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
GT
October 8th, 2012
4:24 pm
Florida may be good; South Carolina may get beat by them or LSU. Somehow if Georgia shows up in Atlanta this year and South Carolina sits home because a western team beat them not on Georgia’s schedule, it won’t be fair. That very well may be the offering here. You win an emotional game; LSU lost an emotional game in the swamp and now plays South Carolina in their place at night. The LSU game is the trap game on a schedule of killer games right in a row. Georgia has the week off, and then they play Kentucky, then Florida the week after South Carolina has softened them up for them. They took Alabama off the schedule and replaced them with Missouri. And Bradley is still hyping them as championship material.
Ted M
October 8th, 2012
4:26 pm
Dawgs are in 10 times better shape then the Jacket. But I agree with your column in full, Mark.
GT
October 8th, 2012
4:26 pm
Georgia will beat Florida.
Here we go
October 8th, 2012
4:26 pm
Five more years of same ole same ole.CMR will not leave making 3 million per year.The AD and Admin. are happy with a 9 and 3 or 8 and 4 season each year as long as the football program pulls in millions each year.Accept it Dawg fans and move on! No changes will be made until they go 7 and 5 or 6 and 6 again.
SAL
October 8th, 2012
4:26 pm
CMR is ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Cecil34
October 8th, 2012
4:26 pm
Can you imagine how many points Bama would lay on them if they played them?
It would set the program back for many years more.
PaulieOldSchool
October 8th, 2012
4:27 pm
How are we gonna go 10-2? Is Richt getting the boot this week? That’s the only way that’s happening, man. Way past time for this overripe banana to be put in the compost pile.
UGA83
October 8th, 2012
4:28 pm
Richt is a mediocre coach, always has been. Think of all those years with a top 5 recruting class and then going 7-5 the next year. Then those big games where we’re totally unprepared, W Va in the dome, Tenn a few years ago, SC. We’ve had some good years but overall have underperformed relative to the talent on the field. Why? Mark Richt is a mediocre coach.
ATL Cock
October 8th, 2012
4:28 pm
UGA has been overrated for years. They’ve only just now realized it. But folks don’t worry, by August, we’ll all be hearing about them being favorites to be national champions next year. Its so predictable. What a joke.
a voice in the wilderness
October 8th, 2012
4:28 pm
@Dogs>fl
Ga will beat florida—mark it down. Richt will have the dogs sky high for that game and fla is overrated. They beat an average lsu team by only 8 points.
_________________________
that average LSU team beat UGA by 32 less than a year ago…oh, I forgot, UGA did win the first half..hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
uga4life
October 8th, 2012
4:29 pm
One of these 2 will be coaching in Athens in 2014.
Kirby Smart…logical..logical..logical.
Dan Mullen..has completely changed the culture of Mississippi State football. Has incredible strong ties to McGarity dating back to Florida days.
Smart or Mullen…book it in 2014.
LetsGetRealDawgs
October 8th, 2012
4:32 pm
Mark:
Your statement..”There’s no way Georgia would move to fire a coach who wins 10 games two years running” says it all about what is wrong with Georgia football. Unfortunately, you are probably correct. That shows that UGA isn’t playing for national championships. Rather it is playing to get to Atlanta to get stomped by whomever comes out of the West and end up playing on New Years Day. That is not mediocre, but it is far from an elite team. Coach Richt is a nice guy but has taken this team as far as he can take them. Fact is, there are probably a lot of coaches that can win 9 or 10 games at UGA every year. Look at the talent they recruit and put into the NFL. It is obvious these kids are not being coached up to play to their true potential. What would Saban or Spurrier or Meyer or Miles do with that talent. The answer…win more big games that Richt. The off the field stuff and the penalties in games, show a lack of discipline both on and off the field. If you really break Richt down, he is good, but not great. My advice…start looking for next great coach…the guy who can win 11 or 12 games and instill discipline ….or keep Richt and be a high second tier SEC program.
Chizdick
October 8th, 2012
4:32 pm
If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em. Do you think there’s enough money on the planet to get the Evil Genius to coach UGA? Let the hate begin.
dmr
October 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
ONCE AGAIN, I CHALLENGE ANY OF YOU DEADHEADS TO GIVE ME A NAME OF A COACH YOU THINK COULD FILL THE SHOES OF RICHT IN ATHENS. I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE S.C. GAME EITHER! Under Richt….111-37 (.740), Five SEC East Titles or Ties, 2 SEC Titles. It is not as if Richt hasn’t had success. We have talent. We are lacking depth and talent on the O-Line.
Bobo was hired as O.C. in 2007. Willie Martinez was the D.C. until 2010 after Van Gorder left. Grantham has only been at Georgia 2 full seasons. Richt needs to hire an OFFENSIVE MIND who understands strategy and play design. He needs to take the ALABAMA approach and hire about 5 – 7 “ANALYSTS”. One game does not a season make, but Grantham and Bobo have a lot of work to do on their respective sides of the ball.
Also, Georgia only has about 70 scholarship players on the team…about 15 under the limit. The class of 2013 needs to have 6 – 10 OL and DL players…mean and nasty!
Stiffneck
October 8th, 2012
4:33 pm
Mark, can you or Chip ask CMR who’s fault it was for Saturdays’ implosion??? Was it the players? Was it the gameplan?? Was it the poor play calling?? Was it his lack-luster coaching staff?? Or should CMR shoulder this himself. Hell, he’ll probably wanna blame the mascot.
Ed
October 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
As Mark pointed out our 10-2 this year will look just like the 10-4 of last year – beat all the lesser talents, lose to the only real opposition we face.
I’m not sure all of the other games will be easy W’s, though. When a team gets manhandled like we did Saturday, it can change its perception of itself. We could be vulnerable against Auburn and Tech for starters. Unless big improvements are made, Florida looks like a sure loss. This could easily turn into an 8-4 season, which would be a disgrace considering this is probably the easiest schedule in modern UGA history.
ATL Cock
October 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
Keep dreaming “richie”. Nobody prepares “all summer” for the 6th game of the year. UGA got out-coached and out-played. The best you can now hope for is that SC stumbles down the road, because just like last year, that’s the only way you get to Atlanta. Even then, UGA will again be revealed for the fraud of a program its been the past several years.
Hotdawg
October 8th, 2012
4:35 pm
Be great that this will be our only loss and the cocks will lose to LSU and Gators so we can hear the whiny Steve cry about our schedule again.
Peter
October 8th, 2012
4:36 pm
Bunny schedule is about correct… Really Buffalo…… Florida Atlantic and Georgia Southern late in the season ?
Hahaha
October 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
Prediction. Spurrier loses to Lsu and gators and cries about schedule again.
Angry UGA Fan
October 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
The problem with UGA is that Mark Richt and Bobo are recruiting skill players and not Offensive / Defensive Lineman. Richt is recruiting as if he was still coaching in the ACC or playing in the big 12. Saturday’s game was a prime example that you must win the battle at the line of scrimmage. For the past 5+ years, UGA’s offensive lineman have under performed. It doesn’t matter how great your skill players are if you lose the battle up front. This was evident against South Carolina, LSU last year and Bama. Someone please tell Mark Richt that he’s playing in the SEC and not the Big 12 or ACC. UGA needs to recruit at least 5 offensive lineman going into next season.
a voice in the wilderness
October 8th, 2012
4:41 pm
@Hahaha
not a prediction, but a fact: Spurrier beat UGA’s behind and you are the one crying right now…
I am a Good Christian Man
October 8th, 2012
4:41 pm
I should have a job forever because I am a good christian man.
I am a Good Christian Man
October 8th, 2012
4:43 pm
And have you people thought about this… If may be Gods will for us to lose against all the tope rated teams. Somebody has to be the sacrificial lamb.
LakeDawg
October 8th, 2012
4:45 pm
“Mark, can you or Chip ask CMR who’s fault it was for Saturdays’ implosion??? Was it the players? Was it the gameplan?? Was it the poor play calling?? Was it his lack-luster coaching staff?? Or should CMR shoulder this himself. Hell, he’ll probably wanna blame the mascot.”
CMR already gave his answer to that question, Stiffneck.He said (I’m paraphrasing) it was just one of those things that happen from time to time. Luck of the draw. If the gods had been smiling on the Dawgs it would have been a completely different game (Rambo INT, TD on 4th down, etc.). Are you buying that? I’m not either, because I know better.
Truthiness
October 8th, 2012
4:45 pm
I’m as disappointed as anybody over this last game, but I don’t understand why folks are so inflamed over seeing something that should come as no surprise. This nonsense has been going on for some years now. Coming into this season, everyone spoke about the inexperienced OL, the bone-headed special team play, and the no-big-wins-QB. Yet somehow we, including a bunch of AJC sports pundits, talked ourselves into believing that would all disappear, despite how last season ended. Now that the endlessly recurring and absolutely predictable have happened, we’re offended. Makes good copy. Just doesn’t make good sense.
slydog
October 8th, 2012
4:45 pm
The worst thing this team can do is beat Florida. Let’s end this suffering by this insufferable coaching staff. Anytime a coach just basically tells his players to “turn the other” cheek, “the good thing is, we all took a but whooping together”, etc., implies you may need to find a new line of work. A 10-2 mark just masks the obvious: CMR is doing less with more talent. CMR would rather berate his own players for their behavior before he will defend them (and his own coaches) from the aggressive actions of others. It’s like hiring the Dalai Lama to coach your football team. Winning just does not matter.
pop
October 8th, 2012
4:46 pm
FIRE SAME PLAY BOBO WE DONT WANT HIM the dawg nation has spoken
hahaDawgs
October 8th, 2012
4:46 pm
Schultz, you nailed it on the head! UGA is well…UGA. Their fans believe they’re always something they aren’t. Why don’t you guys actually join this SEC conference you brag so much about, when u really just perform like a Vandy and Kentucky. UGA enjoys the party each year, while the big boys do all the work. Go Gators!
John from Cobb
October 8th, 2012
4:47 pm
The two best coaches in the SEC in my life time proved that they could change their approach to the game. Bryant left an offense he had used for the first twenty years to go to the bone, left a no nonsense approach to more flexibiity, and went from all white to recruiting blacks–all changes from a time where he had success using one approach to having success using a different approach. The Evil Genius, has gone from a throwing coach to a running coach–threw 10 passes on Saturday–a change from his past and it has resulted in success so far. Richt needs to change his approach, zone blocking, big play ability, talent in space–all things that served him well early in his career but are not working in the big games now. He will need to listen to his OL coach who was probably telling him and Bobo, that “creating space or creases” against SC was not going to work– trap and fold blocks on the ends, running right at the ends with power–double teams–those are the way you “create” momentum in the SEC–running the ball down the other teams throat. I will pull for CMR and the dawgs through thick and then, but if he wants to win a championship he is going to have to change– think less like a QB and more like an OL.
slydog
October 8th, 2012
4:47 pm
@Truthiness
You told the absolute truth there my friend.
wildman
October 8th, 2012
4:48 pm
Well, here i go again……been sayin the same thing every year since 2010…..Grantham and the 3-4 defense have got to go!!! It is too hard to run in college football! Out of the 15 or so FBS schools running the 3-4, only 1….. i said 1, can run it effectively….and that’s Alabama, cause they got the coach and the players to do it. It’s hard enough for the pro teams to execute the 3-4, and they get the best of the best. GA and CMR need to can Grantham and the 3-4 TODAY, like Tech did!….and get a hard-nose DC on board that runs the 4-3. The junkyard dawg D has been gone way too long!
Joey79
October 8th, 2012
4:49 pm
I would kinda like to know myself, where did that awesome road record go? What changed? Where did the confidence go?
hahaDawgs
October 8th, 2012
4:49 pm
UGA fans…trying winning ONE big game before you even discuss national championships. It doesn’t work like that.
Outsider Georgia Fan
October 8th, 2012
4:49 pm
I have come to believe that Richt’s spiritual views prevent him from installing a killer, fire in the belly instinct in his teams. What would Saban do with this team? I think we all know. We’re just too damn nice.
DAWG with two bags over head
October 8th, 2012
4:50 pm
I’m all for firing a coach that goes 10-2 in back to back years and is 0-10 (probably 0-11 after the FL beat down) against ranked opponents. Seven of those debacles showed that our brain trust hasn’t a clue about preparation, motivation, and making in-game adjustments. Arthur Blank has the right idea. Don’t be happy with just a winning record. Do whatever it takes to move to the next level. Richt and Company have proven over and over and over again that they don’t have the intelligence, skill, drive or desire to get us there.
Lord Saban
October 8th, 2012
4:52 pm
“ED….Fla, Bama LSU…. They all play wuss OOC games. THEY ALL DO…..”
Exactly what are the dawg fans smoking today? Florida plays FSU every year, LSU played West Virginia AND Oregon last year and usually plays at least one good bcs conference caliber team every year. Bama opened with a Michigan team that went 11-2 last year, we played Penn St. the last 2 years and in previous years opened against Virginia Tech, Clemson. Who the hell has Georgia played??? Colorado??? Put the crack pipe down dawg fans.
Birddawg
October 8th, 2012
4:53 pm
@DMR – Kirby Smart needs to be hired today, if not today at the end of the season. If UGA doesn’t hire him he will take another HC job. He is ready and someone is going to get a hell of a coach. Our defense, with our athletes and KS coaching them would make us a contender instantly.
Coach Spurrier
October 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
Whoopee! That sure was some fun kicking them dogs on Sat. Easier than i thought too.
It must be true what we hear up hear at USC, that the bulldogs wear red panties for underwear.
a voice in the wilderness
October 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
100% correct John from Cobb…Richt will not deviate from his1990’s FSU mindset. To him, it’s all about recievers, scatbacks, finesse football. Catch me-kiss me ball my old coach used to call it.
Aaron Murray focused on his father as Bulldogs put South Carolina behind them | UGA sports blog
October 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
[...] Bradley: Dogs would be underachievers at 10-2 [...]
bulldogfan
October 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
if the past few seasons have not registered with the leaders at georgia alethics ,i do not know
what will wake them up. richt cannot and will not be the coach to lead georgia to a national
title. we do not have the discipline nor the attitude to win even the sec much less the national
title. i guess mcgarrity and adams are going to just sit there and say oh but we won 9 or 10
games ,this is good even if it was aganst a cupcake schdules. i think richt and mcgarrity need to
go someplace else so we can get someone who wants to win championships.
Grantham's $825,000 Salary!
October 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
Todd will be wanting a lot more money after this season—uga needs to pay up or he’ll threaten to leave again. He wants to be coach in waiting.
slydog
October 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
@hahaDawgs
Idiot, you know why UGA fans are pissed? Because we recruit and get the same players Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Florida and any other powerhouse program you can name. Obviously, we don’t have the same coaching staffs. If the personnel on UGA’s roster were on the same level as Vandy and Kentucky, then you would have a case. The University of Georgia, over the past 30 years, have done the exact same thing: Underachieve with the same caliber of talent as any team who has won big and has won big on several occasions. Get your facts straight sir or shut your pot hole. If we had Missouri’s or Arkansas’ talent level, then the kitchen would not be so hot. But behind California and Texas, the state of Georgia produces the most NFL players, even surpassing Florida some years. The state of Georgia produces the 4th most D1 recruits. So idiot, go back and do your homework.
GT Fan
October 8th, 2012
4:58 pm
Wrong Mr. Bradley! UGA’s will finish 10-2 IF they beat UF, b/c the Al Groh-less GT YELLOOOOW …. JAAACKETS gonna do what SC couldn’t do … keep the Dawgs out of the endzone.
Georgia-Kentucky game time set | UGA sports blog
October 8th, 2012
4:58 pm
[...] Bradley: Dogs would be underachievers at 10-2 [...]
BamaGuy
October 8th, 2012
4:58 pm
Dogs Shat the bed…Richt wants to HUG it out….and Pray
Brad K
October 8th, 2012
5:00 pm
Mark, I mean Terrence Moore, please just stop worrying about Georgia football, we will be fine, it was one game. Please become the person who covers Georgia State football, I physically weep when I see all our paper has to offer that day are articles from you. I hear ESPN is hiring they love crappy beat writers who want to throw in their two cents.
LakeDawg
October 8th, 2012
5:00 pm
@John from Cobb
You nailed it. I’ve been saying the same thing for at least the past 5 yrs. However, Richt has shown that he doesn’t get it and never will. Still playing the FSU way in the SEC. Zone blocking on draws from the shotgun were doomed to failure against USCe. They left Clowney UNBLOCKED on every running play that was to the other side. Of course, he made at least three tackles from the backside on those plays. The first two drives of the second half, they were STILL trying to block Clowney one on one with no help. Incredible. The problem isn’t just lack of fire, discipline, and stage fright. The UGA staff is INCOMPETENT when it comes to scheme and adjustments.
kingdaddy
October 8th, 2012
5:02 pm
Sorry, but you just don’t have much credibility after a game where only the other team shows up. I fell hard during the game. So much for me ever being “sure” my team would be in the game, lol. We were never, ever at any time, in the game. One of my friends left the stadium around the 3rd quarter because the SC fans were such jerks. They drove from Savannah Ga. Thinking we had a chance, but instead were humiliated and pelted with debris. We talked and he was so saddened. Says he has lost all confidence in this coaching staff. I was at a loss for words. Still reeling…