Florida in Jax: Big for UGA, it’s even bigger for Mark Richt
"Did you know my darn strong football team is 6-1?" (AP photo)
The surest sign that Mark Richt is miffed: He cites numbers. He did it back in 2006, when Georgia was 5-0 but coming off shaky victories over Colorado and Ole Miss. (Those Bulldogs would lose four of their next five games, FYI.) He did it at the end of the 2008 season, which began with Georgia ranked No. 1 but wound down with Richt trying to make 10-3 sound like a major achievement. He did it again Saturday night.
Responding to a question (mine, actually) about the possibility that the halting performance against Kentucky had been a function of focusing more on the Florida-South Carolina score than the opponent at hand, he stopped in mid-answer. “Know what?” he said, his voice rising. “I’m happy with the victory. We’re 6-1. That’s not bad.”
Know what? He’s right. Georgia is 6-1, and 6-1 isn’t at all bad. (It’s good enough for 10th place in the BCS standings.) But now comes Florida, and this game will do more than define the Bulldogs’ season — it will shape the remainder of Mark Richt’s tenure at Georgia.
Richt has been in place since January 2001. He has — here we cite numbers for him — taken Georgia to two conference championships and four SEC title games. He has presided over seven 10-or-more-win seasons and seen his team finish in the Associated Press top 10 five times. Twice the Bulldogs under Richt have come close (in 2002 and 2007) to playing for the BCS title.
That said, his greatest successes came early, and not since 2007 — Richt’s seventh season — have the Bulldogs given their fans reason to believe the long-sought national championship is within reach. Thus have significant achievements come to be taken with a grain of salt. Winning the SEC East in 2011 was nice, but how nice is a season that features losses to the four best teams on the schedule? Being ranked No. 10 in the BCS is not nothing, but 17 days ago the Bulldogs were ranked No. 5 in the land, and not much good has happened since.
The question for Georgia and Richt is no longer about winning mere games; it’s about winning games of consequence, the games this program has ceased to win. South Carolina has become such a game, and the Bulldogs were embarrassed in Columbia on Oct. 6. Florida is another such game, though technically Georgia beat the Gators last season. But now the repellant reptiles are roaring again, and the Bulldogs under Richt still haven’t whipped a first-rate Florida team. (Richt’s three victories in Jacksonville have come against Gators who would finish 7-5, 9-4 and 7-6.)
If Georgia loses Saturday, it won’t repeat as SEC East champs. Given that the Bulldogs were picked to win the division in preseason, that would be a major disappointment. It would make last year’s return to prominence seem an aberration, not the new normal. Even worse, it would fuel the loaded question: If the 2012 Bulldogs, who came equipped with a bunny schedule and a seasoned quarterback and what seemed a mighty defense, couldn’t play for a conference or a national title, what Georgia team will?
Mark Richt is 52, which is considerably younger than Nick Saban or Les Miles, but a 10-2 season that doesn’t yield at least a division title would not play well among the noisier precincts of his constituency. That doesn’t mean Richt would get fired: There’s no way those in power would move to dislodge a coach who’s again winning 10 games a year. Still, the quality of life for Richt’s remaining seasons as Georgia’s coach would surely be lessened. The emphasis wouldn’t be on the many games Georgia has won but on the magnitude of the games it hasn’t. (No victory over a Top 10 team since 2009, et cetera.)
That the Bulldogs looked awful against South Carolina and awfully unimpressive against Kentucky could benefit the cause. Richt’s biggest victory over Florida — the Gator Stomp of 2007 — came when Georgia wasn’t expected to do anything except its usual Jacksonville flop. Now Florida, picked No. 3 in the SEC East, is ranked No. 2 in the BCS standings. Now this is considered Florida’s game to win.
But make no mistake: This is a game these Bulldogs and their coach need in the worst way. There have been breakthrough victories for Richt over the past 11 1/2 years — Tennessee in 2001, Auburn in 2002, Auburn again when Georgia had lost those four of five in 2006, Florida in 2007, maybe Georgia Tech in 2009 — but none lately. If Georgia wins, Mark Richt won’t need to invoke the record to remind us how good his program is. The record will again speak for itself.
Further reading: If you missed today’s Heat Check, it can be found here. (Georgia is mentioned.)
By Mark Bradley
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608 comments Add your comment
Judge Ddawg
October 23rd, 2012
10:36 am
This game is not nearly as important to the coach as the the BC game was to CPJ. Wonder why you missed this?
Judge Ddawg
October 23rd, 2012
10:36 am
This game is not nearly as important to the coach as the the BC game was to CPJ. Wonder why you missed this?
Honky Talkin
October 23rd, 2012
10:37 am
Nebraska fired Dennis Erickson after a 10 win season. Dawg fans should accept mediocrity and lower their expectations.
A cliche
October 23rd, 2012
10:38 am
Not the size of the man in the fight but size of the fight in the man.
UGA teams under CMR lately, simply do not seem to care. THEY HAVE NOT been taught emotional toughness or grit. This is where UGA under CMR lately, lose when they walk out on the field. THEY LACK the belief that they CAN WIN.
CMR and his even keel personality is exactly what BOBBY BOWDON alluded to when UGA first hired him. I recall Bowdon’s concerns and I now understand them, within Context of his overall record and the wasted talent.
UGA man, class of 71&73
Zooker
October 23rd, 2012
10:40 am
how did mark richt lose twice to the incompetent ron zook??? hello????
rod dog
October 23rd, 2012
10:40 am
I’ve got a grand that say the dog’s win by seven GO DAWGS
StAugDawg
October 23rd, 2012
10:47 am
Who wouldn’t want to see a nice guy like Richt retained at UGA as a combo Team Chaplain/Recruiting Coordinator? He could also get a job as a Youth Minister at a local Church. We need a HC that can coach-up talented HS prospects and one that is not afraid to get in their faces when they don’t execute. Again, Richt is a very decent man, but can you imagine coaches like Saban, Miles,SOS clapping and feeling relieved after a “tough road win” at Ky? What about his stoic stare when SC jumped out and took an early 21-0 lead? As much as I dislike Urban “The Cryer” Meyer, at least he took it personal when UGA embarrassed him in 2007. He responded with blowouts in 2008 and 2009. That’s how UGA should be motivated against USCe and UF every year!
omg
October 23rd, 2012
10:53 am
Remember people what CMR said,”There is more to life than football!”
omg
October 23rd, 2012
10:54 am
FL 45 UGA 10
Big P
October 23rd, 2012
11:04 am
Georgia better bring their lunch. The Mighty Gators are gonna sock it to em……This team is NASTY in all 3 phases of the game. UGA might get blown out quick just like USC. Go Gators baby!!
schmeckdawg
October 23rd, 2012
11:04 am
Bad Dawg
October 22nd, 2012
1:06 pm
********************************************************************
Now man, that was funny as hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You must be old school bringing up Katrina And The Waves. That’s mid 80’s music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
brandonlee49
October 23rd, 2012
11:34 am
Simple : If the Players are Not performing to their Expectations, SIT Said Players, and maybe they’ll stop Dreaming about NFL Draft day, and realize their Only Duty is to EXECUTE the GAME PLAN, anybody who doesn’t = Sit their A__ on the Bench.. Stop Blaming Richt for Spoiled Brat Recruits who think this is just a Spring-board to the NFL.
Vance
October 23rd, 2012
11:36 am
I hope we win against UF this week, especially since I live in Florida; however, I now do not expect the big wins under this coaching staff. I hate that it has come to this, but CMR’s legacy looks like it is going to be “almost but not quite there.” Losing against UF this week will make Murray’s excellent record the same. I’m hoping for a suprise, but not expecting it. That’s what it has come to for Dawg fans. Go Dawgs…beat the Gators!
Dawgs
October 23rd, 2012
11:44 am
I think the Dawgs are going to shock alot of people this weekend. the dawgs want this game more then anything and we you want something you PLAY AND FLA is going to think they will run over our dawgs and get cocky. it’s going to be a good game.FLA is overrated and play a never sick SC team. SC fumbled the ball away that’s the only reason the score was so high.
Wait Till Next Year
October 23rd, 2012
11:45 am
Your column today was right on. Richt will never get UGA into a national championship game regardless as to whether or not they win this weekend. He’s a nice guy and possibly a better than average coach. But he doesn’t have whatever it is that the great coaches that play for NCs have and never will. He’ll will coach at GA at least 10 more years and we GA fans can at least enjoy watching other SEC teams play for the NC. It’s too bad so many of our fans have such low expectations for a coach making over $3 million/year.
Phil
October 23rd, 2012
11:52 am
Another beatdown to a ranked team come Saturday. Another embarrassing loss. We go on to win 10 games this year, that buffoon McGarity gives Richt another extension and the vicious cycle continues.
UGA Insider
October 23rd, 2012
11:53 am
A loss this week and in a bowl game and I think McGarity makes his move. He wants a young, defensive minded coach. Smart is the guy. He may stay at Bama as rumors over there have Saban going to Dallas… then look at Dooley and Chris Peterson who McGarity loves. Also, I would not be surprised if the UGA money men came together and offered Muschamp an insane deal to come back to UGA. It’s already going to cost UGA about $9,000,000 to part ways with this staff.
Phil
October 23rd, 2012
11:55 am
UGA Insider
Wishful thinking. McGarity is a total moron, not going to happen.
SAL
October 23rd, 2012
12:02 pm
Let’s face reality Dawg fans. UGA will NEVER win a NC with CMR!!!!!
StAugDawg
October 23rd, 2012
12:11 pm
Sal, you are right. But we do, however, have the nicest coach in football. He probably felt a lot of guilt for beating Vandy so bad.
houstondawgfan
October 23rd, 2012
12:24 pm
your right on the money, Mark. No more excuses with this schedule and the talent. if or when cmr is gone, there are plenty of ex nfl coaches that would demolish saban head to head.
Alphare
October 23rd, 2012
12:25 pm
Muschamp coming to UGA? that’s insane. FL and BAMA are the crown jobs in SEC. Why would he leave a crown job and come to UGA? He was a UGA player, but his first choice was FL I believe.
dawgfacedboy
October 23rd, 2012
12:29 pm
Mark, you said it best. Winning 10 games and losing to the 4 teams of substance does very little for me. A monkey should win 9 games with this team and this schedule.
Preston
October 23rd, 2012
12:31 pm
If UGA loses Saturday,the time for change is now. McGarrity has the opportunity to make a statement to the college football world that mediocrity will not be tolerated in Athens any longer. 10 win seasons are great when you play a murderous schedule, not the cupcake schedules we’ve enjoyed the past couple of seasons. Losses to Central Florida and Colorado would have cost most other SEC coaches their jobs already. On paper, the record looks nice but UGA has been beaten by EVERY good team they’ve played in recent history. Let it be know right now to the next coach that you better get your team ready to play every week and compete at the highest level or your tenure will be very short. Go after Gruden with a vengeance and if he doesn’t want the job, get Kirby!
Alphare
October 23rd, 2012
12:32 pm
FL and UGA are the 2 schools with automatic good players, I will give you that. You will get good recruits even if your recruiting skills are horrible.
dawgfacedboy
October 23rd, 2012
12:32 pm
I heard Peterson has an autistic child and their is some fantastic school where they are now. If that is the case they aren’t moving. I don’t see him moving his autistic son across country to unfamiliar settings, people, and routine. I would LOVE to have Chris Peterson but family comes first, no matter what.
dawgfacedboy
October 23rd, 2012
12:34 pm
Donnan- 8 wins a year
Richt- 9.6
We can’t possibly get rid of him?
lefty fielder
October 23rd, 2012
12:34 pm
i heard a comment over the weekend which kinda typifies the sentiment of georgia fans . . . “it would be just like georgia to win a big game in florida and then lay an egg against ole miss.”
Nick
October 23rd, 2012
12:40 pm
Oh great, now the douchey gators fans are back to their normal troll selves again. Thanks Georgia. This is your fault.
Alphare
October 23rd, 2012
12:41 pm
I am thinking betting my house on UGA beating the gators. It’s buy time when most people panic.
I cannot believe UGA cannot beat FL 2 years in a row. Got to end some time, right?
Seriously?
October 23rd, 2012
12:51 pm
I couldn’t believe that they would quit versus South Carolina either — but they did.
Barack Obama
October 23rd, 2012
12:56 pm
When I am re-elected, I will name Coach Richt “Czar of SEC Football”.
MoneyT
October 23rd, 2012
1:01 pm
McGarity needs to break open the bank vault and hire Muschamp at the end of the season. Pay him whatever it takes, even if he wants $5 million—he’s worth it. Since he played at UGa, he will take the job for enough money. With richt, uga gets 9-10 win seasons and no BCS titles. McGarity needs to get with it or he can look for another job too!
Lakedawg
October 23rd, 2012
1:29 pm
Believe Gene Chizik, Joker Phillips. Derek Dooley are going to be available after this year. Believe they could surely better a 111-38 record?
Florida in Jax: Big for UGA, it’s even bigger for Mark Richt | Y'all Sports
October 23rd, 2012
1:31 pm
[...] Florida in Jax: Big for UGA, it’s even bigger for Mark Richt [...]
Stephen
October 23rd, 2012
1:39 pm
Richt and Co have failed miserably in recent years against any competition of a mediocre or lesser level. He needs to resign, focus on his missionary work, and clear the way for UGA to hire Kirby Smart.
Stephen
October 23rd, 2012
1:41 pm
above mediocre or lesser. My apologies for the typo.
ClantonDawg
October 23rd, 2012
1:44 pm
This article is great for stirring the pot but I think its a little premature. The numbers are what they are and we don’t need to be reminded of them just yet. Lets stay positive Dawg Fans!! If the defensive line can stiffin some we should have a great chance to win the game. Murray has to show up Saturday along with the FG kicker. If these two falter AND the defense doesn’t produce some points for us, we could go down hard. McGarity will deal with CMR and his staff after the season rest assured. But until then……..GO DAWGS…..JUST WIN BABY WIN!!!!!!!
SEC Headlines 10/23/2012 – South Carolina – Gamecock News
October 23rd, 2012
1:50 pm
[...] 2. Mark Bradley on Georgia-Florida: “This is a game these Bulldogs and their coach need in the worst way.” [...]
Miss Bradley's mean aunt
October 23rd, 2012
1:56 pm
At least Mark Richt never utters “barnyard epithets” like some vulgar coaches.
SEC Headlines 10/23/2012 – Arkansas – Razorbacks News
October 23rd, 2012
1:57 pm
[...] 2. Mark Bradley on Georgia-Florida: “This is a game these Bulldogs and their coach need in the worst way.” [...]
Phil
October 23rd, 2012
2:05 pm
A 10 win season for 5 years in a row(maybe less) without winning the SEC or BCS will get you fired at Alabama. It’s time we have that mindset. All these wins don’t mean crap without some titles to go with it.
Hadley B. G. Riddell, III
October 23rd, 2012
2:35 pm
It takes a lot of testosterone to fire a coach who averages almost 10 wins a year and runs a clean program.
What a crock of dwag squeeze. You call a program with 53 arrests in the last four years a clean program, especially when those arrests are for DUI, failure to appear in court, illegal drugs, and beating up women? And that doesn’t include the hordes of dwag players found by the coaches to be using illegal drugs – those punks don’t get arrested, but they’re certainly not clean.
The bottom line is that a clean program doesn’t have all this crap going on.
Keep drinking your Kool-Aid.
Fair n Balanced
October 23rd, 2012
2:39 pm
There is more to GA’s problems than we know. I suspect some of this listlessness is due to some personal struggles of leaders ….eithe on the team or on coaching staff.
aldogg2121
October 23rd, 2012
2:41 pm
To all you morons saying “break the bank to get Muschamp to come back to UGA,” please stop. Muschamp is not leaving UF. Sure, he played at UGA, but he has always been a gator at heart. The only reason he came to UGA was because we wanted him, UF did not. He is already at his dream job. He is not coming to UGA, so just step away from the crack pipe and focus on another candidate, such as the overrated and under-experienced Kirby Smart.
Les
October 23rd, 2012
2:46 pm
Jim Donnan was a good coach, but he was fired because he lost to Georgia Tech three times in a row. Richt is not as good a coach as Donnan, and he’s lost to USC three times in a row, and at one point, he lost more than three in a row to Florida.
So why hasn’t Richt been fired?
What’s that, I can’t hear you…
TW
October 23rd, 2012
3:17 pm
@Duke of Earl
October 22nd, 2012
3:54 pm
So I guess that was a Nick Saban imposter who, while still the coach of the Miami Dolphins, publically announced that “he would not be the coach at Alabama.” A few days later he was indeed the coach at Alabama. Where was the truth in his statement? He could’ve said “no comment” and left it at that but he chose to mislead and not tell the truth.
Not many are picking Georgia over Florida. I am, though | Mark Bradley
October 23rd, 2012
4:33 pm
[...] Further reading: Why this is a big game for Georgia — but an even bigger one for Mark Richt. [...]
MFranklin
October 23rd, 2012
5:11 pm
UGA, and the Falcons have some awfully persnickety fans but… more than that, they also have what is undoubtedly the worst local supporting(?) sports media.
Imagine IF the Dawgs were, say 4-3. Also, lets put a 3-3 tag on the Falcs. In this case, there should be questions about coaching and talent and play. But, the Dawgs are 6-1 and the Falcs 6-0. You’d think that someone, somewhere would have the decency to say something like… good work, guys! We’re your fan and media base and we appreciate the efforts!
But… not here. Not in Atlanta. You can find better press about rush hour traffic on I-285 than you can on either the 6-0 Falcons of the NFL or the 6-1 Dawgs of the SEC.
Note to Mike Smith and Mark Richt – Keep up the good work… and don’t let these media hacks and soulless ‘fans’ distract you.
Have a freakin nice day.
MFranklin
October 23rd, 2012
5:14 pm
By the way, Mr. Mark Bradley… if UGA beats Florida and the Falcs win in Philly, will someone PLEASE fire you?