2008 Georgia Bulldogs football team

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.

2008 Georgia Bulldogs football
Capital One Bowl champion
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 10
APNo. 13
2008 record10–3 (6–2 SEC)
Head coachMark Richt (8th season)
Offensive coordinatorMike Bobo (2nd as Coordinator, 8th overall season)
Defensive coordinatorWillie Martinez (4th as Coordinator, 8th Overall season)
Home stadiumSanford Stadium
(Capacity: 92,746)
2008 Southeastern Conference 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
    1. – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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
See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking Movement
PollPreWk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Final
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
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 3012:30 p.m.Georgia Southern*No. 1
CSS PPV[1]W 45–2192,746
September 63:30 p.m.Central Michigan*No. 1
  • Sanford Stadium
  • Athens, GA
FSNW 56–1792,746
September 133:30 p.m.at South CarolinaNo. 2
CBSW 14–783,704
September 208:00 p.m.at Arizona State*No. 3
ABCW 27–1071,706
September 277:45 p.m.No. 8 AlabamaNo. 3
  • Sanford Stadium
  • Athens, GA (rivalry) (College GameDay)
ESPNL 30–4192,746
October 113:30 p.m.TennesseeNo. 10
  • Sanford Stadium
  • Athens, GA (rivalry)
CBSW 26–1492,746
October 1812:30 p.m.No. 22 VanderbiltNo. 10
  • Sanford Stadium
  • Athens, GA (rivalry)
RaycomW 24–1492,746
October 253:30 p.m.at No. 11 LSUNo. 9
CBSW 52–3892,904
November 13:30 p.m.vs. No. 5 FloridaNo. 8
CBSL 10–4984,649
November 812:30 p.m.at KentuckyNo. 14
RaycomW 42–3870,626
November 1512:30 p.m.at AuburnNo. 13
RaycomW 17–1387,451
November 2912:00 p.m.No. 18 Georgia Tech*No. 13
CBSL 42–4592,746
January 1, 20091:00 p.m.vs. No. 19 Michigan State*No. 16
ABCW 24–1259,681
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Georgia Southern
See also: Georgia Southern Eagles football
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
See also: Central Michigan Chippewas football
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
See also: 2008 South Carolina Gamecocks football team
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
See also: 2008 Arizona State Sun Devils football team
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
See also: 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
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 31-0 halftime lead from which Georgia was unable to recover. After the disappointment of this game, the bulldogs would never have another blackout game until 2016 where they faced against Louisiana-Lafayette.[7]

Tennessee
See also: 2008 Tennessee Volunteers football team
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.[8]

Vanderbilt
See also: 2008 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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
See also: 2008 LSU Tigers football team
#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
See also: 2008 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Georgia football rivalry
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
See also: 2008 Kentucky Wildcats football team
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.[9]

Auburn
See also: 2008 Auburn Tigers football team and Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
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.[10]

Georgia Tech
See also: 2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team and Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate
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 Mohamed Massaquoi.

Capital One Bowl
Main article: 2009 Capital One Bowl
See also: 2008 Michigan State Spartans football team
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
TeamOpp
Scoring  
  Points per Game  
First Downs  
  Rushing  
  Passing  
  Penalty  
Total Offense  
  Avg per Play  
  Avg per Game  
Fumbles-Lost  
Penalties-Yards  
  Avg per Game  
TeamOpp
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
NameGP-GSAttGainLossNetAvgTDLongAvg/G
Knowshon Moreno1325014636314005.61668107.7
Caleb King1161278312474.012722.5
Richard Samuel112613741335.112712.1
Total11.733718789817805.31840.647.4
Opponents         

Passing
NameGP-GSEfficAtt-Cmp-IntPctYdsTDLngAvg/G
Matthew Stafford13383-235-1061.434592578  
Joe Cox  15-11-073.3151221  
Total         
Opponents         

Receiving
NameGP-GSNo.YdsAvgTDLongAvg/G
A.J. Green13896317.2854 74  
Mohammed Massaquoi13192015.9878 70.8  
Michael Moore138245115.624634.7  
Knowshon Moreno132439211.823730.2  
Kris Durham51619915.316139.8  
Demiko Goodman138513312.112110.3  
Kenneth Harris138811610.51318.9  
Aron White13818829.3248 6.8  
Total         
Opponents         

Defense
Name GP Tackles Sacks Pass Defense Interceptions Fumbles Blkd
Kick
SoloAstTotalTFL-YdsNo-YdsBrUpQBHNo.-YdsAvgTDLongRcv-YdsFF
Total

Special teams
Name Punting Kickoffs
No.YdsAvgLongTBFCI20Blkd No.YdsAvgTBOB
Total
Name Punt Returns Kick Returns
No.YdsAvgTDLongNo.YdsAvgTDLong
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.[11]

2008 Georgia Bulldogs by Position[12]
Quarterbacks
  • 6 Logan Gray – Freshman
  • 11 Edward Dent – Freshman
  • 7 Matthew Stafford – Junior
  • 14 Joe Cox – 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
  1. "UGA-Ga. Southern Available on Pay-Per-View". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  2. Moreno hurdles over CMU defender on YouTube
  3. CNNSI.com: Georgia vs. Central Michigan Box Score
  4. Bulldogs, Moreno rally past South Carolina
  5. Moreno scores 2 TDs, runs for 149 as Georgia takes care of Sun Devils
  6. 2008 Week 4 SEC Players of the Week Archived September 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Georgia's last blackout game". Athens Banner. August 19, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  8. "Offensive lineman Vance out for season". Archived from the original on 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  9. Georgia holds off Kentucky with late TD pass from Stafford
  10. Georgia makes it 3 in a row against Auburn
  11. Towers, Chip (October 8, 2008). "Mark Richt Dismisses 2 UGA Players". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  12. "2008 Georgia Bulldog Roster" (PDF). www.georgiadogs.com. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
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