OK, so what happens with Richt if UGA loses in Starkville?
Quality-of-life-wise, it would behoove this man to win next week. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Not to say I’m smart or anything, but the Georgia season has played out the way I figured: Win, loss, loss. (No, I wasn’t so all-seeing as to know A.J. Green wouldn’t have played a down.) I also had the Bulldogs winning eight of the next nine games and finishing 9-3, which I do believe will occur. That said …
The Mississippi State game has long seemed to me the pivot point of Georgia’s season. It’s a game UGA should win, but it’s on the road in a different time zone, and strange things can happen in the realm of the cowbell. And today I pose the musical question: What happens if Georgia doesn’t win in Starkville?
Nothing much, I submit, but I’m willing to concede I might be in the distinct minority. Opening the SEC season 0-3 hasn’t happened under Mark Richt — to be accurate, the Bulldogs have never before been 0-2 in league play under Richt — and would loose all manner of outcry from the masses. Greg McGarity, the new AD, wouldn’t join the chorus, but even a new AD couldn’t help but note the furor.
I say again: I think Georgia is going to be fine. This is a young team with a new quarterback and a new defense that faced two very difficult early games without its best player. I find no dishonor in either defeat. And I expect these Bulldogs will tame the maroon Bulldogs on Saturday in Starkville. But I’m pragmatist enough to grant that this could get ugly if UGA doesn’t.
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992 comments Add your comment
Herschel
September 19th, 2010
7:08 pm
Who Cares, so just where is the University of JAWJA, otherwise known as Thuga ranked, and where will they be ranked after they lose to Miss State next week?
Herschel
September 19th, 2010
7:11 pm
680 the fan just reported that all of the receivers on Thuga are wearing number 8 against Miss State.
three jack
September 19th, 2010
7:26 pm
accept losing and you become a loser. there are way too many excuses being bandied about instead of facing facts; the dawgs do not play fundamental football. they can’t tackle, catch and carry.
richt will not keep his job if this veteran team of multi-star recruits loses to miss. st.
Delbert D.
September 19th, 2010
7:29 pm
I didn’t even get a “thank you” from ajc.com for my post about the Michigan St. coach’s heart attack that I found from the NY Times site. It mysteriously never made it to the blog. When I noticed that fact a few minutes later, I had to repost it in code fragments, beginning at 6:12.
Now I see it’s on the AJC.com sports main page as a 5:46 pm AP article. You’re welcome, AJC.
Book 'em, Danno!
September 19th, 2010
7:30 pm
The problem is Mark Richt. As long as Richt stays, get used to 7-5 seasons.
And a dozen or more arrests every year.
BJ
September 19th, 2010
7:33 pm
It was good to see AJ still sporting his ear bling at the game yesterday!
It makes you wonder who paid for his bling.
LHardingDawg
September 19th, 2010
7:37 pm
All of you homers who only want to fire coaches are stupid. Who would you get to coach a team in September? You wanted coaches fired for the last two years, now there are new defensive coaches and the defensives look as bad as ever. If coaches need to go, they will go, after the season, but not in September.
Rilo
September 19th, 2010
7:45 pm
that was the worst Offensive coaching I have seen since…well….last year…CMR is to blame as much as anyone because they…once again, came out flat. All that said, Bobo is a decent quaterback coach but he never should have been given the reigns of OC. He never adjusted out of the playaction pass until the end of the game. A good coach will deviate from the game plan when what you’re doing isn’t working. Take Brian Van Gorder for example…Teams were virtually shut down in the second half because he made adjustments throughout the game to make his team more prepared. I still think Grantham will be that but Bobo has never shown that at all. Only when we HAD to go shotgun did Murray started to feel like comfortable and started slinging it…
Smart like a fox
September 19th, 2010
7:46 pm
lol…..looks like a run on BAMA caps again this year….maybe we can get some that just say SEC.
Delbert D.
September 19th, 2010
7:46 pm
mike5385 is right about recruiting, web site experts, etc. I’d take Biermann and Schillinger (Montana), Finneran (Villanova), Turner (N. Illinois), Dahl (Nevada-Reno), Grimes (Shippensburg), Sidbury (Richmond), and Weems (Bethune-Cookman) over the hyped-up 4-star/5-star bozo-prima donnas that are just “looking to play at the next level.”
Tdawg Money
September 19th, 2010
7:49 pm
No one man (staying or going) …..or “single issue” turns us around immediately. However, I have ZERO confidence in Bobo and his playcalling. It is unsinspiring, terribly predictable, and he has no clue when to be a risk taker. Richt needs to take over the play calling pronto. Bobo needs to “hit the road, Jack”.
Joe Mama Angie Daddy
September 19th, 2010
7:50 pm
Bottom line, we can’t run the ball, and we can’t protect the QB when he drops back to pass. What I’m trying to say is, THE OFFENSIVE LINE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MS. Bully
September 19th, 2010
7:53 pm
I hope you guys think you are going to win in Starkville. It is not going to happen. Miss. State will beat Georgia and the sinking ship will continue. The only remedy is MORE COWBELL!!!!!
Grantham Gone
September 19th, 2010
7:54 pm
Grantham needs to hit the road! The Ga D is worse than last year with willie martinez. Grantham needs to give back his $750,000 ASAP! Ga needs to hire Kirby Smart to run this D. He knows how to coach.
jumbeauxtiger
September 19th, 2010
7:57 pm
Delbert, I noticed the Mark Dantonio story on Espn.com around noon today.
The Dawgs may be down but I think they will have no problem with beating State unless the players are not up for the game.
jumbeauxtiger
September 19th, 2010
8:02 pm
One early Vegas line has UGA favored by 3.5 over State.
The same line has Bama by 4 over Arkansas. I expected that spread to be more.
Dawg Tell
September 19th, 2010
8:04 pm
Richt will be given one more season.After 2011, if no Division championship or higher he will be gone.This has been stated by several key alumni and trustees in the last weeks.Poor decision making about team on and off the field has caught up with him.Of course he will be given the courtesy of resigning or stating he is going in another direction in his life. We will finish 7and 5 and have a new O.C. at the end of this season. Murray will be a good QB with the right coaching starting next year.He has the talent!!
Gotta Go
September 19th, 2010
8:49 pm
I thought UgA’s AJC mascot and cheerleader, Tony Barnhart said the mighty dogs would win because they “gotta” win. Well tony—why didn’t they win??????????
phillip
September 19th, 2010
8:51 pm
I could actually see Richt angling to get back to the “U”.
Andy
September 19th, 2010
8:54 pm
Mike for your information Bear won three National Championships in less than 9 years at Alabama in 1961- 1964- and 1965 and you compare CMR to Bear Bryant. LMAO
Delbert D.
September 19th, 2010
8:56 pm
jumbeauxtiger – I watched the last 20 minutes of that game, and it was something. The coach seemed fine in the postgame on-field interview. You should have seen Brian Kelly’s face when it happened. He turned to the coach standing next to him and said what looked like “good job” but it could have been “you’re fired.”
I clipped a 2-sentence quote from the NYTimes, made a post with my words in it, and it disappeared. That has happened to me several times on ajc.com sports blogs.
M. Gibbs
September 19th, 2010
8:58 pm
Game lost, no defence, no defence, no defence. Dont’t care if Green had played, NO Denfence!
Ginger
September 19th, 2010
8:59 pm
Early read — ARK and SC have some really good playmakers and are better than they have been in a while…..UGA is learning new defensive scheme and we had mental errors and not picking up our man on some of the defensive calls. It takes 11 players to do it right and stop the opposing team—Just 1 mental error by 1 player for a few seconds and a wide receiver or tight end is open for a TD..This happened Saturday. So thinking here is that the defense will continue to improve. Really feel that we had a upgrade in coaching with Grantham, Belin and Lakos..
On the offensive side of the ball—Our QB is learning….Wish that we could have played him last year, but he did have some injury problems with throwing arm last yr or I think that Richt would have played him. Believe that Murray will be really good once he gets some experience….O-line has got to block better….We need some speed playmakers on offense….don’t like Wild Dawg with Ealey taking the snap–he does not have enough speed. Wide receivers are not getting open enough—I wonder if there is a coaching problem at WR…Murray has to alway have a check down short route to go to…don’t know why the check down was not there for him….All receivers can’t run 15 yard plus routes on 3rd and 4…..will not have Green this Sat and don’t know if we will have Smith or not…getting King back will help….But got to have more speed on offense…..Let’s see what Cuff, Boykin can do on offense in practice this week– Wild dawg these guys some snaps in practice this week…put in the short wide receiver pass that Spurrier runs all the time at SC…In fact–lets look at some of Petrino and Spurrier better offensive plays and incorporate in UGA offense…they are getting open and we ain’t…..If we can step it up and have a good year—everyone will feel better. But the time is now to step it up and find some things that work……Got to look better if we want to recruit the playmakers to UGA come signing day.
He Hate Gator
September 19th, 2010
8:59 pm
We should keep CMR because he’s better than Ray Goff?????!!!!!! OMG!
War Jacket
September 19th, 2010
9:05 pm
Five good years since 1980. One national championships. The nation’s major college most under achieving program. The flagship program in a top five high school football state, and they can’t get out of their own way. All the money, facilities and support anyone could ask for and they still can’t overcome sporadic success.
Now they will call for Richt’s head. They don’t deserve him to start with. Coach Richt, get out while you can they are plenty of programs not run by a bunch of yahoos that would welcome you as coach.
Georgia gets what they deserve!
South Georgia
September 19th, 2010
9:09 pm
UGA improved from SC game to ARK game and I believe will get better each week. We miss Caleb King and Shaun Chapas as much as AJ Green. People have gotten too impatient.
Rebuild
September 19th, 2010
9:10 pm
This is a rebuilding year for UGA. Next year, they should be much better.
War Jacket
September 19th, 2010
9:13 pm
All those recruits where did they go?
HBC was right. Richt, get out while you can. The U is calling.
Three Toed Tammy
September 19th, 2010
9:15 pm
I watched the Mark Richt show today. He didn’t say very much at all. He looked embarassed. Kool aid ultimate UGA homer Dowdle was leading his weak questions like a moth to a flame.
Three Toed Tammy
September 19th, 2010
9:18 pm
So we have become FSU ? Wait till next year ? A year that never seems to come !
GTOldSchool21
September 19th, 2010
9:20 pm
All of this is comical…I called it before the season started that this would be Richt’s last year. He has no discipline over his team. His coaching staff is a bunch of yes men. There is no team in Athens…just a bunch of “look at me” guys who don’t play hard and lack dedication to win. THWG
Three Toed Tammy
September 19th, 2010
9:20 pm
Impatient ? 1-2 is impatient ? Every team has players hurt but they find ways to win. What’s UGA’s deal ?
Three Toed Tammy
September 19th, 2010
9:23 pm
I’m married to 2 fingers Larry by the way.
Dawgfan13
September 19th, 2010
9:26 pm
Rebuilding team my eye…we need a team that executes for the whole game. For the past couple of years we have played about a half of a good football game. Our blocking, kick off teams and special teams have all played poorly. Drew Butler’s performance has also ben off for the past two games. Just play uo to your talent UGA!
Annie
September 19th, 2010
9:33 pm
The season is over. The other nine games are just to see if this bunch of undisciplined thugs has any pride.
Bari
September 19th, 2010
9:34 pm
Would vuvuzelas help?
Mike Smith
September 19th, 2010
9:35 pm
Some of these comments are just pathetic. As Mark said, Georgia just faced two very tough games with a freshman QB, new defensive scheme, and no AJ Green. Besides Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina return the most complete teams of anyone in the SEC. Oh by the way, UGA was in both of those games all the way down to the final minute and arguably could have won both.
Miss St. and Colorado flat out stink. Auburn looked bad against Miss St and needed Clemson mistakes to get out with a win there. Tech lost to Kansas and was lucky to beat a short handed UNC club. UT is having a hard time just filling out a roster. Kentucky and Vandy are still games UGA should win. Florida is the only team that looks like a game UGA might not win. Their defense is playing lights out.
UGA typically plays the second half better than the first half of the season. I thought this year might be like Richt’s first one (8, maybe 9 wins), and I’m sticking to it. This year is very much the same type of rebuilding job on both sides of the ball.
Mike Smith
September 19th, 2010
9:36 pm
Hypothetically, if Right loses to Miss St., things will get very hot for him. Thats not going to happen, so dont worry about it.
GTOldFool21
September 19th, 2010
9:36 pm
GTOldSchool21, GT has played 3 bad teams and is 2-1. GT will not play more than one ranked team this year. UGA has played two teams in the top 12, and has remaining games against a top 5 opponent and two top 20.
why don’t you STFU.
Stinger
September 19th, 2010
9:37 pm
What do you mean if? It’s a given dawgs will go 1-3 and end the season with on 6 wins.
Delbert D.
September 19th, 2010
9:38 pm
I’m wondering if Drew Butler over-trained. He’s not doing at all like last year.
Motel 6
September 19th, 2010
9:38 pm
Anyone know the phone # of that motel 6 in shreveport? I heard it books up fast and I can’t find it on the website.
Ted Stryker
September 19th, 2010
9:38 pm
“This is a rebuilding year for UGA. Next year, they should be much better.”
How many years have we been hearing this refrain? Tired of waiting for “next year.”
Three Toad Tamper
September 19th, 2010
9:38 pm
Three Toed Tammy
September 19th, 2010
9:20 pm
Impatient ? 1-2 is impatient ? Every team has players hurt but they find ways to win. What’s UGA’s deal ?
Easy answer, just play GT’s schedule. UGA would be 3-0. Nuff said.
GT Tampon
September 19th, 2010
9:40 pm
Why does GT have “BEAT GEORGIA” on their practice sleds?
Jerry in The ATL
September 19th, 2010
9:40 pm
Were the players wearing their lucky red panties?
Apparently not.
Mobile Dawg
September 19th, 2010
9:41 pm
I’ve never believed in Richt’s offensive philosophy, however once a Dawg, always a Dawg. Regardless of what happens in Starkville most people whether they would admit it or not have lost confidence/faith in the coaching staff and their ability to give us a premium product and performance.
Have to be proud of the players for stepping up and getting us back in the game Saturday, that showed we have heart. To then see that opportunity wasted by the strategy after the performance by our defense was disheartening. How many beside me saw it coming though. This is sadly what we are used to now. CMR put the program on autopilot a while back. Has he gotten lazy, forgotten how to coach; I don’t know what’s driving him inside as far as being a football coach.
Then to allow his coordinators to even share the blame with the players is totally unacceptable. Their reply should have been, “we as coaches are responsible for preparing them for what they will face, we have to do a better job”.
To directly answer your question Mark, the fans attendance will begin to erode, looked like it has already started as there were numerous unoccupied seats at Saturday’s game. Donations will go down, the most influential alumni will have the ear of Adams and McGarity. Sadly the CMR era will come to a close by the end of the year. If on the other hand we have a miracle like you predict and finish @ 9-3, CMR gets one more year to show he can get the job done and we continue to wonder what’s next. It’s hard to get excited and really up for a football game anymore.
Wes
September 19th, 2010
9:42 pm
At least we’re a lock for the Fulmer/Richt Cup.
Delbert D.
September 19th, 2010
9:43 pm
Is Grantham on a 1-year contract? One season under Mark Richt’s stated rule of “No foul language on this campus, or on this team” may have him looking elsewhere in December.
Delbert D.
September 19th, 2010
9:45 pm
“Why does GT have “BEAT GEORGIA” on their practice sleds?”
Same reason Army has “Beat Navy” on theirs & vice-versa.