Question: Will it ever get better for Mark Richt at UGA?
Has Mark Richt run out of steam? (AP photo)
AUBURN, Ala. — On the weekend of Cam-demonium, the Georgia Bulldogs were rendered a footnote. But one snippet of semi-news did emerge Saturday morning, courtesy of the Denver Post: Colorado is apparently interested in Mark Richt to fill its coaching vacancy.
And that might be the best for all concerned: Richt to the Rocky Mountains and a new challenge, Georgia spared a decision no program wants to make. Namely, when and how do you say goodbye to a man who lifted your program but seems incapable of further lifting?
In Year 2 under Gene Chizik, the Auburn Tigers clinched the SEC West by winning Saturday. In Year 10 under Richt, the Georgia Bulldogs fell to 5-6.
Said Bacarri Rambo, the safety: “I never thought the University of Georgia could be 5-6.”
Said Akeem Dent, the linebacker: “That would not make sense to anybody.”
It doesn’t make sense, but it’s grim reality. Georgia was 8-5 last season, its worst under Richt, and it will be worse this time — worse with 10 of 11 offensive starters returning plus a hotshot quarterback making his debut, worse with a $750,000 defensive coordinator hired as a presumed upgrade.
Georgia took a 21-7 lead on the nation’s No. 2 team Saturday, whereupon Todd Grantham’s defense yielded touchdowns on six of the next seven possessions. Yes, Auburn has a great offense, and yes, after days of uncertainty the famous Cam Newton not only played but played beautifully. Still: Had the Bulldog defenders even practiced?
Linebacker Justin Houston on Newton: “He didn’t do anything special.”
Then, asked how Auburn could score seven touchdowns and amass 463 yards: “Blown assignments — that’s what has been going on all season.”
How could a defense still be making mistakes in its 11th game? Have players not yet learned the scheme? Houston again: “I guess not. Some guys are not as focused as they need to be.”
That indictment of Grantham is a greater indictment of Richt. The failing of Georgia this season hasn’t been skill or desire but stamina. Players appear to tire, and even the coaching seems to flag.
Georgia had it going Saturday. The Bulldogs were throwing deep off play-action — Auburn doesn’t play much D, either — and running hard, and then coordinator Mike Bobo ordered a direct snap to receiver Branden Smith that gained nothing on second-and-five and blunted a second-quarter drive. Why throw a change-up when they haven’t hit your fastball?
Soon the game was tied, and Richt lost his nerve. Georgia took the ball at its 21 with 51 seconds left in the half and one timeout remaining. It ran a draw to Caleb King and let time expire, content in the belief that it would take possession to begin the second half.
“I guess we didn’t want to make a crazy mistake,” said A.J. Green, who to that point had caught five passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns against Ted Roof’s overmatched secondary. “We took the safe way out.”
Only it wasn’t safe. Chizik called for an onside kick. Auburn retook the lead without Georgia touching the ball. Richt said he told his kickoff-return squad to be wary of such a maneuver. He also said: “I guess you could only tell them so many times.”
Make no mistake: Auburn was the better team. But Georgia had a chance here, and its coaching failed. Same as in Jacksonville. Same as in Starkville. The same thing, again and again.
Richt on this saddening season: “A few key plays, if they went the other way, we win.” Then: “Teams that win championships win close games. We haven’t won a close game yet.”
For the record, Richt spoke in the same room that housed his triumphant press briefing Nov. 16, 2002, the day Georgia beat Auburn in an excruciatingly close game to clinch the SEC East. There was a time when Richt’s teams were the aggressor throughout, when they made the requisite plays at the end. No longer.
Asked about Colorado, Richt smiled and said: “Georgia is my home.”
Asked about Richt, the newly minted Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said: “I’m really looking forward to working with him.”
And yet you wonder if it will ever get better for Mark Richt at Georgia, if we haven’t already seen his best work. His Bulldogs had a chance to grab the nation’s attention Saturday, and they led by 14 points. They lost by 18.
They got weary. Then they got beat. The same thing, again and again.
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1,438 comments Add your comment
messin with sasquatch
November 14th, 2010
7:32 pm
barbara has been sippin the grapejuice
kral
November 14th, 2010
7:38 pm
Hey bd I ain’t complaining.. Best player I’ve ever seen, but if this turns in to a Bush gate as in Reggie.. your’re comments are going to appear as those of a fool..not saying what is going to happen..just be careful how you pass out judgements
aladawg
November 14th, 2010
7:41 pm
Bradley, stick your opinions where the sun never shines.
Ah, yeah...typical AU fan
November 14th, 2010
7:43 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNBJh9idlJ8
MikeAU89
November 14th, 2010
7:44 pm
Holy smokes man you UGA fans are tough on your coach! He got beat by a better team! Move on and rally your troops. UGA has a great football program, pick yourselves up, move on and get the next win! Sheez, just sayin, man. Oh, and with Cam -innocent until proven guilty. People at the top will always be subject to the lowlifes who try to bring them down
kral
November 14th, 2010
7:44 pm
Right with you aladawg except he doesn’t have the guts to actually state an opinion he just proposes one with ??????
kral
November 14th, 2010
7:45 pm
Right on MIKE
Hairy Dawg
November 14th, 2010
7:47 pm
Exactly wmd. Coach Richt is bests for true Dawg fans that knowing how to wins. We just stuck with some stinky players right now cause Adams restricts recruitings. We needs cut stinkys and free schollies for SEC talents. Then returning to dominants with Christian team.
kral
November 14th, 2010
7:47 pm
But mike I will have to ask what your stance was on TOMMY t
TRC75
November 14th, 2010
7:51 pm
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, and Blah! It seems like it never ends for Mark Bradley and the AJC coherts. The same guys that questioned the Atlanta Braves at the beginging of the year when they were losing. I understand that there are some concerning factors that definetely need to be addressed, but I have yet to see a negative article on Paul Johnson, Nick Saban, or Urban Meyer after multiple loss seasons. With everything there is a season. At this point, UGA is in a down season. Give them a break! Please don’t write this same story again next week like you have since the loss to South Carolina. Just think, if Georgia was unbeaten, you would have nothing to be negative about, but then there would be something to say about the Bulldogs not winning big enough or against strong enough opponents. It never ends.
aladawg
November 14th, 2010
7:55 pm
Who is the real idiot that claims to speak for a grand lady like Barbara Dooley. Go suck a lemon.
aladawg
November 14th, 2010
7:56 pm
Georgia’s defense is made up of nothing but idiots to stupid to learn.
Keep Him
November 14th, 2010
7:56 pm
Let me ask all you idiots who think we should fire Mark Richt something..
Who exactly would you plan on hiring to replace him?
Kirby Smart? Is he good or not? Can’t tell if he’s running the d or if saban is and btw we just hired a defensive coordinator this year! So, that’s not gonna work.
Will Muschamp? Don’t even need to comment on this. His D looks AWFUL this year and he’s coach in waiting at Texas.
Keep Mark Richt. We were ranked #2 in the nation just a few seasons ago. 08 was disappointing, but we still won 10 games and lost to the two best teams in the country i though (alabama and florida) 09 we got jewed out of the LSU game, same with Kentucky. This year, we didn’t have our best player for four games and three of those prooved to be top 25 teams. We have a RS Freshman qb and a first year defense!!! You can’t expect something amazing out of this season and we still almost went to Atlanta. Colorado was a fluke, but i could easily see this Georgia team at 7 or 8 wins right now.
So quit all the negative talk, you’re scaring recruits away. That’s why they’re all wanting to go to BAMA. If Richt has another 4 or 5 loss season next year then he should be let go, but definitely NOT this upcoming offseason and that won’t happen anyway because McGarity already said so.
kral
November 14th, 2010
7:59 pm
Where the h.. do you get the inside info you have hd…let’s look at Fla which has lost 4 with a possible 5 or better waiting but that is the greatest program around according to fla fans I’m not knocking the coaches..I’m just pointing out reality to delusional people..ask MB HOW IT IS GOING..ask NS at Bamma how it feels to be undefeated..oh I’m sorry their not…Ask okies how feels to have all one week and then not…Long Live Lane and usc,,I hope you people understand sarcasm
Andy in Blairsville
November 14th, 2010
7:59 pm
While the first half of Richt’s tenure at UGA seems to be a statistical anomaly, the truth is Georgia is a 6-9 win team. Sure, back when Jimmy Carter was President you won the big one, but Jesus H. how long ago was that? Yes, Richt came from and coached on a proven and consistent NC caliber team, but UGA is not and has not been a NC caliber team since 1980. That is not Richt’s fault so lower your expectations.
Just because UGA is in a conference where competitors such as LSU, AL, AU and FL have the potential to be NC contenders doesn’t mean UGA is guaranteed the same. Modern history proves this too.
Suck it up because Richt is the best coach stupid enough to coach your team.
And BTW…don’t think for a millisecond your players aren’t getting paid like Newton is.
kral
November 14th, 2010
8:01 pm
I’m sorry allapoodle your last comment just put you in the delusional category
kral
November 14th, 2010
8:01 pm
I’m sorry allapoodle your last comment just put you in the delusional category
Wesley
November 14th, 2010
8:07 pm
Look, last year this time everyone was talking about how Coach Johnson’s offense and Ga Tech was going to take over the ACC and Alabama could not be beat. Two years ago Uraban Meyer & Fla and all the Fla talent was the choice of all the so call experts to dominate the SEC. Now we have Auburn! Lets take a closer look at them. They defeated a 5-5 Clemson team in OT at home, South Carolina by 8 at home, Arkansas in a high scoring game at home, LSU by 7 at home, and Georgia again at home. They won at Miss St by 3 and at Kentucky by 3. They had a Quarterback dropped into their lap, for 1 or 2 years, via Fla & the Jr college route who without, I think they will be a 6-5 team. So lets not get carried away with calling Auburn’s coach the next great coach. I would say that as soon as Cam Newton leaves, Auburn would once again become a non factor in the SEC.
dawg4u
November 14th, 2010
8:08 pm
Lets see…2010 season will be worse than 2009, 2009 was worse than 2008, and 2008 was worse than 2007. Are you starting to see a pattern here? No it couldn’t be Coach Richt’s fault because he won the SEC championship in 2002 ending a 20 year drought for UGA and then won the SEC champ. again in 2005. In the last six seasons we have shown improvement from one year to the next only once and that was from 2006 to 2007 plus the arrests seem to be up every year. Let’s face it guys, CMR is a nice guy and won 2 SEC championships – the last being in 2005 but we are going in reverse and it is time for a change!
Jake
November 14th, 2010
8:11 pm
Wesley/kral/dawg4u = delbert, all the same person, using bunch of fake name, likes to talk to himself, via blogs
Jake 2
November 14th, 2010
8:11 pm
Jake, for real?
Jake 3
November 14th, 2010
8:12 pm
Wow, Jake and Jake 2 shocking stuff.
Jake 4
November 14th, 2010
8:12 pm
Good point other Jakes.
kral
November 14th, 2010
8:14 pm
Know you speaketh of what you knowest the little..GA WAS NOT A NATIONAL powerhouse untill
HW CAME IN 80’s..we were in the limelight for his stay and a few years later..thanks to great game against Tex led by BOBO as qb..MR in his early years and the following years has made our program relevent on the national scene
Fan of the Game
November 14th, 2010
8:16 pm
UGA is in good hands with Coach Richt. All these people that think you change coaches the minute a program struggles are the ones I am glad are not in control. Keep Him has a very good post above. All you ask for a coach is to help your kids graduate and make your program competitive so that you feel good going into each year. Coach Richt has done that. We were in New Orleans not too long ago and felt like we had one of the best teams in the country. We lost some great players off that team and have struggled replacing them. The same has happen to Fla., Ala. and Texas this year. Also Oklahoma has experienced trouble over the past few years. With Coach Richt I do feel like we have a very competitive program. I hope he is at UGA as long as he wants to be.
Wesley
November 14th, 2010
8:16 pm
And on the Bulldog situation, they are a great running back, and couple of good to great nose tackles and some experience in the secondary, the freshman safety and the sophmore safety killed them on two touchdowns by the TE in the Auburn game. Auburn was fortunate to have Cam fall into their lap. Georgia is just a couple of the right player away from having the same sort of turn around.
MikeAU89
November 14th, 2010
8:17 pm
So much animosity here on an SEC page! People, relax – Auburn won, Georgia lost. It’s a game, get over it. I went to Auburn, my sister is a Gator, my bro in law is a Dawg, some extended family and friends are Vols, best friend is Gamecock – lets just say, ummmm SEC rocks!!! Actually noone in my Fam is remotley related to Bama, but I still cheared for them last year to win the Championship! Yea it was tough, but I did
kral
November 14th, 2010
8:18 pm
Wes.. agree about everything but you better look at who has played for au.. before you call them a non factor..GO DAWGS…
kral
November 14th, 2010
8:20 pm
I’m a fan of yours fan of the game
Wesley
November 14th, 2010
8:20 pm
Jake, I am not kral or dawg4u.
Auburn_Cheetahs
November 14th, 2010
8:22 pm
Why is everybody mad about being $CAMmed ?
Jake 4
November 14th, 2010
8:24 pm
Wesley/Delbert–thanks for clearing that up, I think we all know exactly who you are.
Ed
November 14th, 2010
8:31 pm
You real dog fans take a look at the hysteria being promulgated by your impostors. Impostors are nice to have when things are going well. They can woof to their illiterate little hearts content. They don’t contribute money or if they do they just don’t have a life other than the DAWGS. Either way they have no influence on important decisions like retaining a coach; a coach most programs would love to have. This is tough to go through; UGA has been so good so long. But the idea that UGA’s program is going in the toilet is indefensible. You played hard, you never quit. You have a bona fide star at QB. You have depth at skill positions. You will win a close game and be back on track. And Richt has not forgotten how to coach. Think Joe Paterno.
Wesley
November 14th, 2010
8:36 pm
Non factor/ 2006 SEC record (6-2), 2007 (5-3), 2008 (2-7), 2009 (3-5).
kral
November 14th, 2010
8:36 pm
First of all, I’m kral and I don’t have to work so when I blog I call them like I read them..I enjoy it some but I can’t stand outrageous statements when I’m on line …makes me think the person has a brain about as worth as pissin in your own boot..and for a south GA boy that’s pretty bad….and if you think you want to blog with me bring it on I’ve pis.. off jeffie s. and yellow fuzz …bring it on
GoDOGS1
November 14th, 2010
8:38 pm
kral – Bobo was in elementary school when John Lastinger beat #1 ranked Texas in the 1983 Cotton Bowl. 1983 was the last time we played Texas.
Wesley
November 14th, 2010
8:39 pm
And on the Bulldog situation, they are a great running back, and couple of good to great nose tackles and some experience in the secondary away, the freshman safety and the sophmore safety killed them on two touchdowns by the TE in the Auburn game. Auburn was fortunate to have Cam fall into their lap. Georgia is just a couple of the right player away from having the same sort of turn around.
GoDOGS1
November 14th, 2010
8:44 pm
Sorry 1984 Cotton Bowl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sE9Ddr7VJU
Hairy Dawg
November 14th, 2010
8:45 pm
Dang right Fan! Coach Richt is bests for us and returning us to dominants once we able to recruiting talent witout Adams choke holds. When we gets talent like we capabels then we coaching and Christianizing shine through.
kral
November 14th, 2010
8:47 pm
Go dogs… you are correct i guess I had a senior moment..yes BObo qbed at thomasville and John qbed at valdosta high…guess i just got pis.. off with all the negative stuff I read about him and tried to give some false props..sorry
kral
November 14th, 2010
9:02 pm
First of all, I am not panceac guy.. this has been as tough on me as it has been on any of you I am a die- hard dawg fan, but I am not foolish enough to think that we might find a better coach for our than MR..YEAH we might get lucky and hit on a wonder boy…or we might get Lane K
kral
November 14th, 2010
9:02 pm
First of all, I am not panceac guy.. this has been as tough on me as it has been on any of you I am a die- hard dawg fan, but I am not foolish enough to think that we might find a better coach for our than MR..YEAH we might get lucky and hit on a wonder boy…or we might get Lane K
SEC Homer
November 14th, 2010
9:11 pm
You wonder why the AU-uga game was a little chippy, go watch the 1st qt and see how UGA started chop blocking Au’s D-lineman, they called one and than missed 3 others. I have never seen UGA fans act like a bunch of pusses like this before. The friendly rivalry is over, also pretty classy the uga guys that tried to burn down toomers corner last night, I’m sure we will not read that by Barnhardt this week.
kral
November 14th, 2010
9:21 pm
IF YOU ARE A TRUE DAWG FAN BE HAPPY THAT CAM IS NOT STILL AT fla..because if he was I WOULD BE SICK TO MY STOMACH RIGHT NOW because I do hate the gators far more than the tigers and we would be living with some fla bull… God BLESS ALL AND I AIN’T THAT RELIGIOUS ANYMORE…GOOD-NITE
Auburn Fan From Atlanta
November 14th, 2010
9:29 pm
For all you Georgia fans complaining about the game, check out the link below about a Georgia fan setting fire to Toomers corner last night.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/517511-georgia-fan-sets-fire-in-down-town-auburn
Georgia need to get serious
November 14th, 2010
9:30 pm
I like Mark Richt, great guy like Ray Goff, however its time for a change.
This is not a just a bad year thing. We have gone backwards since 2005. We spent the entire 90’s losing to Florida, expect for 97. Richt has had ten years
and has a 2-8 record against them. Yes he has won a lot of games,but since 2005
most of the big games have been lost.We use to struggle with FL and Tenn. now
we struggle with Mississippi State.People wonder who we will get if Richt is fired, and how we will fare. Well we just lost to a team that just a little over a year ago, many Auburn fans thought they had made the worst hire ever.
Alabama fired Shula and did pretty good with Saban. FL fired Zook and Meyer had them playing for an NC within two years. We could do it too with a good hire.
wdm
November 14th, 2010
9:34 pm
The most important thing is to remember Mark Bradley’s bosses at the AJC haven’t figured out the reason their subscriptions are continously declining is because of writers like Mark Bradley. All negative. And the negative is not based on any past real life experience because he has never coached a football team. He has no idea what it is like to be a college football coach or the pressures they face on the field, off the field, recruiting, and preparing for a game. He thinks he knows about football just like a high school senior thinks they know all about the world. Read any article from Mark Bradley and they consist of nothing more than smears and negativity. And since he hasn’t done anything but write, he can’t even back his written work with anything of substance or perspective. Remember, this guy isn’t a UGA fan, he isn’t even a fan of the state of Georgia based on his past articles.
Blackberry Cobbler
November 14th, 2010
9:37 pm
I thought, despite the defense playing poorly, that the game swung on 2 events– a 28 yard punt that gave Auburn a short field and they evenetually scored quickly and CMR decision to go for it deep in UGA territory with 5 minutes still left to play. Auburn scored easily and quickly again. I don’t know what the future holds for CMR. I think he deserves another year (can’t believe I’m saying that). But the stupidity of UGA players on and off the field is unreal.
Mike T.
November 14th, 2010
9:37 pm
Fan of the Game
UGA is in good hands with Coach Richt. All these people that think you change coaches the minute a program struggles are the ones
The minute a program struggles?
We have a losing SEC EAST record since 2006!
We haven’t beat a SEC West team since Auburn last year.
Keep holding on maybe Richt will have it straighten out by 2025.
REAL FALCON DAWG FAN
November 14th, 2010
9:38 pm
HEY MARK. EASY ON COACH RICHT ! OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN JIM DONNAN AND RAY GOOF?