Georgia’s embarrassment grows more historical by week
Mississippi State's Arceto Clark leaps high to catch a touchdown pass over Branden Smith, one of many plays to not go Georgia's way Saturday. (AP photo)
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Was this convincing enough? Georgia just made Mississippi State look like a major force in the SEC. It’s seldom a force even within state borders.
Last week the Bulldogs lost to Arkansas for the first time in 17 years. This time they lost to another conference opponent for the first time in 36 years.
Doesn’t that suggest this isn’t some aberration?
The Bulldogs are 0-3 in the SEC. They stand alone in the conference in that regard. Behind Mississippi State, behind Vanderbilt, behind the schools you used to joke about. They are no longer the team that can beat everybody except Alabama and Florida. They are the team that can lose to every team well below Alabama and Florida.
After a 24-12 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday night, Georgia is 2-7 in its past nine SEC games. That’s not trivial, and it’s certainly not an aberration. The opponents in those seven losses are LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State.
Such widespread failure screams this isn’t about missing one suspended player, no matter how good A.J. Green is.
“We’ve got to fix a lot of things,” said the maligned offensive coordinator, Mike Bobo. “It’s not just A.J. Green. We got beat on the field. You’ve got to go earn it.”
Turn back the clock. Cover your faces. The Dogs just lost to Mississippi State for the first time since 1974 and the first time in Starkville since 1951. Their humiliation becomes more historical by the week.
Embarrassed?
“It’s one of those things where you’re not embarrassed to be a Georgia Bulldog,” wide receiver Kris Durham said, “but we’re embarrassed at the way we’re playing.
“Our season could turn into a catastrophe if we don’t stay together.”
Georgia was coming off losses to South Carolina and Arkansas. Mark Richt remained optimistic (of course). He didn’t believe his team would come into Starkville in a funk. But in the first three minutes of the game, the Dogs went three-and-out on offense and allowed Mississippi to drive 53 yards to a touchdown in four plays.
If that’s not a funk, it’s the early stages of rigor mortis.
Offensive-line play remains mediocre, particularly in the running game. The offense had three red-zone possessions in the first half, resulting in a net of six points (two field goals, one fumble). Georgia’s only touchdown came with less than two minutes left.
At least give Bobo credit for throwing himself under the bus: “You can’t turn the ball over, and you can’t have penalties. That’s coaching. It’s our fault.”
Starkville is cowbell central. Think vuvuzelas, only slightly less obnoxious, thanks to an SEC rule that allows fans to ring their bell only during the pregame, timeouts and following Mississippi State touchdowns and field goals. The video board at Davis Wade Stadium even carries the message, “Respect the bell.”
Regardless, coach Dan Mullen implored Mississippi State fans to make life as miserable for Georgia as possible. Just 15 minutes before kickoff, he stood in the end zone with a microphone and yelled: “Our team is ready to go, and I know our students are ready to go!”
Glad somebody was.
Many of Georgia’s early problems were self-inflicted. Washaun Ealey fumbled at the Mississippi State 1 following a 20-yard run after he was clocked by safety Nickoe Whitley. The Dogs also fumbled when a Mississippi State punt inadvertently was touched by Bacarri Rambo, then quickly recovered by the home team.
The offense has gone from a mild concern to a five-alarm blaze. Bobo has replaced Willie Martinez, the departed defensive coordinator, as fans’ primary punching bag.
But this is about more than one assistant coach or one suspended player. Once again, Richt did not have his team ready to play. The Dogs should have played desperate. They didn’t. They certainly didn’t play smart or play well.
They are 0-3, having lost three in a row under Richt for the first time. They are somewhere south of ordinary. And it’s not a blip.
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1,247 comments Add your comment
Demetre Baker
September 26th, 2010
10:42 am
Anyone know a good cure for a hangover?
Concerned Dawg Alum
September 26th, 2010
10:43 am
Looks like another 2 decade SEC title drought is upon us.
tyler
September 26th, 2010
10:45 am
Why is no one talking about Jim Harbaugh? Stanford is obviously not a “career job.” He could get twice as much talent to UGA based on the requirements his recruits have to follow to get into Stanford. But maybe we should adopt those academic requirements. When was the last time a Stanford player got arrested?
Big Dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:45 am
Right on SnakeDoc, and hilarious Concerned Dawg Alum!
Demetre Baker
September 26th, 2010
10:45 am
Future of the program? I’m it!!!
Joe Hamilton
September 26th, 2010
10:45 am
As bad as UGA looks right now, at least they are somewhat competitive. Tech on the other hand got slapped all over the field yesterday.
SEC FAN
September 26th, 2010
10:46 am
I have been telling you GA Fans since the beginning of the season that Starkville was a tough place to play, especially if you come in with a suspect, inept coaching staff and a flat team. If UT can pay the money to get rid of Fullmer and Auburn can find the money to can Tubberville, then with a 64 million dollar budget, McGarity and Adams can do what’s right by the GA Fans and fire Richt. There are plenty of good HEAD coaches who coach in smaller, less well known conferences who would come to UGA for the kind of money Richt makes, and bring the team back to respectability. McGarity and Adams should act before anymore time is lost.
Demetre Baker
September 26th, 2010
10:46 am
Proud to be #10
Dan Mullen
September 26th, 2010
10:47 am
If Jim Harbaugh didn’t go to Notre Dame, what makes you think he would leave a top PAC-10 Team for the worst team in the SEC TYLER.
How Many
September 26th, 2010
10:47 am
Just another UGA 4-star arrest. CMR recruits and builds men of character. The same as his mentor Bobby Bowden. UGA the Florida State of the 2010’s except without the number of wins.
http://georgia.scout.com/a.z?s=135&p=8&c=1&nid=4208519
Sad But True
September 26th, 2010
10:48 am
All those asking for Richt to take over the play calling; Ya’ll must have very short memories, it was only a couple of years ago that everyone was screaming for him to hand over those duties to an OC!!
We’re just chasing our own tail.
JB
September 26th, 2010
10:48 am
Thanks “beast from the East”………………………I’m afraid for our hater’s is gone from ribbing, to laughing, to a little pity…….Most real SEC football fans knows it hurts the SEC to have Georgia like this. We need most of these teams to be tops to keep the SEC on top. Georgia is not helping the conference cause….
people still get excited about beating us, but that will fade pretty quick this year….In Fact, if we slip up and beat a Vandy or Kentucky, Their respective paper will give them hell about it……..By the way, where is Mr. post a minute ” USC GAMECOCK” this morning…….Guess he got his wings clipped…LOL
jerry
September 26th, 2010
10:48 am
Who said this? Mark Richt or Mack Brown?
“It was a rear-end kicking, This one’s embarrassing for me. As a head coach, I’m responsible for everybody in this program, from the trainers to the managers to the walk-ons, to the kids to the coaches – everybody.”
NoGaGator
September 26th, 2010
10:49 am
On another note, we all may need to take up a collection to buy DawgInLex a new laptop after it was repossessed by his bookie based on his below picks from Friday. Either that or he’s busy making his fries.
DawginLex
September 24th, 2010
9:19 am
UGA 28 MSU 20
GT 38 NCSU 33
UK 49 florida 38
Aubie 20 SC 17
Ark 21 Bama 20
Let the love flow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reality Dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:50 am
Here we go again Dawg Nation. Everybody whining about sports losses. We are an academic powerhouse now. There is more to life than how our football team plays on Saturday. Go look at the new biology building on campus… now that’s winning. Mark Richt is a fine man and deserves to stay as long as he wants.
Dan Mullen
September 26th, 2010
10:50 am
WILLIE MARTINEZ FOR HEAD COACH
Unknown
September 26th, 2010
10:50 am
Injustice! The Athens Police should have arrested the team for impersonating one upon their arrival back from Starksville instead of Demetre Baker for partying. My gosh, I thought underage drinking & driving is a rite of passage
Snake Doc
September 26th, 2010
10:50 am
jerry – It wasn’t MR! LMFAO!
How sad it is for all UGA fans and the team this morning.
I do believe that MR has lost control. He has lost his fire!
It is time for a change in Athens!
Its mourning in Georgia today!
K. Wittingham
September 26th, 2010
10:51 am
@ Jerry – Mack Brown
Downed Dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:51 am
Does anyone want to car pool to the Liberty Bowl?
Reality Dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:52 am
I keep saying we need to get more guys arrested… but not for whimpy things like DUI… let’s get a few assault charges against some of our boys. I want to see a few get locked up for bar-fighting.
doug dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:52 am
well, fellow dawg fans and uga alumni, let’s face it. this football program has hit the bottom of the barrel, the pits. the team, except for a few players, has given up; no motivation whatsoever. and the coaching staff is laconic at best. the only blessing is that this non-season is already a third over. sometimes, things just have to bottom out for situations to change. but. . . we have an AD who is obviously aware and capable of turning this mess around. greg mcg will not stand for this, but he will move quietly and professionally. my guess is that mr. richt is a goner; don’t worry about his hiring coaches; he won’t be around to do it. it might mean a few lost recruits, a couple of sorry seasons; but the dawgs will rise again. we offer too much not to. for all the good years, we are paying with the bad. but, worms always turn; alabama, florida, lsu, oklahoma, name ‘em; they all had had their down times, as bad as or worse than this. i’m not suggesting patience with the status quo at all; quite the opposite. i way, clean house and get it over with. the sooner the surgery takes place, the quicker the recovery will be.
Snake Doc
September 26th, 2010
10:53 am
To paraphrase Jim Mora:
Bowl game? bowl game? are you kidding me? bowl game?
missouridawg
September 26th, 2010
10:53 am
what would grizzard say?
We can lose w.o. them too. A program that we CAN count on.
September 26th, 2010
10:54 am
A leader takes drastic steps when necessary.
Ric ht should announce that he and all of the assistants will take 40% – 50% pay cuts. Period.
They will turn over their UGA credit cards and vehicle and A CC golf memerships.
They will release from the team AJ Green, Wahuan Ealey and Caleb King and Baccari Rambo and anyone else that is continuing to do the SAME DUMB THINGS. They will release demitri baker too.
They will put Ken Malcom in the game as the tailback and they will also play Fred Munzenmier and Shuan Chaps more in the backfield. They are maybe slower, but they will not do what ealey continues to do ……….which is to fumble at the goal line. He makes Jasper Sanks look like a vice grip tool.
They will use their tight ends far more on short routes. They will find some young men that want to play nasty O line. They will fire immediately Searels the O line coach.
Then, richt nees to announce prior to the GT game that he is done. This has to happen. His era is over ……………done, not much to show for 10 years, frankly. The last 5? Forget it.
UGA needs right now to name a new head coach and let him begin recruiting. It will take UGA about 3 to 4 years to over come this valley that we are in ……….all due to richt and his shot gun approach to recruiting.
Go Dogs.
jerry
September 26th, 2010
10:54 am
If UGA truly wants to compete for championships they absolutely have to step up and hire an excellant OC who will bring an offense other than what they are now running, that will succeed in the SEC. It will not happen otherwise.
Demetre Baker
September 26th, 2010
10:54 am
Just got confirmation, my arrest this morning completed my initiation. CMR promised I will dress & play as soon as possible after he slaps me on the wrist for show. I love CMR – he’s such a player’s coach and a great role model.
Snake Doc
September 26th, 2010
10:54 am
@ Doug Dawg – You hit the nail on the head! Good job!
db
September 26th, 2010
10:55 am
What a freakin’ Saturday! All I can say is Thank God for Alabama! Roll Tide.
Phil
September 26th, 2010
10:55 am
Thanks Mark Rixht,
for contniued losing to opponemts, this one was special, I am 50 years old and have been a fan for the najority of those years, at least as far back as I was able to hold a football and tell you what it was I had in my hands.Please, leave this team and don”t drag them down the drain with you. They have a winning tradtion
Gary
September 26th, 2010
10:55 am
After last night’s very disappointing effort I must disagree with most posts to this forum regarding the rest of the season. UGA will be lucky to win another game this season…we may finish 1-10. Has UGA ever posted such a record in the school’s history?
dawgfan
September 26th, 2010
10:56 am
What about Jon Gruden? Didn’t he express some interest in coaching in the SEC at one point? How bad azz would it be to have Chucky on the sidelines? Awesome.
Will
September 26th, 2010
10:56 am
Why do ppl keep saying fire Bobo? RICHT is the one that hired him. He hired Willie too. Why not fire RICHT?? It starts at the TOP!!
jerry
September 26th, 2010
10:56 am
Snake Doc: It was: Playoffs?
JB
September 26th, 2010
10:57 am
Who on here thinks McGarity is privately putting a call list together……..I know he’ll have to put out another vote of confidence in the next week or two, but the money will start to speak soon…..losing a hard fought game is one thing. Being a 2 point underdog to MSU and losing by 12 is another. I’m afraid mark has let this program slip past what he’ll have time to repair….Coaching is just the tip of the iceberg. Arrest, strength and conditioning ( lack of) Schemes, game planning, having team ready to play and just pure miss talent evaluation………………I’m sick…………one guy earlier made a good point…..If you love Mark, you can follow his career at say North Carolina….
long-time dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:57 am
We need kickass and take names football coach(es). Nuff said.
Demetre Baker
September 26th, 2010
10:58 am
I want to thank the athletics department for their alcohol awareness seminar. The session on how to create a fake ID was awesome.
Snake Doc
September 26th, 2010
10:58 am
Jerry – I was paraphrasing – there are no playoffs in college football unless your in Div – 2 or whatever its called today.
Of course, I know you know that. LOL again it was a play on the words.
With that in mind :
Playoffs? playoffs? are you kidding me? playoffs?
LOL
doug dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:59 am
mr. richt is a fine and devout man, but he is not a good coach; just doesn’t have the temperament. i think he has plenty of money for the rest of his life. why not take a job at a little, low-demand like, say, mars hill where his son is quarterback. he seemed to like the atmosphere there during his visit at the start of the season. and he could evangelize, recruit young people for mission trips, and be a kind of spiritual advisor. all, by the way, wonderful, wonderful vocations. he would be happier, and so would the bulldog nation. a win-win for all concerned.
Reality Dawg
September 26th, 2010
10:59 am
What we need now is more bar-fights!
AD Stinky Fingers
September 26th, 2010
11:00 am
@Football is not academics, not too bright are you? Are you not aware that the Athletic director and coaches are not paid by the University? They are employeed by the Athletic Assoc., or the boosters. As a result there is no conflict between the budget for academics and athletics for the obvious reasons.
Do not be such a self-rightious douchebag, and perhaps you should use your education and do some research if you are so infinitely ignorant.
Snake Doc
September 26th, 2010
11:00 am
@doug dawg – Agreed!
Dontavius Supremo
September 26th, 2010
11:00 am
Nothing to be done this year, but the AD and president need to be firm with Richt on three issues for next year: 1) the job being done by the assistant coaches needs to be assessed and changes made where necessary, regardless of friendships; 2) the players need to understand that thuggery and drinking will not be tolerated; 3) and, finally, reasonable goals need to be set for Richt, and if they are not met, he needs to leave. That’s the way it works in the “real world.”
Reality Dawg
September 26th, 2010
11:02 am
For every player that gets a DUI this week… you get named a starter. For every player that gets in a bar-fight downtown… you get two skulls for your helmet. For every player who can actually knockout a frat boy… you get to lead the team out of the tunnel on Saturday plus three helmet skulls, plus a date with Barbara Dooley.
Mstateboy77
September 26th, 2010
11:02 am
Did it ever occur to any of y’all knuckleheads that MSU might ACTUALLY be a good team??? Dan mullen has something really good going on in Starkville. Best of wishes to uga.
Demetre Baker
September 26th, 2010
11:02 am
Who are you calling not bright? It was a challenge getting that key into the ignition after drinking a case of brewskis.
bamaguy
September 26th, 2010
11:03 am
The reason Stanford players don’t get arrested has nothing to do with the football coach, it is because they were smart enough to get into Stanford. From the outside looking in, it appears that when you couple young recruits that often come from disadvantaged backgrounds with a coach who wants to be their “buddy” what you get is the Fulmer Cup.
PS Mark Ingram showed the whole world yesterday that he deserves the Heisman on his bookshelf.
Scott M
September 26th, 2010
11:03 am
To the academics first person: the students and faculty at Ga State ASKED for a football team. The leadership at KSU ASKED for a football team. It’s difficult to be noticed as a university without a football program. Don’t blame them for doing what’s necessary to improve the visibility of the school.
As for the UGA football program, I’m done. I don’t plan on watching or listening to another game until this coaching staff is gone. There’s plenty of good football out there to watch and I don’t need to waste my time watching little boys in mens’ bodies act like spoiled brats on and off the field.
jerry
September 26th, 2010
11:04 am
In 2005 UGA beat Boise State 48-13. Now they don’t belong on the same field. Who has done the better job since then, Richt or Petersen? Idaho has a population of 1.5 million and 94% white and 1% black so how does Petersen do it. Coaching baby, coaching.
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September 26th, 2010
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