2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team

2008 Georgia Bulldogs football
Capital One Bowl champion
Conference Southeastern Conference
Division Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches No. 10
AP No. 13
2008 record 10–3 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach Mark Richt (8th season)
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo (2nd as Coordinator, 8th overall season)
Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez (4th as Coordinator, 8th Overall season)
Home stadium Sanford Stadium
(Capacity: 92,746)
2008 SEC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 1 Florida x$#   7 – 1         13 – 1  
No. 13 Georgia   6 – 2         10 – 3  
Vanderbilt   4 – 4         7 – 6  
South Carolina   4 – 4         7 – 6  
Tennessee   3 – 5         5 – 7  
Kentucky   2 – 6         7 – 6  
Western Division
No. 6 Alabama x%   8 – 0         12 – 2  
No. 14 Ole Miss   5 – 3         9 – 4  
LSU   3 – 5         8 – 5  
Arkansas   2 – 6         5 – 7  
Auburn   2 – 6         5 – 7  
Mississippi State   2 – 6         4 – 8  
Championship: Florida 31, Alabama 20
  • # – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team competed in American football on behalf of the University of Georgia in 2008. The Bulldogs competed in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). This was the Georgia Bulldogs' eighth season under the guidance of head coach Mark Richt. During the pre-game ceremonies on August 30, Uga VII was introduced at Sanford Stadium, replacing Uga VI, who died in June.

Georgia was ranked #1 in both the preseason coaches poll and AP poll, marking the first time Georgia has ever been #1 in the preseason version of either poll. However, they finished the season ranked below the top 10 in the AP poll.

Georgia entered the 2008 season with the longest active winning streak among the 66 BCS conference teams having won their last 7 games of the 2007 season. Among the 120 NCAA FBS teams, only BYU had a longer active winning streak (10 games). Georgia's winning streak ended at 11 games with its loss to Alabama in the 5th game of the 2008 season.

Rankings

Ranking Movement
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Final
AP 1 1 2 3 3 11 10 10 9 8 14 13 13 13 17 16 13
Coaches 1 2 2 3 3 10 10 9 9 8 14 12 13 13 19 17 10
Harris Not released 10 10 9 9 8 14 12 12 13 20 17 N/A
BCS Not released 7 6 13 10 11 11 16 15 N/A

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
August 30 12:30 pm Georgia Southern* No. 1 Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA CSS PPV[1] W 45–21   92,746
September 6 3:30 pm Central Michigan* No. 1 Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA FSN W 56–17   92,746
September 13 3:30 pm at South Carolina No. 2 Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC (Rivalry) CBS W 14–7   83,704
September 20 8:00 pm at Arizona State* No. 3 Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ ABC W 27–10   71,706
September 27 7:45 pm No. 8 Alabama No. 3 Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA ESPN L 30–41   92,746
October 11 3:30 pm Tennessee No. 10 Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (Rivalry) CBS W 26–14   92,746
October 18 12:30 pm No. 22 Vanderbiltdagger No. 10 Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (Rivalry) Raycom W 24–14   92,746
October 25 3:30 pm at No. 11 LSU No. 9 Tiger Stadium • [Baton Rouge, LA CBS W 52–38   92,904
November 1 3:30 pm vs. No. 5 Florida No. 8 Jacksonville Municipal Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (Rivalry) CBS L 10–49   84,649
November 8 12:30 pm at Kentucky No. 14 Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY Raycom W 42–38   70,626
November 15 12:30 pm at Auburn No. 13 Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry) Raycom W 17–13   87,451
November 29 12:00 pm No. 18 Georgia Tech* No. 13 Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate) CBS L 42–45   92,746
January 1, 2009 1:00 pm No. 19 Michigan State* No. 16 Florida Citrus Bowl • Orlando, FL (Capital One Bowl) ABC W 24–12   59,681
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

Georgia Southern

1 2 3 4 Total
Georgia Southern 0 0 7 14 21
#1 Georgia 10 14 14 7 45

Georgia won its season opener over Georgia Southern, 45–21. Georgia led 38–0 in the 3rd quarter before replacing many of its starting players. Knowshon Moreno scored 3 touchdowns on eight rushing attempts. Georgia lost its #1 ranking after the game and would never regain it, losing it after this game in part to USC's 52–7 win over Virginia and the perception that Georgia's defense was questionable for allowing three touchdowns to a lesser opponent.

A. J. Green recorded his first career touchdown on a 3-yard pass from back-up quarterback, Joe Cox.

Central Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total
Central Michigan 0 7 10 0 17
#1 Georgia 7 21 14 14 56

Georgia coasted to a second straight victory to start the season, beating Central Michigan, 56–17. Knowshon Moreno had 3 touchdowns and 168 yards on 18 carries. Moreno had a 52-yard touchdown run and added a highlight reel leap over Central Michigan defender Vince Agnew on a 29-yard run.[2] Matthew Stafford added two touchdown passes, including a 54-yard bomb to Mohammed Massaquoi. Demarcus Dobbs picked off a Central Michigan pass late in the second quarter and ran 79 yards for a defensive touchdown.[3]

South Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total
#2 Georgia 0 6 8 0 14
South Carolina 0 7 0 0 7

Georgia beat the South Carolina Gamecocks in a low-scoring game that was closer than many expected, finally prevailing 14–7. The young offensive line struggled with the South Carolina defense. Matthew Stafford completed 15 of 25 passes for 146 yards, but his biggest play came on a 30-yard 3rd quarter run to the South Carolina 4, setting up a Knowshon Moreno touchdown run on the next play. Moreno had 79 yards on 20 carries. A. J. Green led the Georgia receivers with 3 catches for 61 yards.[4]

Arizona State

1 2 3 4 Total
#3 Georgia 0 21 3 3 27
#24 Arizona State 0 3 7 0 10

Georgia scored three 2nd-quarter touchdowns to take a 21–3 lead at halftime against Arizona State. The 2nd half was rather uneventful, and Georgia rolled to an easy 27–10 win. Stafford had the most passing yards of his career (285), and A. J. Green had a breakout game with 159 yards on 8 catches. Moreno also added 2 touchdowns and 149 yards rushing on 23 carries.[5] A. J. Green was named SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance.[6]

Alabama

1 2 3 4 Total
#10 Alabama 10 21 0 10 41
#3 Georgia 0 0 10 20 30

ESPN's College Gameday broadcast their show live from Athens before the Alabama game. The visit was the show's first broadcast from Athens since the Tennessee game in 1998. A. J. Green led all Georgia receivers with 6 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. This game was notable in that it was only the third ever "blackout" game where the team donned black jerseys and the majority of the fans wore black. However, unlike earlier two contests which were both big Georgia wins, the Crimson Tide dominated early in the game and built an insurmountable lead from which Georgia was unable to recover. After the disappointment of this game, is unclear if there will be future "blackout" games.

Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total
Tennessee 0 7 7 0 14
#10 Georgia 10 10 0 6 26

Georgia ended a 2-game losing streak to Tennessee with a 26–14 win in Athens. Stafford had 310 yards passing in his first career 300-yard passing game. A 28-yard field goal by Blair Walsh capped off a 17 play, fourth quarter drive that ran 10 minutes and 55 seconds off the clock. The drive was the longest by an SEC team since LSU had an 11 minute, 2 second drive against Arizona State in 2005.[7]

Vanderbilt

1 2 3 4 Total
#23 Vanderbilt 0 7 7 0 14
#9 Georgia 7 7 7 3 24

Georgia beat the #23-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, 24-14, on homecoming weekend. Knowshon Moreno had a season high 172 yards and 1 touchdown on 23 carries, and A. J. Green had 7 catches for 132 yards and 1 touchdown.

LSU

#9 Georgia at #11 LSU
1 234Total
• Georgia 14 101414 52
LSU 7 10714 38
  • Source:

Georgia beat the #11-ranked LSU Tigers, 52–38, in Tiger Stadium. Stafford was 17 of 26 passing for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also added 1 rushing touchdown. Knowshon Moreno rushed 21 times for 163 yards and 1 touchdown on a 68-yard 3rd quarter run. Linebacker Darryl Gamble, starting at middle linebacker position for the injured Dannell Ellerbe, twice intercepted LSU quarterback, Jarrett Lee, for touchdown returns of 40 and 53 yards. A. J. Green had 3 receptions for 89 yards, including a 49-yard 3rd-quarter touchdown.

Florida

1 2 3 4 Total
#8 Georgia 0 3 0 7 10
#7 Florida 7 7 21 14 49

Florida routed Georgia, 49–10, in one of the most heavily hyped Florida–Georgia football rivalry games ever. Stafford struggled, going 18 of 33 for 265 yards passing with 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The loss was the largest margin of defeat in Mark Richt's 8-year head coaching career.

Kentucky

1 2 3 4 Total
#14 Georgia 14 7 7 14 42
Kentucky 7 7 10 14 38

Georgia beat Kentucky, 42-38, after Matthew Stafford threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to A. J. Green with 1:54 left in the 4th quarter. Demarcus Dobbs then intercepted a last minute pass from Kentucky quarterback Randall Cobb to preserve the win for Georgia. Stafford had a career high 376 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. Mohammed Massaquoi also had a career high 191 receiving yards with 8 receptions and 1 touchdown.[8]

Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total
#12 Georgia 0 7 3 7 17
Auburn 6 0 0 7 13

Matthew Stafford threw a 17-yard, 4th-quarter touchdown pass to A. J. Green, and the Bulldogs stopped a late Auburn drive to win 17–13. The win marked Georgia's 3rd straight win against Auburn for the first time since winning 3 straight against Auburn from 1980 to 1982.[9]

Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total
#23 Georgia Tech 12 0 23 10 45
#13 Georgia 14 14 0 14 42

A disappointing regular season for Georgia ended with an upset loss to bitter rival Georgia Tech, snapping Georgia's 7-game winning streak in the series. Georgia had a 28–12 halftime lead but Georgia Tech outscored Georgia 23–0 in the third quarter. Matthew Stafford led the Dawgs with a career high of 407 yds passing and 5 tds. 3 of those went to Massaquoi in the 2nd quarter

Capital One Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total
#15 Georgia 3 0 14 7 24
#18 Michigan State 3 3 0 6 12

The final game of the season would prove to be the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida against Michigan State. It would be Matthew Stafford's and Knowshon Moreno's last game at UGA. Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the 2nd half of game. The final touchdown of the game was caught by Knowshon Moreno cementing the win for Georgia in this bowl game.

Statistics

Team

Team Opp
Scoring    
  Points per Game    
First Downs    
  Rushing    
  Passing    
  Penalty    
Total Offense    
  Avg per Play    
  Avg per Game    
Fumbles-Lost    
Penalties-Yards    
  Avg per Game    
Team Opp
Punts-Yards    
  Avg per Punt    
Time of Possession/Game    
3rd Down Conversions    
4th Down Conversions    
Touchdowns Scored    
Field Goals-Attempts-Long    
PAT-Attempts    
Attendance    
  Games/Avg per Game    

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total
Georgia 79 120 94 116 409
Opponents 52 79 99 89 319

Offense

Rushing

Name GP-GS Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
Knowshon Moreno 13 250 1463 63 1400 5.6 16 68 107.7
Caleb King 11 61 278 31 247 4.0 1 27 22.5
Richard Samuel 11 26 137 4 133 5.1 1 27 12.1
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
TEAM                  
Total                  
Opponents                  

Passing

Name GP-GS Effic Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G
Matthew Stafford 13 383-235-10 61.4 3459 25 78    
Joe Cox     15-11-0 73.3 151 2 21    
TEAM                  
                   
Total                  
Opponents                  

Receiving

Name GP-GS No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
A.J. Green 13 8 963 17.2 8 54  74    
Mohammed Massaquoi 13 1 920 15.9 8 78  70.8    
Michael Moore 13 82 451 15.6 2 46 34.7    
Knowshon Moreno 13 24 392 11.8 2 37 30.2    
Kris Durham 5 16 199 15.3 1 61 39.8    
Demiko Goodman 13 85 133 12.1 1 21 10.3    
Kenneth Harris 13 88 116 10.5 1 31 8.9    
Aron White 13 81 88 29.3 2 48  6.8    
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
Total                  
Opponents                  

Defense

Name GP Tackles Sacks Pass Defense Interceptions Fumbles Blkd
Kick
Solo Ast Total TFL-Yds No-Yds BrUp QBH No.-Yds Avg TD Long Rcv-Yds FF
Total

Special teams

Name Punting Kickoffs
No. Yds Avg Long TB FC I20 Blkd No. Yds Avg TB OB
Total
Name Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long No. Yds Avg TD Long
Total

Players

Head Coach Mark Richt dismissed two players on October 8, 2008. Donavan Baldwin, a safety, and Walter Hill, a wide receiver were removed from the team.[10]

2008 Georgia Bulldogs by Position[11]
Quarterbacks
  • 6 Logan Gray – Freshman
  • 11 Edward Dent – Freshman
  • 7 Matthew Stafford – Junior
  • 15 Jonathan Batson – Sophomore
  • 17 Jonathan deLaureal – Sophomore
Running Backs
  • 4 Caleb King – Freshman
  • 22 Richard Samuel – Freshman
  • 24 Knowshon Moreno – Sophomore
  • 27 Dontavius Jackson – Freshman
  • 30 Carlton Thomas – Freshman
  • 25 Josh Cox – Freshman
  • 37 Cortney Newmans – Freshman
  • 45 Josh Bagby – Junior
Fullbacks
  • 15 Benjamin Boyd – Senior
  • 36 Brannan Southerland – Senior
  • 43 Kevin Lanier – Freshman
  • 44 Josh Sailors – Freshman
  • 46 Justin Fields – Sophomore
  • 48 Fred Munzenmaier – Sophomore
  • 49 Shaun Chapas – Sophomore
  • 42 Cedric Lang – Freshman
Wide Receivers
  • 1 Mohamed Massaquoi – Senior
  • 3 Taylor Bradberry – Freshman
  • 5 Craig Sager – Sophomore
  • 8 A. J. Green – Freshman
  • 10 Zach Renner – Freshman
  • 12 Tavarres King – Freshman
  • 16 Kris Durham – Junior
  • 20 Marquise Brown – Sophomore
  • 23 Twoey Hosch – Freshman
  • 26 Tony Wilson – Sophomore
  • 28 Israel Troupe – Freshman
  • 80 Walter Hill – Freshman
  • 82 Michael Moore – Junior
  • 83 Cornelius Washington – Freshman
  • 85 Demiko Goodman – Senior
  • 87 Veron Spellman – Junior
  • 88 Kenneth Harris – Senior
Tight Ends
  • 39 Dustin Banks – Freshman
  • 47 Trenton Turner – Freshman
  • 58 Casey Nickels – Sophomore
  • 75 Kiante Tripp – Sophomore
  • 81 Aron White – Freshman
  • 83 Richard Lowe – Freshman
  • 84 Bryce Ros – Freshman
  • 86 Tripp Chandler – Senior'
  • 89 Bruce Figgins – Sophomore
Offensive Line
  • 18 Derek Rich – Sophomore
  • 54 Tanner Strickland – Freshman
  • 60 Clint Boling – Sophomore
  • 61 Ben Jones – Freshman
  • 63 Chris Davis – Sophomore
  • 67 Jonathan Owens – Junior
  • 68 Ben Harbin – Freshman
  • 71 Cordy Glenn – Freshman
  • 72 Vince Vance – Junior
  • 73 Chris Little – Freshman
  • 74 Kevin Perez – Sophomore
  • 76 Ben Harden – Freshman
  • 77 Trinton Sturdivant – Sophomore
  • 78 Josh Davis – Sophomore
  • 79 Justin Anderson – Freshman
Defensive Line
  • 41 Roderick Battle – Junior
  • 42 Justin Houston – Freshman
  • 53 Jeremy Longo – Freshman
  • 55 Jeremy Lomax – Senior
  • 56 Geno Atkins – Junior
  • 58 Demarcus Dobbs – Sophomore
  • 64 Matthew DeGenova – Freshman
  • 66 Brandon Wheeling – Junior
  • 68 Wes Jacobs – Senior
  • 69 Andrew Gully – Senior
  • 90 Corvey Irvin – Senior
  • 91 Kade Weston – Junior
  • 92 Neland Ball – Freshman
  • 93 A.J. Harmon – Freshman
  • 94 DeAngelo Tyson – Freshman
  • 95 Jeff Owens – Senior
  • 97 Brandon Wood – Sophomore
  • 98 Ricardo Crawford – Sophomore
  • 99 Jarius Wynn – Senior
Linebackers
  • 33 Dannell Ellerbe – Senior
  • 35 Rennie Curran – Sophomore
  • 37 Akeem Hebron – Sophomore
  • 38 Marcus Dowtin – Freshman
  • 43 Charles White – Freshman
  • 44 Marcus Washington – Senior
  • 45 Christian Robinson – Freshman
  • 50 Darryl Gamble – Sophomore
  • 51 Akeem Dent – Sophomore
  • 52 Darius Dewberry – Junior
  • 65 Devin Hollander – Junior
Defensive Backs
  • 18 Bacarri Rambo – Freshman
  • 19 Sanders Commings – Freshman
  • 25 Vance Cuff – Sophomore
  • 29 Makiri Pugh – Freshman
  • 30 Eric Elliot – Freshman
  • 39 Nick Williams – Freshman
  • 43 Stephen Braue – Junior
Cornerbacks
  • 2 Asher Allen – Junior
  • 3 Bryan Evans – Junior
  • 11 Ramarcus Brown – Senior
  • 16 Chad Gloer – Sophomore
  • 20 Brandon Boykin – Freshman
  • 23 Prince Miller – Junior
  • 26 Christian Norton – Sophomore
Safeties
  • 5 CJ Byrd – Senior
  • 6 Andrew Johnson – Sophomore
  • 9 Reshad Jones – Sophomore
  • 31 Quintin Banks – Sophomore
  • 44 John Knox – Freshman
  • 47 Andrew Williams – Senior
Punters
  • 13 Drew Butler – Freshman
  • 32 Brian Mimbs – Senior
  • 98 Trent Dittmer – Sophomore
Kickers
  • 57 Blair Walsh – Freshman
  • 95 Jordan Stowe – Freshman
  • 96 Andrew Jensen – Junior
  • 99 Jamie Lindley – Freshman
Long Snappers
  • 59 Bo Fowler – Senior
  • 94 Billy Johnson – Freshman
  • 95 Ty Frix – Freshman

References

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