Richt believes Georgia is poised for a bounce-back season
Georgia coach Mark Richt believes the Dogs can avoid some of the problems that plagued recent teams. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Here’s a sneak peek at a column that will appear in print in this Sunday’s special AJC College Football Section. The 34-page section will preview Georgia State, Georgia Tech and UGA seasons, the SEC and ACC, top games, Heisman candidates and more.
Nine years ago, Mark Richt lost his first SEC game as a head coach (to South Carolina) and started 4-3 in a conference that generally doesn’t allow for long honeymoon periods, at least not outside of Vanderbilt.
It wasn’t the usual backdrop for what would happen in the next four years. Richt went 44-9 overall and 25-7 in the SEC. He won two conference titles at a school that hadn’t won one since 1982. He won a Sugar Bowl.
What has occurred since at Georgia is less a market correction than it is a changing landscape. Think of the SEC as a boulevard of resort hotels. Richt built what seemed like Xanadu in 2002. The problem came when Les Miles, Florida and Alabama built more lavish structures down the street.
LSU, Florida and Alabama didn’t just win SEC championships. They won national championships — the last four, in fact. Over that same period, Richt went 20-12 in the SEC without making it to the conference title game once.
Xanadu began to look like a slightly weathered Marriott.
Which brings us to 2010. Georgia is not crumbling and Richt is not on the firing line. There has, however, been a leveling off in Athens. To deny that would be like a hotel owner ignoring the other properties that are stealing his business.
The Dogs are somewhere back in the vapor trail left by Florida and Alabama. Richt’s not in denial — otherwise he wouldn’t have fired three assistant coaches after going 8-5 (4-4) last season.
The question now: Is this the bounce-back year? Possibly. Richt may never have a better chance to quiet critics.
The potential pitfalls of starting a redshirt freshman quarterback, Aaron Murray, should be minimized by an experienced offensive line and two key weapons for Murray to feed: A.J. Green and Washaun Ealey. The defense should be significantly improved under Todd Grantham (who is switching to a 3-4).
The schedule? Instead of opening against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, as in 2009, the Bulldogs open against Louisiana-Lafayette in Athens. They don’t play Alabama. They don’t play LSU. They do play Florida, but it would be surprising if the Gators didn’t feel the loss of nine starters in the first five rounds of the NFL draft, including: Tim Tebow, Joe Haden, Maurkice Pouncey, Carlos Dunlap and the serial eye-gouger, Brandon Spikes.
There’s also this: Richt just feels better about his team. Granted, all coaches like their team before opening kickoff, but Richt’s confidence is rooted in something legitimate: strength and stability on his offensive line.
“I like our maturity on offense,” he said. “You see it especially up front, even the non-glamour positions if you want to throw in the fullbacks.
“There’s something about when your offensive linemen are your sages, your veterans, your leaders. When they’re running it, things tend to go well. They’re pretty grounded. They’re not glamorous. They’re really the most unselfish guys on the team. ”
Glamour seldom is Georgia’s problem. It seldom gets more glamorous than Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno in the same backfield. But that was in 2008, and a pre-season No. 1 team wound up getting drilled by Alabama and Florida, losing at home to Georgia Tech and settling for the Capital One Bowl.
Georgia’s problems have been in other areas: a lack of discipline, sometimes passion, sometimes just a seeming willingness to punch the opponent in the mouth.
Experience and the arrival of Grantham, who’s far more fiery than Martinez, should help in those areas. But fire starts at the top and Richt needs to light one with his team.
This season could start well — very well. If the Dogs can get past early tests against South Carolina and Arkansas, they could be 8-0 going to Jacksonville. But Richt knows better than to play “the schedule game.”
“I used to do it more than I do now,” he said. “What year was it – Stafford’s freshman year [2006]? I kind of did it that year a little bit. We didn’t have a great season. Everything looked different than it was. So I don’t do that any more.”
The Dogs were coming off Richt’s second SEC title that year but they went 4-4 in the conference in 2006. The landscape changed. Richt, going into his 10th season, realized Georgia required some renovation.
Now we find out what the place looks like.
♦
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283 comments Add your comment
MORONS
August 26th, 2010
3:35 pm
YOU have a QB with NO real game experience. He COULDN’T start over JOE COX.
Damn, it’s the same bs as last season. All that talk how okie state was a big 12 joke and what happened. Then you went on to lose 5 games. Now you have even less experience at QB. The most delusional idiotic fan base I have ever seen.
NW Georgia Dawg
August 26th, 2010
3:38 pm
69dog: You said CMR has squandered tons of talent while saying that he’s not a good judge of talent. It can be one or the other, but not both. If he’s not a a good judge of talent, then we recruit poorly, and have little talent to work with, not squander. If he’s a good judge of talent, then we recruit well. If we don’t perform, then you could perhaps make an argument that he squanders talent.
Logic can be your friend.
joe
August 26th, 2010
3:39 pm
LOL at lex dawg…not sure which is more hysterical…UGA 11-1 or KY 8-4, bwwwwaaaahhhaaahhhaaa.
DawginLex
August 26th, 2010
3:40 pm
Hey Jeff,
Like the way I increase your blog hits?
It is so predictable.
Post something about UGA doing well and the haters are drawn like bees to honey.
It’s way too easy.
meh
August 26th, 2010
3:40 pm
I think the running game will be good enough to take some of the pressure off Murray and allow him to stay relaxed. And with Murray relaxed and the receivers and tight ends UGA has the Dawgs are gonna be scoring like crazy!
joe
August 26th, 2010
3:42 pm
man the red cool aid is a-flowin in here today…
69dog
August 26th, 2010
3:44 pm
NW Georgia Dawg, No logic mistake by me! CMR is so inept he has done much squandering and much misjudging of talent. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Furthermore, I enjoy nothing more than a battle of logic and wits. It is just no fun to battle an unarmed man!
Paul in RDU
August 26th, 2010
3:45 pm
UGA will have a better record in 2010 than in 2009. LSU has been replaced by MSU and they do not have a tough early OOC game like Ok State – there’s 2 L’s replaced by 2 W’s for a start.
To be a better team, and to beat their tougher opponents, they need to improve discipline and turnover differential. With the coaching changes, I expect improvements in discipline on D but they are a year away from a run at an SEC championship.
UGA goes 10-2 or 9-3.
69dog
August 26th, 2010
3:49 pm
Paul in RDU, I love your attitude and I really hope you are right.
Paul in RDU
August 26th, 2010
3:51 pm
69dog – I am a Jacket, but think that UGA is going to be good this year. The difference between 9-3 and 10-2 will be the game at Thanksgiving.
bjohndawg
August 26th, 2010
3:52 pm
Should be a great year for the Dawgs.
Monster offense…and a new sheriff on defense.
So looking forward to the season.
But one has to ask…
how can Coach Richt look so tanned in the face, and have legs as white as a ghost?
how2fish
August 26th, 2010
3:54 pm
69dog lets see CMR averages 10 wins a season and you of course claim he can’t judge talent…really and you call someone else unarmed…please. Hell if we can tackle better and hold on to the damn ball we should be better period.
DawginLex
August 26th, 2010
3:55 pm
69dog is one of those wanting Boise state’s coach here.
Ask Colorado how that worked out and get back to me.
Tide Rising
August 26th, 2010
3:56 pm
Richt will bounce back again to a probable 10 win season. He always bounces back after a bad season. The only hitch will be how quickly a freshman qb can grow up. But as I’ve said before I think a strong O-line can anchor an entire team and that is Georgia’s strength this year.
Our 08 team did not have that much talent on paper. A very weak jr and senior class in terms of numbers due to the earlier probation but we rode a strong O-line all the way to the seccg. I can see Georgia doing similarly well. Gotta get past those pesky gators though.
DawginLex
August 26th, 2010
4:00 pm
Folks, I’m not stupid enough to believe we are going 11-1 or 12-0 with this QB situation or the new defense.
I’m hopeful we will actually play defense like 2001-2004.
I’m hopeful we won’t throw 17 interceptions
I’m hopeful we won’t need to throw 25 TD passes because our running game will be too good.
10-2 or 9-3 with improvement in turnover margin and penalties and losing close games while not giving up tons of points is a realistic hope.
I posted the other stuff to get the haters going.
IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wo Fat
August 26th, 2010
4:00 pm
2 UGA fans in Paris looking at the painting “Whistler’s Mother”…one asked the other what he thought of the painting…his friend replied “kinds reminds me of Tech’s Paul Johnson in Drag”
dawgfan
August 26th, 2010
4:01 pm
As bad as we have looked at times in the past two seasons I still don’t think its been quite the meltdown that its often portrayed as. 18-8 with two of the toughest schedules in the nation is nothing to cry about. The nerds are only marginally better at 20-7 in the weakest BCS league of them all playing nonconference creampuffs and they act like they’re God’s gift to football. Its all a matter of perspective. The preseason #1 thing was the worst thing that could have ever happened to us.
Wo Fat
August 26th, 2010
4:01 pm
“kinda reminds”….bet this will stir up the Techsters that won’t stay out!!!!
how2fish
August 26th, 2010
4:03 pm
Tide Rising it will be a crap shoot early in the season 4 big questions 1) can Murray play 2) can we keep him healthy 3) can the D perform better overall and 4) can we quell the turnovers and penalties.
69dog
August 26th, 2010
4:07 pm
how2fish, I would like to buy you for the value of what you know and sell you for the value of what you think you know. CMR may be your object of affection, but he certainly is not fawned after by college football pundits who know better. CMR is wasting UGAs time.
SatchelBuzz
August 26th, 2010
4:11 pm
This,….8-4. SC, AU, UF, GT.
THWG!
Einsteindawg
August 26th, 2010
4:11 pm
Good luck to the Dawgs and CMR; however, Coach has to be more decisive. Don’t wait until all the fans recognize our defensive deficencies…don’t wait until the fans demand putting our best athletes on the field…and don’t hesitate to get game experience for our younger players. We want you to succeed. but we also want you to earn the $3M we’re paying you. Just my opinion. Go Dawgs!
Larue
August 26th, 2010
4:11 pm
Which brings us to 2010. Georgia is not crumbling and Richt is not on the firing line.
Seriously wrong on both counts.
Serious Dawg fans need to start organizing and demanding that Richt be fired. Otherwise, sports writers will be asking the same question this time a year from now.
Richt represents mediocrity. Saban and Meyer represent excellence and championships. Richt simply isn’t in their class, nor will he ever be. Richt would have to be incredibly lucky to win the division, and the odds against him winning the SEC championship would be at least 50:1.
Those are the simple facts, and there’s no amount of enthusiasm or cheerleading or Top 5 recruiting classes that can get around it.
As they say in poker, “Read ‘em and weep.”
Richt and his cronies like Bobo have to go.
how2fish
August 26th, 2010
4:13 pm
69dog really where were you when he won the 1st SEC title in 20 years? College football pundits know so damn much about football really if that were true they’d be in Vegas and retired…please the pundits will ALWAYS fawn over the last guy to win a NC.guess what CUM doesn’t win the SEC this year they will start telling us NEXT year that he is done. I know what CMR has done for the UGA program and I see no reason he can’t right the wrongs and move forward we will have to agree to disagree on this. Go Dogs.by the way I like your first line of the last post well done.
GeezusDawg
August 26th, 2010
4:14 pm
…More like 11:1…
how2fish
August 26th, 2010
4:14 pm
Larue please your neither serious or a dog fan.
Darrin
August 26th, 2010
4:15 pm
“18-8 with two of the toughest schedules in the nation is nothing to cry about.”
Baloney. Toughest schedules? I don’t think so.
69dog
August 26th, 2010
4:16 pm
Larue, I couldn’t agree more. The problem is too many UGA fans think CMR is all that simply because he is a Good Man. Come on UGA fans! UGA deserves a championship quality coach, not just a fair coach who is a good man.
DawginLex
August 26th, 2010
4:17 pm
fish,
guys like 69 haven’t been around long enough. They don’t remember Ray goff. they think football only started in florida in 1990.
they don’t remember that our best coach ever averaged 8 wins per year and won the SEC 6 times in 25 years and had a losing bowl record. Dooley never faced spurrier, saban, meyer, fulmer or miles. He faced Pell, Hall,Majors etc.
Run richt and I guarantee you the program will be worse off.
secfan
August 26th, 2010
4:18 pm
CMR is an average coach that gets excellent talent. Average coach plus excellent talent = 8 to 10 wins per year. Great coach plus great talent = NC’s (more than one). Just look around the SEC. The talent level is very close between Ga, Fl, Al, Aub, Lsu, and Tn(though they have been down some…and still kicked Ga’s ssa last year). Who has more than one NC?
Can’t wait…SEC is the best!
Reality Check
August 26th, 2010
4:19 pm
It is all false bravado. The qb situation is worse for the Dawgs than 2006, when your freshman was at least top qb in nation. This year’s choices are a small (in stature) freshman who wets his pants anytime a scrimmage is held in Sandford Stadium and a 2 star true freshman that no other big time football program wanted. Most likely losses to at least SC, Ark, UF, Aub, GT and one more from Kentucky, Miss Staten or Tenn. UGA is a program in decline and everyone but Dawg fans knows it. Before you UGA fans throw out the WE BEAT TECH retort realize it only masks the fact that you have become a second tier team in your own conference.
DawginLex
August 26th, 2010
4:21 pm
Reality,
go away.
Who are you Kirk Herbstreit?
Beano Cook?
Nice to be in the presence of such an expert.
Go play with your blow up doll in traffic at 5:00 pm on I-75 south bound.
Gatorbait 17-3
August 26th, 2010
4:21 pm
Jeff,
I can’t believe theses dawgs fans haven’t burned you at the stake. How do
you get away with saying Georgia has been left in the vapor trail of the Gators and Bama.
Your right about the offensive line, the starting 5 are very good, but you just lost the backup LT for good and of the remaining 7 offensive linemen, only 2 have any experience, the other 5 are all freshmen. Like all teams, injuries will be critical.
POAD
August 26th, 2010
4:23 pm
Richt won or lost games in his first 3 years with another coaches players right? Well the last 4 years Richt has done his winning & Losing with his players and friends as coaches. 10-10 in the SEC East ain’t going to keep him his job. The schedule is so easy that UGA should be 8-4 even with a Short Unproven QB.
Wo Fat
August 26th, 2010
4:24 pm
Reality Check…sad another Techie so obsessed with UGA he has to run to UGA web sites…Techie GET A LIFE LOSER
Coolest in the Clutch
August 26th, 2010
4:26 pm
.
. Nesbitt for Heisman
.
Reality check=SSDD
August 26th, 2010
4:27 pm
Nuff said
Reality Check
August 26th, 2010
4:27 pm
DawginLex, do you an any real UGA fans feel the program has not peaked under CMR. LSU, AL and UF all have coaches that have won the NC since CMR has been at UGA. UGA has looked poorly coached the last two years, and you can not blame all of that on the fired DC. This is the 3 year since 2006 that the Dawgs appear to have a poorly thought out plan at the QB position. That is a big reason you are on the decline. Your OL is not good enough to run the ball on 8,9 man fronts which you will see.
Bug Zapper
August 26th, 2010
4:27 pm
RUSS the temp……I don’t care who you pull for, your posts are funny as hell…..keep up the good work…..sometimes we all need a good laugh……….GO DAWGS!
Hotel Shreveport
August 26th, 2010
4:29 pm
Wo Fat
fogot to take her Advocare 100 pills this morning.
gdawginkalamazoo
August 26th, 2010
4:30 pm
The man AVERAGES 10 wins season folks. He knows a little something about football and how to win. He gets a pass this year because of the new DC but I don’t think he will need it.
Coachdawg 2000
August 26th, 2010
4:30 pm
I GUARANTEE UN DEFEATED SEASON IF: They score at least one more point per game than their opponents!
Reality Check
August 26th, 2010
4:31 pm
Wo Fat- just so you know this is a JS post and is not a UGA web site
POAD is right, UGA has been mediocre against SEC East teams the last four years, 3 losses to UT, 3 losses to UF and 2 losses to UK. They should change the UGA mascot to the Ostriches since all you Dawg fans want to bury your heads in the sand and pretend that your program is not on the decline.
Wo Fat
August 26th, 2010
4:32 pm
Reality Check….I think you’ve got Tech and UGA confused…DA…Tech sees 8 man fronts cause that turd has no idea how to throw a forward pass.
SOGADOG
August 26th, 2010
4:33 pm
Good article and fair assessment of where the Dawgs are this year.
jarvis
August 26th, 2010
4:34 pm
POAD I thiought Richt won in his first 4 years primarily because of a stout defense led by Pollack….who was a Richt recruit.
NW Georgia Dawg
August 26th, 2010
4:34 pm
Gator: We just lost our backup LT for good? When did this happen?
76-DAWG
August 26th, 2010
4:34 pm
A few things that would be huge improvements from last year:
1- Murray needs to run if the nearest defensive back is 15 yards away.
2-Throw more slant passes over the middle, especially to OrsonCharles.
3- Rely on Blair Walsh more. Play to get into field goal range and if you get more, great.
4- Learn how not to let every one in the stadium know that a screen pass is coming next.
Reality Check
August 26th, 2010
4:35 pm
Wo Fat, you will see 9 man fronts because your QB can not complete half his passes against the scout team with no fans in the stands. Any scrimmage or game inside a real stadium and he freaks out. Your next option is a 1-2 star true freshman QB that no other BCS teams wanted.
Really?
August 26th, 2010
4:35 pm
MORONS – He couldn’t start over Joe Cox because he didn’t know the play book. Now who is the Moron?