Richt was right: UGA is ‘knocking on the door’ of greatness
Noted critic Mark Richt gave Georgia's clinching of the SEC East two thumbs up. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Mark Richt called this shot. Speaking in Tampa on the first day of 2012, he said of his Georgia Bulldogs: ““We’re going to be knocking on the door of the greatest success you can have in college football, and if you knock long enough, you’ll eventually break through.”
Some folks tittered, noting that Georgia had just lost the SEC championship game by 32 points. A day later, when the Bulldogs (and Richt, too) messed up every which way in blowing the Outback Bowl to Michigan State, the tee-hees became hardy-har-hars. A team that had gone 0-4 against ranked opponents would go on to achieve “the greatest success you can have in college football”? Dream on, brother.
Eleven months later, the dreamer awakes and smells a heady blend of coffee. If the Bulldogs beat Georgia Tech on Saturday, they will stand on the cusp of the BCS title game. Granted, they’ll face a massive impediment in Alabama (presuming it beats Auburn, which it will), but still: For the first time since Richt took up residence in Athens, his team has a clear path to the national championship. Which only lends greater resonance to the second half of that January pronouncement: “If you knock long enough, you’ll eventually break through.”
In 2002, when the Bulldogs went 13-1 and took the school’s first SEC title in two decades in Year 2 under Richt, a BCS title seemed this reborn program’s manifest destiny. But LSU beat Georgia twice in 2003, and Tennessee upset the Bulldogs in Athens the next year, and Georgia’s 2005 SEC champs had two losses in a year when being undefeated wouldn’t have been enough, what with USC and Texas, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, staying unbeaten until they met in the Rose Bowl.
Manifest destiny hadn’t yet manifested itself, and after a decade on the job it wasn’t clear that Richt would take a team beyond an SEC championship. Which isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but when five different SEC schools were taking BCS titles while Georgia was stuck on 1980, it was possible to ask if Richt’s moment had passed without ever arriving.
Twice his teams had come close. The once-beaten 2002 Bulldogs finished third in the BCS standings, behind unbeatens Miami and Ohio State. In 2007 Georgia stood fourth in the penultimate BCS rankings and saw No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia lose … but somehow the Bulldogs dropped to fifth. The voters’ apparent rationale: A team that didn’t win its conference shouldn’t be allowed to play for the national title. (Not that it stopped Alabama last season.)
The 2008 Bulldogs of Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno and A.J. Green were ranked No. 1 in preseason but got little right. A slew of summer arrests left Georgia reeling before the team held its first practice, and the bubble burst on an awful night in Sanford Stadium that saw Alabama lead 31-0 at the half. That team would lose only three games, but they were epic failures: The drubbing by Alabama, the 49-10 flop against national-champ-to-be Florida and Richt’s only loss to Georgia Tech, a 45-42 game the Bulldogs led 28-12 at halftime.
The next two years were a clear retreat. Georgia went 8-5 , then 6-7. The program that once could beat anyone anywhere closed 2010 by losing to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl on a day the Bulldogs couldn’t manage a touchdown. The 2011 season began with losses to Boise State and South Carolina, and there was no guarantee Richt would be coaching this team in 2012. But Georgia started winning and, benefiting from a soft schedule, claimed the SEC East. Then it lost emphatically to LSU and egregiously to Michigan State, and it was hard to know what to think. Were the Bulldogs back? Or had they just gotten lucky?
Even this season, there were times we wondered. The 35-7 loss at South Carolina was one of the worst performances by any Richt team, and the halting victory at Kentucky wasn’t much better. But then Georgia went to Jacksonville and upset its nemesis, and everything changed. For the first time since 2007, this coach and this program had won a game against an opponent of consequence, and today the Bulldogs are 10-1, ranked No. 3 in the BCS standings with a date against No. 2 surely upcoming.
Twelve years on the job, Richt finally has Georgia in position to play for a national championship. All it has to do is win these next two games. Asked Wednesday on the SEC conference call how it felt not to need any outside assistance, Richt ducked the question: “I’m not going to make a comment on it. I’m focused on trying to beat Georgia Tech.”
It’s possible Georgia could lose to Tech, and the Bulldogs will be an underdog against Alabama. But even if this season doesn’t end with the Bulldogs hoisting the crystal trophy, the dreamer has already been proved a prophet. His team is indeed knocking on a door that has been closed to Georgia for three decades. His team is three games from glory.
By Mark Bradley
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441 comments Add your comment
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:18 pm
South Carolina at home was!
Henry
November 21st, 2012
6:19 pm
@ Tide Rules, another perfect example of a Tech nerd hiding behind Alabama’s name. It’s sad.
Milledgeville Dawg
November 21st, 2012
6:19 pm
Tide Rules- please quit exploiting your middle school education.
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:20 pm
To me, if our O-line plays well vs. Bama, Georgia wins. If they don’t UGA loses. That simple. I’m not worried about our defense vs. Bama because Bama isn’t explosive enough to get many explosive plays against UGA’s defense. If they come locked and loaded, they’ll hold Bama to few points. It’s the O-line of UGA that will determine a win or a loss.
BDK
November 21st, 2012
6:20 pm
tide rules(in their own twisted mind)
You are wrong. See how last year ended.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:22 pm
Joey
November 21st, 2012
4:59 pm
“UGA not even best team in SEC East!”
*********************************
Ok genius, tell us who is?
South Carolina was at home and it was not even close.
Ranking them all today as we sit here on Thanksgiving Eve:
Alabama
LSU
Texas A&M
South Carolina
UGA
Florida
Texas A&M
_____________________Big Drop off
Mississippi St
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Arkansas
Missouri
Tennessee
Auburn
Billy Clyde Puckett
November 21st, 2012
6:23 pm
Mark, have you given any thought to the quality of the Dawgs’ schedule? They have beaten only two Division 1 teams with winning records this year. And Florida practically handed them the game on a silver platter! Compare that to Alabama’s conference wins. Roll Tide!
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:23 pm
Kentucky is dead last
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:24 pm
@ Noley, Noley, Noley, I don’t see how you can put Texas A&M or LSU above UGA when both have 2 losses, both also lost to Florida whom UGA beat.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:26 pm
FSU, Clemson, Kansas St, Oregon, LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M, would all beat UGA, and USC already has.
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:28 pm
Noley is not a Florida State fan. Fla State fans would not be on a UGA blog because we have no affiliation with each other at all. Another Tech nerd.
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
November 21st, 2012
6:28 pm
I really am shocked that nobody has posted this yet but “I know it’s a lot to ask you guys, but hunker down three more times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:29 pm
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:24 pm
@ Noley, Noley, Noley, I don’t see how you can put Texas A&M or LSU above UGA when both have 2 losses, both also lost to Florida whom UGA beat.
Easy, it is about who would win Today, how can you rank UGA above USC when they got beat by 28 points and embarrassed, while we lost on the road by a late score. LSU, A&M today would beat UGA, as both of their qb’s are playing at different levels today while Murray is playing at the same level.
Ed
November 21st, 2012
6:29 pm
Noley, it would be hard for the BCS to become a bigger joke than it already is, but Florida slipping into the national title game would do the trick.
Georgia is having a hard enough time convincing people that we deserve to be in our current position, but a win over Alabama should put that to rest. And a win over Bama followed by a win over an undefeated Notre Dame team in the title game should remove all remaining doubts.
But Florida? I don’t know how anyone who has watched them this year can seriously rate them as a deserving NC contender. They are were they are based on rep more than anything else.
If FSU cannot beat Florida on Saturday, then they are the pretenders the BCS rankings seem to believe them to be.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:30 pm
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:28 pm
Noley is not a Florida State fan. Fla State fans would not be on a UGA blog because we have no affiliation with each other at all. Another Tech nerd.
Roy is not a UGA fan, he is a cling-on. Glad you think you know who I am a graduate of and where my allegiance lies, too funny.
Discount DoubleDawg
November 21st, 2012
6:32 pm
Noley is 110% a tech fan… he mentioned a cling-on in his blog post
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:33 pm
Ed
November 21st, 2012
6:29 pm
Noley, it would be hard for the BCS to become a bigger joke than it already is, but Florida slipping into the national title game would do the trick.
Georgia is having a hard enough time convincing people that we deserve to be in our current position, but a win over Alabama should put that to rest. And a win over Bama followed by a win over an undefeated Notre Dame team in the title game should remove all remaining doubts.
But Florida? I don’t know how anyone who has watched them this year can seriously rate them as a deserving NC contender. They are were they are based on rep more than anything else.
If FSU cannot beat Florida on Saturday, then they are the pretenders the BCS rankings seem to believe them to be.
Florida has looked like a Good FCS team in the last 4 weeks, and nothing more. I have no doubt we beat them by at least 18 points and it will not be even close. UF is the Ohio St of the SEC. Name recognition and nothing that stands out and sneaking by a weak Missouri team and LL team proves it.
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:33 pm
Good article, Mark. This is truly the first time things have lined up for UGA. I’m a Tech grad, but I truly hope Richt gets his this year. Rivalry aside, Richt is a class act and doesnt deserve to constantly be on the hot seat for not winning a national title. Then again, maybe UGA will be stupid enough to fire him, so we can hire him at Tech to replace this option. Come to Tech, Richt!! You can get back at those UGA doubters and bring Grantham with you!! hahah
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:34 pm
In 2002, they were in the same position as UF in 2006 (1 loss behind 2 undefeateds). Difference? UF was behind Ohio St. and Michigan who played each other to end the season. That opened the door for Meyer’s team to make a case for the title.
2007 was an example of everything wrong with CFB…the politics of the polls and brand names. As pointed out Nebraska played for the NC without playing in a conference title game OVER the Colorado team that blasted them for the division title and won the Big 12. Colorado finished 3rd in the final BCS poll. Alabama last year did not win their division either. Difference? UGA is not a brand name, Nebraska and Alabama are. The voters weren’t going to think about voting them down the way they did UGA in 2007.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:36 pm
Discount DoubleDawg
November 21st, 2012
6:32 pm
Noley is 110% a tech fan… he mentioned a cling-on in his blog post
______________________________________
Friday morning your first words will be ” Good Morning K-Mart Shoppers” while I am wearing my FSU gear overnight tailgating in Tallahassee…when you do not have an argument you go the Tech route….just downright funny and ignorant.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:38 pm
What is more embarrassing, a so called Tech grad rooting for Richt or an Auburn fan claiming Auburn is clean?
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:39 pm
The biggest fly in my Richt to Tech ointment is the fact that Tech will likely Bronze a statue of Johnson and extend him for life if they beat UGA this weekend. In fact, Johnson might have be on his toes, or they might pour the bronze in before he’s done getting out of the mold. Johnson himself is a class coach, but I’m over this option and the prayer for a miracle in a game like this. Its time to get back to an offense that can attract the Calvin Johnson’s, Tashard Choice’s and Johnathan Dwyer’s of the world. Its time to get back to being able to recruit the talent that can line up with the best on the schedule and expect to win.
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:40 pm
Noley said Murray is playing on the same level. Ok keep thinking that. He’s the best QB in the SEC hands down.
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:42 pm
GT beat UGA in 2008 after UGA was up 28-12 at the half…they just collapsed. But remember they had Dwyer, Roddy Jones, Nesbitt (who were GAILEY’S players)….not CPJ. Paul Johnson can’t recruit well enough to beat UGA. That triple option is getting old and so is Paul Johnson’s triple chin.
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:42 pm
@Noley – what’s worse? A delusional Tech fan that thinks Johnson has this program on the cusp of being more than a flash in the pan every now and then like 2009. Even in a conference as bad as the current ACC.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:43 pm
By the Way Walmart Dollar General Family Dollar K-mart Dawg, there are about 30 plus people in this office, and we all are fans of various schools, we get along great and can take a good ribbing from everyone including UGA fans, and yes even Auburn alumni, it is all in fun but we do get along and I hope no one takes anything I write personally, just adding to the humor before we go our separate ways for the holiday and this weekends football games.
STUDENT ATHLETE
November 21st, 2012
6:44 pm
Poor Dawg Fans. Georgia will lose to either GT or Bama or both; ND will get beat and …….. your worst nightmare: Florida moves into the national championship game having lost to Georgia and without having to play Bama – #2Florida in the NC game against Bama. #25 Georgia in the Gator Bowl against NC State.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:45 pm
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:40 pm
Noley said Murray is playing on the same level. Ok keep thinking that. He’s the best QB in the SEC hands down.
Now that was funny, you are watching too much UGA football, Manziel, and the guy from Alabama are better and will have much better careers than Murray. But you can keep repeating that all you want, the records against top 25 teams say different.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:46 pm
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:42 pm
@Noley – what’s worse? A delusional Tech fan that thinks Johnson has this program on the cusp of being more than a flash in the pan every now and then like 2009. Even in a conference as bad as the current ACC.
You have no idea how much I laughed after Miami withdrew from the ACCCG this week and Tech was put in, now that was funny and a gift.
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:47 pm
@Roy – absolutely correct. Dont forget Dwyer and Nesbitt were on record as saying they would never have come to Tech if Johnson was recruiting them. Gailey got a lot of talent to come to Tech that never would have given them a passing thought were Johnson coaching during the same time period. Calvin Johnson, Wheeler, Derrick Morgan, Dwyer, Choice…all would have been in a UGA uniform if not somewhere else. Look at all the talent Gailey put in the NFL. THen look at who Johnson is putting in there if you can find anyone.
Discount DoubleDawg
November 21st, 2012
6:47 pm
Noley, I will compare W2’s with you anyday… Friday morning I will be sleeping soundly while my business is thriving.
I don’t have an argument because you haven’t said anything worth responding to …
Please respond with something worth responding to and I will galdy put you in your place.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:48 pm
STUDENT ATHLETE
November 21st, 2012
6:44 pm
Poor Dawg Fans. Georgia will lose to either GT or Bama or both; ND will get beat and …….. your worst nightmare: Florida moves into the national championship game having lost to Georgia and without having to play Bama – #2Florida in the NC game against Bama. #25 Georgia in the Gator Bowl against NC State.
You have it all wrong, UGA beat Tech badly, loses to Alabama, does not get the second BCS bowl bid, it goes to either A&M or LSU as Clemson beats Carolina, and FSU lays a beat down on Florida.
Discount DoubleDawg
November 21st, 2012
6:50 pm
gladly…
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:50 pm
Discount DoubleDawg
November 21st, 2012
6:47 pm
Noley, I will compare W2’s with you anyday… Friday morning I will be sleeping soundly while my business is thriving.
I don’t have an argument because you haven’t said anything worth responding to …
Please respond with something worth responding to and I will galdy put you in your place.
My bonus check beats your annual salary. I can afford to lay my weekly salary on the fact UGA doens not get to the BCS Title game.
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:50 pm
@Noley – yeah, its true. I dont think anyone other than the most delusional of fans is happy about that. Unless you guys show up and take them lightly, it will be another wing and a prayer matchup for us. I’m not even thinking about the bowl game yet. Johnson has yet to beat anyone who had more than a week to prepare for him. That includes middle of the MWC pack teams like Air Force and Utah LOL. God Forbid we draw South Carolina in the CHik Fil A bowl. That will be a fire hose to the face just like LSU in 2008 after beating UGA haha
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:51 pm
does not
JB
November 21st, 2012
6:51 pm
Anyone on here bashing Georgia multiple times with hate, no facts and no logic is ALL Tech. No SEC fan from another school would do that.
Mike S.
November 21st, 2012
6:53 pm
Noley you realize FSU wont sniff the title as long as your saddled with the ACC right? So has the Big 12 come calling yet? Ready to revenue share with Texas? haha
JB
November 21st, 2012
6:53 pm
I really don’t see Tech winning again this year. Dawgs, FSU and any bowl opponent because that record speaks for itself. How’s the round ball team doing Tech?
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:54 pm
Tech deserves to be in a championship game as much as Dooley deserves a 10 year contract at Tennessee. The ACC is falling apart and one can listen to Coach K at Duke and get the message the ACC is not going to be in existence within 5 years. I see us( FSU) Clemson, maybe Tech, VT, and Miami if they make it through probation leaving and joining another established conference in the near future who are football driven conferences.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:58 pm
If the SEC were smart, they would go out and allow FSU, Clemson, VT, GT, NC, NC State into the conference, play a schedule with 9 division games, 2 cross division games, keep the money in the conference, stop paying schools to play them, stop all the talk about how the SEC/ACC play weak non conference schedules and never leave the south and watch everyone around the nation cry because of the domination and exclusion.
Roy
November 21st, 2012
6:58 pm
Tech will finish their season 6-8. They’ll lose to UGA, FSU, and their bowl game (given). They have never won a bowl game under Paul Johnson losing to LSU, Iowa, and Utah. They haven’t won a bowl game since 2004 over Syracuse in the Champs Sports bowl.
JB
November 21st, 2012
6:59 pm
Would love to see a new league with the ACC lightweights and a lightweight or two from the SEC form a new conference. Vandy,Duke,Wake,Tech UAB,MTSU,UCFla,etc…….Let Clemson,FSU VT move to SEC.
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
6:59 pm
Make that 3 cross division games
9 in Division Games
3 cross division games
2-SEC Championship Semi final games
SEC Championship game
Beast from the East
November 21st, 2012
6:59 pm
Well, it appears we have a clown sighting. Welcome to the blog, Noley, Noley, Noley. Did you graduate from FSU? If so, what circus are you currently working for?
Roy
November 21st, 2012
7:00 pm
Tech will finish their season 6-8. They’ll lose to UGA, FSU, and their bowl game (given). They have never won a bowl game under Paul Johnson losing to LSU, Iowa, and Utah. They haven’t won a bowl game since 2004 over Syracuse in the Champs Sports bowl.
Roy
November 21st, 2012
7:01 pm
Excuse me, Tech has lost to LSU, Iowa, Air Force, and Utah in 4 bowl games under Paul Johnson. They haven’t won a bowl game since 2004 over Syracuse. There is a fact for you.
JB
November 21st, 2012
7:01 pm
Add Kentucky to lightweights…..Of course, going 12-0,11-1 in the SEC would almost be impossible.
JB
November 21st, 2012
7:03 pm
Johnson runs out of steam around bowl time. His boys are tired and beat up
Noley Noley Noley
November 21st, 2012
7:03 pm
Beast from the East
November 21st, 2012
6:59 pm
Well, it appears we have a clown sighting. Welcome to the blog, Noley, Noley, Noley. Did you graduate from FSU? If so, what circus are you currently working for?
UF fans are so funny….the suffering will continue this saturday….