Are Dogs back on track or were Vols and Vandy that bad?
After two big wins at home, the Dogs take their rehab project on the road this week. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
I’m getting back into the work routine today after being on the disabled list, and I figure that’s a good time for a quick check on the confidence level in the Bulldog Nation.
I’m trying to decide which Georgia team is likely to show up in Lexington Saturday night, the one that looked dominant against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, or the one that looked so hapless against Mississippi State and Colorado.
As the pendulum has swung back this week with talk about the Dogs being back in the SEC race, the showdown with Kentucky looks bigger and bigger.
Let’s face it, while the wins over UT and Vandy did a lot to get Georgia back on track, neither opponent was a very good team.
Which raises the question of just how good Georgia is. Have the Dogs really turned the corner? I liked what rarely quoted offensive line coach Stacy Searels told the Bulldogs Blog when that question was put to him.
Said Searels: “You gotta go out every Saturday and compete. If you think you’ve arrived because you’ve won two games in a row, you’re not very smart, I’ll say that.”
Yes, the Dogs have made progress since Starkville and Boulder. Now they’ve got to prove they can do it consistently against better competition. And at night on the road.
So what do you think? Is your confidence in Mark Richt’s team restored or are you taking a wait-and-see stance? Has Georgia really improved that much the past two weeks, or was it all about the Vols and Commodores not being that good?
Find me on Facebook.
Follow me on Twitter.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
171 comments Add your comment
bullochdog
October 21st, 2010
4:28 pm
Enter your comments here
Dawgs ????
October 21st, 2010
4:52 pm
I’ve enjoyed the team play more so this year despite 4 early loses. Less penalties and better D. Dogs will get better each week. Destroy Tek and win a so-so bowl. Better times ahead
rincon dawg
October 21st, 2010
5:06 pm
still not convinced yet but if we some how pull a win from the cats then maybe we are coming into our own. was at the game on saturday and the secondary is still lost with missing assignments and the cats can block and throw alot better than vandy. good luck and go dawgs.
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:09 pm
DAN MULLEN
I think Tech is 5-2 the same as MSU.
Dawg Day
Tech didn’t say we own the SEC after beating Vandy and Miss St last year. What we said is that UGA shouldn’t act like those wins ment that much. This year the Dawgs are saying MSU is great and Vandy is what they are. Tech said it could beat the same whimps in the SEC UGA beats. The last few times Tech played AUBURN we beat them and they were ranked higher then than they are now. So STEP-UP DAWGS step the F UP.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:10 pm
5150 P.O.A.D Who is ranked and who is overrated?? Tech has had some close games with some sorry teams
John Galt
October 21st, 2010
5:14 pm
Wondering how good the dogs are, is getting a bit old. The dogs have feasted on hapless teams to beome a three win team. The Vols and Commodores are not good or even average teams. Playing Kentucky maybe a good game to watch, however the dogs should win and could win out, as you boys are so fond of saying. Bottom line is dogville has the ability yearly to win the sec and be in the hunt for the mnc, but they cannot put it together. What is the problem? Even herschel is weighing in now. Until these five star recurits begin to play to their ability, beating tech every year will just about be all that dogville has. You will be a region team. Nothing more.
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:16 pm
Dawgs ????
Do you not know how to Spell TECH? I guess not because you can’t spell DOG. Show the same respect you wish to receive. The Georgia Institute of Techonology would like you to spell our name properly.
Should TECH fans now call Sanford Stadium the House that Big Bad Bruse Built(said with a lisp). Why don’t you put the most famous Gay Dawg in the Dawg House on the sidelines? Micheal Stipe ain’t that busy to spend a few hours in the Cesspool of the South on a few Saturday afternoons.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:18 pm
5150 P.O.A.D here are tech’s wins:
South Carolina State W 41-10
North Carolina W 30-24 wow
Wake Forest W 24-20 wow
Virginia W 33-21
Middle Tennessee W 42-14
So who has tech beat 5150 P.O.A.D cause I don’t see a real team on here
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:20 pm
DAN MULLEN you do know TECH has never lost to Miss St?
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:21 pm
DAN
and Tech beats Miss St by an average of 19.75 points everytime they play.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:22 pm
5150 P.O.A.D what about KANSAS
Ben Dukes
October 21st, 2010
5:22 pm
Is everyone forgetting that our lousy team last year had this same Kentucky team dead-to-rights until Smith and Cox handed them the game in the second half? This UGA team is miles away better than last year’s version, despite the W-L record, and appears to have fixed whatever mental bugs were screwing with them early in the year. You guys are all hoping for a near-win and think it’ll be a shootout of sorts.
I don’t think Kentucky will be in the game in the 4th.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:23 pm
5150 P.O.A.D who is overrated, its ok if your team sucks
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:25 pm
Tech’s two losses: NC State and Kansas
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:27 pm
DAN
Are you putting your SEC crown on after beating Memphis, Alcorn St, UGA, Houston, anf the Gators? UGA sucks and the Gators ain’t no good either. the UGA v Florida game will really be the biggest of drunk rednecks outside of the NASCAR race at Talladega. Miss St has now confirmed their status ae a 2nd tier team in the SEC.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:30 pm
5150 P.O.A.D So compare our wins to yours: Wake Forest, SCSU, UNC, UVA, and MTSU. Your wins look like a cupecake schedule compared to ours.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:32 pm
5150 P.O.A.D Georgia and Florida are top programs, both have great teams so those wins are good ones.
1eyedJack
October 21st, 2010
5:32 pm
UGA 38 UK 24. Go Dawgs!!!
kb
October 21st, 2010
5:33 pm
Tech wouldn’t be a top 5 in SEC East or West.
Sopwith Camel
October 21st, 2010
5:34 pm
Rather than ask the question of whether we are better now………..my question is why weren’t we better during the first of the season when we were losing everything? If we’re better now, what is at the root of the problem that caused us to not be very good at the beginning??
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:37 pm
a 3-4 UGA is TOP? A 4-3 Gators are a top team. I must have missed that memo. UGA is below .500 and Florida is just above .500. UGA still has a tuff game against Idaho St and the Gatore have a week off to play a WEAK UGA. Try your arguement before the BCS COURT of APPEALES. I guess Miss St is better than TCU and BSU too right? HAHAHAHAHAHA. 1 year does not a SEC power make.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:41 pm
5150 P.O.A.D I am willing to bet you that we would have a better chance of beating TCU AND BSU than Tech will. Any team can run over that sorry defense they have
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:41 pm
Bill King
Have you talked to CUZ? Are you going to run the BEST FAN to win game tickets with you this year?
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:42 pm
Dan
were you not the coach last year when TECH ran all over you?
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:46 pm
DAN this has to be a first for MISS ST to beat 2 top 25 teams in the same year. @ LSU was big, but LSU should have laot to the Vols and not been in the top 25. LSU has been so lucky for sure. Luck Follows Speed and LSU does have speed.
Really
October 21st, 2010
5:48 pm
Are you serious? Tech would be 2-5 right now if they were playing in the SEC.
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:50 pm
5150 P.O.A.D both of our teams have the same records. This is the real question? Why is Tech not ranked either? Is it the low quality wins they have or the close wins you guys barely pulled out against bad teams
Dan Mullen and the #24 ranked bulldogs
October 21st, 2010
5:53 pm
Its sad when a UNC team with no stars is ranked ahead of Tech
Tech is for Queers
October 21st, 2010
5:56 pm
Tell Paul Johnson he needs to layoff the coldcuts and get to work on that weak team he has
crap sandwich
October 21st, 2010
6:07 pm
Bill, welcome back, and you pose a great question. Are we back? Did the last two weeks prove we are better? Clearly a maybe (oxymoron)?
We have to beat Kentucky at night in Lexington, which in past years we could easily, but lately with Kentucky’s competitiveness and resurgence we may lose. Just not sure we can answer that question by beating Kentucky and/or Florida this season. But win both and the Auburn game, it would be safe to say, Georgia is back.
I have been pleased though with the effort our coaches and players are giving. These players could have quit at 1-4, but we have fought back with two strong wins, yes against inferior opponents at home. I guess what I am trying to say is that if we lose to Kentucky it may not indicate whether we are back or not. We could play well and still lose the game.
Hartline and Cobb are real gamers, so I have my fingers crossed that Grantham’s “doghouse” dawgs will play like they have in the past 2 weeks. It is the only way we can win this game.
Paul Has A Small Johnson
October 21st, 2010
6:27 pm
Bill
Its a wait and see
But I can tell you since Van Gorder left and Bobo took over play calling this team has never been consistant and seems to not care until fans get in their face
There IS a God
October 21st, 2010
6:41 pm
… When a Miss St fan can get on here and talk some trash. You certainly don’t see THAT very often. I am sorta enjoying it. Props too to SC and KY (so far).
aint conVinceD
October 21st, 2010
6:54 pm
So what if UGA beat the cats next week will be another annual beatdown from the gators. Yes Florida is having a tough year but so did Ron Zook and he still managed to beat Soft Richt.
RedEye
October 21st, 2010
7:04 pm
It is a joke, get it?
DawgNation
October 21st, 2010
7:06 pm
It’s funny to watch week in and week out the different fans of the up coming teams we are going to play get on here and talk their smack. Aside from the regular D A’s that come on here the entertainment value is great. I do not look forward to the two weeks leading up to two of the games. The Florida and the Tech games. Man those fans are the most obnoxious group I have ever seen. The regular hate spewing morons don’t bother me as they just cut and past the same old crap and you just get use to them to the point you pass them by on every post. The newbie’s however are like drive by shooters. The fire their blanks and move on. Oh and as for the subject of this blog. Bill I’ll take a wait and see, or hear in this case since DirectTV is not showing the game.
Go DAWGS!!!
Spelling Police
October 21st, 2010
7:48 pm
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
5:37 pm
a 3-4 UGA is TOP? A 4-3 Gators are a top team. I must have missed that memo. UGA is below .500 and Florida is just above .500. UGA still has a tuff game against Idaho St and the Gatore have a week off to play a WEAK UGA. Try your arguement before the BCS COURT of APPEALES. I guess Miss St is better than TCU and BSU too right? HAHAHAHAHAHA. 1 year does not a SEC power make.
5150 P.O.A.D You need to make an investment in spell check or take some grammar classes cause this is just pathetic. You can’t spell or write correct sentences to save a life
DarkJuice4U
October 21st, 2010
7:57 pm
Yep those teams were really bad, don’t get too excited Mutt Nation.
DarkJuice4U
October 21st, 2010
7:58 pm
OHH Yeah Mutt Nation not on national TV…….AGAIN!
DarkJuice4U
October 21st, 2010
8:02 pm
I love mutt nation
pulaski dawg
October 21st, 2010
8:48 pm
I think that Mark Richt has identified what went wrong. To suggest that what deteriorated over several years can be fixed in three weeks is not realistic. I do think they will get better every week now but that doesn’t mean they will win out. I am hoping they do. There will be changes after this year with the new AD’s recommendations. Mark Richt will be back and that’s a good thing.
alcoadawg
October 21st, 2010
8:54 pm
I’ve been watching the dogs for 40 years. The best thing about being a dog fan is there is always a chance they can win. I can not recall ever when I knew the dogs didn’t have a chance . That is why I will always be a dog fan. Go DAWG’S SIC’EM!
alcoadawg
October 21st, 2010
9:00 pm
LAST!
5150 P.O.A.D
October 21st, 2010
10:34 pm
Georgia will win out! Tech will lose out!
Red Panties Rick
October 21st, 2010
10:45 pm
If Georgia beat the Helen Keller Academy and the Liberace Swishers in two consecutive weeks then the red kool-aid drinkers would proclaim them ready to knock off the New Orleans Saints….
Kyle in Alabama
October 21st, 2010
11:17 pm
Well Bill, it’s hard to tell which will show up. I would say that both UT and Vandy are better teams than Colorado.
In the Colorado game we showed flashes of how we played the last 2 games (when AJ was getting the ball). There were times in that game where both the Offense and Defense were dominating CU. However after AJ got cramped up UGA just absolutely fell apart on both sides of the ball and didn’t recover.
Ben
October 21st, 2010
11:40 pm
Wait and see. All the Dawgs have proven so far is that they can lose close games and beat weaker teams.
This game will make or break this already frustrating season.
cowbulls
October 21st, 2010
11:58 pm
On what Direct TV channel is the UGA vs Kentucky game?
cdawg
October 22nd, 2010
1:42 am
tech is so lame however you spell it. came here for information all tech can talk about is their insecurity on another teams blog that has been beaten by that team for 9 out of ten years. tech fans florida fans and tennessee are most obnoxious , at least florida fanes has a reason in the last few years but still they were still obnoxious in the 80′S when they were losing consistantly
Apaul404
October 22nd, 2010
1:49 am
Wait and see, hoping for the best.
5150 P.O.A.D
October 22nd, 2010
2:15 am
sorry guys how I acted.. I don’t have many friends, I often come to AJC to troll and get attention