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
DIT
October 22nd, 2012
3:22 pm
How many many of my fellow Dawgs on here actually thought that we would be more worried about our defense going into this game than the offense? Crap, not me. Not sure what has happened. I got suckered in I guess. I really thought thought Grantham was a very good DC. I was wrong like many of you. I just don’t get how this defense is not playing like a top 10 defense with the players they have. Over half of them will be in the NFL the next year or 2.
I’m stumped. Grantham had a nice big can of snake oil.
DIT
October 22nd, 2012
3:22 pm
Enter Sorry, got happy on the word “many”!
Gator Nation
October 22nd, 2012
3:23 pm
If Georgia wins the game, they are right where they would have hoped to be at the beginning of the year, in control of their path to the SEC Championship game. I can’t remember a Georgia/Florida game meaning so much for both programs in recent memory. The winner is certainly in the National Championship hunt.
BTW, I would take Georgia plus the 6 all day. I love my Gators, but we have lived a charmed life this season. Luck has a way of dissapating like a fart in the wind when you least expect it.
Go Gators!
old dog
October 22nd, 2012
3:24 pm
We have a great record against bad teams…..but a lousy one against good teams. Its not JUST the record….its hard fighting, etc. Even w/Dooley a UGA team did come(in most cases) ready to play. If they got beat it was not due to over-powering or lack of hustle…..at the end of a loss we AT LEAST looked like we fought hard and were just bested. This team now cannot line up in the trenches. They cannot hold their own against an aggressive defense, ‘coz they are too weak in the trenches. We have been out-recruited up front, and it has told on us. Muschamp has re-tooled down there way ahead of us, and we are fixin’ to find out Saturday. I am not a fair-weather friend, but we REFUSE to bring in the line necessary to win big games. The better teams figure it out…..line up mano y mano and slap us around. I do not want to hear about how many yards we had against the Sisters of Mercy…..we keep fooling ourselves so badly after victories over inferior teams. South Carolina stuffed our noses into the dirt and laughed while they did it. Boise State figured out last year (as did LSU and Michigan State in the bowl-game) that we were weak up front. Folks, until we address that, all is for naught. You ain’t winin’ the SEC without an o-line!
Go Dawgs!
October 22nd, 2012
3:25 pm
Not since 2007 has Coach Richt given UGA fans a reason to believe that a championship was at hand? That’s a bit of a stretch, Mark. I know that the final score last year left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths, but Georgia played for the SEC Championship last season. At halftime, Georgia fans were pretty optimistic that we had a chance to win the thing, too.
UGA Alum
October 22nd, 2012
3:25 pm
If Petrino is hired I will send my diploma back and ask for a refund.
UGA Alum
October 22nd, 2012
3:25 pm
*ever hired
Ga can win
October 22nd, 2012
3:25 pm
but it is going to take an effort that we have not seen for the last few years and that is why I am concerned about the game this Saturday.
fb
October 22nd, 2012
3:26 pm
Before you scream Fire Richt, please tell me who is going to match his record; 106 wins in 11 seasons. Every time I ask this, people say some mid-level coach or Kirby Smart (who sits over Saban’s defense, nnot his own). I think Richt’s tenure hasn’t been perfect but it has been so long that we forget all the promise Jim Donnan came with….
AthensDog
October 22nd, 2012
3:26 pm
I don’t see us beating Florida after the debacle in Columbia and a sieve-like defense that made UK look like it had an offense populated with All-Americans. Georgia will never win a BCS Championship with Richt as HC. He is a very good coach, but definitely not what you need to win championships- a great coach.
Seriously, as much as I despise that smirking, visor-throwing bastard Spurrier, how many BCS flags would be flying over Sanford Stadium had he been here for 10+ years? More than one, I’ll wager!
Paul is a Johnson
October 22nd, 2012
3:26 pm
It’s all about the trends. We don’t win big games anymore. In big games and close games Bobo seems to just flat out disappear. Grantham has not been able to build on last years momentum. Don’t forget we kept LSU to 12 yards in one half of the SECCG game last year. We have players that can play. We come out flat or play down to competition more times than any other big time program. I think a bigger problem for our program as a whole is our national perception now. Big IF’S here but IF we beat Florida and IF we beat an undefeated ALA in the SECCG, I bet there would be a pretty good chance that we would still not get a shot at the NC game based on our national perception. Another one loss team would be voted in ahead of us, because we have lost a lot of respect over the last couple of years based on our performances in bigger games.
Joey
October 22nd, 2012
3:27 pm
Gator Nation, in ‘08 both teams had one loss, ours to Bama, yours to Miss. Your Tebow-led Gators crushed the Stafford-led Dawgs.
And that fart still stinks . . .
'94 UGA Alumnus
October 22nd, 2012
3:30 pm
Hey Bad Dawg,
I am a die-hard Dawg fan but I acutally enjoyed your post and thought it was pretty darn funny. You have to laugh at yourself once in a while and I thought your simulated dialogue between our coaches was hilarious.
Buckeye
October 22nd, 2012
3:31 pm
1 9 8 1
Zombie Larry Munson
October 22nd, 2012
3:31 pm
good lord he is 6-1…he wins…leave him alone or i will eat your brains…
Joey
October 22nd, 2012
3:35 pm
Free Tatts U.
old dog
October 22nd, 2012
3:35 pm
fb,
We still cannot win a big game. If I was a coach and beat only the patsies, then lost to anybody worth a grain of salt……I might be somewhat concerned. Records are nothing when the competition is not there…..and when it is, win a tough game (or a big one) AT LEAST OCCASIONALLY!
Buckeye
October 22nd, 2012
3:36 pm
And by the way, dogs, FL, Bama and LSU can talk smack. The rest of the SEC! SEC! ( see Auburn) is overrated. Waaaaay overated.
Looking forward to Saturday’s beatdown in JAX and next year’s 1-4 start.
George
October 22nd, 2012
3:36 pm
“Bunny schedule.” Excellent description. The mighty SEC consists of three football teams.
gdawginkalamazoo
October 22nd, 2012
3:36 pm
Hey maybe they took the full two weeks to get ready for Florida and the Kentucky game was their day off.
Buckeye
October 22nd, 2012
3:37 pm
Does Win WIth drive his Built Ford Tough to the games?
Alpharetta Dave
October 22nd, 2012
3:38 pm
Reasons why UGA isn’t able to beat an elite program and will never be able to do so unless these deficiencies are eliminated:
1. We never seem to play with passion, i.e., we don’t want it bad enough. Oh, I’m sure that we want to win in our heads but not in our hearts.
2. We always sell the players on our past glory and legacy and we just seem to think that we are entitled to greatness. Well, we can’t cash that check anymore.
3. Special teams excellence is not emphasized and it shows in our performance.
4. Our strength and endurance, especially in the OL and DL, does not match up with an Alabama, L.S.U., S.C. or Florida. It probably wouldn’t against Miss. St. and it almost didn’t against Tennessee and Kentucky.
The bottom line is, even with great coaches, players and fans, we live too much in the past and we don’t truly and completely commit to what must be done to built an outstanding program and team. Fix these 4 things and win championships.
One Ugly Dawg
October 22nd, 2012
3:38 pm
I’m tired of hearing about 1981, Herschel and all the great Dooley teams.
I live in the present and want my Dawgs fighting for a National Championship
Eddie Haskel
October 22nd, 2012
3:40 pm
I think georgia can beat the gators. Georgias defense must play like last year(Floridas offense aint that good). The dawgs must pass on first down for at least the first half. Keep them off balance cause the gators defense is nasty if your 1 dementional.
PaulieOldSchool
October 22nd, 2012
3:40 pm
Way, Way, Way past time for Richt and his clown cronies/assistants to go. I don’t care if we do win this coming game. We won’t, but just say we do. There has been no coaching up of recruits, they’re playing like they don’t care, and I don’t blame them. Murray is a junior and possibly back next year, but who succeeds him? And why isn’t that guy given any playing time? And the defense just sux and that’s with some supposed studs, whom we lose next year. Who replaces them? This program is a disaster from top to bottom. Time to make some hard changes.
DwayneL
October 22nd, 2012
3:41 pm
UGA to get whipped by Gators this weekend and will not be in SEC championship game. Heck Muschamp only at Florida two years and already contending for SEC title….how long has Richt need at UGA???? Anyone???
DarthDawg
October 22nd, 2012
3:41 pm
The problem isn’t beating Florida this weekend. I think the Dawgs win an ugly game since Florida’s offense isn’t good at all (UGA’s defense will make them look better than they really are just like against SC).
The problem is after UGA wins out, they stand to get embarrassed in the GA Dome again unless they get their act together.
Before the SC game I honestly felt that UGA was the only team on this side of the country that could threaten Bama simply because of the balanced offense. I don’t care about the Kentucky performance, I’m still stuck on one night in Columbia. UGA has a track record of not always playing 4 quarters in a big game. Yeah, Florida is a big game but they are fool’s gold. I think this game looks a lot like last year’s where Florida’s offense was also pretty bad but looked great against UGA for a good portion of the game.
Smitty
October 22nd, 2012
3:41 pm
Was there a coed with Petrino when he was spotted in Atlanta?
Ga can win
October 22nd, 2012
3:41 pm
games like Kentucky happen all the time. Teams get caught looking ahead and almost lose to teams they should easily beat. I am concerned though that all we are “looking ahead” to is another loss to a top 10 team just like the last few years.
Buckeye
October 22nd, 2012
3:42 pm
Yo joey, how’s Isaiah working out for the dogs?
Brave UGA Fan
October 22nd, 2012
3:42 pm
Braves fans live in the 1990s & Dawg fans live in the 1980s
Flat Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
October 22nd, 2012
3:42 pm
I love to hear the so called “”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"TRUE UGA FANS”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
Are supposed to support a Top 10 Salaried coaching staff that gives us the following results………….
We’ve lost 16 of the last 18 games against teams making the top 25
We’ve lost 14 of the last 17 games against teams making the top 10
Mark Richt for 7 consecutive seasons’ now has not beat a single SEC team who put-up a winning SEC Record
UGA hasnt beaten a top 20 team in 4 yrs
UGA is 0-10 vs the top 10 in 4 yrs
UGA is 2-14 vs the top 25 in 4 yrs
UGA cant beat its main rival FL unless they are just a bad team
Losing the last 2 bowl games to subpar teams
And having yet another top 10 recruiting class
oh
And did I mention putting more players in the NFL than any other SEC team
I didnt realize being a “”"”"”"”"”"TRUE UGA FAN”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”" meant supporting a coaching staff instead of supporting the program
PaulieOldSchool
October 22nd, 2012
3:42 pm
And, oh, BTW, I earned the right to criticize this team. Just because I criticize doesn’t mean I don’t bleed Black and Red and chew my nails over these games. I just find it laughable that other coaches can take lesser talents and have them WANT TO WIN and we can’t get ours to GIVE A DAMN. Buy a clue, it goes back to one man.
Joey
October 22nd, 2012
3:42 pm
I’m looking forward to Free Tatts U getting off NCAA Probation, and venturing out to play any SEC team.
You know, with eligible players . . .
King Gator
October 22nd, 2012
3:44 pm
Gators got that RAMMER JAMMER, eeeeh aaaaah!! Go Gators!! Dawgs are Gatorbait!!
#1 Gurshel Fan
October 22nd, 2012
3:45 pm
Ok I will not claim to being a professional arm-chair coach, I wont even claim to be a well versed College Football fan….I am a Dawg fan and thats about it. I have watched the Dawgs since getting my diapers changed. I love Football and I have noticed a trend lately that I am sure many other have. A consistently dominant football team doesn’t normally dominate one phase of the game. They don’t have an all-star running back and run the ball the entire game, the best Football teams use every player on the roster. They have a serviceable QB, talented receivers, talented OL, talented RB and usually not a single ball hog on the team (or maybe 1). They are so unpredictable that they could run a 5 yard slant pattern on 1st down in the 4th quarter, or a QB sneak on 2nd down and 30. They are an unpredictable team, and it almost always seems they are running a quick screen to the right on a WR blitz, and a 90 yard handoff up the middle in a protect defense. And they have 4th team receivers that make plays like they could be 1st team on any other team in the league. I would like to see this same unpredictability in the UF game. IF we spread the ball around and successfully run 5 yard handoffs up the middle, and short passes to the corners AND DONT TURNOVER the ball, we should have a chance in the 4th to put another W up and fight our way back to the top 5. I dont see us in the National Championship picture, we had that chance and we handed South Carolina a victory (get it handed, turnovers). We are fighting for the East now, and a chance to catch Alabama on a bad day. Dawgs CAN win this one, as long as we are not predictable, if it seems we cant run the ball on a 4th and 1, or if it looks like Richt handed the Florida Sports Drinks a copy of our game plan then we are done. But if our Defense plays all 4 quarters, our coaching staff dust off that play book that won us the first 5 games with 40 points plus, and we wear super glue on our hands WE WILL WIN 45 to 38 in a close but high energy game. Our guys have to play with heart and I think its time for a little swagger to get back in our step….we need a Gator Stomp, we need a Black Out (both of which I know aren’t even possible). We need something to breathe fire in these boys veins. Our coaching staff cant walk in here conceding Florida is a better team, and hoping they suddenly forget how to play football. We MUST TAKE THIS WIN, or else the Dawgs will be considered a bigger bust than the 2012 LSU tigers.
Pitbull
October 22nd, 2012
3:45 pm
Mark Richt is a much better football coach than Mark Bradley is a sports writer.
I know, I know. That is not saying much.
But Mark is sick of negative sports writers and you know what, so are the fans.
Time for you to go Bradley. Go work for the Lexington newspaper and be a homer for your alma mater.
PS CMR has won 112 games in 11 & 1/2 years in Athens and beat Florida more than both his predecessors combined. We are fortunate to have him. Look at what we had before. Look at what Tennessee and Auburn have now.
Smitty
October 22nd, 2012
3:45 pm
Dawgs won SEC in Richt second year. Just luck I guess……………..
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Georgia Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (2001–present)
2001 Georgia 8-4 5-3 T-3rd (East) L Music City 25 22
2002 Georgia 13-1 7-1 1st (East) W Sugar† 3 3
2003 Georgia 11-3 6-2 T-1st (East) W Capital One 6 7
2004 Georgia 10-2 6-2 2nd (East) W Outback 6 7
2005 Georgia 10-3 6-2 1st (East) L Sugar† 10 10
2006 Georgia 9-4 4-4 T-3rd (East) W Chick-fil-A 23
2007 Georgia 11-2 6-2 T-1st (East) W Sugar† 3 2
2008 Georgia 10-3 6-2 2nd (East) W Capital One 10 13
2009 Georgia 8-5 4-4 2nd (East) W Independence Bowl
2010 Georgia 6-7 3-5 T-3rd (East) L Liberty Bowl
Mark Richt: 96-34 53-27
Total: 96-34
Reality
October 22nd, 2012
3:46 pm
Here’s the record of our opponents to date read it and still tell me I’m crazy for being concerned about the state of our program. I’m sorry we’ve built a resume the past two years on fool’s gold wins take a look:
Result – team – (their record)
W – Buffalo (1-6)
W-Missouri (3-4)
W- Florida Atl (1-6)
W- Vandy (3-4)
W- Tenn (3-4)
L- SC (6-2)
W – Kentucky (1-7)
? – Florida (7-0)
?- Ole Miss (4-3)
?- Auburn (1-6)
? Ga So (6-1) * Subdivision
? Ga Tech (3-4)
So take out UF and SC – two toughest games on the schedule, and Ga So – subdivision team, the combined record to date of the rest of the FOOL’S GOLD SCHEDULE IS: 20-44!!!
TWO VERY FAIR QUESTIONS TO ASK:
1. Does M.Richt deserve to keep his job if he loses both of the only games he needed to win on the schedule?
2. Can we call 10-2 in the regular season a success with THAT schedule?
Smitty
October 22nd, 2012
3:46 pm
And Five Division Championships
Joey
October 22nd, 2012
3:47 pm
That’s the difference, Buckeye, glad you brought it up.
See, we kick our troublemakers off the team. The Free Tatts U lies to the NCAA about theirs. Over and over. Year after year.
Just waiting for the NCAA to go back and vacate the ‘02 title, which The Free Tatts U won while playing an ineligilbe player.
Remember one Maurice Clarett?
SKB
October 22nd, 2012
3:48 pm
@Reality
10-2 is still pretty dam good. We are 10 in BCS poll. We are a national contender whether you like it or not.
ROTFLMFAO
October 22nd, 2012
3:48 pm
Bad Dawg – gotta love it!
You stay up nights rehearsing that gig?
Gator Nation
October 22nd, 2012
3:48 pm
Thanks for the good memory Joey,
I forgot about that game. I hope this year’s result is the same. That 2008 Gator team was truly loaded (10 players in the NFL). This year’s Gator team has a lot of heart, but not nearly as much talent. If I’m the dawgs, force the Gators to throw the ball down the field. We have yet to prove we can do that. Hopefully the Georgia coach’s aren’t to smart.
Go Gators!
King Gator
October 22nd, 2012
3:49 pm
2010 Georgia 6-7 3-5 T-3rd (East) L Liberty Bowl – Did that really happen? UCF? 2 years later and still funny heck!! Go Gators!
superdawg
October 22nd, 2012
3:49 pm
DAWGS HAVE NO CHANCE TO BEAT THE GATORS. SIMPLY PUT, THEY DON”T HAVE A LOT
OF TALENT. COACHING STAFF IS NOT VERY GOOD AND HAVEN”T BEEN FOR YEARS.
RICHT IS LOYAL TO A POOR COACHING STAFF AND HE HAS FORGOTTEN THE REASON
HE WAS HIRED. ERGO, A GOOD OFFENSIVE PLAY CALLER. RICHT IS CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING A CONSISTANTLY COMPETATIVE TEAM, HE’LL BE FIRED IN A YEAR OR TWO.
WHICH IS FIVE YEARS TO LATE
Joey
October 22nd, 2012
3:50 pm
King Gator, welcome back!
Haven’t seen you for a year or so.
You should come visit in good years and bad . . .
Buckeye
October 22nd, 2012
3:51 pm
Offer a shred, just one, where Clarett was ineligible in 2002?
And what car did Herschel drive Athens??
King Gator
October 22nd, 2012
3:51 pm
Just got out of rehab, they wouldn’t give me access to the internet. But thanks for the welcome back! Go Gators!
old dog
October 22nd, 2012
3:51 pm
No passion….
No stepping up when the chips are down…
No gutting it out in the trenches, holding blocks, and run blocking (except against patsies.)
Too much jumping around like you did something after a reasonable play
Not enough following one good play with another.
Not enough will to be a top-tier team
Good recruiting most places-positions
Bad (terrible) o-line recruiting
A total inability to beat a good team
A good record, against inferior teams.
Florida has passed us, as has S.C.
What do we need to do?