Georgia is showing problems are deep and widespread
There are more than a few problems with Mark Richt's football team, as evidenced by a 2-6 record in the last eight SEC games.
ATHENS – It’s not about one player not being here. It’s not about playing a freshman quarterback or having a certain soft spot on the depth chart or the big, bad NCAA being out to get Georgia.
When a program sinks to lows not seen since the Ray Goff administration, it’s not an aberration.
The head coach (Mark Richt) is 2-6 in his past eight SEC games. The vaunted offensive line coach (Stacy Searels) frankly hasn’t done bupkis since his arrival, recent evidence being that his supposed top group of linemen just allowed six sacks to a projected average defense. The new defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham, isn’t looking much better than the old one (Willie Martinez).
When all of those things happen, we’ve transitioned from downward trend to potential new identity. Georgia is an average team right now.
The Bulldogs lost to Arkansas 31-24 on Saturday for the first time since 1993, dropping to 0-2 in the SEC for the first time since opening 0-4 in that same season under Goff. Richt has built far more credits than Goff ever dreamed off, including two SEC titles. But there’s as much uncertainty about direction right now as ever before.
This latest loss was not devoid of positives. The Dogs displayed the kind of resolve that seemingly was missing last season, scoring two touchdowns in a four-minute span in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 24-24. But one late-game rally can’t whitewash the flaws.
The question now is: What direction do they go? Next week’s game at Mississippi State hardly is a gimme. Then comes a non-conference game at Colorado, before the Dogs return to Sanford Stadium for an emotional meeting against Tennessee and the new coach with a familiar last name (Derek Dooley).
Is there any game one can mark down as an automatic win right now?
Richt maintained Georgia continues to “get better,” but he conceded: “When we reach that peak [later this season], hopefully the games will still be meaningful. Right now it’s hard to say if they will be.”
Aaron Murray goes down for one of Arkansas's six sacks, a poor showing by the offensive line. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
It’s easier to project success when the problems are limited. Not the case here. Consider:
♦ Last week at South Carolina, the defense got ripped by the ground game. Saturday it got ripped by the pass. Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked just once (with three minutes left). Almost as disturbing: Grantham put it all on the players, seemingly accepting no blame. Quote: “Guys have to do what the calls tell them to do. If you don’t do that, that’s why there’s inconsistency. You may play for 60 plays and 54 of them you look good, but then all of a sudden you give up six explosive plays and those can override a lot of good things.”
Coach: 54 out of 60 doesn’t get it done, especially when there’s not a defender within a zip code of a receiver on touchdown plays of 57, 22 and 40 yards (the decider with 15 seconds left).
♦ The offensive line was supposed to be the strength of the team. The Dogs ran the ball better this week, but quarterback Aaron Murray was sacked six times. Some of that was Murray holding onto the ball too long, but most of it was poor protection. Searels has not lived up to his billing since leaving LSU in 2007.
Murray was knocked dizzy at times and afterward wore a bandage under his chin to cover cuts (he said from his chinstrap).
Bobo looked like a wounded soldier himself, as if he had been punched in the nose. A gash ran down the top of it, but he said he didn’t know how it got there.
“I just saw blood trickling down [in the first quarter],” he said.
Maybe it will show up on film. All of the wounds will. They’re significant, they’re widespread and there is no indication that they’re going away any time soon.
♦
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981 comments Add your comment
Cletus Dooley Earnhardt SR.
September 18th, 2010
9:57 pm
Im pist off righht now! Im aboout to finiish this 12 pack off andd beat my wife andd blayme Obaama!
-GO UGA!
RAY GOFF
September 18th, 2010
9:57 pm
I GUARANTEE YOU I COULD GET US BACK TO SHREVEPORT AT HALF OF WHAT CMR IS BEING PAID. O.K. FOR I/10TH WHAT CMR IS BEING PAID. THINK ABOUT IT! I’M RESTED AND READY…
Bleeding Red
September 18th, 2010
9:57 pm
UGA is truly a pathetic excuse for a SEC football program. Instead of competing with Bama,UF,Auburn,LSU for SEC title this year we will be lucky to win a SEC game period. What happened to the program ? I blame Mark Richt and his coaches. The recruits are there. The fan support is there. The coaches aren’t getting 100 % from the players and that my fellow Dawgs is because of poor coaching. We need a new head coach and coaches. You can’t kick 50 players off the team but you can replace the head coach (one person).
Clarke1
September 18th, 2010
9:59 pm
What happened today is dagger to the spirit & life vessel of the team. The game was lost by the coaches for lack of respect for the opposing coach (Petrino was a lousy NFL coach), poor coaching (center not snapping the ball when the D-line in the neutral zone), and poor play calling ( causing the QB to many too many reads & sight-assignments resulting in him holding the ball “too long). Maybe Bobo can stay as QB coach and Searls ???. The gameplan is not to the players’ strengths. Where was speedster Branden Smith? TE/LB mismatch? Or the slip screen to a WR (zero route)? Wishful thinking (I guess). We are laughable to the media & the rest of college FB. Bottom line:: UGA has lost its power & respect — as a program and a university. I hate to say it, but there’s NO WAY Jim Tressell, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, nor Nick Saban loses this game tied with ball on the 50-yd line with 2:55 to play… sorry! Explains why their team plays for WINS BCS championships!
Bleeding Red
September 18th, 2010
9:59 pm
Mr. Cool Richt on the sidelines decked out with shades on, getting his azz handed to him by Arkansas…
wonderdawg
September 18th, 2010
9:59 pm
Mike Leach is out there.Seen him take a nothing program and and beat #1 texas with players nobody wanted! Wonder what he could do with our supposed 4&5 star player.Just a thought.
Ron Roberts
September 18th, 2010
10:00 pm
Mike Bobo….Murray HAD to hold onto the ball longer than he should have because he didn’t have check-down guys to throw to. Now who’s THAT on, “coach?” Way to throw your freshman QB under the bus.
I’m sorry, are there TECH fans (We Run This State, still, guys….) making noise here? You lost to Kansas, who lost to a 1-AA team the week prior… let’s keep things in perspective, k?
Hunker down
September 18th, 2010
10:03 pm
2-6 in the last 8 SEC games is hard to argue with.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 18th, 2010
10:03 pm
Clemson RD was tackeled by the Helmet which is a penality, but the SEC refs will not call it against the Home SEC home team. AUBURN is getting away with murder and the SEC refs are helping it to happen. THE SEC IS A JOKE the SEC REFS have to prop up the ranked teams so the SEC refs might get a chance to be a ref in a bowl game. THE SEC IS A JOKE. Clemson has beat AUBURN’s A$$ all night and everybody saw it live.
jack bull
September 18th, 2010
10:04 pm
i do hate it when so called “reporters” piss and moan when they get the PC answers all the time, yet when a coach says he made the calls, yet the players didn’t do their assignments, they kinda attack the coach..i guess Jeff would’ve been happy with the same ole “we have to be in the right place to make plays” answer…
Wally
September 18th, 2010
10:05 pm
The Problems are not wide spread. This is a new team this year even with the veterans. New defensive scheme and green QB. It is going to be a very tough year. That does not mean CMR needs to go. He is the man. Not so sure about TG or MB any more. We have the rest of the year to see but Richt is here to stay thankfully.
Paul Hewitt's Agent
September 18th, 2010
10:05 pm
What about all those preseason rankings of 5th in the country, winning the SEC East, etc. And you have the nerve to complain about my client!
jack bull
September 18th, 2010
10:05 pm
yeah, 5150, i see that, the refs didn’t just make that call against Auburn did they?
Kramerica
September 18th, 2010
10:06 pm
If you fire Richt you can say bye-bye to Top 10 recruiting classes and are an average team. Even though with having Top 10 classes your still an average team.
Bigguy
September 18th, 2010
10:06 pm
Look at the bright side: plenty of top 10 teams will be willing to pay the dogs $1 million to come be the whipping boys now.
Dawg Grad '89
September 18th, 2010
10:06 pm
Dawgs are bad…Ealey can’t block at all. Poor play calling once again. We were 15 yards away from field goal range and took a sack. Florida is going to kill us. We will lose to TN as well and maybe even Kentucky. I’ll continue to watch and support my team but man it’s hard. Georgia is the Wisconsin of the SEC.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 18th, 2010
10:06 pm
Get over the dawgs loss it is time to talk about teams that are ranked and teams that matter. The SEC refs are trying to give the game to AUBURN. Auburn deserves many of the penalities they got but the bad calls against Clemson are what is keeping Auburn in the game.
Orange10
September 18th, 2010
10:07 pm
FIRE BLOBO NOW!!!!!!!!! FIRE CMR IN DEC. WHAT IS THE GUY FROM BOSIE STATE DOING FOR THE NEXT 4-5 YEARS??????
Winning
jack bull
September 18th, 2010
10:07 pm
Herbstreit just said it looks like maybe AJ Green is down..
5150 P.O.A.D
September 18th, 2010
10:08 pm
CAn Newton couldn’t throw that ball faster than he threw the laptop out his dorn window.
BOBBY JACKTARD
September 18th, 2010
10:09 pm
I know. I’ve got a great idea. At our next home game against Tennessee let’s get the players to wear their black jersies and we in the stands will all wear black shirts and blouses. We’ll black out the stadium!!! It worked against Auburn a couple of years ago and will work this time too! I love you. GOOOO DAWGS!!!!!!!
5150 P.O.A.D
September 18th, 2010
10:11 pm
Can somebody get the keys to the church? Richt is beating on the door an crying on the stoop. Please, would an elder get the keys and let Richt have a place to cry and sleep in pease.
Wally
September 18th, 2010
10:11 pm
GA fans do not want the Boise coach or the Utah coach. Guys this is the SEC. Earlier guy is right we will say goodbye to good recruiting classes for 10 years if we fire Richt. RIcht is our best hope. Perhaps some changes at other coaching spots but not CMR. We should give him a vote of confidence and a new 5 year contract.
Saint Mark
September 18th, 2010
10:11 pm
Georgia plays at Mississippi State on Saturday, trying to avoid its first 0-3 SEC start since … 1993.
Buh bye, dawgtards.
Go ahead, it’s okay to cry.
tim
September 18th, 2010
10:12 pm
Hey, if it will make anybody feel better about Georgia’s showing so far, Latimore tore up Furman today for 68 yards on 18 carries, 21 of those yards on one play. He’s Herschel and Emmit Smith rolled into one! Unfortunately, we don’t have the quite the defense Furman does.
jack bull
September 18th, 2010
10:15 pm
let me guess, terrible play calling.. or was that the refs??
Jamie
September 18th, 2010
10:16 pm
Did you see the red panties falling from the sky? It was a glorious sight!
Dawgtards, did you enjoy that?
Wallydawg
September 18th, 2010
10:16 pm
If Richt is our best hope, then we have no hope. Florida seems to be doing pretty good with their “Utah” coach.
Gus
September 18th, 2010
10:17 pm
Ok, so you won 1, and lost 2 games, lost 1 game in the last minutes, lost the 2nd game in the last 15 seconds. No major adjustments, lost to 2 top 10 ranked teams by a hair.
Georgia will still finish 12-2 in the top 10.
Warhorse
September 18th, 2010
10:17 pm
Grantham has a big mouth but so far he has not been able to back it up. Spurs educated him and now he blames his players. He will be despised by the end of the year, even by those most rabid poodle fans.
Bleeding Red
September 18th, 2010
10:17 pm
Recruiting iks that hard to do. UGA has a rich tradition set by Herschel Walker,Garrison Hearst,Terrell Davis,Knowshon Moreno,& Stafford. You could coach the team and top recruits would wanna come to UGA. Its the tradition that brings in top recruits not the coach.
Tom B. Stone
September 18th, 2010
10:17 pm
BobDawg, SteveW, and Knockahoma has gotten into the kool-aid again…
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
September 18th, 2010
10:18 pm
Ron Roberts
How many times do you run it straight up the middle for a stuff
when we are running just fine on the outside lane yet you continue to run straight up the middle
You continue to not utilize tight ends, you continue to throw those stupid sideline no gain passes, then when your in trouble you go deep
You run the dumbest crap called the dawg wildcat crap play that gets next to nothing
Dan the Man
September 18th, 2010
10:19 pm
Can we please get rid of that jerkoff Wash-Out Ealey? He’s worse than useless.
Bleeding Red
September 18th, 2010
10:20 pm
I agree about the refs in the Auburn-Clemson game. Did you see the hit in the end zone on the kickoff after the whistle was blown and a late hit on a Clemson 15 yaqrd run not called ?
JRW7
September 18th, 2010
10:21 pm
We have the worse COACHES in the SEC!!!! BOBO should go now!! UGA DAWGS have gone downhill ever since CMR let BOBO call the plays!!! Terrible play calling by BOBO!!! Even the ESPN announcers knew what BOBO was calling before the play!!!
Beast from the East
September 18th, 2010
10:21 pm
Guys, I saw a lot of improvement on the offensive side today. Should be even better when Green gets back. Your problem is again the defense. They made Lattimore and Mallett both look like Heisman candidates. Last week couldn’t stop the run and this week couldn’t stop the big pass play. Grantham needs to start earning that $750,000 they’re giving him. UF has a first year DC and he’s getting it done with just as many youngsters. I’m sorry, but Bobo does not seem to be the problem to me.
DA MAN
September 18th, 2010
10:23 pm
HEY GUSTARD.WANNA PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS? NO BETTER NOT PUT YOUR MONEY ANYWHERE NEAR THAT 12 INCH BLACK SNAKE. LOL
David
September 18th, 2010
10:23 pm
Funny that everyone keeps blaming the coaches. CMR and company won when he had good players. Now he’s loosing with bad players. Only blame that can be placed on the coaches is dropping the ball with regards to recruiting.
chuck
September 18th, 2010
10:25 pm
We need a volunteer to introduce the new AD to Kirby Smart. Does anyone have Kirby’s cell phone number? If so, please send it to the AD. If we go ahead and pull the plug maybe we can recruit the players Kirby wants to fix this train wreck.
jack bull
September 18th, 2010
10:25 pm
nice call, Gus
Fair and Balanced
September 18th, 2010
10:27 pm
10 – 2 is not possible. 9 – 3 is doubtful. My guess is 6 – 6 at best and if Bobo is not fired – then I’ll start the campaign to fire Richt myself! But lets be honest – the defense sucks as bad as the offense. 380 yards in the air! WIDE open receivers with our defenders trailing down the field watching their butts enter the endzone 20 yards behind! Come on! Should have saved the money and kept Martinez!
0 – 2 in the SEC for the first time in 17 years! Since the Hawaii game GA looks like a program that said, “Ah, we ain’t ever really gonna make it to the big time. Lets shoot for mediocre.” The problem with that is that this team is not mediocre – it is bad! With bad coaching!
JRW7
September 18th, 2010
10:28 pm
We still have the players, its the COACHES stupid!!
5150 P.O.A.D
September 18th, 2010
10:29 pm
Brent Musburger are you just Old? Stupid and old. Drunk and old. Stupid and drunk. I think you are OLD, DRUNK, and STUPID.
Dawgs88
September 18th, 2010
10:30 pm
Stacy Searels needs to be fired! UGA’s offensive line hasn’t done jack since he showed up and it’s easy to see why. All of UGA’s linemen are nothing but big old slow fat boys. They’re not muscular and in good enough shape to push away defensive lineman to make holes for the running backs. Even the South Carolina QB said UGA is way outta shape. When you’re so dang fat that without knee braces you could barely walk, then you’re to damn fat! Time to shape up or get out boys!
Bleeding Red
September 18th, 2010
10:32 pm
I can’t wait to see Richt & Dowdle on the show tomorrow. How can they be happy and positive after two straight losses and especially losing at home ? Dowdle needs to get a set and ask tough questions. Like :
“How do you assess the leadership of this 1-2 team ?”
“What do you think was the reason they lost ?”
“Is the game being managed right?”
“Did you pin all your hopes on A.J. Green ?”
“What have you got to say to the fans ?”
“Will UGA win 3 games this year ?”
5150 P.O.A.D
September 18th, 2010
10:33 pm
Shut the doors of the great University of Georgia and just be done with the sports, the drunk students and administrators.
Chuck Uga
September 18th, 2010
10:33 pm
The most pitiful part of this is all the back-slapping and high-fiving if GA wins at Miss State and Colorado, two below-average teams. You can be sure Miss State will be even with GA in the 4th quarter next week. That game is at best decided by a field goal. Colorado may be a two TD win, but it will be the closest loss Colorado has because of the reserved play-calling of Richt and Bobo.
Let’s face facts. Richt’s staff is in shambles. Bobo has ALWAYS been overmatched (he belongs in the high school ranks). Searels I have no clue, but he is failing. Garner is recruiting all the “5 stars” that are clearly not as good as Scout and Rivals ranks them. Where are the tight ends? Where are the passes across the middle in the flats? Where is ANY imaginative play-calling that takes advantage of the opposing defense’s weaknesses?
Prediction: GA finishes 7-5 (which is really 5-5 since SW Louis and Idaho St are gimmies). Richt may survive into 2011, but it looks unlikely he will be around in 2012. The quality of conference coaching (and even the assistants) have passed him by. The program is slowly fading, and next year season tickets will be plentiful with minimal donations.
5150 P.O.A.D
September 18th, 2010
10:34 pm
the SEC refs will make sure Auburn wins this game. What a JOKE.
Orange10
September 18th, 2010
10:35 pm
Maybe the guy in charge of giving the big time recruits hormone pills can’t read so well and gives them estrogen instead of testosterone.