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
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
10:37 pm
Kirby Smart would be an unmitigated disaster of Goff proportions. Goff had fire, too. Smart is nothing but Saban’s puppet merely holding the spot of “coordinator”. That is Saban’s defense. We have a coordinator in the job now, let’s get a winner, please.
…and DD, no one would laugh at a $6 million offer…no one.
LowcountryDawg
October 8th, 2012
10:37 pm
Seems we all have a consensus here, Richt leaves.
The Bear
October 8th, 2012
10:38 pm
@James K Polk what do you have now?
BobDawg
October 8th, 2012
10:39 pm
Some of you fellow DAwg Fans forget that McGarity did not give Richt a standard length of contract increase. He is on a short “leash”. The AD learned from Foley well.
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
10:41 pm
Bear, I guess my overall message is simply that the University of Georgia is capable of being a program that is always in contention for titles. Were you asking about a message to a specific question. If so, I may have missed what you were asking.
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
10:43 pm
Polks comments are true. A coach is only as good as his assistants in most cases. Why has noone knocked on Bobo’s door. JB was right about how the rest of the league views our OC…..as in not a threat, but we hang onto him because he recruits S Ga so well
Layinlow
October 8th, 2012
10:43 pm
Toccoa, so you approve of richt’s record against ranked opponents the last four years? Losing three years in a row to usc and getting humiliated on national tv? I don ‘t understand you richt apologist in light of how poorly the team has performed against better competition the last four or five years. I feel certain that richt won’t finish his current contract so better days are ahead for uga.
Tampa Bay Fan
October 8th, 2012
10:43 pm
James K Polk, I will guarantee you that Gruden has had more than $6 million offered to him by multiple NFL owners and he stayed in the booth. Gruden was always better coaching veteran players. He won with Gannon and Brad Johnson. He did not develop players. He readily admitted that he didn’t like coaching up young players. He’s fool’s gold for a college program.
Hugh
October 8th, 2012
10:45 pm
I just want Richt to man up and take responsibility. The best he can do is to say we got physically whipped? Yes, our OL physically got whipped. If he’s saying or D got physically whipped, the he and Grantham owe us an explanation? The SC center got an award for pancaking John Jenkins and Geathers and Abry Jones? Someone needs to explain this to me. And why are the writers asking Burnette about Richt’s failure to win big games. Come on Mark come out from hiding and answer these questions yourself. Stop hiding behind your players. All the ABH can offer is Grantham saying that now that his starters are back everything is going to be all better. Pure hogwash. Bradley, you are the only writer that has the guts to ask the obvious questions. Please don’t stop asking. And by the way. Yes, SC kicked our OL butts, but coaching and a little defense could have made a game of it. I don’t think asking a freshman RB to help out on JC (by sticking his elbow out) makes much sense. There was no plan to max protect. You completely under estimated your opposition. Did you watch film? Did Bobo watch film? Did anyone watch film?
Lakedawg
October 8th, 2012
10:45 pm
Just love all the know it alls talking about coaches for UGA. Folks Dawgs have their coach until 2020. CMR will break Dooley’s all time win record at UGA before retiring.
My predicition is that Dawgs beat the west division Dawgs in SEC championship game, then see how many fair weather fans are big Dawg fans again.
The Bear
October 8th, 2012
10:45 pm
Thanks for response just wondering why Kirby would be a bust? And I would hate to see Kirby leave he is more than a puppet rest assured of that.
Dacusville Bill
October 8th, 2012
10:45 pm
What would Wally Butts do in a situation like this? I know–call Bear—So Richt should call Saben– I don’t know what they’d talk about, but at least it would be something he could do—
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
10:49 pm
I don’t think he’s been offered $6 million…at least, not from an owner of a team of which he thought he could actually win. Look, I’m not saying he would take it. I’m merely suggesting that we offer it. I promise you that he’d take a few days to think about it.
I think he’d be pretty good with young players. Why wouldn’t he be? Even if he wasn’t, he could hire coaches to relate to the kids. It’s not like Saban is some kind of model of coolness for the modern youth. Kids will follow true leadership. Though, I agree that he may not want to deal with academic or political issues that arise in college. But, let’s throw some figures at him and find out.
Layinlow
October 8th, 2012
10:53 pm
Lakedqwg, richt’s current contract structure sure doesn’t suggest he will be here in 2020. In fact if they continue to perform poorly against the better sec teams i think he will be gone after the 2013 season at the latest. And your prediction is ludicrous, uf will kick our arse and all of us non- koolaide drinkers know it. So there will be no sec championship game and we will probably lose our bowl game to a second rate big ten team.
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
10:53 pm
I just don’t want any more experiments with coordinators. This isn’t the type of place for on the job training. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be. I think that Bama’s defense is Saban’s baby, and Kirby Smart would be completely lost without Saban. Of course, I could be wrong. But, I don’t wish to gamble three years at Georgia to find out. Let him cut his teeth somewhere else. If he hacks it there, then take a look at him.
The Tide is Rolling and Nothing can stop it
October 8th, 2012
10:54 pm
I tried to tell you guys all off season not to get too hopeful about your awesome coordinator that averaged 39 pts to ranked teams
But you just wanted to blame it on the offense.
Then, you thought you had an awesome offense.
32 years boys!
Ed
October 8th, 2012
11:01 pm
Fire Richt!
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
11:02 pm
@ The Bear….agreed!…he is not a puppet by any means, btut an intregal part of their program, and would add some fire!. Too many Sabanite’s make fine coaches. I’ve heard many a Bama fan speak very highly of Smart and he would recruit well based on his resume. Sling 6 mil at Gruden and 3.75 at Smart and see who bite’s. I think it’s a win win….
Tampa Bay Fan
October 8th, 2012
11:04 pm
Nothing wrong with asking the question. I’m a Gruden fan and i’ve followed him closely. Heck, he did the impossible – won the SB for the Bucs! So I’m not running him down. But he’s an NFL guy. He left the Bucs in bad shape by looking more for vet free agents than building through the draft. He wants guys who already know what they’re doing. Time limits for practices? The NCAA’s foolish rules? Just can’t see that world being Chucky’s thing. I’d love to see how he’d do, but I think it would be a bad fit (Gruden and college football).
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
11:05 pm
Most all great head coaches started out as coordinaters somewhere…..maybe all of them…
2georgiadawgs
October 8th, 2012
11:07 pm
Gotta say I am tired of the CMR attitude, or lack there of! If our AD sends him packing, who does he go after? I read everyone’s after CMR head, but not much opinion on who would be next!
Hairy Dawg
October 8th, 2012
11:09 pm
Get these Rolling Tidey Bowl Trolls and there turdy ideas off our site. Dawgs are table running and then coming for Bammer in the Dome. (unless Bama slips up again to lose West but still back there lard rears into BCS game.) I figures Bammer proved last year that all teams in SEC get 1 mulligans before winning Nat Champs. Dawgs done used mulligan up but we don’t need no more anyways. We just beat Gaytors and laugh at Scar choke as usual. Then we go to ATL Dome wher maybe we see Bammer if Rolling Turds is lucky. Can’t wait to junkyard bite that sorry Saban. Go Dawgs!
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
11:10 pm
The last five games of 2007 Mark Richt was the football coach we all hoped that he would be. He coached with fire and passion, he had his team ready to play, and he had a game plan to destroy the opponent. It’s the only time that we saw what this football program is capable of. We played a top 10 Florida team, a top 20 Auburn and Tech, and a top 5, undefeated team in our bowl game…none came within 10 points of us. He coached his tail off…for half a season. If Richt wants to keep his job, he better find that late 2007 version of himself. THAT was the coach I want at Georgia. Of course, a similar uninspiring performance against Tennessee that year cost us a title shot, but those last 5 games were his best at Georgia. I don’t know what happened to turn that side of him on, and I don’t know what turned it off. I also have zero confidence that it will ever return. If it does, we will win. If not, we will also win, but without him as coach.
Jefferson Davis Hogg
October 8th, 2012
11:11 pm
Offer gruden 6 mil as stated above and Smart 3.75 and see what happens…..To me it’s a win win. Either of them given CMR’s tallented player could do just as well and my guess is even better because they have some spirit and fire about them that my coach doesn’t possess
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
October 8th, 2012
11:13 pm
So Mushcamp will probably get Coach Of The Year, which means another bonus.
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
11:18 pm
2georgiadawgs, go to the previous page and look at the list I compiled…it’s pretty good. Of course, I’m free from the politics of the realities of being the A.D. At the university of Georgia (though I deal with university politics daily as a college professor). However, I’m confident that our A.D. has a similar, well thought out list, and would work to get the best man of the bunch. I hope so, anyway. Otherwise, I should apply for HIS job.
LakeDawg
October 8th, 2012
11:19 pm
Despite 24 years of underachieving, UGA is still traditionally the #3 program in the SEC and #10 in the nation. 3rd most SEC titles, third most all-time wins (#10 in the nation). The last 20 years of population/economic boom in GA makes GA a potential top five program in the nation with its resources. It is truly a sleeping giant. Just need a coach. CMR is piling up an impressive won/loss record while sleepwalking. UGA’s coaching hires since Dooley retired are pitiful. Goff and Donnan couldn’t buy a head coaching job and Richt won’t ever get another big time job when he leaves. That tells you all you need to know about the quality of coaches UGA has hired.
BTW I would be estatic with Gruden. Don’t won’t Mullen (hate the the spread), D. Dooley is a non starter, Peterson would be great, and I’m willing to give K. Smart a shot.
LakeDawg
October 8th, 2012
11:25 pm
Just for the record, please don’t confuse me with Lakedawg (lower case “d”). He is an idiot.
bubba4dawgs
October 8th, 2012
11:26 pm
This game was a wake up call for the DAWGS! Plain and simple, they are much better than they played! They came out flat and got their a**es kicked! I believe Murray is a better quarterback thank he showed. The O line was completely outmanned! My gosh, the entire O line was pushed back into Murray’s face on almost every play!
Prediction: SC will NOT win out! LSU will be rebounding after loss to Florida and Florida will be hungry for SC as well. UGA still has a chance to redeem themselves and I believe they will be looking to do just that after that performance! (non-performance, I should say).
We gotta stick with them regardless of the outcome! They’re our team no matter what! Frankly, I’m looking for better days ahead!! GO DAWGS!!
LowcountryDawg
October 8th, 2012
11:27 pm
What about Pete Carrol
LowcountryDawg
October 8th, 2012
11:27 pm
*Carroll
LakeDawg
October 8th, 2012
11:27 pm
BTW Dooley built this program. Richt is standing on his shoulders. The state of Georgia didn’t have all of the adsvantages it has now when he coached. It was much like the surrounding states.
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
11:30 pm
LakeDawg (capital L) has a very good point. If Richt retired tomorrow, what program would take him? The best he would be able to do is NC State or Boston College…as LakeDawg said…”that’s all you need to know”.
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
11:35 pm
If Pete Carroll got fired by Seattle, he’d be choice #1. You give him whatever he wanted. However, I don’t know how the blue-bloods who run our program would feel about Pete.
LowcountryDawg
October 8th, 2012
11:42 pm
True, we need a hard coach who is used to taking little resources and producing great results. When he comes to UGA it will be a talent buffet.
James K Polk
October 8th, 2012
11:44 pm
LakeDawg has another good point about Dooley, though I’d make some revisions. The state has always been rich in football talent, but most of the time Dooley was here any prominent high school athlete had Bama and the Bear on their minds. Everyone in the state wanted to play for the Bear. However, Herschel changed the dynamics. Since he came to Georgia and Bear died, Georgia athletes wanted to be Herschel. That’s a powerful psychological pull that still exists. The problem is that we have no titles since Herschel, so in the late ’80s our athletes began to go to Auburn and Florida State…then, in the ’90s, everyone in the state went to Florida and Tennessee. In the 2000s they went back to wanting to come here. Now, it’s Bama again. But Saban doesn’t have the pull that Bear had…mainly because Bear was at Bama for over 20 years. Saban is not as established, so the opportunity to get in-state talent is there for the taking. We do pretty well now, but if we were contending every year we would get almost all of our in-state talent. All we need is a coach that actually wants to win.
wreckmaniac
October 9th, 2012
12:06 am
UGA fans, although many complain, are,in reality, perfectly satisfied with what they have. They beat Tech and bring in many 5 stars. Those are the key criteria. UGA will always go to some bowl game and win many. Why can’t it be recognized that this is acceptable ? In reality, to say “My team must play (and win) a BCS game” is really a tall order. Why is it not acceptable to go 10-2, not win the East division, and play in the Gator or Liberty or Peach Bowl ? This is nothing to be ashamed. I think the vast majority of UGA fans are happy with this as fans of many teams would be.
wreckmaniac
October 9th, 2012
12:24 am
The sign of a rudderless team is when the fans go from the “Gershall” stupidity to “Malcolm is the next great one” in one week. They believe that what they thought last week is irrelevant. With fickle UGA fans you won’t hear the “Gershall” baloney again unless Marshall and Gurly run for 200 againast FL. There will be no more “junque yard dawg” talk this year either which is, next to “Hushel”, the most revered name in dawgdom.
wreckmaniac
October 9th, 2012
12:25 am
By the time Gruden or Carroll picked your pocket, the state would have to get loans from China.
RamblingWreck
October 9th, 2012
12:33 am
Georgia (Herschel) like Auburn (Cam) caught lightening in a bottle and won a National Championship. Unfortunately, they both have became delusional thinking both have top tier football programs . The S Carolina game served as a reminder of your mid level status.
Stephen A. Dawg: I keep saying it : ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !
October 9th, 2012
12:50 am
I told y’all back in January this mess at UGA would continue after the “team loss” to Michigan St. in the bowl game. Here’s the encore of my January 2012 anti-RICHT rant:
________________________________________________________________
All this means is what I’ve said about Richt is true that he cannot and will not change. He is stuck on playing favorites. Murray is Richt’s starting QB for as long as he has eligibility. Mason has been shelved a year because LeMay is better suited to be the backup now. Richt has ran a Jedi-Mind trick on Mason because this dumb plan won’t work unless Murray gets hurt or leaves early. Honestly, let’s hope Murray leaves early like a fool because he really is not what the pros want because he’s too short. Anyway by that time LeMay will be rising to be a starter at QB, just to sit the bench to watch Mason be given the job for waiting out Murray. In other words there will be no competition for the starting QB position at UGA. Richt will continue to tell his puppet Bobo who is entitled to the starting QB job. There is NO WAY in the world we will ever see a national title at UGA while Richt continues to play games and give the positions to his favorites ! It doesn’t matter if UGA finds the second coming of Herschel, as long as Richt is around he will find ways to waste talent and keep the Dawgs locked up in mediocrity. Richt has made Murray a lifetime starter just to build his stats and pro dreams and not to make UGA a serious BCS contender by opening up a three way QB competition. Get ready for more mediocre 8 or 9 win seasons y’all.
Stephen A. Dawg: I keep saying it : ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !
October 9th, 2012
1:03 am
Richt is being paid $ 3 million a year to make Georgia nationally irrelevant in football. He must me ran out in order for UGA to move forward and not backwards. It’s official Spurrier and his ‘Cocks have moved ahead of Georgia. Muschamp and his Gators are salty and beginning to believe in themselves again. If they beat the ‘Cocks and rout UGA as expected they will rise to # 2 in the nation and will collect a few votes for #1. Meanwhile Richt will beat mediocre teams as he always does to finish 10-2 and go to an Orlando bowl only to lose to a BIG 10 team. So there you have it, another 10-3 mediocre season and # 18 finish in the polls. Richt will ask for a contract extension & raise and most likely will get it ! LOL!
Stephen A. Dawg: I keep saying it : ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !
October 9th, 2012
1:11 am
John Gruden would be a poor choice as a Richt replacement. He’s in the TV booth calling games for a reason and noboby with any common sense would want him to be their head coach. He’s washed up and burnt out as a coach. He makes easy money trying to imitate John Madden. He definately is not the answer for solving the problems at Georgia. He would give us the same results as Richt with a Chuckie scowl on his face !!
Stephen A. Dawg: Pete the Cheat will never put UGA on probation and flee to the UFL !!
October 9th, 2012
1:19 am
Get lost Polk !!! We definately DO NOT WANT PETE ”the cheat” CARROLL at UGA !! Auburn will have an opening soon and Pete Carroll would be a nice fit. Polk hows about you calling up Pat Dye and recommending Carroll to “WAR EAGLE” !! Carroll doesn’t eat grits and won’t fit in any way at UGA !!
1DogRun
October 9th, 2012
1:20 am
lsu and fla will beat south carolina–book it! ga can beat fla again and win the east at 11-1! this time, the dogs will pull the upset over alabama!
Stephen A. Dawg.
October 9th, 2012
1:39 am
There is no need to rush in the search for the next UGA head coach. We have the rest of this season and for sure by the end of next season. The Richt regime will end this season on a firery hotseat if he survives and will resign or retire immediately after the 2013 season if he is not fired outright. Like it or not we are in the last days of the Richt era unless he can either shock the world and walk on water to beat UF, win out, and beat Bama in the SECCG. But it’s not going to happen because Richt and Murray always suffer “team losses” to ranked teams in big games. We need to take our time and wait for a proven winner for a coach to emerge , no more coordinators to head coach stuff or hiring talking heads from ESPN. I like that high powered offense of that West Va. head coach and the Boise ST. head guy knows how to win with less. We need to be watchful the next UGA head ball coach is out there. Be patient. Go DOGS !!
Gruden!
October 9th, 2012
1:42 am
offer gruden whatever he wants—for enough money he’ll take the job. It may be $6-7 million but he’s worth it. He can win the title at uga!
Live from Camp Bastion Afghanistan
October 9th, 2012
2:03 am
That game was a true dumpster fire!
Sad, to watch! The staff in Athens must Go!
Live from Camp Bastion Afghanistan
October 9th, 2012
2:05 am
1DogRun.
nope, you’re drinking the kool aid just like i was my friend. Put it down, it is unhealthy to believe that we will pull some miracle comeback and go 11-1. this isn’t a movie!
It’s over! when you get beat like that on TV it’s a wrap!
Stephen A. Dawg.
October 9th, 2012
2:17 am
V@DogRun: Hey guy, you gotta put down that mug of Kryptonite kool-aid and stop eating laced/loaded brownies. Spurrier will take his ‘Cocks to Baton Rouge and beat the crap out of Miles’ Tigers unless they transform Mett into a real SEC QB overnight. LSU is plagued with offensive problems much like UGA and suspensions and injuries are decimating the LSU ”D”. If SC beats LSU in a dominant fashion, it will set up the SEC game of the year with SC going to the Swamp. The winner of that game will earn the right to meet Bama in the SECCG. Personally as a Dogfan I really don’t want UGA to meet Bama in the SECCG with Richt as HC and Murray at QB. Saban would beat Richt’s head into the ground. We’ve avoided Bama this long so we need to continue to avoid the Tide until the Richt regime is removed from Georgia. We need a coach that will play power football against Saban. The soft, finesse staff in place now at UGA would get embarrassed again if they played the Tide for all the marbles. Saban is 3x more intense than Spurrier. Nobody at Georgia wants to see Richt back into another SECCG beatdown !