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
gabull
September 19th, 2010
6:01 pm
Bobo must go. everyone but Mark Richt knew Bobo should have been fired when he fired Willie M., Watergirl saved his job.
Sleepy Russ
September 19th, 2010
6:04 pm
Mark Richt does not suck as badly as Jeff Schultz.
gabull
September 19th, 2010
6:10 pm
Mark Richt acts more like Derek Dooley than Dooley does. (SEC rookie)
The team is more important than the Richt’s family relationship with
Mike Bobo (BOZO)
King Bama
September 19th, 2010
6:17 pm
Georgia plays football like a bunch of little, skint kneed girls. A once proud program is in shambles and embarrasses our proud conference every year. Children….a successful season is more than whooping up on the puny yeller jackets. Bama would love to play the dogs every year if the folks in Athens would just step up to the plate. It would be a track meet for our tailbacks.
Forget the red panties and focus on football. That is how we do it in my state. Roll Tide!!!
DBONE
September 19th, 2010
6:19 pm
Georgia is a midlevel team in a great conference. Bulldog fans need to get a grip!
Wangtavious Larootuveni
September 19th, 2010
6:21 pm
We’re too scared to play Bama…
Flint River Dawg
September 19th, 2010
6:23 pm
King is a redneck bully
Lane K.
September 19th, 2010
6:24 pm
hire the Dooley kid now
Scooby
September 19th, 2010
6:25 pm
Maybe if Richt cuts that goofy zipper hair patch up front he might gain some respect from his players. Maybe a perm is in order. What a joke of a program.
Steve "The King" Spurrier
September 19th, 2010
6:29 pm
Where did al them pickup truck winder flags go?
Bow before your King!
Steve "The King" Spurrier
September 19th, 2010
6:31 pm
Scooby…Mark needs a consult with my friend Bill Shatner on a proper rug piece.
Steve "The King" Spurrier
September 19th, 2010
6:32 pm
I forgot…
Bulldogs…
Bow before your King!!
Do they
September 19th, 2010
6:37 pm
Does UGA have one player except AJ Green that could start for Bama or Florida? If the answer is no, which any reasonable person would admit, how does the bulldog nation think that they can compete against them? Until they improve recruiting and coaching, you better get used to 4 – 5 losses and low level bowl games. They are now in the bottom tier of the SEC.
LHardingDawg
September 19th, 2010
7:27 pm
I hope none of you committ sucide over two games won by more experienced teams. We have played the toughest schedule in the country for the last two weeks. We lost, but I believe in the long run, both of these loses end up helping the Bulldogs. The worst thing to do is to panic, and get away from what they have been practicing. There is a lot of football to be played this year, don’t throw in the towel in quite yet.
We have a number of players who need to “man up” or be benched. How long does a tweeked ankle take to get well? How many drills do you have to run before you learn to hold on to the ball or learn to pass block?
All the coaches can do is “coach the kid up”, put him on the field, and hopes he remembers all of the hours of drills he has done in practice. If the player can’t perform in a game, you need to try someone else.
Statesborodawg13
September 19th, 2010
7:42 pm
The last failed GA drive shows exactly the problem with Georgia’s offensive play calling: 2:14 left on the clock, timeouts, that’s the ideal time to chip away, chip away, chip away … and finally in the last few seconds get in position for a game winning field goal. GA has no offensive clue how to chip away. You put Florida, Alabama, most any good SEC team with 2:14 and timeouts, they know how to chip away, and call plays that’ll get 4 or 5 yards a down, then finally kick the field goal.
Clock management, ball control, short passes to tight ends … that somehow escapes Bobo’s mindset. Why not a screen pass to Ealey on the final offensive play? Why not one of those short passes to the tight end on the sideline that 100% of the time picks up 7 or 8 yards? Heck, run Ealey on 3rd and 4, even if he gets only 3 you could go for it on 4th and 1. Anything but some lame long ball that has little chance for a completion.
Very disappointing GA defense even had to be on the field having to save the game – should never have happened.
TD DAWGS
September 19th, 2010
8:28 pm
FIRE BOBO THE CLOWN!
Tech Stand
September 19th, 2010
8:51 pm
Tech will beat this ga team easily—-bank it! Tech will not lose another game in the regular season and should win the ACC easily. miami–average, fsu–overrated. Tech—off the BCS again!!!! Ga—another trip to shreveport and the motel 6!
Return of AJ
September 19th, 2010
8:54 pm
When AJ gets back, these angry dawgs will be looking for revenge! Mark Richt circled the florida game and that’s where the upset will occur. Dawgs beat UF—bet the house!
Tweets that mention Georgia is showing problems are deep and widespread | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
September 19th, 2010
9:04 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by blogs of the world, Aaron King, KIRA, Hank Humphrey, Jeff Schultz and others. Jeff Schultz said: Georgia is showing problems are deep and widespread http://bit.ly/b3qlC4 [...]
Georgia St. is the Best Program in GA
September 19th, 2010
9:05 pm
Can’t help but gloat over this one. Schultz, you get everything you deserve for your vile, unfounded hatred of Petrino and the same goes for all you fans who say the same.
Falcons better without him? You betcha, SO MOVE THE ON!
You have NO CLUE what REALLY happened with his departure….for all we know Blank told him he couldn’t talk to the team and to get lost, but then turned around in the media and acted like a spurned lover and the recipient of a ‘Dear John’ letter. And Blank being a major sponsor/funder of various media outlets….you think they are going to report anything against Blank….no way!
SO get over it.
Schultz you stink like your jounalism skills. And Bobby Petrino, I know had to have a smile on his face for multiple reasons yesterday, one of which included getting the last laugh on you guys.
Oh, and to the weirdo’s on TV yesterday wearing speedo’s and body paint saying “Petrino’s a fraud”….you all are about as classy as Schultz….come to think of it, I am sure he was the one who applied the paint to those goons.
Petrino's Revenge
September 19th, 2010
9:12 pm
For all the trashing Petrino got from the AJC—he got the revenge he wanted with that big win over the UGA/AJC bulldogs.
Yellow Jockitch
September 19th, 2010
11:06 pm
TO RAMBLE ON and other GT Fans: You will enjoying Shevreport at the end of the regular season since the last Bowl qualifying Team of ACC will be there i.e GT. Its no longer an SEC Bowl. HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHA.
Proud GT Fan!
September 19th, 2010
11:24 pm
If you Georgia fans think Bobo is going to get fired think again. If Richt fired Bobo he would be telling himself and the Georgia fan base that Richt’s offense can’t work. Richt will not settle for another offensive coordinator that dosen’t follow his routine play calling. For the past 10 years Georgia has called the same plays in the same situations and have had sucess and have failed. If Bobo goes Richt is going too. Richt has to much pride in his offense to change to a different system. I’m sure Richt confirmed every play that was called in the 4th quarter. Richt won’t fire Bobo, Richt won’t acknowledge that his teams have struggled in the last couple of years. At least Paul Johnson will state that when his teams are performing poorly that there are problems and it’s his fault. THWG!!
Arthur
September 19th, 2010
11:29 pm
Jeff-
Still searching for Camelot? Good luck with that. Maybe Xanudu is out there. Perhaps there’s a perfect team with no flaws. Keep searching. Keep writing about all the things you’re dissapointed with. Keep ignoring improvement. Keep searching for something like Camelot.
Everybody dreams about Paradise when we live in Paradise Lost.
Read all about it: the aftermath of Georgia’s loss to Arkansas (updated) « Totaluga.com
September 20th, 2010
2:27 am
[...] Jeff Schultz’s column, which notes Georgia’s 2-6 record in its past 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. [...]
turkey caller
September 20th, 2010
9:09 am
I think the coaching staff felt they were a good enough ball team to go to SC and play without penalties and not beat themselves. SC proved to be too much. Arkansas was a little different situation in that they felt they needed to open up more on offense and do a better job of tackling on defense. Arkansas had what it took to win. This maybe is just an average team. If we were anything more I believe it would show. I have never been a Richt believer so I do believe that after 10 years it is time for a change. Gimmicks and such haven’t turned out too well for Mr. Richt.
DawgTired
September 20th, 2010
9:21 am
Jeff,
Since there are too many pages to shift through on here, I’m sure somebody has probably already said what I’m about to, but here it is anyway.
The absolute WORST case scenario for the end of regulation on Saturday after UGA got the ball back should have been OT. No bones about it. The way Bobo hurried through the calls and the God awful 3rd down and 5 without a single bailout receiver within 10 yards is enough of a reason to finally cut Bobo loose. That was beyond idiotic and has to be a career ending final straw. The way he flew through those 3 downs so fast that you have to wonder if he was really trying to give Arkansas enough time to win it.
What on earth is our third year starting center doing NOT hiking the ball when he had numerous opportunities to catch the Arkansas defense off sides?
Two more game defying, momentum changing, surefire interceptions that were dropped after hitting our DB’s square in the numbers. We haven’t had DB’s that could catch since Champ Bailey 12 or so years ago. If I’m not mistaken Arkansas continued to score on both of those series as well.
And yet again, more idiotic use of our timeouts. This time UGA decided to bailout Arkansas’ offense just when the play clock was about to run out on Mallet. You’d expect this from a new coaching staff, not one that is in it’s 9th or 10th season.
I have been a Richt apologist and defender for years, but given what I’ve seen the past two weekends it’s really making me question my loyalty. It’s not that we lost, as clique as it sounds, it’s HOW we lost. Two games where we had every opportunity in the book to win had the COACHES actually made the better decisions.
This is beyond frustrating at this point.
gamble
September 20th, 2010
9:26 am
Proud GT fan,
You are right to a degree. Richt’s loyalty to his coaches is to a fault. Look what it took to get rid of Martinez? There is no way Richt had time to review and OK every 4th quarter call like you mentioned, that’s just stupid to suggest. But yes, Richt surely knows Bobo’s predictable and elementary play sheet and is aware of every play he could call. That is enough to question Richt’s competency as a head coach after so much time. Simply beating the sh*t out of the bugs every year isn’t enough for him to keep his job. Unlike the Tech fan base, we are not satisfied with simply owning our little sister from the down street.
DEATH DEALER
September 20th, 2010
9:35 am
RAMBLE ON!!!:::::
“CARRY ON, MY WAYWARD SON, THERE’LL BE PEACE WHEN YOU ARE DONE, LAY YOUR WEARY HEAD TO REST…….DON’T YOU CRY NO MORE”…..
THIS IS FOR YOU, RAMBLE ON, FROM THE VICTORIOUS JAYHAWK NATION……WE COULDN’T HANDLE DAKOTA BUT WE GOT US SOME YELLOW JACKET…JUST SAYIN, DON’T LET THAT HEAD GET TOO BIG……
DEATH DEALER
September 20th, 2010
9:38 am
THOUGHT WITH A FRESHMAN QB AND ALL OUR STUDS WHO ARE UP FOR HEISMAN THAT WE WOULD COMPETE FOR THE NC…..GET REAL BOYS…..WE HAVE AVERAGE ATHLETES AND OUR ONLY GAME CHANGER IS ON THE SIDELINES…..
LAKE OCONEE DAWG
September 20th, 2010
9:44 am
DawgTired:
Gonna fire a guy over one bad call…You sure somebody didn’t run the wrong route, who possibly should have been the check down guy….Anyway, it’s good to know DawgTired never made a mistake in his life….
LAKE OCONEE DAWG
September 20th, 2010
9:49 am
Proud GT Fan!:::
CARRY ON, MY WAYWARD SON, THERE’LL BE PEACE WHEN YOU ARE DONE, LAY YOUR WEARY HEAD TO REST…….DON’T YOU CRY NO MORE”…..
THIS IS FOR YOU, Proud GT Fan!:::, FROM THE VICTORIOUS JAYHAWK NATION……WE COULDN’T HANDLE DAKOTA BUT WE GOT US SOME YELLOW JACKET…JUST SAYIN, DON’T LET THAT HEAD GET TOO BIG……
DawgTired
September 20th, 2010
9:50 am
Lake Oconee Dawg,
If you just started watching UGA football on Saturday I’ll excuse your ignorance, but if you’ve managed to catch at least a few games over the past several years this shouldn’t be a revelation to any knowledgeable UGA fan. I could dissect just about every game UGA has played with Bobo as the OC and find multiple idiotic calls that changed the outcome.
Mistakes in everyday life are one thing. But continuing to make the same mistakes over and over in short, 12 game football seasons is an entirely different animal all together.
hahahaha!!!!!
September 20th, 2010
9:51 am
Oconee Dawg –
“One bad call?” Seriously dude, where is your rock that you live under?????
dawgfacedboy
September 20th, 2010
9:55 am
10-12 in the EAST since ‘05
8-8 in your last 16 home games
This is a problem. If you can’t see it as anything else then you don’t set your expectations high enough.
We can easily lose the rest of the games on our schedule with the exception of IDaho ST.
DawgTired
September 20th, 2010
10:06 am
I disagree. If Bobo continues to call games deaf, blind and dumb we could also drop the Idaho St. contest as well. Nothing is off the table anymore with this coaching staff. Finding new ways to lose is Richt’s new motto.
hardy
September 20th, 2010
10:54 am
I’ve watched Georgia play since 1967 and this as bad as it gets worse than Ray goofs teams and Dumbo is not a offensive coordinator. He sucked at quarterback when he played
Kase
September 20th, 2010
11:03 am
Loved Bobo as a QB for my Dawgs, but I think he needs to take his OC gig down to the high school level. He’s costing us wins and he’s going to get our QB’s killed with his ridiculous play calling. If Richt can fire his lifetime BFF Martinez, then he can surely let Bobo go. If not then it’s time to start over at the top.
MATHDAWG
September 20th, 2010
11:03 am
I agree with most of what you said, but I don’t think UGA is an average team at this point. I think we are below average at best.
Searles and Bobo need to start calling the movers. If not, maybe Richt can join them for a better deal with three.
Kase
September 20th, 2010
11:04 am
BoBo MUST GO!!! BoBo MUST GO!!! BoBo MUST GO!!!
mettsinger
September 20th, 2010
11:06 am
@ Lake oconee dawg
Ok, let’s pretend your argument is true, someone ran an incorrect route. My question to you is this…who’s job is it to make sure everyone understands the offense????
Thought so
greg
September 20th, 2010
11:19 am
WOW the razorbacks looked really good with the arm of Mallet!!! He is a true canidate for the Heisman award and Petrino is looking like a really good coach!!!
Corninmypooh
September 20th, 2010
11:25 am
Have the meds kicked for the Dawg faithful, or are we still calling for the water boy and UGA mascot to be fired? Is Richt still the worst coach in CFB history?
vandal
September 20th, 2010
11:57 am
greg,
A middle school QB could have hit the wide open Razorback receivers on Saturday. Had nothing to do with Mallet’s arm or talents; had to do with UGA’s atrocious defense.
stac
September 20th, 2010
12:02 pm
Two winnable games that the Dawgs and Richt decided to botch. When is enough, enough? It would have served Richt and Bobo better had they been blown out of the water and exposed for having inferior talent in each contest rather than being in the thick of things only to shoot themselves in the foot over and over and over…..
Bobo
September 20th, 2010
12:20 pm
I suck!!!!!!
Phil
September 20th, 2010
12:21 pm
Bobo is a buffoon. 3rd and 4 and he send all the receivers deep?? We only needed to pick up the 1st down and keep the drive alive and hopefully get in field goal range. And what was Richt listening to in his head phones, music?? He should have over-turned that idiotic call!
Richt and Bobo are clueless.
giles
September 20th, 2010
12:37 pm
where the heck is Caleb King!?!?! He’s only our third or fourth best player. Is he even still on the team?
TechsWinningWutRUDoin
September 20th, 2010
12:48 pm
Sorry gamble we can’t hear you. Were too busy winning. Can’t say the same for UGA though
cuff
September 20th, 2010
12:50 pm
hahahahahahha!!!!!! “Winning?” You lost to a Kansas team that probably won’t win another game all year, and you barely beat a UNC team that is missing a quarter of their team.
Sounds like dark, desperate times down on the Flats!!!!