Bulldog Nation wonders: Where do we go from here?
Was Georgia's humiliation by South Carolina more than just one loss? (Bob Andres / AJC)
So, how do the Georgia Bulldogs and their fans bounce back from the debacle in Columbia?
Saturday night, Mark Richt started making his case for shrugging off this disappointment and looking ahead when he said that “whether you lose by 28 or lose in overtime, it counts as one loss.”
True. But sometimes a loss is more than just a loss. This one hurt in a lot more ways than just the won-loss record. Richt’s team looked so bad that even the happy-talk ESPN announcers ripped into them for their disappointing showing in the nationally televised contest. I’ve no idea whether that sort of thing hurts in recruiting, but you’ve got to figure it’s certainly not helpful.
Plus, the manner in which the Dawgs lost and the fact that they once again failed when faced with a ranked opponent has left the UGA fan base pretty demoralized.
That malaise lasting the rest of this season and translating into more empty seats is a distinct possibility.
Richt is right that there are games still to be played and history has shown the Gamecocks are prone to stumble down the stretch. So they certainly could wind up losing two and opening the door for the Dawgs to return to the SEC Championship game if Georgia wins out (though at this point the SEC East playing out exactly the same way as last year seems to defy the odds).
And, of course, that would still be contingent on Georgia beating Florida, which at this juncture looks like a much bigger challenge than was envisioned six weeks ago.
Still, even if the Bulldogs somehow manage to make their way to Atlanta again, the prospect of facing the collegiate buzzsaw known as Alabama brings up visions of last year’s meeting with LSU. There’s a been there, done that feeling to that scenario.
Sure, a season with 10 or 11 wins is definitely preferable to what we went through in 2009-10, but if you’re not realistically playing for a championship, what galvanizes the fan base? What does Georgia have left to play for, if the Gamecocks win out? Finally beating Florida two years in a row for the first time in more than two decades?
It’s not like a win over anyone else on the schedule is going to excite Georgia fans (though losing to one of them probably would mark this as a train wreck of a season in its own right). If Georgia loses to Florida, say, and finishes 10-2, the result would likely be another non-BCS New Year’s Day bowl in Florida. I can hear the collective yawn from the Bulldog Nation now.
But hold on. What if Georgia does regroup, the offensive line improves, Todd Grantham’s defense finally decides to try living up to its offseason hype, and the Dawgs finally blow the Jacksonville jinx to smithereens and beat the Gators? Remember 2007? The Dawgs didn’t make it to the SEC championship, but they finished the season as one of the nation’s hottest teams, got a Sugar Bowl bid and wound up as the No. 2 team in the nation. I remember most Bulldog fans being pretty satisfied with that season. Who doesn’t like a postseason trip to New Orleans?
At least one analyst, CBSsports.com’s Jerry Palm, sees the makings of a similar story this year. Palm has South Carolina winning the SEC East, falling to the Crimson Tide in Atlanta and winding up in that SEC Championship loser’s purgatory known as the Capitol One Bowl.
As for the Dawgs, he sees them beating Florida and finishing the season 11-1. With Alabama playing in the BCS title game, Palm forecasts the Sugar Bowl would take a one-loss Top 10 Georgia team as its SEC replacement to face the Big East champion.
That might sound unfair to Steve Spurrier and Gamecocks fans, but as Palm notes: “Bowls, the BCS games in particular, have a history of passing over teams that lost their league championship game if there is any other decent choice. Bowls fear that those fans, who just traveled to a neutral site game at the beginning of December and went home disappointed, might not venture out in as high of numbers a month later. 11-1 Georgia would qualify as a decent choice. In fact, the Bulldogs might even automatically qualify under BCS rules if they finish in the top 4 of the standings.”
No, it’s not the sort of championship the Bulldog Nation hungers for, but as football seasons go, such an outcome would be not too shabby.
So, yes, as Richt noted, the sun did come up Sunday, the Bulldogs “do still have an awful lot to play for” … and Georgia fans still have a team to cheer on to better days.
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407 comments Add your comment
Colorado Dawg
October 8th, 2012
3:10 pm
Richt will only be a 9 to 10 win coach in a good year. If we want to win championships, then he needs to go. Either do it now, or wait 5 or more mediocre years from now and do it. 1-9 versus top 10 teams in the past 5 years – how many more losses in big games do we need to suffer thru in order to make a change????
joe jenkins
October 8th, 2012
3:12 pm
Well do any of you guy’s think we would of had a chance if michael bennett would have never tore his ACL? and if jarvis jones had been a 100%? I think we might of been more competive…clearly after watching this game…bennett is our best wr on the team and their is no close second. marlon brown has disapeared again…wow 6′5 and stout as a bull…but is just another mediocre 5 star athlete. anyways for yall fans that dont know…bobo and grantham will be on the bulldog hotline tonight…geez cant wait for this
Bo
October 8th, 2012
3:23 pm
Pat or whoever you are. Evidentially you know nothing about football. MR hasn’t beat a ranked SEC team in years. Get you another drink of the Kool Aid and stay on MR bus and see where it takes you!
The Dude76
October 8th, 2012
3:23 pm
Where do we go from here? We fire Richt immediately, and clear out his worthless staff….Bozo, Grantham, everyone…. and start over. Face it Mark Richt does not have the cojones to win big games anymore like he did his first couple years. He is 0-12 vs. ranked teams at the end of the year since 2008. Every big game he chokes horrifically, and combined with the worst Big Game QB in the league who chokes as well (murray is 0-10 vs. ranked teams at seasons end) and you have a perfect storm of embarrassing chokes. Bring on the list…. 2007 UT….slaughtered. 2008 Bama….annihilated. 2011 Boise State….run out of the building…. 2011 LSU….spanked… and now the embarrassing 2012 choke at SC. This is EVERY BIG GAME the last 4 years. When is enough Bulldog fans? Who cares about beating 10 lesser opponents and then dropping the ball terribly against the 3 or 4 worthy opponents you play every year. This is exactly what happened last year 10-0 against mediocre and worse teams and 0-4 vs. top 20 teams. This is exactly what is happening this year, 5-0 vs. mediocre and bad teams and 0-1 vs. top 20 teams. This is not what a 3 million dollar a year coach is paid to do. Fire Richt, and the underperforming Grantham and Bobo and start over with a coach who cares about winning on the level of Nick Saban or Steve Spurrier and then we will finally be headed in the right direction. THIS IS THE HARD TRUTH and 99 percent of Bulldog nation FINALLY understands this after this weekend.
UGA man class of 71&73
October 8th, 2012
3:36 pm
Mark Richt is a 7-3 coach in the old 10 game format. He is not focused to win at the highest levels and he is not wrapped that way either. His love is his missionary work in Honduras and that is his life.
UGA alumni and heavy $ contributors MUST be heard. I look for Richt to resign after a bowl game,anyway. I think he is done.
Go Dogs
DawgFanInBama
October 8th, 2012
3:36 pm
Enter your comments here
Bulldog Born & Bred
October 8th, 2012
3:41 pm
Mr AD go get Kirby Smart before someone else does look what Muschamp has done at Fla in less than 2 yrs listen to Kirk Herbstreit this team is an embarrasment to the Bulldog nation
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
4:11 pm
Here is the deal
If Mcgarity is happy with national embarrassment everytime
If Mcgarity is happy with not beating Top 20 teams
Then
He needs to stop having the UGA Season ticket holders pay a donation just to get season tickets
PonGT
October 8th, 2012
4:15 pm
I’m just sick and tired of losing the big games. While Dooley may noy have had as many 10 win seasons as CMR, he did at least win the big games more often than not . Remember the win in the Big House; the tie to houston in 68 when they were scoring 56 points on almost every one, and never lost to carolina 3 yrs in a row. Frequently won games he was not supposed to win and seldom lost to teams he was supposed to beat. What disheartens me is that we never win any big games anymore. Losing 3 yrs in a row to carolina …. even Ray Goff didn’t do that! Where is the preparation and the commitment to winning BIG games? It’s like this coaching staff enjoys and loves winning 9 or 10 games a year, but doesn’t hate losing …. as long as they play somewhere on January 1 they’re staisfied. I want to win championships on the field, in head to head competition, not be given a trophy by default.
PonGT
October 8th, 2012
4:22 pm
And why do we always stick with Murray when it is obvious that he’s shell-shocked? Don’t we have 18 more qbs on the sidelines we can turn to? or do they all have that ‘deer in the headlights’ look as Murray has? Where is the pride? Where are the leaders? Why can’t we get a qb that won’t choke under pressure? Buck Belue may not have been able to pass 60 times and throw for as many quick tds as Murray, but he never choked in a big game. He knew how to win. Please get us a qb that will win a Big game soon! Please!
FLA DAWG
October 8th, 2012
4:24 pm
I’m ashamed to be a Dawg Alumn right now and until Richt, Bobo and Grantham are fired I will NEVER attend a game, buy a souvenier or donate to UGA.
FIRE RICHT – HIRE DEREK DOOLEY
dwagdawg
October 8th, 2012
4:51 pm
Sorry to interrupt, dawg fans, but HAS ANYONE SEEN SUPERDAWG? Just wondering if he intends to keep his word:
superDawg
September 26th, 2012
7:50 pm
ss you are a little man that likes to hide behind others.If sc beats UGA I will come down and tail gate with you and your brethren at tek.
_________________________
If anyone should see Superdwag, please ask him to RSVP on the GT blogs, and please make sure that he is all PUFFED UP.
Thanks
Glock19
October 8th, 2012
5:03 pm
New direction for defense, I hear Al Groh may be available soon.
Fire Garner
October 8th, 2012
5:09 pm
Wonder why Dallas Lee’s brother chose Bama. Wonder why Nkemdiche chose clempson? Wonder folks?
Swami Sez
October 8th, 2012
5:12 pm
Uga will lose two more games…… Book it!
badlands dawg
October 8th, 2012
5:25 pm
DITCH RICHT….. and finish the drill CMR YOUR NOT EVEN COOL ANY MORE YOU ARE DOWN AND OUT MARK YOU LOOK SOOOO BAD OUT THERE…LOL ALL WE WANT IS A GOOD FOOTBALL MAN AND YOUR NOT IT…DO YOU GET IT MARK…. SO WE AS UGA FANS SAY THIS TO YOU……..NEXT
STUDENT ATHLETE
October 8th, 2012
5:31 pm
Where do we go from here? How about Jim Tressel?
DocDawg
October 8th, 2012
5:33 pm
Don
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
5:33 pm
So to get this straight, our fans would be happy to fire Richt, go through 3-4 really bad seasons to rebuild, then jump into the same 3 year rotation of coaching staffs that every other program deals with. UGA fans have got to be the dumbest, most ungrateful people alive. Anyone who was a REAL UGA fan before Richt got here, knows we are doing WAY better than anytime in our recent history.
ARdawg
October 8th, 2012
5:38 pm
Where do we go from here?
We’re already there. It’s the same place we were at in 2008 and haven’t moved since. We won’t be moving unless McGarity gets off his azz and makes something happen.
Even if we win out and finish 11-1. What was accomplished? Another run at the NC?….right! The real shame is that this team easily could be a contender with proper leadership and coaching.
Murray father is ill. I really do pray and feel for his family but, that has no point in these discussion. They are not connected.
Murray’s house was rolled and egged? Tough chit. My house has had the same treatment before. Grow some cajones and take it like a man
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
5:40 pm
OK UGA fans…WHO do we hire? Who is out there that will take us to the next level? And if someone can, how fast till they run off to another jog becuase our ungrateful fans want your head everytime to underperform. Lets be REALISTIC dawg fans, WHO IS OUT THERE?
P.S. Saban already had a job!
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
5:43 pm
Everyone can point fingers, but no one has a better idea. “Yeah, let’s fire him and get a good coach”
Who?
Still waiting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tie0tz7jGDI&feature=related
October 8th, 2012
5:44 pm
If just once in the years of futility Richt would say something like this I could believe he has a grasp of reality. Until then it is the same ole futility of denial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tie0tz7jGDI&feature=related
badlands dawg
October 8th, 2012
5:48 pm
REAL DAWGS FAN …….GIVE ME AND ALL OF US UGA FANS A BREAK… LOL YOU ARE REAL FUNNY MR DAWG FAN GOT SMOETHING FOR YOU TO NEXT OHIO STATE IS DO JUST FIND 1ST YEAR ..ITS ALL COACHING IT WILL ALWAYS BE THAT WAY
yellow hammer
October 8th, 2012
5:54 pm
OLE MISS will beat Jawja
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
5:57 pm
Real Dawgs Fan, seriously, you’re not that dumb are you? There are numerous examples of teams making changes and turning things around quickly. I love people like you (sarcasm) who can give me a thousand reasons something can’t be accomplished rather than working hard to find a way to get it done.
wreckmaniac
October 8th, 2012
6:05 pm
What is needed is change but most change suggestions will never be considered such as:
1. Join the Big East where UGA will be the team to beat
2. Get a no-name up and coming coach
3. Forget the attitude that you must recruit 5 star players to win.
4. Stop drinking the “we’re going to win the national champ this year” Koolaid every year
These are real changes. Change of this nature is needed.
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
6:19 pm
For all you fans feeling embarassed, let down, just imagine how poor ole Russ must feel. His coming out party year has been trashed.
sonny
October 8th, 2012
6:26 pm
You idiot sports writers as well as Richt, Grantham and all the bulldog players better focus on one game at a time and not worry about if SC loses 2 games or how the dogs can still play in the conference championship by the back door!! As it stands now Florida will whip the dog’s ass worse than SC did!! What an embarassment to the Bulldog Nation!! Stop your fool excuses and acting like you are Obama and blaming everything on someone else. Play “real man football” or get the hell off the football field and let the equestrian team have the field!! Suck it up Georgia and put your jocks back on and take off those femme belts!!!!!!!
Rangerdawg
October 8th, 2012
6:49 pm
Bill, I have been a Mark Richt supporter for as long as he has been at UGA and I think he is a fine Christian man, but he should apologize to his players and UGA fans for he, coach Bobo and Grantham not having their team prepared to play our most important game of the year. It was the worst coaching job I think I have ever seen!!!! Our players had no idea what to do, but it was not their fault. Grantham has so many personnel packages no one has any consistency and they cannot communicate. We need to simplify our defense and let them play. We have more talent than South Carolina but clearly got out coached on both sides of the ball.
redandblack
October 8th, 2012
7:14 pm
UGA was in the game up until the moment they got off the bus…….
We were exposed for what we really are……..overrated…….a pretender NOT a contender…..
There should be another name for the guys who take the field, instead of offense and defense…….
Because these clowns don’t even know what those terms mean…..
A lot to play for? WHAT!! Hope we can back into another SECCG appearance, and get our asses kicked again like last year? Right! I’m all over that……NOT!!!!
I’m afraid we will always be a middle of the pack program, as long as the current regime is in place….
Murray is not the guy!!!
These clowns play football like I make love…….and that ain’t worth a damn…
I knew when it only took 5 plays to go 70 yeards for Carolina’s first TD, that UGA was in trouble……
And damn if they didn’t prove me right….
Bill
October 8th, 2012
8:12 pm
Okay… Here we go. Here is the plan. Bill King as head coach. Jeff Schultz is the DC and Mark Bradley is the OC. Suck and Jerk Off will coordinate the special teams. Stupid, idiotic red-neck fans will serve as the A.D. Let’s all support these fine people. They have the best interest of the football program in mind.
Browndog
October 8th, 2012
8:30 pm
IMO SC has recruited better athletes position wise than UGA has over the last several years. Spurrier is keeping the top athletes in state and seems to have a better handle on what he needs to do to fine tune his team. SC is now the team to beat in the east. UF appears to be back and Dooley will build a winner at UT, if given the time. Competition in the east will keep getting better and better!
Resident Georgia Fan
October 8th, 2012
9:00 pm
Window dressing at best Bill. I was there. What an embarrassment to those of us who help pay the bills.
Bill
October 8th, 2012
9:21 pm
And Flat Tire will serve as Uga. . .
Bill
October 8th, 2012
9:25 pm
And ARDawg can be the women’s basketball coach . . . Now we are ready to move forward.
Preseason # 1
October 8th, 2012
9:36 pm
Not to worry Dawg fans, we’ll be rated in the top 5 again between next February and October
Bud
October 8th, 2012
10:12 pm
Weekly sensationalism by media. Every week there’s a new Heisman candidate, a new unbelievable team. Slow it down . Still a lot left. Way to much weekly sensational hype by media.
Bill Curry
October 8th, 2012
10:13 pm
@Real Dawgs Fan
That’s what I tried to tell Alabama when they fired me after a 10-2 season. So what if I couldn’t beat Pat Dye? You know, that Coach Mike Shula is a really nice guy too.
80sDawg
October 8th, 2012
11:17 pm
A sure indicator of how good your coaching staff is depends on the number of coaching offers coming from other programs.UGA coaching staff get none, not a whisper. Richt got a slight look from FSU and Miami. Nothing solid. If they were any good, The AD would have to be throwing money at them to keep them here.
SSIgator
October 9th, 2012
12:22 am
redandblack -
October 8th, 2012 – 7:14 pm
UGA was in the game up until the moment they got off the bus.
______________
Whoa, hold up on that thought. Who knows what St. Markus Rectumus and his band of thieves (as in his asst. coaches stealing from the UGA treasury like their boss does) were plotting BEFORE they got off of the bus.
GatorsAreBack
October 9th, 2012
1:12 am
You Dawg fans just need to enjoy the tailgating. You simply need to forget about SEC championships and NCs in this era. There is no potential head coach out there who is going to out-coach Saban, Spurrier and now, Muschamp. Miles is kind of a goofball, but he’s also much better than Richt.
Want to know the real difference between Georgia and Florida? even with the hiring of Brent Pease as OC, our strength and conditioning coach is considered the most important hire that Muschamp has made.
You guys assemble bunches of marquee talent and think you can’t help but win. But that’s just the starting point.
Vampire Bill
October 9th, 2012
6:25 am
Ask Nick Saban or Les Miles if a 28 point loss is the same as a 2 point over time loss. I’ll bet you Mark Richts tanning membership you get a different answer.
This dawg will bite you!
October 9th, 2012
7:35 am
I will be going to Lexington to pull for the dawgs!!!!!!!!!
GaTruth
October 9th, 2012
7:48 am
Outcoached, outcoached, outcoached, outcoached. After defending Bobo and Richt over the last years, leaning on the numbers (points being scored and a higher winning % than Vince Dooley) – albeit with the consternation of watching Bobo’s fearful play calling steal the momentum of one game after another, the party is over. There was nothing in our game-plan to account for Clowney or Shaw. With time in the pocket, Murray could have picked apart the SC secondary. Without it, you get exactly what we got. Everyone knew it except Bobo and Richt. If we want to accept mediocrity, stay the course.
Beatdown City... also known as Jacksonville
October 9th, 2012
8:10 am
Florida 42
Georgia 24
Buh bye to Richt and the Dwags.
old dog
October 9th, 2012
8:18 am
Until we realize the game is won IN THE TRENCHES (I.E.—GET SOME O-LINEMEN THAT CAN PLAY WITH THE BIG BOYS) we will continue to go back and forth on these blogs and wonder “why?”
The Bottom line is.......................
October 9th, 2012
8:19 am
We have Mark Richt who is as fine a man or person as there is in College Football. We pay him around 3 mil per year to run our program. Many people say that he not only is a great coach but also helps build young men. If that is the case, why are we paying someone that much money with no NC games on his resume as HC and year in and year out has UGA as the leader in the Fulmer Cup for the most arrests.
I say that all of us who made fun of the Gators for hiring Muschamp are the ones who are idiots. Muschamp has kicked off at least 12 of Meyers troubled children and after only one season has transformed the hated Gators into a legitimate SEC contender. If they get their QB problems corrected( and the kid seems to improve weekly) they will give Bama a run for their money.
Since I do not see Muschamp leaving a place where he grew up as a kid, our only choice is to give Kirby a call before Tn or Ark does and hire Saban’s 2nd most trusted assistant. Like Saban or hate him, the man knows how to build a program. Go DAWGS!!!
Francis
October 9th, 2012
8:21 am
I’ve never understood how anyone – even an alumnus – could support and take pride in UGA’s football team. When you look at their history for the past forty years, how can anyone ignore Jan Kemp and the “remedial studies” scam, the Jim Harrick fiasco, the DUIs in the athletic office, the DUIs and other arrests of players, the #1 party school tag (i.e., the most drunk students), the suspensions and outright dismissals, the Fulmer Cup, and on and on?
As disgraceful and humiliating as it is, I don’t see many alums and fans demanding an end to this sordid activity. It sets UGA apart as the kind of school most people abhor, and it’s become an embarrassment to the whole state of Georgia.
Will it never end? Apparently not while Mark Richt is at UGA. Richt is the biggest hypocrite in the United States. But even with all the cheating and lawlessness that he ignores, he still can’t win the SEC.
So you’re paying him to be BCS champions, but he can’t even win the SEC. So why do you pay him millions of dollars a year?
Just asking.
Myanmar-Shave
October 9th, 2012
8:38 am
The Bulldogs Have Done It Again
They’ve Lost One They Thought They Should Win
Every Year It’s The Same
They Blow The Big Game
But The Cupcakes Will Add Up To Ten
Nine Or Ten Wins Is Enough
To Justify Not Getting Tough
On The Nice Christian Man
Without A Game Plan
To Beat Anyone But A Cream Puff
Myanmar-Shave