal performance. Some very good LSU teams from days gone bymight have struggled in a game like this, coming off the big win with the morning kick-off in Tiger Stadium. But not this bunch. It was yet another runaway win.

October 8 (Baton Rouge)LSU – 41 Florida – 11

As if LSU didn’t already have the attention of the college football world, this absoluteshellacking of the formerly mighty-Gators also started the countdown to the TitanicTuscaloosa showdown. Alabama had blasted Florida 38-10 the week before inGainesville. It was very clear that these were the two best teams in the country. LSUwas much faster, more physical and far better coached than Florida. It was the kind ofpasting that the Gators put on proud programs in the Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyereras.

October 15 (Knoxville)LSU – 38 Tennessee – 7

The Volunteers were hanging tough with LSU and threatening to score andtake a first quarter lead. Then LSU was LSU. Claiborne intercepted a pass on the LSUfour yard line and returned it 92 yards to set up a touchdown. Not only do they stealyour girlfriend, her dad gives you the keys to his new sportscar to take her out. Theyjust break your heart. As if the interception wasn’t bad enough, the return was a com-plete Neyland Stadium crowd deflater. It was another LSU runaway over a proud, tradi-tion-rich SEC program.

October 22 (Baton Rouge)LSU – 45 Auburn – 10

It was another LSU runaway over a proud, tradition-rich SEC program. Oh yeah, we’veseen that before. Auburn was hanging around late in the second quarter and decidedto punt from the LSU 38-yard line, trailing 14-3 with just over a minute to go. Wellwouldn’t you know, LSU goes 90-plus yards for a touchdown and a 21-3 lead. Soundfamiliar. The defending national champs were totally outclassed. And how about therun through Florida, Tennessee and Auburn by a combined score of 124-28! That’sFlorida, Tennessee and Auburn. Those three programs have only won five of the last15 national championships. Meanwhile, Alabama was slaughtering many of the sameschools by eerily similar scores. The stage was set after an open date for both for thegame of the 21st century.

November 5 (Tuscaloosa)LSU – 9 Alabama – 6 (Overtime)

In the most highly anticipated regular season game since Nebraska’s incredible 35-31victory over Oklahoma in Norman in a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 undefeateds, defensestole the show. In this most powerful of conferences that has produced the last fivenational champions, it was the first ever in-season No. 1 vs. No. 2 SEC showdown ever.It was a game of hard hits and field position – and trying not to make the fatal mis-take. Alabama blew opportunity after opportunity, missing four field goals – includingone in overtime. Then the Tigers delivered. The talk immediately turned to a potentialrematch. This victory goes right with Halloween Night 1959, and the two BCS Champi-onship Game victories of the 2000s as the most famous in Fightin’ Tiger annals. It isalso LSU’s only game this season that the Tigers didn’t win by at least 13 points.

November 12 (Baton Rouge)LSU – 42 Western Kentucky – 9

Physically and emotionally drained from the clash in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers didn’t putWestern Kentucky away until the fourth quarter. It was 14-7 in the first half. But LSUpulled away on a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium with their faithful rejoicing in whathad taken place the week prior.

November 19 (Oxford)LSU – 52 Ole Miss – 3It is hard to believe that on LSU’s last visit to Oxford, the Tigers lost for a secondstraight time to Ole Miss and Les Miles was getting roasted for shaky clockwork at theend of the game. Ancient history. LSU was taking knees deep in Rebel territory withfive minutes to go. The following week, Bobby Petrino was cussing at Miles for kickinga field goal with five minutes left. What do you do? What a nice problem to have,wondering whether the nature of another blowout SEC win would insult the opposinghead coach. The Tigers got back firing on all cylinders for another major showdownthe following week.

November 25 (Baton Rouge)LSU – 41 Arkansas – 17

Things got tense and nervous at Tiger Stadium, as an Arkansas fumble return for atouchdown gave the Razorbacks a 14-0 second quarter lead in the first meeting of No.1 vs. No. 3 in Baton Rouge since the aforementioned 1959 Halloween Night show-down with Ole Miss when Billy Cannon worked his magic. With just under six minutesto go in the first half, LSU was driving, still trailing 14-0. At halftime, the Tigers were up21-14. That’s explosiveness. It was tight into the fourth quarter, but that powerful LSUrunning game took over and buried the Razorbacks. The win was LSU’s third of theseason against a team that at some point was ranked in the top three nationally. Andagain, that’s not to mention the likes of Florida and Auburn. And LSU has to be thefirst team in history to slay each of the last three national champions. No matter whathappens in Atlanta, the Tigers have likely punched their ticket to the BCS Champi-onship game with a phenomenal season that few, if any, saw coming in this powerfulnature.

— By Jeff Dantzler

The road to the Dome

WEST CHAMPIONS

photo by LSUsports.net

LSU #7 Tyrann Mathieu, CB/PR

The Honey Badger is considered the most aggressive and fearless animalon Planet Earth. Mathieu’s nickname is the “Honey Badger.” This All-American is just a sophomore, and stepped right in for the great All-American Patrick Petersen, defining heir apparent. In 24 career games,Mathieu has forced 13 turnovers. He ran back a 92-yard punt for atouchdown in Baton Rouge to tie the Arkansas game at 14-14 and sparkthe Tigers comeback runaway. Mathieu will likely finish in the top ten inthe Heisman Trophy balloting and will be a front-runner next season.With all of the great talent in the SEC, he figures to win Defensive Player-of-the-Year, an honor that is arguably as tough to win as college football’smost prestigious. The field isn’t as deep, but the top ten competing forthe honor certainly take home the per capita on talent.

LSU #17 Morris Claiborne, CB

A tremendous cover corner with great feet and ball skills, Claiborneteams with Mathieu to give the Tigers an All-World secondary duo. Andoh year, there’s also Eric Reid, who was the hero and game – saver inTuscaloosa. Everyone on this defense is a star and future pro. As B.I.editor Vance Leavy summarized, “they’re trained killers.” With that in-credible front seven, LSU’s standout secondary performers flourish. Clai-borne has two of the biggest plays of the season, the 99-yard kickoffreturn for a touchdown at West Virginia and 92-yard interception returnat Tennessee. Georgia’s receivers haven’t seen anything like this second-ary.

LSU #2 Rueben Randle, WR

With a horde of stellar running backs, an awesome offensive line andstandout quarterback play, LSU’s offense is stacked and Randle is the bigplay touchdown maker. He’s arguably the Tigers most important offen-sive player. Throughout the season, Randle has produced a slew of bigtouchdowns. He’s the best receiver Georgia will face since South Car-olina’s All-American Alshon Jeffrey. Randle is very fast and has that natu-ral knack for finding holes in zone coverage. He’ll love running on thefast track on the Georgia Dome, a stadium in which LSU has had tremen-dous success in the 2000s.

LSU #9 Jordan Jefferson, QB

Arrested prior to the season and subsequently suspended, Jefferson lostthe starting quarterback job to Jarrett Lee. But he remained patient,started getting more and more snaps, and then in the Alabama game, theTigers turned to the fleet and talented Jefferson in the second half. He’sbeen LSU’s number one quarterback since. Jefferson has a big arm andis fast and strong running the ball, whether by design, on the option orto avoid pressure. He gives this incredibly talented team even one moreelement. Something has to give when defending LSU, but teams areforced to keep a spy on Jefferson on nearly every play.

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The Studs that got them there

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In the kitchen with THE Couvillons

Couvillon’s Cajun Seafood Gumbo 3 lbs. shrimp2 -8 oz. containers oysters *keep and use juice1 lb. scallops5- 8 oz containers crab meat *keep and use juice2 lbs. crawfish2 packages cajun sausage (Renee does this, her mom didn’t)bacon for bacon grease1/4 cup flour2 cups each of onion, celery and green pepper (chopped)3 cans Rotel original24 oz. chicken stock5 cloves garlic (chopped)ZATARAIN’S Gumbo Filéseasonings: 2 bay leaves1 1/2 teaspoons thyme1 teaspoon basil1/3 cup dried parley1 teaspooon lemon pepper1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper2 dash worcestershire

First you make a roux and this is the most important foundation for the dish. Renee used her mom’s cast iron pot which is best. Cook bacon and save the bacon grease. Use the bacon grease and 1/4 cup of flour in the pot on medium heat. Using her mom’s wooden spoon, Renee stirred the roux scraping the entire bottom of the pot until the roux turned chocolate brown. Lower the heat when it gets medium brown. Do not walk away from the roux as if it burns, you have to start over. Now add onions, celery and green pepper and cook 3-5 minutes stirring. Add half of the chicken stock and up the heat a tad. Let cook 3-5 minutes. Add chopped garlic. Add Rotel and cook 3-5 minutes. Add additional stock and seasonings except the gumbo filé. Add sausage. Cover and let cook on medium heat for an hour and 15 minutes stirring regularly.

Add seafood and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Serve over rice and top with gumbo filé to taste. Serve with crusty french baguette.

C’est Bon! This is good!

Renee and her brother Sam Couvillon recently got together to make their mother, Nancy’s seafood gumbo just in time for the SEC Championship game against LSU. This tribute to their mom from Louisiana and her native cajun cook-ing was a year after her passing. It turned out to be a fun and nostalgic trip down memory lane for the siblings as well as a nod to the fact Bulldogs can confidently face LSU on the field and in the kitchen. Nancy was an avid University of Georgia Bulldog fan and supporter during her life in Georgia and throughout her husband Dr. Gary Couvillon’s career as a professor of horticulture and a Faculty Athletics Representative on the University of Georgia Athletic Board. Visit guide2athens website to see more of the photo shoot, the recipe and “how to” for creating their mom Nancy’s seafood gumbo. Bon appetit- Cheri Leavy

The Match UpJeff Dantzler

JD - LSU just may have the very best defense in the country. It’s either theTigers or Alabama. They force turnovers and score touchdowns. They produce aslew of negative yardage plays. They come up with three-and-outs at critical timeswhen there’s the slightest hint of trouble. It is going to be extremely tough andphysical, but Georgia has to run it at LSU and get Aaron Murray out moving. Withno running attack and Murray standing in the pocket, that ferocious defense will bedrooling for sacks and turnovers. The Tigers secondary is incredible. But MalcolmMitchell can make big plays against anyone. He gives Georgia a sorely neededhome run threat.

Murray - It’s an absolute must for the Bulldogs to keep the rugged Tigerdefense off balance with an equal blend of rushing and passing. Georgia must firstestablish the running game in order for Aaron Murray to have a big passing dayand that will mean getting both Isaiah Crowell and Ken Malcome into high gear.The Bulldogs will need to control the football offensively in order to keep the dan-gerous LSU offense on the sidelines and that will mean that Will Friend’s offensiveline must render its finest performance of the entire season. And, oh yes, Murraymust be dead on target with his passes so as to keep the ball away from theTigers’ two great defensive backs, Morris Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu.

Travis - The Dawgs have to hope that Isaiah Crowell is healthy this comingweekend. The strength of the Georgia offense to this point in the season has beenthe passing game. In order to continue that trend, Georgia will need to first estab-lish a run game to facilitate the play-action pass. Mind you, that won’t be easyagainst what many consider the best defense in the country.

When Georgia has the ball

JD - LSU has the country’s best special teams. Georgia’s has been amongstthe SEC’s worst. Far too many times, most notably in a painful loss to South Car-olina and narrow escape at Vanderbilt, Georgia’s kicking game has been a disaster.LSU scores on punt and kickoff returns. Tyranm Mathieu brought a punt back for atouchdown to tie Arkansas. Morris Claiborne returned a kickoff for a 99-yardtouchdown to knock out West Virginia when the Mountaineers were threatening.Georgia’s struggles on field goals has led to the offense being more aggressive, es-pecially in Jacksonville. This is clearly the biggest edge that LSU has.

Special teams

Murray - It’s hard to imagine LSU having better special teams play thando the Bulldogs but with blue-chip All-America candidate Tyrann Mathieu patrollingthe secondary and also being dynamite on kick returns, the Tigers’ special teamsare a big reason why they are unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in America coming intothe SEC title game Saturday. Mathieu had that 92-yard punt return for a touch-down that turned the game around against Arkansas and, certainly, All-AmericanDrew Butler will have to pinpoint his punts so Mathieu can’t inflict damage on theBulldogs as well. Blair Walsh will have to be on target with every kick Saturday and,of course, it goes without saying Georgia’s kick coverage team will have to be at itsvery best.

Travis - LSU has the Honey Badger, Tyrann Mathieu. Last week he ran apunt back for a TD against Arkansas. He is extremely dangerous and just an all-around play-maker. Containing him will be a big point of emphasis this week inpractice. One big play from him on special teams could mean the game for Geor-gia.

JD - This is a house money game for Georgia. Yes the Bulldogs are a victoryaway from a coveted, precious SEC Championship. But standing in the way is oneof the finest football teams Georgia has ever played. The Tigers are right therewith ’76 Pitt, ’82 Penn State, and ’96 and ’08 Florida. They may be the best. Evenif LSU loses, the Tigers will likely play in the BCS Championship Game. If the Tigersbeat Georgia and then win in the Superdome for the big Crystal Ball to go 14-0, itwill go down as one of the great seasons for any team in college football history.That is a nice nugget that Georgia is the only SEC school that Les Miles has a losingrecord against.

Intangibles

Murray - All week, leading up to Saturday’s 4 p.m. kickoff in the GeorgiaDome, the Bulldogs are going to be hearing they don’t belong on the same fieldwith LSU, that they have absolutely no chance of pulling off what would be a gi-gantic upset. This is something that should rile this 10-2 Georgia team up, some-thing that should give Mark Richt’s Bulldogs every bit of motivational ammunitionthey need to take the fight to a fat and sassy Tiger team that could already bethinking about its rematch against Alabama in the BCS National Championshipgame. What say you, underdog Bulldogs?

Travis - The Dawgs have to have the edge here. Nobody outside of theBulldawg Nation believes Georgia can win this game and that bodes well for theDawgs. Flying under the radar has sort of been Georgia’s thing this year and theywouldn’t have it any other way. LSU has everything to lose, UGA on the otherhand, is playing with house money.

Murray - LSU has four running backs (Michael Ford, Spencer Ware, Al-fred Blue and freshman Kenny Hilliard) over 200 pounds with Ford and Ware beingthe rushing leaders with 721 and 687 yards a game, respectively. Thus, ToddGrantham’s defense, which has performed so brilliantly in this 10-game winningstreak, must lock up on their tackles and slow down the Tiger running game, whichis averaging 215 rushing yards per game. That’s something the Arkansas Razor-backs couldn’t do last weekend and the reason they allowed 41 points to theTigers. Slowing the LSU rushing attack and making senior quarterback Jordan Jef-ferson TRY to beat the Bulldogs with his passing could spell good things for theDogs in the Georgia Dome.

Travis -Georgia needs to continue to play strong defensive football as theyhave all year. Stopping the run and forcing Jordan Jefferson to pass will be key asthe strength of LSU’s offense comes from the ground game. But be weary of LesMiles, he’s likely to have some sort of set of trick plays up his sleeve for this one.

JD - For Georgia to have a chance, the defense has to play its very best gameand keep LSU’s dangerous, powerful and explosive offense from getting rolling.The Bulldogs defense was tremendous in big Southeastern Conference victoriesover Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida, Auburn and Kentucky – allow-ing just five offensive touchdowns in those five wins. LSU can grind it up with astrong rushing attacking featuring three outstanding tailbacks, a fleet quarterbackand an offensive line full of future NFL players. And the Tigers are explosive.Rueben Randle and Russell Shepherd headline a host of big lay threats.

When LSU has the ball

Murray Poole Travis Ragsdale

Bulldawg Illustrated’s sportswriters break down Georgia-LSU

2011 SEC Championship#1 LSU Tigers vs. # 12 Georgia Bulldogs

December 3, 4 p.m., Georgia Dome

photo by LSUsports.net

photo by Ryan Scates

14 Bulldawg Illustrated

We believe in this team!

Gruff & GrumpBy Chad White and Al Hickson

The Big Goal is within our reach. Saturday afternoon of-fers a long awaited opportunity to return to the GeorgiaDome for a chance to not only beat the unanimous choicefor the nation’s top team, the Louisiana State Tigers, butalso, most importantly, to take home the trophy for theSoutheastern Conference Championship. Mark Richt has leda much discussed and tremendous turnaround from the darkdays to start the season. He, along with his staff and play-ers, deserve heavy praise for putting themselves in this po-sition.

The Dawgs have ridden the strong play of what has be-come one of the top defenses in the country to the tune of aten game winning streak. Todd Grantham’s unit finishes theregular season ranked in the top five defenses nationally.The faithful longed for a return to the days when the de-fense could be trusted to shut down the opposing team nomatter what the offense was doing. For the past ten games,we have seen just that type of play from this very talentedbunch.

Aaron Murray is playing exceptionally well. The Dawgshave weapons on offense that have proven to be fairly con-sistent throughout the year. The health of Isaiah Crowell isof extreme importance. Will he be ready to go? He will needhelp against this rugged LSU D. They are nasty and full ofplaymakers. We will have to eliminate the turnovers thatcontinue to crop up on occasion. Plays will present them-selves and we have to take advantage when they do.Chances will not be plentiful so we have to be ready.

The bottom line is the Dawgs have fought hard andearned their place on this big stage. Sure, plenty of gameswere sloppy. Performances were not always as dominate asmany felt they should have been. None of that matters now.This group continuously proved to find ways to win. If theycan once more find that within themselves, find that place toplay that exceptional game they are clearly capable of,there’s reason to believe we could bring home the trophy.

Get it done boys. The people are in your corner.

Go Dawgs!

It’s First & Tena t t h e

Georgia ClubOne of Georgia’s greatest semi-private country clubs invites you to

experience golf as it was truly meant to be. Enjoy our plush fairways,

and great greens on our picturesque, superb 27 holes.

Play all day for only

$49 weekdays and $59 weekends.*

Enjoy our fantastic dining and membership opportunities as well.

*Must present this ad, cannot be combine with any other offer. Weekdays are Monday-Thursday and weekends are Friday-Sunday and holidays.Valid until 12/10. Not valid on 11/25.

« ATLANTA

ATHENS»STATHAM

To make a tee time call 770-725-8101.

Located on Highway 316, just 8 minutes west of the Oconee Connector.

1050 chancellors drivestatham, ga 30666

thegeorgia club.com

Liquor # 14388 Lexington Rd. (706.583.4066)Liquor # 2265 North Ave. (706.543.0005)Convenience # 11195 Cedar Shoals Dr. (706.353.0057)Convenience # 2*4390 Lexington Rd. (706.546.7988)

Cold Kegs For Dawgs!

WELCOME TO YOUR PARTY HEADQUARTERS.

Fine Wine • Liquor • Domestic Craft Beers

Great Customer Services

Good Luck, Dawgs!Win the SEC

*kegs not offered at this location

Drink Responsibly. No I.D.? No Beer!

Perry’s Convenienc

e & Liquors

YOU DESERVE MOORETHEY DESERVE MOORE

WHAT MOORE DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR KIDS?

www.MSTILLER.com

Atlanta

1612 Newcastle Stree uitet S

Coastal Georgia

wick, GA 315 -e 200 Bruns 20 912

omcTILLER..MSww.ww

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