2006 UGA Game

[Highflyer]

Hey Buff fans,

Remember when our 0-3 Buffs traveled to Georgia and damn near Beat the Bulldogs in their house? Well, I remember really well, in fact I remember all the grumbling in Athens by the Dawg fans about how bad they played, almost letting a much more inferior team come into to their house and win. Walking around campus after the game I got a bunch of congratulatory slaps on the back and atta boys, but the Dawg fans were ripping everyone, coaches, players, stadium attendants, you name it. That Georgia Team was really young and had it's up and downs through the year but still ended up 9-4 with victories over 3 ranked teams.

Just a little food for thought. Our season did not end last Saturday afternoon.

Go Buffs!!

 

[Rraalph 3000]

Hey Buff fans,

Remember when our 0-3 Buffs traveled to Georgia and damn near Beat the Bulldogs in their house? Well, I remember really well, in fact I remember all the grumbling in Athens by the Dawg fans about how bad they played, almost letting a much more inferior team come into to their house and win. Walking around campus after the game I got a bunch of congratulatory slaps on the back and atta boys, but the Dawg fans were ripping everyone, coaches, players, stadium attendants, you name it. That Georgia Team was really young and had it's up and downs through the year but still ended up 9-4 with victories over 3 ranked teams.

Just a little food for thought. Our season did not end last Saturday afternoon.

Go Buffs!!

I remember that game vividly and I still can't believe we lost that thing. It almost mirrored the EWU game with us coffing up a few turnovers at the end of the 4th quarter to lose. But great food for thought. I'm in complete agreement that this young team will learn a lot from the EWU game and could easily go out and shock a lot of people with some big wins along the way this year!

 

[92Buff]

Have been thinking about that game all week. It was great after an 0-3 start with little offense to speak of to go into that HUGE stadium and hear nothing but silence for 3 and a half quarters. Hell, we were 27 point underdogs (or more).

As I stated on another site earlier, anything is possible...and after experiencing that game firsthand, I really believe we are going to see a great game from our Buffs come next Thursday.

 

[dio]

I think about that game often... I always imagine how it would have turned out had Hawk taken a safety at the end, then let Crosby boot it - rather than punting from the back of the endzone :/

 

[phatmack]

I think about that game often... I always imagine how it would have turned out had Hawk taken a safety at the end, then let Crosby boot it - rather than punting from the back of the endzone :/

I'm going to show my football ignorance here by asking this question, but is that why they call it a safety?! So that you can be "safe" by getting to kick off but you give the opponent 2pts in the process? I mean it kind of makes sense but only time I've ever seen safeties are when the punter misses the snap out the back of the endzone or the QB gets sacked (or makes a dumb play).

There are actually times when someone would CHOSE to do this? Interesting.

 

[dio]

Yea - it was what... 13 - 7 with about 1 and 1/2 minutes left?? Buffs were up, but pinned near their endzone.

A safety wouldn't have changed GA's goal. Let the punter run out the back of the endzone.

Instead, Hawk punts and the dogs got the ball at our 43. The rest is as they say, history

 

[Unleash Hell]

I remember I was in a Saturday class that day and ladyblaise kept texting me updates. You remember that lb?:smile:

 

[manley1104]

Yea - it was what... 13 - 7 with about 1 and 1/2 minutes left?? Buffs were up, but pinned near their endzone.

A safety wouldn't have changed GA's goal. Let the punter run out the back of the endzone.

Instead, Hawk punts and the dogs got the ball at our 43. The rest is as they say, history

I hate that game, and when you think about it taking the safety was not only the smart move but the obvious move. Even after the safety a FG for Georgia makes no difference, so it comes down to punting from the back of the endzone or the 20....easy decision.

On the bright side our talent was way down that year and we could still play with anyone.

 

[Darian3Hagan]

I will never forget this old guy coming up to congratulate me on a good game and sez,"I have been a season ticket holder for 48 years and I can count the number of teams on one hand that have physically dominated us they way you guys did today".

I still have a piece of the hedge. What a cool stadium.

 

[Jens1893]

I'm going to show my football ignorance here by asking this question, but is that why they call it a safety?! So that you can be "safe" by getting to kick off but you give the opponent 2pts in the process? I mean it kind of makes sense but only time I've ever seen safeties are when the punter misses the snap out the back of the endzone or the QB gets sacked (or makes a dumb play).

There are actually times when someone would CHOSE to do this? Interesting.

Safeties sometimes also occur when a team is pinned at its own one yard line and the running back is tackled in his own endzone (see Sunday´s Colts/Bears game, don´t know if you watch the NFL) or when they try to pass it out of the endzone and the QB is sacked, although you rarely see teams passing out of their endzone because it´s obviously very, very risky.

Intentional safeties are rare, but they do happen.

Here are some quick examples of intentional safeties from Wiki

Occasionally, the team with the ball may concede a safety intentionally, as a game strategy, which implicitly explains the origin of the term "safety"[citation needed].

The elective safety is not uncommon in Canadian football when a team faces a third-down situation deep in their own territory. A punt from the end zone would give the receiving team much better field position than a kickoff from the 35-yard line would.

The elective safety is not seen often in American (four-down) football, since the ensuing free kick would come from just the 20-yard line. However, it is occasionally employed by teams who are willing to trade two points on the scoreboard for a perceived greater advantage in field position or clock time.

A notable example of team conceding an intentional safety for field position occurred in the nationally-televised NFL game on Monday November 3, 2003. Trailing the Denver Broncos by a point with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and facing a fourth-and-long situation from their own 1-yard line, the New England Patriots elected instead to snap the ball intentionally out of their end zone rather than attempt a dangerous punt. Now trailing by three, the Patriots' ensuing free kick traveled all the way to the Broncos' 15. The Patriots' defense forced a punt, and their offense subsequently drove down the field for the winning touchdown with 30 seconds remaining. [1]

An example of a team trading an elective safety for a clock time advantage arose in college football's Backyard Brawl on December 1, 2007. Leading the West Virginia Mountaineers 13-7 with nine seconds remaining, the Pittsburgh Panthers faced a fourth down at their own 15. The Pittsburgh punter received the snap at the goal line and, instead of punting, scrambled in his end zone until the remaining time expired. He then stepped over the end line to concede two points, making the final score 13-9. West Virginia were thus denied the opportunity to gain possession of the ball to possibly score a winning touchdown. [2]

An example of an NCAA team trading an elective safety for field position is the 2004 game of the Iowa Hawkeyes vs the Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium. Penn State had a great defense, but sub-par offense that year. It was the middle of the fourth quarter and Iowa led 6-2. Iowa was at their 1 yard line, and instead of punting the ball away and risking it being blocked (which had happened several times during this game) and ran in for a possible touchdown, Iowa's quarterback spiked the ball in their own end zone, conceding a safety, but allowing a free kick to increase their chances of the Nittany Lions not staging a comeback. Iowa won the game 6-4.

 

[SBG]

I think about that game often... I always imagine how it would have turned out had Hawk taken a safety at the end, then let Crosby boot it - rather than punting from the back of the endzone :/

In CFB you can also use a tee to kickoff after a safety. Ouch.

Noted for his booming kickoffs as well, on 203 career kickoffs recorded 138 touchbacks, including 88 that went through the end zone

43% of his KOs went through the endzone. :wow: Bad choice by Hawk.

Our D was also very, very solid that year. Their stats weren't the greatest, but that was mainly because they were on the field for seemingly the entire game. I wonder if they would have at least won 5 games that year had they not lost at UGA.