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
Chile Dog
September 25th, 2010
11:56 pm
How did South Carolina and Arkansas do this week?
LakeDawg
September 25th, 2010
11:57 pm
DrewF77…Vince Dooley is UGA’s best coach ever. CMR was standing on his shoulders when he started out.
Winderdogg
September 25th, 2010
11:57 pm
What’s worse sitting through Cox last year or CMR/Bobo this year…they all need to go – luckily Cox was a senior
CMR
September 25th, 2010
11:57 pm
Fans, it’s Coach Richt here. I don’t normally follow these blogs, much less comment on them. But I’m here to rally your support for our players. I am as disappointed about our poor start as you are – I want you to know that. But I remain convinced that we can turn this around and still make it to a bowl game. All we need to do is Wrap Up. Thanks for your support, and your prayers.
Coach Richt
MIke S
September 25th, 2010
11:58 pm
The only bright spot is that Georgia is still better than Georgia Tech is this season.
Chile Dog
September 25th, 2010
11:58 pm
The KINGs of under-achievement for the last 1,2,5,10,25,50 years
GOUGA
September 25th, 2010
11:58 pm
I’m not gonna be a armchair expert. I don’t know enough about “playcalling” and coaching to suggest to anyone at UGA what to do to stop the “slide”. However it is a concern to see a program with such a great winning tradition go through such a bad start. Fans these days are so impatient. All the great programs Alabama, Flordia, Tenn. Mich. and on and on have gone through dry spells. But fans get nasty when their teams don’t win. They want people FIRED. OK so everybody wanted CWM gone. Well he’s gone. Did that solve the problem? NO. Now they want BOBO gone. Face it fans this is not a great team. They’re in the toughest conf. in the country. Its gonna take time to recruit the great talent and build a good team. Hang with UGA. They will be up there again.
Chuck
September 25th, 2010
11:58 pm
Maybe we should have played AJ the last three games. The wins wouldn’t have counted but I’d feel a lot better about the situation.
Chile Dog
September 25th, 2010
11:58 pm
Top 5 in recuiting
Top 5 in under-acheivement
TheTaxJacket
September 25th, 2010
11:58 pm
Fire Paul Johnson!
Tweets that mention Georgia's embarrassment grows more historical by week | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
September 25th, 2010
11:59 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by amy mengel, Alan Ashley, Bo Bounds, Jeff Schultz, Jerry Becker and others. Jerry Becker said: RT @Vols_News: RT @JeffSchultzAJC: Georgia’s embarrassment grows more historical by week http://bit.ly/93dr9T @BarrettSallee @davidpollack47 [...]
hollywould
September 25th, 2010
11:59 pm
Shreveport is still alive!!!
Why Georgia Why
September 25th, 2010
11:59 pm
I’ve been saying this since last year….yes, I know what Richt has done in the past but this is SEC football and you can’t glide through it on your past success. CMR said it all this week when he said “we’re doing the same thing now that we did when we won all those games” speaking of the past. The game has evolved, UGA coaching hasn’t and even richt admits it. The rest of the conference is running pro style offense and plays and we’re passing on 1st, running on 2nd, praying on 3rd. The game passed him by, and is ANY other team courting our OC! NO! And blame Richt for the total lack of secession planning that leaves us with a redshirt freshman qbing a SEC team for goodness sake!!! Great teams reload while GA continually says they rebuild!
Chile Dog
September 25th, 2010
11:59 pm
Right Chuck… AJ was the difference
Winderdogg
September 25th, 2010
11:59 pm
Stop talking about recruits…his job all (4 million dollars of it) says recruit the top players and win….neither one happened
dbc
September 26th, 2010
12:00 am
CMR is and should be done with this program. We’ve seen UGA teams unprepared to play a game, ANY GAME, let alone a big one for what, three years no?. Funny how I got a donor letter and a phone call this week. Are you really kidding me? I don’t feel one bit sorry for Mark Richt. He started with a program that wasn’t exactly devoid of talent. He won with players recruited by the previous coach, who had just as good a winning percentage. He has all the money he needs. Good, Christian man? On the money. But the world is full of good Christian men. He makes a boatload of dough to produce a winner, and he’s turned this program into a laughable mess. I really hope our new AD is listening, because enough is enough. I suppose I’m part of the “lunatic fringe” and should stand by my team through thick and thin. Well guess what. I started cheering for the dogs when I sold programs at 10 years of age, went to school there and got several degrees, and I’ve seen every DAWG team come and go since 1971. This team is beyond inept. There is no control. And good man that he is, Mark Richt needs to be cut loose.
UGA89
September 26th, 2010
12:00 am
I say fire Richt and hire the guy from Boise State.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
September 26th, 2010
12:00 am
People should have to post their contribution level and whether they hold season tickets in order to post. Nobody cares (except the ajc) what fools who post on this blog think unless they are contributors. Heck, half the people who post on this site are for other teams and half of THEM are posing as Georgia fans. That being said, the only thing that Georgia fans appreciate more than winning is discipline. The average UGA season ticket holder is very knowledgeable about football. Unfortunately, the current crop of UGA players act like Deion Sanders without ever having accomplished anything. They make IDIOTIC plays (Muntzenmaier stopping and going backwards instead of putting his head down on a first down, running kickoffs out of the endzone to the 13, celebration penalties, facemask penalties). That being said PART II, I wonder what CMR’s record is in games since the Florida celebration where Penn Wagers is the Referee. Clearly, he hasn’t forgotten and holds a grudge against CMR. For example, Penn Wagers threatened to call unsportsmanlike conduct against a UGA punter in an Auburn game for taking a dive after getting hit. That would have been the first time in the history of college football that call had been made. Clearly, Penn Wagers has it in for CMR. Odd, that the greatest moment in recent history (the Florida celebration and win) would start a downward spiral that would cost CMR his job. Ironic. Odd.
Football Bat
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
Shoulda gone with the BLACK HELMETS!!!
jellybeandawg
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
We have a team jammed packed with 4-5 star recruits right now and are 1-3.
Orson Charles is the most wasted talent I’ve ever seen. He’d be lighting it up in Florida’s offense and we have thrown to him less than five times since the SC loss.
SOS Dawg
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
Im tired of the culture now at UGA. Im tired of the Hip hop gansta music at Sanford stadium. Players not being focused ,Dancing and coaches having nothing but excuses. FIRE CMR immediately
www.firemarkricht.net
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
http://www.firemarkricht.net
Coach Richt, please prove us wrong!!!
KeiththeJacket
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
How are all you Mutts that got on Bradley’s blog to give it to us Jacket fans after our loss, feeling about your team? 0-3 in conference play. 1 offensive touchdown. And y’alls 3-4 isn’t faring any better than ours.
Herschel Walker
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
Even with the A.J.Greene thug, Georgia would still be 1 and 3.
No Longer a Fan
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
The Dawgs look just like Fla. State did in Booby Bowden final Years. Defense Sucks. Offense Sucks… Coaches SUCK.. Players SUCK… everthing about this TEAM SUCKS.. They will NOT go to a BOWL GAME This Year. They will Loose to Col.,Tenn,Kentucky,Vandy,AU,FLA,G-Tech. and beat Idaho State
Bobosucks
September 26th, 2010
12:01 am
Bobo needs to go and Richt needs to take over for the rest of the season…
Football Bat
September 26th, 2010
12:02 am
Geez, thought I saw Richt get a pulse about 58 1/2 minutes into the game. If he doesn’t care, why should anyone else?
Herschel Walker
September 26th, 2010
12:02 am
Buck Belue says everything going to be ok. We can still beat Vandy.
Dawg in OK
September 26th, 2010
12:03 am
Monkey, I disagree. There are 4 teams in the west that look better than Florida and one in the east, and I would put MSU ahead of Kentucky (but that’s a close one). I think the SEC West is freaking awesome this year.
1. Alabama
2. Auburn
3. Arkansas
4. LSU
5. South Carolina
6. Florida
7. Mississippi State
8. Kentucky
9. Georgia
10. Tennessee
11. Vandy
12. Ole Miss
Of course, we could make Tennessee and Vandy look great and lose to them, which would bump us to #12.
Herschel Walker
September 26th, 2010
12:03 am
Wayshon is driving the bus back to Athens. Part of his rehab. Those parked cars better watch out.
hollywould
September 26th, 2010
12:03 am
drink another one UGA guy/what an idiot
Spike
September 26th, 2010
12:03 am
Nesbitt for Heis.. Oh never mind.
So Yesterday
September 26th, 2010
12:04 am
Oh and 3 in the sec….with top 10 recruiting classes 4 out of every 5 years. No discipline, stupid peanalties, Fulmer Cup winners. You recruit thugs and low class individuals just because they are 4 &5 “star” rated recruits, by who Jamie Newberg? When did he become a know it all, it happened when everyone made him rich by subscribing to a newsletter about recruiting when he knows very little about real talent and character of these 4 & 5 “star” recruits. It is time we looked for high character kids that will spill their guts for UGA and will stay out of trouble, and if they do get out of line we need a coach that will send a message other than suspending them for one game against the sisters of the poor. To hell with these kids that just want to use UGA as a stopping off place for the NFL, hell this ain’t the NFL and I could care less about the NFL. I want kids who will stay out of jail, work hard, and play for UGA, not themselves, and represent the university and themselves with some class and pride, something we are lacking now. Our atheletic department is a laughing stock around the country by what happened this summer, the team is in shambles, it is time someone put an end to the embarrassments and jokes and did something to try and restore some respect and dignity to the school and the football team. And no, being rated the number one party school is not what I had in mind. Richt, it is time to dump or get off the pot. If you can’t handle the team and the job, how about backing away gracefully, and lets get someone who will put some discipline and order and maybe some respect back into our school and atheletic department. This crap has gone on long enough.
North Shores Dawg
September 26th, 2010
12:04 am
- – - BREAKING NEWS – - – BREAKING NEWS – - –
Unrelated, CHUCK DOWDLE was in the back seat smiling. He was released on the spot because as one officer put it “He’s just one scary civilian”
UGA graduate 1977
September 26th, 2010
12:04 am
Every UGA grad should refuse to give money to Georgia until the Florida game is moved out of Jacksonville. I think the president and the entire football coaching stop will be gone before June 2011. Even Dooley did better than this in his worse years in the 1970s.
Herschel Walker
September 26th, 2010
12:04 am
The team bus is going to be late tonight. Barbara says Wayshon is a good driver but is going extra slow.
FAN
September 26th, 2010
12:05 am
The rest of the SEC is loving this. UGA fans have always been the biggest A..Holes and watching them lose and scream and yell is too funny
I bet Ralphy stomps Russ into the Turf next weekend.
JB
September 26th, 2010
12:05 am
The worst performance I’ve seen in many years, time for Richt to go. Unfortunately, it will take at least an additional year to get rid of him and five years to rebuild the program.
Herschel Walker
September 26th, 2010
12:05 am
Was that Mark Richt or Ray Goff on the sidelines?
Dirk Diggler
September 26th, 2010
12:05 am
To the guy penning himself as Herschel…put the Jim Beam and the .45 away. Or try to construct a thought that has some kind of resolution to the problem rather than piling on.
ajc pariah
September 26th, 2010
12:06 am
That mascot croaking was an omen.That entitlement mentality is a poison.From the AD to the coach, to the playas.Party on!
Herschel Walker
September 26th, 2010
12:06 am
Don’t worry. Florida is down this year and South Carolina just lost to Auburn. We can still win the SEC East. Yeah right….LOL……
hollywould
September 26th, 2010
12:07 am
C’mon, the season is not over/ we can show Colorado how the SEC plays/ nah, never mind.
WV Dawg
September 26th, 2010
12:07 am
I’m ashamed to be Georgia Bulldog fan tonight. This team has a lot of “Quit” in them.
jellybeandawg
September 26th, 2010
12:07 am
In the years past we have had a lot of punk players who would rather jawbone or commit stupid personal fouls instead of focusing on being good players.
Now they are so hapless that they don’t even bother talking smack. They just tuck tail, lay down and quit.
Monkey says:
September 26th, 2010
12:07 am
dawgster…..it is a lose lose situation with recruits. Either recruits sign with a team due to the coach or coaches who are recruiting them or because of early playing time, and sometimes the rare player who looks at how many guys a coach puts in the NFL. Now on the other hand a kid like Crowell may have been a UGA fan all his life, but if he thinks that the program will not allow him to demonstrate his skills because many of the teams games will be “secondary games” for television, then he will go to the schools that are on major broadcast. Now I know that most games are televised one way or another, but take Alabama 3 years ago, they had a couple of big games early against Clemson, UGA and with that early success they were the CBS game or the Prime ESPN game 9 out of 12 weeks. That does make a difference to these kids.
Another point is that these last two recruiting classes in the top 15 not top 5 have not been coached very well.
The decision has to be made,and made early enough to get a staff in place to “save” as many of these recruits as possible. But more than that is: Are these kids recruited because some service has them listed as a 4 or 5 star player, or do they fit your system?
Sometimes a new perspective and blood is needed to correct actions that are not working.
Football Bat
September 26th, 2010
12:08 am
Next stupid article from AJC will be “Can UGA survive going 1-4?”
Don’t assume we beat Colorado. Our team has no spirit.
Hunker down
September 26th, 2010
12:10 am
Face it, they looked worse tonight against a lesser team. They are NOT getting better as the year goes on.
B-Rock
September 26th, 2010
12:10 am
UGA is one of the only schools that take GREAT PLAYERS and create GOOD TEAMS. Saban takes GOOD PLAYERS and makes GREAT TEAMS… That is a sign of great leadership… I think Richt is starting to get Seminole Syndrome with the off field arrest. Get your Act together UGA!
hollywould
September 26th, 2010
12:10 am
War Eagle!!!