Georgia gets hammered and doubts about Richt grow
The looks on the faces of Georgia coach Mark Richt and defensive assistants Todd Grantham (center) and Rodney Garner (left) say it all Saturday night. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
(UPDATED: 12:10 a.m.)
This is when you start struggling to remember the good times. This is when a Georgia fan thinks back to an early seven-year span under Mark Richt when Georgia went 24-11 against ranked opponents and wonders, “Wait, did that really happen? Or was it those brownies I ate?”
If it wasn’t bad enough that the Bulldogs were underdogs (get used to that) in their season opener and a relative home game Saturday to a school from Idaho — something difficult for so many to swallow — the team’s response made all past criticism seem understated. With eight months to prepare since a humiliating effort against Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl, Georgia couldn’t give Boise State any tougher of a game than it usually receives from Wyoming.
Save some trickeration — an 80-yard touchdown run by Brandon Boykin that gave the Dogs an early 7-0 lead — it was Boise State’s night. It was Boise State’s celebration. It was Boise State that played smart and physical, the kind of performance that gets teams into BCS bowls. Remember BCS bowls?
Both teams made loud statements. Georgia just made the wrong one. Following that Boykin touchdown, the Bulldogs saw their opponents real off 28 straight points. Boise State went on to win 35-21, and it didn’t even feel that close.
Georgia’s defense looked as bad in its second season under Todd Grantham as it did in the first. The Boise State offensive line dominated. Quarterback Kellen Moore at times seemed to toy with defenders.
If only the Dogs had more than eight months to prepare.
If only they had completely revamped their strength and conditioning program.
Oh, wait a minute …
Since going 24-11 against ranked teams, Richt is 2-9. That’s more than a trend. The next ranked opponent also is the first SEC opponent: South Carolina, next week in Athens. The level of desperation just went up.
Richt must realize that. He just didn’t show it after the game. In fact, what he showed was somewhat alarming. After some standard introductory comments — “They were better than we were. We’ve got a lot of work to do before next week. But we know everybody is 0-0 in league play” — Richt actually laughed. Yes, laughed. He turned to Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Chip Towers, who had been pestering Richt all week about the status of safety Bacarri Rambo, laughed and said that Rambo would not be suspended for the South Carolina game. Richt had been playing coy with the media, but Rambo was held out Saturday as expected for an unspecified violation of team rules.
Laughter may be a defensive mechanism for Richt. But his team just got whacked with a 2 x 4 in the season opener. Is laughing in the post-game new conference really a good idea?
Richt has been getting a lot of heat. He should. Fact is, Georgia’s slide hasn’t been merely about the ascension of Alabama and Florida in the SEC. In the last two years alone, the Dogs have lost games to Oklahoma State, LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Colorado, Auburn and Central Florida. How long ago was it when you could not have imagined Georgia losing to many of those teams?
The Dogs suffered borderline humiliation on their first possession. They had a false start penalty before the first snap. They had a false start three plays later. They were whistled for delay of game before punting. Before the first quarter was over, the Dogs also were called for an illegal formation for having five players in the backfield (the penalty was declined) and they burned a timeout before a Boise State punt for having only 10 players on the field.
This is why having the biggest, strongest and fastest players sometimes doesn’t matter.
Boykin’s touchdown would be the Dogs’ only score of the first half and it comprised more than half of the team’s yardage (151). The Dogs totaled 71 yards in the other 29 plays.
Georgia’s defense looked strong for the first few Boise State series. But the Broncos appeared to make some adjustments in pass protection and Moore starting find holes in the zone. He moved the offense well in three of BSU’s last four possessions in the half, two resulting in touchdowns (the other, an interception by Branden Smith).
Boise State’s offensive line took over in the second quarter. Moore wasn’t sacked all game and completed 28 of 34 passes, three for touchdowns. He could’ve had a Baracalounger in the backfield to recline before some of his throws. At the outset of the third quarter, Georgia looked lost and overmatched on defense. Moore went 7-for-7 for 69 yards on Boise State’s first possession of the half. Then on second down from the Dogs’ 7, running back Doug Martin faked Smith into oblivion and danced into the end zone for a 21-7 lead.
It wasn’t over. But it was over. Once Boise State’s offense got going, Georgia couldn’t stop it.
The slide continues. It’s uncertain if Richt can stop that, either.
By Jeff Schultz
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1,481 comments Add your comment
73dawg
September 4th, 2011
12:58 am
The slide will not end until Richt is gone. He should have been on the bus last December!
HEY DUMBASSES
September 4th, 2011
12:58 am
You had a dream team FIVE TIMES the past decade. WAKE UP MORONS. And to that idiot redneck at black diamond in cumming. Just shoot yourself moron,
Tech Fan
September 4th, 2011
12:58 am
Did the team have red panties in honor of Damon Evans tonight ?
iw
September 4th, 2011
12:58 am
I respect Mark Richt as a person but it’s time for a change at UGA. Bobo is lost, lost as a play caller. Murray is good but not as good as they accolades he gets.
Ya Think
September 4th, 2011
12:59 am
Those were pretty Red Power Ranger Pajamas
Not the worst
September 4th, 2011
12:59 am
I think you should ease up on talk about the players, and keep the focus solely on firing Mark Richt. After all, the players are only aged 18-22, and are mostly young men who would have nothing else to do on a Saturday night that can be considered legal. Many have never known the easy life that reading books, writing compositions, and solving arithmetic problems can bring. When their two-five short years are up, and Athens runs them off with arrest warrants, they will be forced to work menial labor for bosses who hold grudges against them, just because their team beat their boss’ team each November, after Thanksgiving, to go 6-6, 7-6, or 6-7 and qualify for one of the 1,000 bowl games. Give them a break, please. Their coaches show them diagrams of plays, hoping they will be able to understand what the diagrams mean; but it is unreasonable to expect miracles. Praise them for what they do right, rather than condemn them for doing most things wrong. There is enough pressure on them to fit in on a college campus. They don’t need friends reading the blogs to them, making them cry themselves to sleep.
The Coon
September 4th, 2011
12:59 am
I wonder if Saban and Spurrier were in the Honduras this summer? My guess is that they were earning the money that they are paid to put a winning team on the field. Richt is paid three million dollars and that is the best he could come up with after having 8 months to prepare? You can’t motivate these players by holding prayer meetings. What amazes me is the misplaced optimism by so many Georgia fans. This is a team that couldn’t score a touchdown against Central Florida and lost it’s best player to the draft. What you saw tonight is reality. The reality of having a coaching staff that can’t get the job done. In the last 4 years, Richt has coached em up to lose 4, 5, 6, and 7 games. He’s admitted that he’s not as concerned about the state of Georgia football as he is with his religion. It’s 4 years past time for him to go!
Wow
September 4th, 2011
12:59 am
Uga is really bad.,,,again
AW
September 4th, 2011
12:59 am
5150UOAD and all other Tech trolls:
Keep posting. The only thing that gives me comfort right now is that although we are a poorly coached and undisciplined team, we will still beat Tech in November. Bragging about another team’s victory against your rival is weak.
5150 UOAD
September 4th, 2011
1:00 am
Where were the SPECIAL teams?
The PUNTER need to be on the field more. Butler should have been punting on 3rd down………..LOL
Mark May
September 4th, 2011
1:00 am
I’m so tired of Lou Holtz lisps. He spits on me on set all the time. He can’t talk right.
next week
September 4th, 2011
1:00 am
sc 46
ga 21
How many teams are 0-1 now in the SEC?
September 4th, 2011
1:01 am
TWO
uga miss
LOSERS
Richard Cranium
September 4th, 2011
1:01 am
One word – for every year.
OVER-RATED.
Learn it, love it, live it.
5 STARS EQUALS GAME OPENER LOSS
September 4th, 2011
1:01 am
what is funny to me when Richt was in Guatemala, the dog poop fan base on these blogs couldn’t respond fast enough how wonderful their coach is and blah blah blah…I responded that Richt was a bunch of phoney baloney and all of you have drank the koolaid and you fans were a bunch of hypocrites who will be cussing your coach out when he loses the first game…and lo and behold…there you have it..bwahahahahahahaha
Fire Richt NOW!
September 4th, 2011
1:01 am
I will bet we will beat Florida because Charlie Weis will have a heart attack from laughing at Mike Bozo’s playcalling.
missouridawg
September 4th, 2011
1:01 am
I invite and encourage all people who think there should be change in Athens, GA. to e-mail Greg McGarity, the Athletic Director, with your thoughts. His address is: ad@sports.uga.edu
Reality Hurts
September 4th, 2011
1:01 am
It was obvious Boise was the better team in every way. Better coaches, better schemes, better prepared, better conditioned and I dare say….better players in many areas. This was embarrassing but has become the norm over the past three seasons.
Richt is a fine man but has not assembled a fine staff who can coach the fine players they recruit. Displine is lacking in our program and it shows in our games. Penalties, not having the right players on the field at the right times, poor play calling on O and D!
Wow, what a colossal mess. Wai till you witness next week!
After the season, hire Chris Petersen and let’s start anew!
Sad, really sad….
Gadawg30
September 4th, 2011
1:02 am
The idiots crowning uga as champs before the season began are clearly stupid and not worth paying attention to. Most Georgia fans who actually spent time in a college classroom knew this was going to be an upset at best. The fact that coach Richt’s team continue to show up unprepared is the only problem I have with the team. The man is clearly capable of recruiting talented players but he just doesn’t seem to be able to prepare them adequately. Our O-line is is big, why couldn’t they block anyone?
azdawg
September 4th, 2011
1:02 am
Hey Richt. Still think your decision to encourage Ealey and others to leave was a good idea? Think you could have used a few of those guys tonight.
You’re decision making does not weigh on the side of smarts. There are smarter guys out there and if the administration doesn’t find one soon then they will suffer greatly where they hate it the most, in the bank. You’re a nice guy but have fallen woefully behind your peers in the coaching aRENA. Spurrier said it best when he said what happens to all those 4 and 5 star players the go to UGA? They move on to the NFL where most of them do well because they finally are coached. Please just quit!
Mark May
September 4th, 2011
1:02 am
LSU,Bama,Fla,SC,Miss St,Arkansas all look really good. UGA looks bad.
G DOG
September 4th, 2011
1:03 am
I waited four month to see Ga play again thinking thing would be better this time around. But after one game I’ve seen enough wont leave work early again. This entire staff must go GEORGIA IS A JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKE
5150 UOAD
September 4th, 2011
1:03 am
AW
I love the dawgs. We may not win on the football field but I will bet not a single poster on this blog will be in uniform when GT & UGA play. UGA FANS live through the mutt football team TECH GRADS don’t LIVE throught our sports programs. We enjoy them, but we don’t DIE with a loss. That is partly because we are not A..HOLE fans all week and have to hide the Monday after a loss.
How Bout This?
September 4th, 2011
1:03 am
Kirby Smart has been trained under a real coach and runs a real defense. Time to take out the trash.
Uga fan 3 days ago
September 4th, 2011
1:03 am
that boise defense has no idea what they will face. this is 2011 aned not 2005. we will run on them never mind the fact we have no running or passing game. LOL choke on that moron idiots. you stil never see the obvious. dont feel bad. the idiots at this paper still suck your junk
Texas Dawg
September 4th, 2011
1:04 am
Coaches have got to go. Cant’ tackle; always trying to tackle the football; tackle the guy WITH the football for once; can’t execute; bad play calling; undisciplined; it’s gonna be a LONG sucky season. Is UGA the new Vandy? Maybe so. Got to get coaches who can coach at this level.
SEC SPEED
September 4th, 2011
1:04 am
How do you have a top 10 recruiting class year after year and be this bad? If you gave Spurrier that kind of talent he’d win a title every year.
meandog
September 4th, 2011
1:04 am
Anybody hear his after game excuses?
Doggie Dowg
September 4th, 2011
1:05 am
1) Non Sp. Ed. Conf. game
Mark luvs us
2) Doesnt count
3) Doesnt hurt
4) We wernt try’n
5) Boise is WAC
6) We ARE Sp. Ed Con.
7) We’re the best
9) Tony Luvs us
10) Jeff luvs us
11) It’s okay
12) Real season starts next week
13) Dawgs are hail
14) We’re the best
15) Top 5 program
16) Best recroot’n class
17) Best recroot’n class last year
18) Best recroot’n class 2 years ago
19) Best recoott’n class 3 years ago
20) We’re the best
21) Top 5 program
22) 3-4 defense
23) 2nd year of 3-4 defense
24) WE ARE The BEST
25) NC this year
Dawgie Poo
September 4th, 2011
1:05 am
Good thing we listen to Rivals and Scout on how studly our recruits are. Most of them didn’t do anything in high school so why would we expect them to do anything here.
tdawgg37
September 4th, 2011
1:05 am
Say what you please, “We SUCK!” ” yea, yea, yea….go ahead and call me a fair weather fan! The reality is this, “there is nothing to be proud of within the GA Nation these days! The Dawggs (Dogs) are horrible and have no class! Why do we strut around like peacocks when we make routine tackles? That’s what you are supposed to do. Did you see that attitude from Boise State? Do we really still think that all we have to dio is show up to win games? No one is intimidated by us anymore! What has happened to the Bulldog nation? Hey Mark…”How many National Champuionships have you played for since coming too GA? How many times have you had us in contention? Great recruiter…sorry coach!!!!! When did we become the cellar dwellars of the SEC? There was a time when we were garanteed to win certain games against inferior/lesser opponents! Now we are the inferior suckie
opponents! Who in the SEC are we better than?
Fire Richt NOW!
September 4th, 2011
1:05 am
I will bet we will beat Florida because Charlie Weis will have a heart attack from laughing at Mike Bozo’s playcalling.
GatorFan
September 4th, 2011
1:06 am
Can we please trade Georgia to the Big 12 for Texas Tech
Tom T
September 4th, 2011
1:06 am
Mike Bobo must go, when you have 3rd and 1 and you do not get a first down, that goes on the coach. Time and time again, we are running that delayed hand off going eats and west. We had the advantage in size and strength and what does Bobo do, he runs east and west. What ever happened to smash mouth running with hard blocking and tough running? CMR, it is your call to make big guy, if you blow it you should go.
Uga fan 3 days ago
September 4th, 2011
1:06 am
aw that’s cute 5150 you love your pathetic losing team. i recall you saying you that dawgfence would be so good! and now your fresh rb would be so strong, when i said he IS a bust. He falls on the turf! LOL Yep the next herschel. Idiot. Enjoy another 6-8 loss season
Doggie Dowg
September 4th, 2011
1:06 am
NC next year!
RTW
September 4th, 2011
1:07 am
Most comments right on. Not much to add. Obviously a change is needed. Not going to happen until the season is over. Even if they recover and go 8-3 or 9-2…not likely, change has to be made. Likeable guy (Richt), but no emotiojn (check out the many times that was highlighted during the game). Oobviously Richt’s true calling is elsewhere. Embrace that Mark and move on. You’ll be happier and more liable to show true emotion. This team, this program lacks the “fire in the belly” that alumni, supporters and former players often cite as their undoing. Actually thought they would win. Unfortunately THEY weren’t so sure. The blame resides with Richt…and Bobo…and Grantham. Obviously.
GatorFan
September 4th, 2011
1:07 am
Listen Georgia, Nike just called and said they wanted their uniforms back!
Chris Petersen
September 4th, 2011
1:07 am
Really…if you had me, you would win a champ idiots.
Bride of Chucky Knapp
September 4th, 2011
1:08 am
It’s 2010 extended season!!! More of the same. Even Jesus has given up on MR. It’s in God’s hands now and he is an angry, vengeful God who does not take kindly to liars and false prophets, MR!
BBGA
September 4th, 2011
1:08 am
I guess that codger is right that richt’s wife is done with nursing school and ready to get the F out of Athens and he is too. Now else do you explain such Obama incompetence
WAC Fan
September 4th, 2011
1:09 am
Say Uncle Speacial Edders
Fire Richt NOW!
September 4th, 2011
1:09 am
I just heard that Muschamp is going back to school at Florida to get his Masters in anything he possibly can so he doesn’t have be a UGA alum any longer….LMAO
Gadawg30
September 4th, 2011
1:09 am
Way to be a complete douche bag “not the worst”‘ why don’t you get back to helping your thug athletes cover up their NCAA violations.
5150 UOAD
September 4th, 2011
1:09 am
Uga fan 3 days ago
Dude you are STUPID and DRUNK
UOAD stands for Urinate on a Dawg. Sober up and come back later you jack wad.
jabo
September 4th, 2011
1:09 am
Coach richt is a good christrian……So he deserves another year. LOL Georgia fans are stupid and suck. Lets go gamecocks!!!!!
GatorFan
September 4th, 2011
1:09 am
Last one for the night. I am about to post the University of Georgia playbook for 2011.
Play 1.) Run
Play 2.) Run
Play 3.) Run it up the middle.
Play 4.) Punt
5 STARS EQUALS GAME OPENER LOSS
September 4th, 2011
1:10 am
I know it has been only a mear 31 years since you last national title but look at it this way, you dog poops hold a parade every year before each season thumping your chest and bragging about all your 5 star signees..then they don’t…just go on living your delusional lives that it seemed just like yesterday that uga was number one…good luck with that
Fire Richt NOW!
September 4th, 2011
1:10 am
Did Herschel Walker leave in the third quarter too? He should have put an MMA style ass whoopin on Richt at halftime….
How Bout This?
September 4th, 2011
1:11 am
Stop with the talk about how nice of a guy CMR is. Plenty of nice people in the world but they aren’t paid millions to coach. Hell even Tony Dungy needed Peyton Manning to win on his side and Rex Grossman on the other to win his ring.