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.
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
1,438 comments Add your comment
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:32 am
Sanpshot/Aubie/Dexter/Sugar Hill/F-105/Pauly = Delbert
They’re all the same fella who’s been posting for 27 pages now. You can spot his posts by the level of stupidity involved.
Easy formula: worthless post = Delbert (or one of his fake names)
Good morning Delbert.
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
8:34 am
Joe is s troll. If ANY one is posting using several handles it would be YOU. Obviously. Cuz no one else has brought this up. Don’t judge others by your own standards. 49-31. Denial on your part will only make the pain worse.
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
8:38 am
It’s the “shot” (no pun intended) heard around the world when Georgia was declared the “biggest party school in the nation” over all media outlets. You think because both snapshot and I made elusive comments to that fact makes us the same guy? It’s actually quite simple. The whole nation knows what a bunch of sappy-ass drunks you’re tooling out of UGA.
independent
November 15th, 2010
8:40 am
It appears that Richt is heading to Colorado to get in on some of that Rocky Mountain High. When asked what differences he may see, he said the students and players there may actually be literate. Bring on Muschamp, the way Texas is playing the dogs will still be getting beat down weekly.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:41 am
aubie = delbert, independent = delbert, all the same guy
RussDawg
November 15th, 2010
8:42 am
Jim Donnan on the Radio this miserable Monday a.m.
“GA hasn’t stopped anybody this season why would they stop Auburn” AND
“A high school defense could have done as good a job as the GA defense”
CMR is NOT Vince Dooley and it is a different age. Cut the cord already and move on
unless 7-5 or 6-6 is the expectation.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:42 am
Aubie won knobi—yeah, we’re all sure that’s your real name, thanks for the laugh.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:44 am
Jim Donnan on the radio today:
“Richt has won more games than any coach in the country over the last decade.”
“Richt’s won 90 games in 9 seasons–1 of 7 coaches in history to do that”
“Richt’s had 6 top 10 finishes in 9 years at Georgia, somethign I could never do”
atltiger15
November 15th, 2010
8:45 am
Is AU better with Cam Newton, obviously yes. But, we won 8 games last year with a piss poor non-running ChrisTodd last year. The only thing he did was throw 25 plus TD with the same players who went 5-7 the year before,. It doesnt matter who we have at QB, the GUS BUS will continue to roll…..Is Grantham still saying all we did was run gimmick plays. If you call the zone read and QB power trick plays i gues so. But him coming from the mighty NFL i would expect better. I guess he is giving himself the choke sign now. Anytime you run the ball 16 times in a row and the defense cant stop it, you suck. At least we play the run first and make folks one dimensional. Yes our secondary is well below avg, they pick it up went it comes nut cutting time.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:46 am
Delbert:
Why do you post to yoursaelf on this blog?
Why not just sit down, and talk to yourself all day in your small room?
Why involve us in your idiotic world?
Tech Ron
November 15th, 2010
8:46 am
What’s up you whinny puppies? Did you get embarrassed on national tv? It’s not done yet after we’re done with you. CMR is a joke and so is your team. Stop thinking the ghost of HW is still on the field, driving you to that BCS Title.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:46 am
alttiger = delbert
independent
November 15th, 2010
8:46 am
Nope, just me Joe, I do not need to post with multiple names to convey my disrespect for the dogs. I find them dispicable and cowardly. First you have a coach threatening to strangle an opponents kicker, then you act like a bunch of sore losers this past week and try to start a fight on the field for no reason other than you were getting beat down. ga football and their fans are not to be respected, they are to be mocked. Fools, every one of you
Double Zero Eight
November 15th, 2010
8:47 am
Richt is a good coach, but he will never win the national championship, regardless of the talent level. I would rate him a B minus when compared to his peers ( Saban, Miles, Spurrier).
Mike
November 15th, 2010
8:48 am
Joe-
I agree, we all know it’s the same guy posting here, wants to make it look like there’s a mass movement against Richt. He likes to tear Richt down to help his own self esteem, full of envy, and resentm,ent, really bothers him that Richt makes $2.8 million dollars per year, and is in the top 10 in pay in the NCAA.
independent
November 15th, 2010
8:48 am
ga fans are fools, they have a bush league football team and think they deserve respect. All they deserve is to be mocked for the idiots they are.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:49 am
TechRon= Delbert
atltiger15
November 15th, 2010
8:49 am
JOE-
Afraid not. I dont waste my time trying to change handles. Only you immature homers do that
Mike
November 15th, 2010
8:50 am
Yeah, I guess when your coach is in the top 10 in pay, we’re bush league. Smart post, must be Delbert again guys.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:51 am
Alttiger = delbert, afraid so.
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
8:51 am
atltiger15, the hatemongers INTENTIONALLY overlook the fact that most of our seasons HAVE been 8-3, 9-2, etc. Maybe I’m completely misinformed, but the last time I heard… THAT was considered a winning season. Bama and Dawgs just hate it so much that Auburn is having the success they are and they’re fuming mad about it. So they say anything to make themselves feel better.
atltiger15
November 15th, 2010
8:51 am
i graduated from AU in 2003 and work at the university as a consultant.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:51 am
alttiger–all you do is waste time, you don’t know how to do anythign else, all your posts are a waste of time.
independent
November 15th, 2010
8:52 am
First the dogs have a coach threatening to strangle an opponents kicker, then they try to start a fight on the field because they could not handle the fact they were getting smacked down. What a bush league outfit, disrespect is all they deserve. I don’t see why any parent would want their son playing there, all they will learn is how to get arrested and lose games. Idiots
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:52 am
altitger= delbert, no you didn’t.
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
8:52 am
Joe would you please stop being a troll or we’ll be forced to “report this comment”. We’re not in the mood for child’s play on a Monday morning. Go over to Tony Barnhart and annoy them a while. Everyone just ignore this troll. That’s the best way to take care of a wannabe.
independent
November 15th, 2010
8:53 am
If your coach is top ten in pay, that would make you suckers
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:53 am
Aubie won knbi–is that your real name????
OLDDAWG
November 15th, 2010
8:53 am
So it has come to this:
5-6 record with 10 returning offensive starters returning.
Preseason ratings as high as #3 and generally a top 20.
Lost control of the players again = to win the Fulmer Cup 2010.
Lost to Colorado ( who lost to Kansas ? )
Lost again to a mediocore Florida team ( that could have salvaged season)
Have now become totally invisible in the SEC despite being top 10
every year in recruiting.
And here we are again with the only “bright” spot beating a terrible
GT team that is weak even by ACC standards.
HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:54 am
We’re all reporting you and your fake names.
independent
November 15th, 2010
8:54 am
Imagine paying a coach millions a year to have a team finish a season with more arrests than wins! How stupid can you be?!
RussDawg
November 15th, 2010
8:54 am
Joe
Keep living in the PAST yes we are all well aware of the PAST.
That knowledge will be very helpful while we watch the Liberty Bowl
that is if we beat Tech.
I love all these homers that live in the distant past.
UGA will be 6-6 (again IF they beat Tech, nothing is certain) and homers will be touting CMR’s record from ANCIENT HISTORY
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:55 am
Aubie won knobi–it’s against blog rules to take on a false identity, you’re acting like you’re a Star Wars character, first of all, those arn’t real, second of all, they’re copyrighted, so you should be banned for life form this blog.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
8:57 am
Delbert-
Instead os posting posts to yourself, why not just talk to yourself out loud, so we all don’t have to read the worthless posts? What’s the difference? You think we are interested in your conversations to yourself?
independent
November 15th, 2010
8:58 am
I doubt the dogs will beat Tech even though Tech is one of the few programs that make ga look good. They know they have the chance to knock ga out of a bowl and will be up for the game. I hope they kick their teeth in, no team deserves it more than ga. Maybe they can finish the job on murray, he is just a soft, non-winning punk anyway
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
8:58 am
independent, I especially like how the Georgia fans were standing over the Auburn logo, trying to destroy it and then grabbing their nads and shaking them at Auburn. As for the cheap shots taken against Fairley that they DON”T want to discuss or admit, he’s a big boy and can anything those pansy-asses threw at him. FOUR of their guys had NO impact whatsoever on Fairley when they decided to jump him and take punches. He simply got up and brushed himself off with a yawn. THAT”s why Dawg fans are mad – they got outplayed, outwitted and outlasted! Survivor dude! That’s what it’s all about.
Mike
November 15th, 2010
9:00 am
Delbert just can handle Richt being paid $2,800,000, in the top 10 pay in the NCAA. Georgia made a $40 million profit, Richt’s made Geoergia over $350,000,000 profit in 10 years. Guess Delbert doesn’t get it. Pay $2,800,000, get back $42,000,000, good deal. Delbert, why so resentful? If you’re so smart, why don’t you get paid $2,800,000 to coach?
atltiger15
November 15th, 2010
9:01 am
One of my UGA friends just text me saying he remembers from last year that there is a good comedy club in shreveport for the Indy bowl if you guys can beat TECH
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
9:02 am
independent, I’m COUNTING on Tech to wreck! Nothing like the final nail to maybe finally shut Dawgs and their incessant “yapping”.
Mike
November 15th, 2010
9:02 am
Those who resent Mark Richt getting paid $2,800,000 when he made the team $42,000,000, are just too lazy to pay the price to make their own millions. So they’re resentful. They just envy Richt’s Christianity.
independent
November 15th, 2010
9:04 am
I know what you mean Aubie, ga is the type that is very long on excuses and very short on results. Don’t look for any class from them, they simply don’t have it in them. I’m surprised the SEC has not ditched them yet, they really have no use being in there, they are a stain on the beauty of true SEC football, something they have no concept of
Mike
November 15th, 2010
9:04 am
Delbert/Aubie/Independ:
I guess you envy Richt’s productivity, achievements, salary, integrity, Christian values, all things you lack, so you envy him and try to come on this blog and tear him down in an effort to make yourself feel better about your own low self esteem? Must not work, because you posts thousands of posts each day on these blogs, day after day, must not work.
Joe
November 15th, 2010
9:06 am
Independent/ Aubie–
Since you’re the same person, why not just talk out loud to yourself, instead of blogging to yourself?
Mike
November 15th, 2010
9:07 am
Average people envy superachievers. It’s been that way for thousands of years.
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
9:09 am
I have no problem with the pay these coaches receive. They are basically OWNED by the college and have no real life as they’re on call 24/7, 365 and under the microscope of the school, SEC, NCAA, fans, boosters, etc. Then add the stress of constant recruiting and team building and the the threat of being ousted because you didn’t win the big one. Coaches earn it and then some. Wall Street sits on their ass all day and are paid far more for producing and building nothing except their own wealth.
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
9:12 am
Mike, I don’t know who you are referring to when you say “I” am on here posting every day. The first time I posted was yesterday. Oh, so I see you’re one of those false fact-builders. I haven’t said anything about Mark Richt. My comments have been at the fans and the team – not the man. Get your facts straight before you embarrass yourself the next time.
Mike
November 15th, 2010
9:12 am
Aubie–
Not true, you post every day negative comments of resentment about Richt’s salary under one of your fake names.
You can’t handle that Richt gets paid $2,800,000, it fills you with resentment, shows the enoromous gap between his pay, and yours, makes you feel smaller, so you try and bring Richt down to your level so you can feel better about yourself.
Mike
November 15th, 2010
9:14 am
Delbert, just a thought, instead of spending 16 hours on a blog daly talkuing to yourself, why not go out and DO something, instead of just TALK ABOUT IT? Go make millions, why waste your life?
Aubie-won-knobi
November 15th, 2010
9:16 am
independent, I guess you proved our point. Mike is obviously a flea-bag that can’t get over the fact his team lost CONTRARY to all that slobbering tongue wagging we had to endure last week before we played them. 49-31. It’s nice having to no longer to wipe the drool off this blog page.
Dumbfounded
November 15th, 2010
9:16 am
Georgia’s problem may very well begin with the fans. Coach Richt is an honorable man who has done great things at UGA, and competed in a manner which belies his Christian faith and is worth of a Southern gentleman. No one can win big every year in the SEC, or probably any other major conference. Listen to what you are saying, and tell me if that is loyalty to your school and your football team. Great fans love UGA win, lose, or draw simply because they are bulldogs. Don’t malign a man who has done so much for Georgia just because he has one losing season. Give him the benefit of the doubt – you owe him and Georgia that much.