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
Time
November 13th, 2010
10:34 pm
Time for Richt to go. Really, it’s a year overdue.
doggit
November 13th, 2010
10:34 pm
You stay classy Auburn
Dawglasville
November 13th, 2010
10:34 pm
Home for the Holidays – So, is Saban or Meyer walking in here tomorrow?
jeff
November 13th, 2010
10:35 pm
Yes Auburn clinched the west, but would you want to do it the way they have? I’m a UF Fan but felt bad for Georgia today. Auburn will be Atlanta but not before an ass kicking by the Tide. Kind of takes the luster off the SEC Title Game.
Katherine
November 13th, 2010
10:35 pm
Hello
November 13th, 2010
10:22 pm
Hey Katherine… You mean like the Karma that was repaid from when the jawaja players were dancing to soldier boy on the sidelines BEFORE THE GAME WAS OVER.. You just got served. Hope you enjoy it.
I hope you enjoy your loss to SC tonight as well…
Why I hate college football
November 13th, 2010
10:35 pm
And they should pay more a QB also.
james
November 13th, 2010
10:35 pm
uga has whipped auburn azz the last four years. what is all this getting mark richt fired.you guys are some sore losers.mike bobo needs to go.
Big Wally Dawg
November 13th, 2010
10:36 pm
Your comparisons to Nick Saban are off. Saban’s teams practice hard and hit. Our team is practicing their high dives.
GwinnettDad
November 13th, 2010
10:36 pm
Now, let me get this straight. UGA fired their defensive coaches last year, and hired new ones. Anybody seen any improvement?
stendek
November 13th, 2010
10:36 pm
GO MARK WRETCH GO! To Colorado. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Wretch is now 13-12 over his last 25 games. A real keeper. How damn true guy! No wonder UGA fell asleep. Not of Dawg Nation expectations! STENDEK
Katherine
November 13th, 2010
10:36 pm
I hope you all enjoy the loss to SC too
The Alpha Male
November 13th, 2010
10:37 pm
Just once, I wish someone who actually knew something about football….. heaven forbid, someone who actually PLAYED the game…. would get a job as a sports columnist.
Bradley, you don’t know dick about UGA football or the politics behind it. Damon Evans is gone and because of that, the future of UGA football is going to get better fast.
Dawg Fans
November 13th, 2010
10:37 pm
You Cant Hide class… That’s why chop block players and tackle them and then punch them in the back…..
Au_Alum
November 13th, 2010
10:37 pm
To those of you calling Nick Fairley a thug….really? The first hit might could have stopped but let’s remember that this guy weighs 298 lbs! How many of you can say you haw been going full force and was successful in stoppig that momentum ina split second. As far as the last hit on Murray, go back and watch the hit his head is down so now this “thug” also is a psychic that knew when he let go of that ball? Even more I have seen this guy hit first hand all year and if it was intentional and full out your quarterback would probably need surgery!!! You should also think about the fact that the play after 4 of your guys INTENTIONALLY jumped on him bur I guess that is ok. Yes, the punches were stupid and that is why those guys will pay consequences! Let’s also remember just about every Georgia player came on field during fight, which could have resulted in a riot!
I coach and I am all about sportsmanship, but you must also remember some of these guys have worked their whole lives to go away from people calling them thugs so how about next time y’all use that word think about that. You may not agree but the Georgia players did not show any better class.
bart
November 13th, 2010
10:38 pm
Hershel Talker, you are so right. These Richt apologists are pretty much idiots. I guess they like losing and being embarassed week after week. Grantham is an expensive joke. The program has been losing ground since Van Gorder left. After 10 years we should be reloading rather than rebuilding. Garner is not doing the job of recruiting. In fact, what coach is doing his job? We are being outcoached week after week. I wish we would be lucky enough for Richt to go to Colorado, but it won’t happen. It looks like we’ll be stuck with Richt another year based on what McGarity has said, but some changes will have to be made. The guys with the big donor bucks are not going to stand for mediocrity very long.
Jack
November 13th, 2010
10:38 pm
Richt leaving for Miami opr FSU or Michigan or Penn St. Expect news soon.
Jack
November 13th, 2010
10:38 pm
Or Tenn.
Cobb Dawg
November 13th, 2010
10:38 pm
Fitten, you’re right on the money. I was thinking the same thing(s). Richt, a nice guy, is over his head. I’m a nice guy and I would be too. Muschamp to UGA, Richt to CU!
PHIL
November 13th, 2010
10:39 pm
Au Alum no he’s just a thug. Did you see how he acted running down the field all by himself, chest thumping like an ape? He’s a thug.
jon
November 13th, 2010
10:39 pm
i had a bad feeling when we did that stupid wildcat thing…
Oh oh oh....
November 13th, 2010
10:39 pm
katherine.. We have already beaten the gamecocks and will do so again….. Sorry the thugs had such disappointing season…. Maybe clark county will let the good players out in time for the Auburn game next year.
Why I hate college football
November 13th, 2010
10:39 pm
How many of the idiots on this blog that seem to live and die by UGA football could even find Athens on a map?
PHIL
November 13th, 2010
10:40 pm
bart you are such a moron
PHIL
November 13th, 2010
10:41 pm
Cobb Dawg you seen Muschamps defense this year? You think UT thinks he’s earning that big pay check?
Darrell Searcy
November 13th, 2010
10:41 pm
I don’t have anything against Mark richt but theirs definitly a motivational problem with the bulldogs,changes has to be made on offense,defense ,special teams all aspects of the game.
PHIL
November 13th, 2010
10:42 pm
Why I hate college football. Let’s change that to even read the words on a map. I believe it’s only UGA fans, though. It’s embarrassing.
Jack
November 13th, 2010
10:42 pm
No, Richt ain’t run out of steam, but using this story line at the AJC has. Come on, 3 years, blah, blah, bah, write somethign new instead of rehashing old articles.
Mike Addington
November 13th, 2010
10:43 pm
I don’t know how many times Newton ran straight up the middle but it had to be one out of every three plays. Seems like we could have adjusted to that play (if it can be called that). I was glad to see the players take it upon themselves to run a play right at Fairly. I think it was Ealey who speared him. That’s the way the old time players used to do to dirty players. Keep running plays right at them and have about four guys hit him at once. I’m still amazed that we had so much fire and then nothing. With Houston speaking out about guys not playing assignments, I’m thinking there must be some real problems with the program. It of course has been obvious for a couple or three years that we haven’t looked like a Georgia team but I couldn’t tell what the problem was. Now it seems like there is no direction or “director.” We have some of the best talent in the country and I think better than any team we’ve played this year but just look totally disorganized. The secondary is all over the field, sometimes yards away from receivers (still). I think it’s time for a change. If a classless bum like that Auburn coach and his moron linemen, who looked like a fuuuuu baboon strutting on the sideline can beat us, I’m ashamed to be a Dawg. No, I’m ashamed that our coaches are Dawgs.
jon
November 13th, 2010
10:43 pm
it’s true i’ve never coached, but why did he even call that play? looked like the other stuff was working fairly well up to that point
kirk herbstreit
November 13th, 2010
10:43 pm
Face the fact UGA fans your team is average at best. Since the beginning of last year 13-11 with a couple of FCS wins in there. Average coaching, average players (you really like Ealey and King at RB?) with a few exceptions like Green. Defense is miserable, not much talent outside of Houston. How many times has this program been torched for 40 or more the past few years. Yet UGA fans seem to think they’re supposed to be in NC hunt every year. Big disconnect. By the way to guy that said UGA is on the way back since Evans is gone, seems they did pretty good during his tenure.
Jack
November 13th, 2010
10:44 pm
Hope Bradley & Schultz get Phil Fulmer in at UGA after a team grabs Richt up. Medicority loves company.
DinD
November 13th, 2010
10:44 pm
Bradley regurgitates the exact same article he has written at least 3 times this year. Is his pay been cut by two-thirds? I certainly hope so…
Jack
November 13th, 2010
10:45 pm
One wonders how Schultz & Bradley can recognize mediocrity so easily?
shut up and support
November 13th, 2010
10:45 pm
He’ll be fine, Newton’s a stud, Chizik and AU will be pedestrian at best without him, on probation for years at worst without him, and the Dogs will be fine. Coaches don’t forget how to coach.
bart
November 13th, 2010
10:46 pm
Thanks, Phil, same to you. If you disagree with anything I said, then, man, you are the idiot, or do you like seeing the Bulldogs get worse every year? I for one do not like mediocrity, especially since we are paying our coach 3 million a year.
R
November 13th, 2010
10:47 pm
Tech fan here—good to see the dawgs lose, but I must say that
# 90 for AU is a real cheap shot artist. He should be suspended and not allowed to play again this year.No place in football for that crap. Looked as if he was trying to hurt the dawg quarterback.
Just Say'n
November 13th, 2010
10:47 pm
Duke and Maryland play better football
Big Wally Dawg
November 13th, 2010
10:47 pm
Don’t worry Dawg fans, karma has it’s way. Fairley will be on one of those ESPN 30/30 shows in five years, when he is in prison.
Au_Alum
November 13th, 2010
10:48 pm
Phil, if he is such a thug then tell me how he managed to get out of the pile with your guys on top and manage to not get in the middle of the fight. Any “thug” would not have self control and oh I guess the refs are thugs too since one was right there for the hit and called nothing. Ummmm….
Supes
November 13th, 2010
10:48 pm
Mark, good job once again. Calling it like it is….even if RICHT is instructing his players to watch out for the onside kick but they DON’T…you can’t get rid of all the players…and here is the bigger question….why are there so many fundamental breakdowns…it’ all comes down from LACK OF DISCIPLINE and COACHING….
Time for a change in Athens.
Dawglasville
November 13th, 2010
10:49 pm
- Murray was not available to the media after the game. But no one appeared worried about his injury, which Richt called a blow to the knee. The coach said it was nothing “structural,” and that Murray wanted to go back in the game.
For those who are wondering. This was from Seth Emerson’s post game blog. With Murray I believe we will beat Tech. Of course, that will not keep them off of our blogs under other names.
Cobb Dawg
November 13th, 2010
10:49 pm
AU_Alum, you seem to be a typical Alabama (Auburn) hayseed. Your logic is uncircumspect, your sentence structure is beyond flawed, and your grammar is…………Alabam’ish.” Did you really attend classes at AU? And, if so, did they really allow you to graduate? Do you really believe what you wrote?!?!?
BG
November 13th, 2010
10:49 pm
Mark, How about Auburn playing Cam when all of America knows he took money under the table??
Spizzerinctum
November 13th, 2010
10:49 pm
I continue to be amazed at the Richt bashing by Mark Bradley. He must love to incite some of the emotional respones posted here. Why not bash Paul Johnsor or Urban Meyer – their record this year is no better than UGAs.
Jack
November 13th, 2010
10:50 pm
Georgia held Newton to 150 rushing, better than either SC or Ark, just wasn’t enough.
Boise Dawg
November 13th, 2010
10:51 pm
I don’t know what will happen with Auburn… maybe a national title and nothing more. Today though, I would rather be a dawg and have Mark Richt as my head coach. I wouldn’t trade anything for Cam Newton or Gene Chizik.
LMFAO
November 13th, 2010
10:52 pm
Oh Mr. R., I will be very polite to get it by the AJC.
You are no Tech fan. You are a dumabass, redneck.
Your team lost by 20 today, to go to 5 and 6. Deal with it.
ryan
November 13th, 2010
10:52 pm
SEC championship set South Carolina vs Auburn
kirk herbstreit
November 13th, 2010
10:53 pm
Spizz–Urban Meyer has 2 nc’s in the last 5 years. He gets a pass for this season. Mark Richt has now lost 11 games in not quite 2 season and could still have a losing season this year. The trend is down.
RichtfrmColorado: A lot colder here than I thought it was
November 13th, 2010
10:54 pm
“Some guys are not as focused as they need to be.”
at least we know these guys football careers will end in college. They better get the most out of it now cause they’ll be flipping burgers and cleaning up other peoples trash for the rest of their lives.