With Lattimore out, Dogs’ hopes rest on Florida game
Mark Richt didn't like what he saw at Vanderbilt but his team's in a good situation.
Not that anybody wants to see a great athlete have his season ended by an injury. But could anything more possibly go right for Georgia?
South Carolina has lost running back Marcus Lattimore for the season with a torn knee ligament. Lattimore was the key to the SEC East title last season. It was reasonable to think the Gamecocks might be able to overcome the personal and career meltdowns of quarterback Stephen Garcia and still win the division if they could get reasonable play from backup Connor Shaw. But losing Lattimore might be too much.
What does that mean for the Bulldogs? Just this: Beat Florida in two weeks and there’s a good chance they’ll be in the SEC championship game (against either Alabama or LSU).
Consider the top three teams in the East and the remaining schedule:
• SOUTH CAROLINA (4-1): The Gamecocks hold a tiebreaker edge over the Dogs for their win in game two. They probably will still win their game at Tennessee in two weeks, but sweeping the final two games at Arkansas and home against Florida will be difficult. Actually, they could lose both of those games. A split leaves them at 6-2. But minus Lattimore, 5-3 may be more likely.
• GEORGIA (4-1): If the Dogs sweep their final three conference games against Florida, Auburn and Kentucky – all at home – they’ll almost certainly win the division with a 7-1 record. If they beat the Gators, they’ll eliminate Florida and likely finish at least 6-2 (assuming a win over Kentucky). In that scenario, they would need South Carolina to lose to both Arkansas and Florida (assuming a win over Tennessee). If the Dogs to Florida, they probably would drop a game back, allow the Gators back in the race and lose tiebreakers to both division competitors. They could finish 7-1, 6-2 or 5-3.
• FLORIDA (2-3): The Gators need to sweep their final three games to have a shot in the East. That’s possible, particularly if injured quarterback John Brantley comes back from a leg injury. (Coach Will Muschamp said he hopes to get Brantley back for the Georgia game.) After Georgia, Florida’s only remaining SEC games are against Vanderbillt and South Carolina. They’ll finish 5-3, 4-4 or 3-5.
Most of the Dogs’ shortcomings were on display at Vanderbilt Saturday night. Mistakes and the lack of discipline upset coach Mark Richt. But they’ve won five straight and getting back to the SEC title game now may hinge on just beating Florida. Which, of course, has been a problem over the last two decades.
By Jeff Schultz
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374 comments Add your comment
Accountant
October 17th, 2011
1:19 pm
@Thomas Brown
Georgia’s score vs. MSU was 24-10, so that was hardly a beatdown either.
Dog Time
October 17th, 2011
1:26 pm
with or without brantley, the dogs are going to roll over fla in a big win. fla is terrible and Ga can finally beat them good. richt may run up the score.
WDE
October 17th, 2011
1:57 pm
@Thomas Brown sorry Thomas I was doing a few things at the office and failed to get the right Miss school both of which we beat up pretty good…so congrats on the catch.
Pierce County DAWG
October 17th, 2011
2:01 pm
Dawgs have looked bad at times,but GATORS LOOK WORSE. LIZARDS UGA BEATS YOU THIS YEAR. Keep dreaming,we hope you have brantley and demps back. We want no excuse when you loose. GO DAWGS!!!!11
inside zone
October 17th, 2011
3:55 pm
I saw carolina v mstate, yes, and I saw good stuff. kick coverage was excellent. That’s new. defense, game clinching interception. The QB forgot the negative plays, and led a fourth qtr. drive for a game winning touchdown. When’s the last time that happened for SC? They’ll win every game except Arky for sure. Atlanta may be in the cards, maybe not. but they’ll be fine. and oh yeah THE BRUCE IS LOOSE!!!
frank
October 17th, 2011
4:16 pm
we need uga to lose this one for the coaching cahnge.. no more pop warner nice guy football please
RNB
October 17th, 2011
4:18 pm
Just get to the title game and anything can happen. A turn over here or there and you never know. Got to beat Florida and Auburn first.
Gdawg
October 17th, 2011
4:27 pm
TrishaDIsha War Eagle,
Is Dinner ready yet?
Then get off the blog ans start cracking!
Eaassyy
October 17th, 2011
4:43 pm
“a firing offense at any other University”
Yeah, right. Did you see the two NFL head coaches almost duke it out midfield yesterday? This stuff happens. Nobody is proud. But none will get fired over it. Take off the UGA hatred blinders and see.
Eaassyy
October 17th, 2011
4:46 pm
“I love the genteel ole miss campus. Oxford is beautiful. Whenever we traveled there for a game I always felt like any moment col Sanders would appear and rap anyone with a Matthew Stafford Frat-Cut on the head with his big silver cane and tell them to get a job.”
WTF does this even mean? Contrary to common Auburn, AL practices you are not supposed to drink the bong water Trish.
Old Dawg Fan
October 17th, 2011
4:48 pm
Vandy is much more disciplined than Florida and UGA, that being said if we don’t shore up our problems/issues by the time we play Florida we won’t win. We won’t beat Auburn either. We should beat Kentucky. Even if everything works completely out for UGA and we win the East if I were CMR I would just forfeit the SEC Champtionship game against Ala/LSU-either one will probably kill or injure most of our players!!!
Chi Town
October 17th, 2011
4:51 pm
Bama is waiting on you in Atlanta.
Eduamacation
October 17th, 2011
4:55 pm
Listen up all you armchair QBs…… Florida is going to be in survial mode and will play their arses off agains UGA. They have a good defense and we have all seen the sputtering UGA offense. UGA must play a near perfect game (especially Murray) to win. Florida is in their head….
That being said UGA is capable of running the table if they get by the Gators….. For Dawg fans beating Tenn. Fla, Auburn and Ga Tech in the same year is a big deal…..
Dawg4Life
October 17th, 2011
5:10 pm
“Everyone DOES realize that UGA would play LSU or Bama…and get totally destroyed, right?”
I will tell you this…. Those 2 schools would pick any other East team to play in the SECCG than the Dawgs, you can be sure of that.
As good as both of them are, they are not NFL teams. Anything can happen, so just take care of business Dawgs and then we will see what happens on the field.
monty
October 17th, 2011
5:11 pm
Personally I don’t want to go to Atlanta ans be humiliated by Bama. But the sad thing is if we lose any of our remaining games we should be ashamed. If we don’t beat FLA this year then there is no hope of ever beating them again and we should just cancel all remaining future games with them.
Boca Baby
October 17th, 2011
5:13 pm
The slight meltdown in Nashville was an aberration. In the end no one will want to play Georgia–including LSU and Alabama.
Shine
October 17th, 2011
5:24 pm
Go Gators (while holding my nose) or we could get stuck with loser Richt and more mediocrity longer.
Robert
October 17th, 2011
5:34 pm
While the idea of getting to the SEC championship game might seem appealing – I’m not so sure
Alabama or LSU vs Georgia would not be pretty
Stephen A. Smith Dawg : I don't believe it !!!
October 17th, 2011
10:34 pm
I don’t believe there is a segment of Georgia fans that are rooting for the Florida Gators this year because they have had enough of the Mark Richt era. These UGA fans want UF to win because they feel Richt will be fired for losing that game. Unbelievable and believable only at Georgia where the mediocrity has them losing when they win and winning when they lose. Nuff said !! C’ya !!
Silver Britches, Red Panties
October 18th, 2011
2:25 pm
The Dawgs are a lock for the Never Ending Pasta Bowl!
Yellow Fuzz
October 19th, 2011
6:08 pm
This just in……Georgia Tech, ranked no. 84, is the leading school in Georgia, ahead of Emory at 114 and the University of Georgia at 385, according to the rankings compiled by U.S. News and World Report.
Spaceman Spiff
October 20th, 2011
9:43 pm
I see our beloved number one troll Thomas Brown is on here again spewing his usual stuff…But he still won’t tell us – or admit – that he is in so in love with the real Thomas Brown that he must use his name as his handle? Is that because he so desperately wants to be the real Brown’s handle?
@Thomas Brown – why don’t you give the real one a call?
Spaceman Spiff
October 20th, 2011
9:44 pm
This just in…UGA still owns GT. Heck, for that matter so does VA!!!! HAHA
gmandog
October 21st, 2011
12:13 pm
Note to AD McGarity. Please start your search for Richt’s replacement now. I have suffered financialy and emotionally the past 3 years when I went to the Ga./Fla game. I am not going this year because I know UGA will lose. Even without their starting quarterback, Fla. will win. Richt is not an SEC caliber coach. His teams have the talent but he cannot instill discipline and a dominating spirit in his players. The discipline was atrocious in the Vandy game. Please get the Boise State or Clemson coach on the line and make thgem an offer.