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
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
6:26 pm
Real Dawgs Fan
Its a good thing you dont run a company
because if it got into trouble the only answer you would have to fix it is
DUH DUH DUH Who we gonna hire
JB
October 8th, 2012
6:27 pm
RDF………. I would hire anyone in the interview that said” I promise I won’t keep my head in sand for 12 years”
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:27 pm
Short list of Candidates:
Kevin Sumlin
Dan Mullen
Charlie Strong
Kyle Wittingham
Chris Petersen
Kirby Smart
Bobby Petrino
David Shaw
Need I go on?
OrlandoDawg
October 8th, 2012
6:27 pm
We looked so unprepared it was just awful! SC did get all the breaks, but when you play at a high level, you make a lot of those breaks! Just did not have a killer instinct. I have had to explain so much this week I am depressed, deeply depressed…when will it end….I don’t mind getting beat if we are playing at a high level, but we played just awful! Man, we are better than that…this is awful…
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:28 pm
My god….when did going 10-2 became “underachieving” in college football? Vince Dooley would have loved to have been 10-2 this year…..and Georgia fans would be singing his praises. We certainly have lost perspective as college football fans……and AJC writers. Underachieving to me is when, a few years ago, Georgia lost in the Shreveport and Memphis bowls. Going 10-2 and going to the Outback or Senior or Chick FIl A Bowl is hardly “underachieving” to me. Winning the SEC East is a big, big accomplishment…..and winning the SEC is a bigger accomplishment these days thatn winning the National Title. So….now….Bama and LSU, Auburn and Florida not winning the National TItle is an underachievement…..HARDLY.
JB
October 8th, 2012
6:28 pm
Go to youtube and play Richt saying last year…” I know what the Hell I’m doing”………….Carolina might differ this week
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
6:29 pm
Still think we could make a serious run at Muschamp, he makes 2.75 mil a year there. He’s shown he can put a staff together and run a business.
Crap article and loser fans
October 8th, 2012
6:29 pm
This article is a microcosm of the BS that the AJC puts in print. Secondly the fans that buy into this written garbage are fans that no team needs. When a 10-2 record is underachieving then fans need realize that they are unrealistic in their beliefs. I now think that Richt should be fired are Murray should transfer because they deserve better than these chump bull-puppy fans. Richt has brought a winning attitude to the Dawgs that hasn’t been seen since V.Dooley. The so called fans that egged and rolled Murray’s house are full bred losers. For Mark Bradley, to answer your Q, they beat Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, and G Tech in 2011 or the first time since 1981. Again, crap article and loser fans.
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:30 pm
OrlandaDawg,
Your post sounded just like how I felt the past two seasons about my Gators. Sucks when you KNOW your team is better than the results they are producing.
ATLien
October 8th, 2012
6:30 pm
@Real Dawg Fan,
“Who do we Hire?” That’s a tough question but you have to have the foresight to make a change and move forward IF you are serious about winning championships or at least competing for one. Urban Meyer came from Utah (again UTAH), and got 2 Titles at Florida. The fact is the cupboard is loaded and the team is underachieving. That’s a reflection of poor coaching. Here are some names to begin with
Steve Sarkisian
Kirby Smart
Charlie Strong
Gus Malzahn
Chris Petersen
slydog
October 8th, 2012
6:31 pm
@Real Dawgs Fan
Ok genius, what is your answer to all of these debacles. I am an alumni, donor, and season ticket holder, so I have skin in the game. So tell me delusional, real poodle fan, what is your answer? Give Richt a shot of steroids to increase his anger and aggression? It’s not the losses, it is the way they are losing. Richt has a ‘look the other way when you get smacked in the mouth’ personality. Do you want that kind of attitude on a $100 million annual revenue football program? This team quits when faced with any kind of adversity. So what good is Richt’s integrity and character when his team has absolutely none? You have no answers. Just shut up and wait on the next coach.
JB
October 8th, 2012
6:31 pm
You guys hold on. We will beat Kentucky 35 -7 and plenty of chest bumps, high fives and hip hop on the sidelines for everyone…..and we will bark and declare we are back……Geez.
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
6:32 pm
Petrino gets my Veto on your list beast, no integrety there.
One Problem
October 8th, 2012
6:32 pm
Maybe the pinnacle like South Carolina. If they win out with LSU and UF in their path there is no saying that they cannot beat Bama in ATL. If they do that who stops them from a NC?
SSI Gator Eats Idiot Sandwiches
October 8th, 2012
6:32 pm
Charlie Strong’s wife is a lily white bleached blonde.
90% of the rednecks on this blog and in the fanbase would pitchfork him as soon as he lost a game
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:33 pm
Mobile Dawg,
No way you could get Muschamp. Foley would not allow it, nor do I think he’d want to start over so soon. He’s just now starting to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Should have hired him 3-4 years ago and you wouldn’t be having this conversation now!
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:34 pm
Flat Tire…..
He did not “fire” Weis…..Weis left for Kansas…..but was probably told mid season to start looking.
Muschamp did ask the OL coach to “resign” for poor coaching and went and hired Davis….who is just a super OL coach.
Muschamp also went out and hired a fantastic strength and conditioning coach……and he and Davis have turned the Gator OL into a defensive lineman eating machine in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Recruits at the Florida vs. LSU game have been quoted as saying the Florida OL was knocking the LSU defensive line 10 yards back on plays in the 4th quarter. It sure looked like it….and they have been doing that all season. Florida simply pounds on you and wears you down…..sounds like Bama doesn’t it????
SSI Gator Eats Idiot Sandwiches
October 8th, 2012
6:35 pm
Sc loses to LSU and florida and UGA beats Florida and Richt is back in the Dome to face Bama
All you complaining morons who have already written off the season will have to apologize
Big Wally
October 8th, 2012
6:35 pm
Good grief, you Richt kool aid drinkers are so hypocritical. I heard the same crap when we hired Richt 10 years ago. 1) Richt had no head coaching experience when Ga. hired him, and yet now your saying no Coordinators should be hired for the Ga. Head Coaching job. What’s the difference between now and then? 2) Everyone said that Richt would leave Ga. to go coach FSU when Bowden retired, well………Richt is still here and Bowden is gone, so that theory about we couldn’t keep a coach is ridiculous. 3) Ga. is a premier coaching job. If Georgia were to ever get a “Saban” type coach that wins NC, Ga. would throw zillions of $$$ their way.
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:35 pm
Test…..previous posts disappeared. Just checking to see if this one does.
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:36 pm
“Charlie Strong’s wife is a lily white bleached blonde.
90% of the rednecks on this blog and in the fanbase would pitchfork him as soon as he lost a game”
Kept him from becoming a HC for many years. Fair? Heck no, but it’s the truth.
slydog
October 8th, 2012
6:36 pm
Georgia and Florida are probably the only two states where Charlie Strong would feel comfortable in not getting lynched after a loss……lol
JB
October 8th, 2012
6:36 pm
This program the last 4 years is soooooooooooooooo under achieving…….Imagine a Peterson with this talent……….And why were we running the ball the entire second half 3-4 scores down???? Little down field passing……Oh, I forgot, we couldn’t block them, and me thinks Richt waved a white flag to keep Murray from getting killed. I really believe that was the plan…..
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:37 pm
Beast….
Or they will “egg” and “roll” his house after his first lost of the year. Wow….that story was amazing.
One Problem
October 8th, 2012
6:37 pm
Dogs……what they hay are you all talking about “making a run for Muschamp”????? HUH????
You seriously think he would leave NOW for Athens. Give me the name of your drug dealer so he can give me something to make my wife look like Charley Strong’s!! LOL
BG
October 8th, 2012
6:37 pm
If UGA’s schedule is soft what is FSU’s and Oregon’s?
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:38 pm
Tampa,
I gotta believe that was students. Updyke is a Bama man!
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
6:38 pm
Real Dawgs Fan answer when an employee retires
Duh duh duh gee George who we going to hire now
SSI Gator Eats Idiot Sandwiches
October 8th, 2012
6:39 pm
FSU just lost to a team that UT destroyed. FSU is a pretender. UGA at least lost to a legit team
Mobile Dawg
October 8th, 2012
6:39 pm
Beast, that’s what Saban said about Alabama, they were persistent and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Nobody is “untouchable”, I say make the run, if nothing else it would show that we’re serious about getting a HC. I do agree it’s a long shot.
Big Wally
October 8th, 2012
6:39 pm
……and then Bama beats Ga. by 40 in the SECC, and we get humiliated again on National TV – you will be the moron. The goal should not to get to the SECC and get waxed, it is to win it all. You don’t get it do you?
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:39 pm
slydog….
Sorry…..but you even using the word “lynched” makes me doubt that would be the case in Georgia…..and it would certainly not be the case in North Florida and West Florida. He would be safe on 1-75 once he passed Alachua…..15 miles north of Gainesville. Not before.
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:39 pm
“If UGA’s schedule is soft what is FSU’s and Oregon’s?”
Oregon will end up with a much tougher schedule than the Semis. The ACC is a joke and it continues to get worse year after year.
One Problem
October 8th, 2012
6:40 pm
DOG-FUCIOUS SAY “Coach always greener on other side of hedges”
Coaching Matters
October 8th, 2012
6:41 pm
Why all the whining now? these are the same coaches you all praised last year because they won 10 games in a row after losing the two toughest test to Boise State, and South Carolina. Remember last year was the first year of the new Florida Coach, and Urban Meyer had not left him much, as Meyer was already thinking of his exit from Gainsville, FL.
If President Adams and AD McGarity had denied extending Richt and Grantham some of you would be asking for both of them to step down, or would be going up to Athens with your pitchforks to fight for the extension of the greatest coaches in the SEC., or so you thought.
Richt, Bobo and Grantham are the same Coaches they were in 2010, 2011,and will be in the years to come.
I suggest you start worrying about Tennessee, because Dooley is coaching them up, and if Tyler Bray goes back to Tennessee next season, there is no doubt they will jump over Georgia.
SSI Gator Eats Idiot Sandwiches
October 8th, 2012
6:41 pm
I get it perfectly but according to you the season is over. The players and coaches have a different view. But quitters like you take the easy road out so you can bash Richt
JB
October 8th, 2012
6:41 pm
I would give 100% chance to Kirby Smart to come home and give it a whirl. Would it work? We hired Richt with NO HC experience. Kirby knows what it looks like, smells like, taste like, feels like, etc……not sure about Richt. Kirby would hire a great staff. And yes, I think Bobo would stay on staff…….as recruiting Cord. The HS coach’s in this state really like him.
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:42 pm
I would say…..if Richt loses to Florida this year…..the bullDawgs….will come down hard on him….even with a 10-2 record. And he might become the first head coach to be fired after going 10-2……which would be just amazing to me. College football has really change……and maybe not for the better.
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:43 pm
Mobile Dawg,
Apples and oranges. Saban wanted to come back to the college game and when Bama calls, how can you say no? Especially to that much money. Sorry, but UGA is not Bama. Bama and Texas are about the only two programs that I think could cherry pick whoever they please…for the right price.
azdawg
October 8th, 2012
6:43 pm
According to the weekly college FB shows, The dawgs have now become the most dissappointing team following the dismal showing vs SC. They beat out FSU’s loss to NCS. Its still being discussed ad nauseum on AJC blogs and majority of those comments put sole blame on the coaches, all of them. When your schedule is mostly made up of teams w/losing records and beat them your players look sensational and credit to some they are pretty good. But others, on defense, have been exposed for what they really are, all hype, no play, especially the secondary and def line. With few exceptions (Jones for one) the rest w/all their size and press clippings could not pressure Shaw. Not sure what game plan was for Jones, but his route to the SC QB took him through Savannah, GA it was so wide. Left that whole left side wide open for Shaw to run. CTG was also exposed. Its been coming since the Buffalo game the way they ran the ball and threw it vs what is supposed to be the elite DEF in the east div and not stop that bleeding leading up to the SC game says he really can’t fix what is clearly broken. And richt’s reaction to it says he’s comfortable w/the way they play D. Well, how comfy are you now CMR! GA will not beat FL this season nor next. That is the trend thaats been created under cmr over the past several years now add SC to that list. 10-2 seasons no longer cut it when the losses come from your biggest rivals year after year. At least GT fires their under aChieving coaches. It takes forever, or never for UGA to make those decisions. Can ‘em all.
slydog
October 8th, 2012
6:43 pm
My list is very short:
Charlie Strong
Mike Gundy
Bud Foster (long shot, no experience)
Kyle Wittingham
Dan Mullen (I hate the spread option)
Tommy Tuberville
Kirby Smart (long shot, no experience)
Gus Malzahn (long shot)
Jim Tressel (long shot) (yeah, I actually wrote that…lol, but he is a proven winner and all major programs cheat)
or we can wait another 2 years for Greg Schiano to get fired.
SSI Gator Eats Idiot Sandwiches
October 8th, 2012
6:44 pm
Kirby smart not welcome in Athens
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:46 pm
I don’t believe Strong would leave Louisville for Georgia. He has to good a thing going on in Louisville right now….and jumping into the Georgia hotseat probably to replace a coach that just went 10-2……probably not…..and probably not for any big time coach to take that risk if they are currently heading up a successful program. Not a good deal…..if I were that coach. You are saying you have to go 11-1 or 12-0 every year to keep your job. Who wants that kind of job……even if you are Saban? I think anyone hired to replace Richt….if he leaves….would have to be an assistant coach like Smart.
Big Wally
October 8th, 2012
6:47 pm
…and you said the same thing last year, yet what happened in the SECC game? waxed by LSU. What happened in the bowl game? – choked and blew the game in the 4th quarter. Evidently you see great coaching in that. Here’s a little secret, beating Vandy and Kentucky and Ga. Tech ain’t that great when you get blown out in the Big games.
Tide Roll
October 8th, 2012
6:47 pm
Bobo is killing you, along with his chewtobacco buddy, Will Friend. It was Bobo who convinced Richt to move a walkon player from the defensive side of the ball, AND START HIM AT FULLBACK! Then Bobo and Friend tag-team Richt and somehow convince the fool to start a 5″11″ 270 lb. private school product at CENTER! IN THE SEC! And Richt is sooo damn lazy, he goes for it! Like, “Whatever” All three need to go. along with homocidal maniac, Joe T. Mcgarity should be brought to answer for his insane decision to promote this guy to S/C coordinator. What a place. What a program. What a rip off.
bobo i
JB
October 8th, 2012
6:47 pm
Foxsports.com ( you can pull it up, not BS) wrote an article today about Richt and the under achieving. Everyone deserves an off year or two with that much time in, But it ain’t happening under Richt. Way too much talent on that team to get handled and smacked like that. That’s the NATIONAL Press folks.
Beast from the East
October 8th, 2012
6:47 pm
Idiot Sandwich,
Why would he not be welcome? Because he chose to turn down a lateral move to work for Richt instead of Saban? He would have been an idiot to take a lateral move from under the best coach in the business.
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:47 pm
Slydog….
What happened to the TCU coach???? I think he would be the best fit for Georgia….other than Smart…..but he probably…..as a successful head coach…..would not jump at a job that just fired a 10-2 coach….like I said above.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 8th, 2012
6:49 pm
slydog
Dont feel bad I would take Tressel
Tampa Gator
October 8th, 2012
6:50 pm
………and how would you like to be a fan of FSU this week…..they were a sure bet to win the National TItle this year by ESPN and most media sources. But……as long as FSU recruits 5 and 4 star recruits…..with low or questionalble academic achievement and even lower character……and they heavily recruit both……they will not win a National TItle again…..in my opinion.