Unless it beats the Gators, UGA will be a 10-2 underachiever
"Wait just a doggone minute! Isn't that the signal for the infield fly?" (AJC photo by Bob Andres)
At the absolute worst, Georgia figures to finish its regular season 10-2. Just last year, a 10-2 regular season yielded an SEC East title and bought Mark Richt a contract extension and was taken as a sign that Georgia football was on the ascent. To go 10-2 again, assuming this 10-2 includes a loss to Florida and the absence of another division title, would be taken as an abject reversal.
Here’s where the Bulldogs’ bunny schedule serves as both boon and burden. Georgia still must play Kentucky, Ole Miss, Auburn and Georgia Tech; the aggregate record of those teams is 7-16. The Bulldogs also will face Georgia Southern, which plays at a lesser level. If Georgia beats those five but loses to Florida, it will be described, oddly but accurately, as a 10-2 underachiever.
When the Bulldogs were going 8-5 in 2009 and 6-7 the next season, the question became: Would they ever win big again? They’ve since gone 15-5, which would seem to offer an answer, but in light of the drubbing administered by South Carolina we note there can be a difference between Winning Big and Winning Big Games. Georgia has come to occupy the space between.
Its last victory over a Top 10 team came when it defeated No. 7 Georgia Tech on Nov. 28, 2009. The Bulldogs last beat an SEC team ranked in the Top 10 on Oct. 27, 2007 (No. 9 Florida in the Gator Stomp game). Their last victory over anybody in the top five came against No. 5 Auburn on Nov. 11, 2006. Since Oct. 30, 2008, Georgia is 4-13 against ranked opposition, and three of those times the Bulldogs were the higher-ranked team.
Coming off their 2011 turnaround, these Bulldogs figured to have much working for them: A fourth-year junior at quarterback, nine defensive starters who are either seniors or juniors and, above all, the softest of schedules. But when you play so few games against opponents of comparable worth and you lose them all, that schedule turns against you. It makes you seem a team that is, as Lou Holtz once said, living a lie.
It would one be one thing if the Bulldogs were capable of no more, if the only thing enabling them to be ranked at all was the canny maximization of modest resources. But you cannot recruit at such an exalted level and then claim personnel bankruptcy. There aren’t 10 more talented teams in the land. So why, when it comes time to step up in class, does Georgia invariably flunk?
We cannot help but look to the coach. It’s his program. He hired these high-salaried assistants, recruited these star-spangled players. And isn’t as if Richt has never won a Big Game: From 2002 through Jan. 1, 2008, Georgia was 22-10 against ranked opponents. It is 6-14 since. It has become the classic bully: It terrorizes the small fry but turns tail when the big boys show up.
After winning the East last year, the Bulldogs faced No. 1 LSU and lost 42-10. After rising to No. 5 in the land this season, they played South Carolina in Columbia and lost 35-7. That’s a 60-point spread in prove-it games, and the latter loss was truly alarming. Georgia wasn’t ready to handle a team like LSU last season, but 1o months later it was even less prepared for what the Gamecocks unleashed. Isn’t experience supposed to be a teaching tool?
Maybe it can still be one. This year isn’t over. If Georgia can beat Florida, there’s a chance the Bulldogs can again win the East. South Carolina would have to lose twice, but its next two games are against LSU and Florida on the road. Even so, the sight of the Gators again on the rise is surely disquieting: Of the four times Georgia has won the SEC East, three came in Year 1 after a Florida coaching change, and the fourth was in Ron Zook’s final season. This is Year 2 for Will Muschamp, and Florida just climbed to No. 4 in the Associated Press poll.
Having lost three in a row to South Carolina, Georgia has already fallen behind the Gamecocks in both standings and hierarchy. If Florida jumps back ahead of the Bulldogs, the Richt renaissance will have been the briefest of moments. His program will be in danger of falling into the hole from which he once rescued it: That time in the ’90s when Florida and Tennessee owned the division and Georgia, under Ray Goff and Jim Donnan, was relegated to third place.
This looked to be the season Richt and his Bulldogs consolidated their hold on the division, and they might yet. But anything less than an East title would rekindle all those questions about Richt. There’s no way Georgia would move to fire a coach who wins 10 games two years running; there’s also no way the second 10-2 would feel half as good as the first.
At some point Georgia has to answer the question, “Yeah, but who did you beat?” And that answer cannot continue to be, “Well, there was that Tech game back in ‘09 …”
By Mark Bradley
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987 comments Add your comment
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
7:57 pm
Quick question!
Has Mark Richt improved our team/program since he’s been here?
Stop! Think about the product we put on the field under Donnan and Goff!
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
7:58 pm
We are twice the program than we were before Richt got here
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:02 pm
RDF, when Richt came to Georgia he did improve our program, then he did the unthinkable. While Bama, UF, ARK, MISS ST, AU, LSU, UT trying or were upgrading their programs, he was resting on his laurels, creating a family environment among his coaching staff, letting the inmates run the asylum. These other schools raised the bar bringing the SEC to the top of the college football kingdom. Richt honestly doesn’t know how to build a program and coach at the level he competes in now.
billydawg
October 8th, 2012
8:03 pm
Worn out with these blogs.
All true and nothing will be done.
Shreveport is calling us.
Toliet bowl calling the insects.
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:03 pm
Let’s don’t forget the 3-4 year rotation of coaching staffs that most teams go through to get “the guy”,
I don’t want that for our program. Even if you catch the ‘next Saban’, who says he even stays here. Maybe he jumps jobs and leaves us in shambles, is that what WE WANT? Let’s don’t forget Saban has had 5 jobs in 15 years
billydawg
October 8th, 2012
8:04 pm
HE has brought the program up but we are finished.
Dont forget donnan and goof.
That70sDawg
October 8th, 2012
8:05 pm
The last 6 national Champs are from the SEC, but we’re not one of them IT’S BEEN 32 YEARS PEOPLE !!!
Enough said- time for a big change here…
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:07 pm
If we win a NatChamp one year, then suck 2 years later (i.e. Auburn) you will be calling for his head as well. When we do finally win one under CMR, you won’t have to worry about sanctions and forfeiture after the fact.
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
8:07 pm
@ Mobile Dawg….The way I see it is he could do no worse with the talent we have than CMR is doing. He would still win 10 or 11 games as we are averaging now but the difference he might bring is a new attitude and some fire!. And with that being said, he might just take our football program to where it should be considering how rich this state is in talent. I have no doubts that he could find a quality staff eager to come to UGA and not take the BS that we’re seeing out of our current assistant coaches.. I know CMR is a good man and he has my utmost respect but I just think he lacks at the important details of college coaching in this conference. He’s like a bottle of valium at times.
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:09 pm
I’ll take stability and a chance to be in the conversation every year. If you ask any GREAT COACH of any sport, they will tell you that’s all you can hope for in Sports
drew
October 8th, 2012
8:10 pm
The reason Richt doesn’t get fired is because his teams consistently beat GT
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:10 pm
Hey Jefferson, will you defend this ‘next coach’ for the 1st 3 seasons as he goes 8-4
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
8:11 pm
I also read that UGA recruits only thugs. Well, every other SEC team is recruiting the same thugs as we are! The difference being, outside the drug policy, is they are told walking thru the door, “we won’t put up with it for a minute”. They seem to stay straight elsewhere, or else it’s all covered up which I think is for the most part hardly the case. I don’t think the players signing at UGA are getting the stearn talks they should be from the git go!
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:11 pm
RDF, I don’t have an accurate gauge on what “most” fans want. Most of the Richt lovers are in hiding, the few that are here are posting under different names. Guys like Altamaha, who isn’t a Richt lover, are probably trying to figure out what their position is before coming back. While I was calling for Richts head three years ago, I know it was premature for the brass to drop the hammer on him. It’s going to take someone with a backbone to make the decision to fire CMR but IMO it’s necessary.
Glory Between the Hedges
October 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
Funny that richt dodged the radio show
FLA DAWG
October 8th, 2012
8:13 pm
WHY UGA WILL NOT BEAT GATORS
Richt, Bobo & Grantham
FIRE RICHT – HIRE DEREK DOOLEY
He Hate Gator
October 8th, 2012
8:15 pm
Unfortunately RDG, he did not continue to improve, the last 4 years are what I would expect of Donnan. If you are not trying to be the best then what are you? How many times has UF changed head coach and where are they ranked today? You can’t be aftraid to succeed. You can’t be afraid to be more than you are now. Me, I am a 1979 UGA grad and I’d rather try to reach for the stars and fail, then continue status quo. I want them to BE the best if it means changing coaches every year…
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:15 pm
Im not a Richt lover, just a Richt defender!
He’s done better than any coach we’ve ever had (1 National Champ w/ Hershel is not great, we were terrible the year before)
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:16 pm
Hogg, I fully support a change, I just hope they get the right guy if they decide a change is necessary. Remember, Bama offered Rich Rod before they got Saban. Problem is it does take backbone to fire a popular, likable guy with integrety like Richt when he’s winning 9, 10, maybe even 11 games a year. Do we have anybody with that much backbone?
Bull Meacham
October 8th, 2012
8:17 pm
Best article ever Mark. And Honey Bo Bo gotta go!
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:18 pm
Really? You want to rotate coaches every 3 years chasing your tail?
And by the way, UF hasn’t accomplished anything yet under Muschamp
And what if we suck 2 years later? WILL YOU STILL BE HAPPY?
SEC Observer
October 8th, 2012
8:18 pm
Beast & TampaGator, congrats on a big win. Muschamp out coached us.
Geaux Tigers
Go SEC
He Hate Gator
October 8th, 2012
8:19 pm
See RDG…you’re afraid…
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
8:21 pm
Real Dawg Fan
I will support the new coach if the 1st 3 years look someone like this
5-7
6-6
8-4
Year 4 should have 10 wins with a victory over FL somewhere in that and at least 400 to 600 avg record against FL
Year 4 and beyond should have a 500 record against the top 10 and 700 against the top 25
Thats not to hard with the talent that is in this state
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:21 pm
You guys sound like my buddy that dates an 8, but always thinks he deserves a 10.
Stay with the 1 who wants you! You guys act like we are some pinnacle of coaching.
What if “the next Saban” jumps ship after 3 years (i.e. Urban Meyer& Saban had 5 jobs in 15 years)
ZinoDawg
October 8th, 2012
8:22 pm
I knew something was bad wrong when the D couldn’t stop Buffalo or FAU. Dawgs have the big time players but those players seem to have no heart. Very disappointing.
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
8:23 pm
@ Real Dawgs Fan, Rebuilding is a tricky process.Thats kind of a loaded question but I would first say no! I think you would agree. But are you content in turning on the TV or attending our games every time we play a quality opponent and watching us lose another one? Yes, CMR has won a lot of games in his tenure but what percentage of top 25 teams have those victories came against. I for one am tired of UGA being the 32 yr sleeping giant especially with or resources, fan base and as talent rich as this state is. As much as it pains me, Alabama, UF, etc demand excellence and tend to get very good results. There’s no reason we can’t be on par or even better than those guys…jus sayin
He Hate Gator
October 8th, 2012
8:23 pm
Urban Meyer and Nick Saban win championships
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:24 pm
Sometimes it takes a little perspective to understand whats best for you in life. I know you all think you have your finger on the pulse of College Football today, but in time you will eventually come around to whats true.
Real Dawgs Fan
October 8th, 2012
8:26 pm
Urban Meyer and Nick Saban win championships
Then they Leave. That what you want? 1 Nat Champ then suck (i.e. Auburn)
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:26 pm
RDF, yes, I would be willing to take that chance for a change. Reality is that until the people sitting in the seats quit showing up, merchandise sales go down, Hartman Fund contributions fall, no one will be willing to axe Richt. My guess is he does enough to keep his job for the short term future, that being this year and next. If the seat gets really hot again he will retire. Just my guess, meanwhile those that desire consistency and a championship will continue to be disappointed.
72 Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:28 pm
I have been a Georgia fan for 42 years, and a supporter of Richt up until the SC game. NO MORE!!! There is no excuse, and can never be an excuse for this humiliation we received! When I see Richt now all I want to do is just PUKE!!!!!!!!
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:30 pm
RDF, for most of us college football is entertainment, but it is also a business. Tell you what, you talk Mark Richt into taking a 2 mil dollar a year pay cut (about what he’s worth) and see if he’s willing to stay.
Glory Between the Hedges
October 8th, 2012
8:31 pm
If I knew there was a coach that would only stay about 5 years and win us a national title or two I would gladly take him.
He Hate Gator
October 8th, 2012
8:31 pm
RDF, Richt is in the top 10 in salary….when’s the last time UGA finished a season in the Top 10?
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:33 pm
Flat, I believe your numbers are skewed on the low side. Like Hogg said, with our current talent base I don’t think we would see a big drop off on W’s on the front end. The grit test would probably come in year 3 or 4 to see if he could maintain and improve the current program. He would inherit an enormous amount of talent on the current roster.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
8:33 pm
Real Dawgs Fan
Go pull for Vandy and GT those programs only goal is to either beat UGA aka GT or upset a mid tier SEC school aka Vandy
If UGA’s goal is not to win championships then they owe season ticket holders a refund of the donations they are required to make to get season tickets. Something I know you dont purchase since you make such stupid statements as you do
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
8:34 pm
@ Mobile Dawg 8:26…..Unfortunatley, I agree. I just hope that Mcgarrity learned a little something from Foley and will shoot for bigger and better things than the status quo.
carlos berenguer
October 8th, 2012
8:36 pm
The blame should be on coach Grantham’s shoulder. With the players he has available he should not be allowing more than 20 points a game. Instead our defense has been tried in every game including Buffalo but nobody seems to notice that this guy is a chump and does not know what he is doing. If you watched the first quarter of the Carolina game you can see that the defense was confused and overwhelm by the play of Connor Shaw
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:38 pm
JDH, I don’t expect a shake up until Adams is out of the picture. McGarity couldn’t make that decision on his own.
Apostle
October 8th, 2012
8:38 pm
As long as Rev. Richt is in charge the Dawgs will not live up to their talent.He must go….
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
8:41 pm
Love how they screen the callers on the call in show
Wow They must pay these people
JB
October 8th, 2012
8:41 pm
I have seen NOTHING of that LSU offense that will give Carolina trouble. Look for chickens to come with the win 21-10
Glory Between the Hedges
October 8th, 2012
8:43 pm
This radio show is a.joke tonight…These calls are screened!
Pitbull
October 8th, 2012
8:43 pm
The sky is falling! the sky is falling!
People, get a life.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
8:45 pm
Pitbull
Take your advice and get off the blog and grab another refreshing glass of kool-aid
JB
October 8th, 2012
8:45 pm
Florida, LSU and Bama all have something Georgia doesn’t have. Support from the Governor, the Board of Regents, The School President and the AD, all on the same page, wanting to win Championships. If we had it, Richt would be gone. The whole country see’s it except the bubble in Athens.
Pitbull
October 8th, 2012
8:45 pm
PS Mark, anyone who ends up a sports writer is underachieving.
Fix your own house.
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
8:48 pm
Come on Pitbull, did the sky hit you in the head when it fell Saturday night?
JB
October 8th, 2012
8:48 pm
I’d have to say at this point, if you support Richt, you are a Obama voter……Lot’s of good speech and little results