5+1 reasons UGA’s loss was even worse than it seemed
Here's the first of Joe Cox's several interceptions. (AJC photo by Bob Andres)
1. With Georgia within 14 points and still 10 minutes to play, some 10,000 Georgia backers up and left. Think about that. You’ve paid for tickets, parking, food, hotel and gas/airfare to come watch your team, and your team still has a theoretical chance. (One tipped pass and it’s a one-score game.) And you have so little faith in your team that you walk out. And your program has won 10 or more games six times in the past seven seasons. This would seem to say, at least to me, that Mark Richt is losing his constituency.
2. When Georgia pulled within 14-10, it did its huddle-up-and-jump-around thing on the sideline, and I typed on the live chat, “I smell a late hit coming.” It came on the kickoff. Michael Gilliard, late hit. It is uncanny how this team cannot play by the rules.
3. Florida scored 41 points without doing anything extraordinary. No Gator rushed for 100 yards. No Gator had 100 yards receiving. Tim Tebow’s longest completion was for 29 yards. Not until the game’s final drive did Florida gain 30 yards on a scrimmage play. And the Gators didn’t throw a fourth-quarter pass (though Tebow was sacked once). And a merciful Urban Meyer had John Brantley take a knee with the ball on the Georgia 20. Think Spurrier would have?
Loading ...4. Joe Cox was supposed to be a game manager. Instead the fifth-year senior has been wilder than Matthew Stafford was as a freshman. Stafford had 13 interceptions in 2006 and didn’t start every game. Cox has 12 interceptions in eight games. And the second interception Saturday was just sad: Pressured, Cox tried to throw the ball out of bounds but couldn’t sling it far enough. The exact same thing had happened in Knoxville. Which brings us to …
5. Tennessee. It’s coming fast. If Georgia didn’t figure to finish ahead of Florida in 2009, neither did it seem any other SEC East school posed an imminent threat to the Bulldogs’ hold on second place. South Carolina is ensconced as a 7-5 or 8-4 team, and Kentucky and Vandy are Kentucky and Vandy. But Tennessee has now beaten Georgia and South Carolina and has played Florida and Alabama close, and that’s a scary sign. Because if Tennessee in Year 1 under Kiffin can have the same overall record as Georgia in Year 9 under Richt, what happens in 2010?
6. The black helmets. Just embarrassing.
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1,240 comments Add your comment
REM
November 1st, 2009
7:56 pm
Snoop, actually a nice play of words on the REM song title.
GaDawg
November 1st, 2009
7:58 pm
You guys blasting the uniforms and helmets are a joke. Get a clue morons. You guys blast Richt for everything he does. Probably would complain that his crap did not stink enough. Just like the black out, the seniors requested the uniform change to spark the team. All the coaching staff did was agree to that request. The real problem are the Coord’s, Martinez and Bobo need to go.
Bradley, you really need to go Vegas and cash in on that prognosticator ability that you have like item 2. Then you would not be writing for a 3rd rate fish wrapper of a newspaper. This team cannot find itself. It has no leader on the field, Cox is not a leader, there is no swagger.
Bottom line, if any of you armchairs coaches can do better than apply for a 1A coaching position and see how long that you last.
Go Dawgs!
I was one of those 10,000 fans that left.
lawton
November 1st, 2009
7:59 pm
it is what it is.
cheerleaders
November 1st, 2009
7:59 pm
Good one Delbert
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
7:59 pm
has anyone seen bryan evans? i last saw him at the landing.
cheerleaders
November 1st, 2009
8:00 pm
Lawton…thats very Buddhist of you
georgiadawgg
November 1st, 2009
8:00 pm
Richt, he ain’t going anywhere he is the grand bishopof georgia football. He needs to decide if he wants to preach or play smash mouth football.I say fire the whole crony bunch and start over. JOHN GRUDEN is looking for a job.
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
8:00 pm
maybe that was someone dressed up like a cornerback.
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
8:01 pm
no wait, that guy in the costume was on the field.
cheerleaders
November 1st, 2009
8:02 pm
Maybe Gruden can bring a few of the Buc cheerleaders up with him
Delbert D.
November 1st, 2009
8:03 pm
Dawg Gator – That clears up a lot. I was wondering about the Janikowski-SanFran thing from an earlier post. Has anyone written a “tell all” book or story on the FSU thing? All I remember is free shoes, and the online course cheating.
By the way, The NCAA is hardballing the hell out of ‘Bama and the free books thing, but they are *very* soft on FSU and the online history of recreation course thing, if that’s the actual title.
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
8:03 pm
gadawg, how do you know? coaches are supposed to dictate to players; not the other way around.
georgia74
November 1st, 2009
8:03 pm
We are in trouble gentlemen. Coach Richt has buy-in from the most wealthy boosters due to his wholesome and clean-cut image. A lot of folks would rather lose with CMR than win. I can only hope Adams is the first of many dominoes to fall.
Mark Richt may be a great man— football coaches must cross certain lines to win Championships and CMR is going to keep his name clean—whether he is or not.
We will never win more than 8 games a years until the change is made—-face it the East leaders have left us behind.
I wish CMR well in his NEXT job as a first class leader in Government,
CMR—-Run for office—-run for the state line—-just run from being the Coach of Ga Football.
Lowered Expectations
November 1st, 2009
8:03 pm
Enter your comments here
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
8:05 pm
del, you dont remember ron simmons, the criminoles? st bobby’s program has had more crooks than the mafia.
Jeff Striker
November 1st, 2009
8:05 pm
OK, I keep hearing about John Gruden. Is this a joke? Why would he come to UGA, and why would we want him? Has he ever coached in college? Does he know how to recruit?
Dawgno91
November 1st, 2009
8:06 pm
Don’t kid yourself fans. ALL fans are fairweather fans. You idiots fans of Alabama can’t talk. Last time i checked you were the ones that threw a brick through your coaches window. Just wait till Nick Satan looses a few. You will be throwing one through his. The dawgs are in trouble. It will likely take a few years to get the ship righted. In the meantime let Coach Bobo learn. He is a great young coach and is a Dawg at heart. Get a DC in here that can coach. Bring Kirby back at any cost. If not, clean house, sell our soul to the devil like Bama did and get a hired gun.
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
8:07 pm
does anybody really think that bobby considers himself the best person to coach fsu? all about the personal record and bucks baby!
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
8:08 pm
dawgno91, remember 2 third and 15 plays?
jack bull
November 1st, 2009
8:08 pm
tech having a decent year and they’re still jealous…
Delbert D.
November 1st, 2009
8:08 pm
GaDawg – The black helmet problem is an example of neurological tests performed on primates for pattern and color recognition. They must teach that at UGA. You see Red hats for 200 play executions in practice, and when they are switched to Black, with the opponents’ colors mixed in, they are very hard to identify.
Loved the helmets
November 1st, 2009
8:08 pm
Uniforms looked great yesterday even though the team overall did not.
Snoop Dawg
November 1st, 2009
8:09 pm
PREACHER MAN IS A SCAM ARTIST AND A LOSER… HE’S AN IMPOSTER…
TampaGator
November 1st, 2009
8:10 pm
I am sure you can get Ron Zook cheap!!!!
Douglas
November 1st, 2009
8:10 pm
Think of how many coaches would like to come and coach at UGA with all the talent they have. I’m being serious. Get rid of some of these assistants — get back to an OC that runs power football in the SEC mixing it in with the pass, get a great DC, and we will be right back up there with UF and UA. That’s just how bad our coaching is.
jack bull
November 1st, 2009
8:10 pm
74, we win 10 games a year, where’s the 8 coming from??? and don’t say that’s what we’re in for,,are you a fortune teller or something?
I'm Jusy Sayin--
November 1st, 2009
8:10 pm
CMR should keep his religious beliefs to himself and coach football effectively. He has made his faith a target to naysayers who attack everything about him – his tan, his shoes, his sunglasses, and I stand by my comment he is more zealous than the Bible requires – a real holy roller! And by the way, I went to church today.
TampaGator
November 1st, 2009
8:11 pm
Ray Goooffff is cheap, too.
Monty
November 1st, 2009
8:12 pm
The game was lost and not close due to 4 interceptions. One returned for a touchdown, two inside the Georgia 20 and one around the Georgia 30. That is the bottom line. Turnovers are the main reason Georgia has lost 3 of their games this year. With that said Bobo and Martinez are awful and have to go.
I actually traveled to Gainesville, FL to my brothers house to watch this game at a house full of Gator fans. I like the black helmets and the Gator fans liked them too. Late hit was bogus as it was a continuation of a good tackle that started 3 yards inside the playing field. Most of the Gator fans agreed with that. The helmet to helmet call was also awful and the Gator fans agreed on that also. Those penalties were irrelevant so whoop-ti-do.
The strength of this team is the receivers and tight-ends.Joe Cox should be taking snaps in the shot-gun position on almost every down and Georgia should be playing with a spread offense. Good coaches would have figured this out a long time ago. I’m not going to pile on Joe Cox. He is not Matthew Stafford and he sat on the bench for the 4 years. It would have been great if he was able to play with an edge this year but nobody sits on the bench for 4 years in any sport and maintains their skills. Mark Richt did not give Joe Cox any meaningful playing time while Stafford was quarterback. That is partly to do with the fact that Mark Richt teams don’t put teams away for some reason.
Go Dawgs!
jack bull
November 1st, 2009
8:12 pm
like who, douglas???
TampaGator
November 1st, 2009
8:12 pm
Probably should have never fired that Donnan fellow.
Jeff Striker
November 1st, 2009
8:13 pm
Tampa Gator, I’d take the Zooker right now at Def Coord over Martinez in a minute. If you recall, Zook’s defenses were pretty good at UF when Spurrier was the HC.
Abilene
November 1st, 2009
8:13 pm
I’m really bummed out today, but it’s a new month and hope springs eternal.
But it’s very disappointing to know that UGA football is totally irrelevant outside of Athens, and things are not likely to change soon.
Delbert D.
November 1st, 2009
8:13 pm
willie – criminoles…strikes a familiar bell. I think I may have a few lost years…
2Dawgs
November 1st, 2009
8:13 pm
Two things will be better for the game next yesr: both Tebow and Willie will be gone.
Charleston Dawg
November 1st, 2009
8:14 pm
Hey, it stinks…but it’s still great to be a Georgia Bulldog.
Dawg Gator--divided house!
November 1st, 2009
8:14 pm
Delbert D. Who would dare write/expose FSU? Not anyone connected to Tally, opps, I mean, Bowden County/Country. I use to recruit and felt so sorry for FSU students….they truly are some of the best and deserve so much more! Hopefully, fans will MAKE the NCAA be more ‘far’ in who they take to the wood shed!
willie martinez
November 1st, 2009
8:14 pm
fsu makes our guys look like solid citizens.
jack bull
November 1st, 2009
8:15 pm
didn’t cox have some meaningful playing time against colorado?,,, don’t get me wrong, i say no more QB’s named Joe, they all seem to be average… but he did get some meaningful PT..
TampaGator
November 1st, 2009
8:16 pm
Monty…yep…the refs cost Georgia another loss against the Gators. Are you kidding!!! The Georgia player took James and slung him around like a top outside the out of bounds line. That is a 15-yarder every time! Those Gator fans were just trying to make you feel better after the Gators destroyed your team again.
cheerleaders
November 1st, 2009
8:16 pm
I got no problem whatsoever hiring a “hired gun”. Hell lets do it. Integrity in college sports is a facade. Pay the athletes to come and play sports and represent the school. Let go of this game of “student-athletes”…please the alumni and make the school money.
MountainDawg
November 1st, 2009
8:17 pm
“Then & Now”….outstanding summary partner!
Dawgno91
November 1st, 2009
8:17 pm
Bottom line. There is absolutely NO REASON why UGA shouldn’t be competing for the SEC championship at least every 3 years. It should be a dog fight every year between UGA, Tenn, and Fl for the East. Anything less should be unacceptable.
oldbush
November 1st, 2009
8:17 pm
I am so disappointed about what happened yesterday I am ashamed for
anyone to see my Ga license plate when I drive to my beach house in Fla.
jack bull
November 1st, 2009
8:18 pm
STRIKER, i’ll take Zook as the special teams coach, seeing that’s what he used to coach before he became a head coach, but DC? NO!!!!!
Charleston Dawg
November 1st, 2009
8:18 pm
Then and Now, our player are not thugs. Seriously? Support them!
Trust Me
November 1st, 2009
8:18 pm
Nobody is jealous of UGA, yet another example of delusional dawgs thinking anybody gives two sheeites about this high school team.
TampaGator
November 1st, 2009
8:18 pm
Jeff…no, they really weren’t. The Gator fans hated Zook’s bend but don’t break defensive schemes…and Spurrier did, too. He fired him. That is why so many were shocked when Zook was hired as the head coach.
atl xmen
November 1st, 2009
8:19 pm
congrats to tech…after years of posting 8-6 or worse records it will take more than 2 years of winning 9 games to change my mind about where there program is and is heading..like i said wait until gailys players are gone…no more div 1 players to run that high school offense..i think paul will run out in about 4 years if he doesnt leave with gailys players…=)
GaDawg
November 1st, 2009
8:19 pm
Tampa Gator – Just a thought how many Gator players have graduated. Do you think Spike will the answer is easy no. Money and TV are ruining college football.