Struggles continue in marquee games; team whipped but not flat, Richt says
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A dismal loss to South Carolina extended and exacerbated the Georgia football team’s multi-year trend of struggling — a lot — against top opponents.
Saturday night’s 35-7 loss — Georgia’s first game of the season against a ranked opponent and its first defeat of the season — dropped the Bulldogs’ record against Top 25 teams to 2-8 since the start of the 2010 season, including 0-4 against Top 10 teams.
And going back a bit further, the loss dropped the Bulldogs to 6-14 against Top 25 teams since the start of the 2008 season, including 1-9 against Top 10 opponents.
The impact of the loss on Georgia’s national reputation was quickly registered. Ranked No. 5 before the game, the Bulldogs tumbled Sunday to No. 14 in the Associated Press media poll and No. 12 in the USA Today coaches’ poll. South Carolina rose from No. 6 to No. 3 in both.
Asked late Saturday night how he responds to the perception that Georgia doesn’t rise to the occasion in high-profile games, UGA offensive lineman Chris Burnette said: “I can’t really dispute it because we haven’t.”
The Bulldogs’ only wins over ranked opponents in the past 2 1/2 seasons came last season against Auburn and Georgia Tech, Nos. 24 and 25, respectively, in the AP poll at the time of those games.
You have to go back to a 2009 victory over Tech, No. 7 at the time, to find Georgia’s most recent victory against a Top 10 opponent. Aside from that, the Bulldogs have lost to every such team they’ve faced in the past 4 ½ seasons: Alabama and Florida in 2008; Oklahoma State, LSU and Florida in 2009; Auburn in 2010; Boise State and LSU (SEC title game) in 2011; and South Carolina in 2012.
“We definitely want to make sure that in the future we can rise up to that occasion,” Burnette said. “We know what we’re capable of, but we’ve just got to go back and look at film and figure out what happened, what we did wrong.”
Saturday’s loss left Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) a game behind South Carolina (6-0, 4-0) and Florida (5-0, 4-0) in the SEC East. Georgia doesn’t play this week, while South Carolina is at LSU and Florida at Vanderbilt.
Georgia won the East last season despite losing to South Carolina. To repeat that feat, the Bulldogs likely would need to win out — including Oct. 27 vs. Florida, currently No. 4 in the AP poll — and would need South Carolina to lose twice (say, at LSU and at Florida).
“I’m definitely not losing confidence in this team at all or in our coaching staff or anything like that,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said Sunday. “That’s the worst thing you can do. Teams panic and they tend to fall apart. But Georgia is not going to fall apart.
“A year ago, we’re 0-2 and everybody wants to decide the sky has fallen and it’s over for Georgia. But what did we do? We stayed firm; we believed in each other; we kept banging away; we started to win; and before you know it, we won the Eastern Division. … It’s unfortunate [Saturday’s game] came out the way it did with so much at stake, but there’s still a lot at stake. The sun did come up, and we’re going to get back to work.”
Richt rejected the suggestion the Bulldogs were flat against the Gamecocks.
“I wouldn’t say it was a flat performance,” he said. “I would just say that South Carolina physically whipped us.”
He continued: “If we’d had more success early in the ballgame, it wouldn’t have seemed like a flat performance. Even the initial drive, if [Bacarri] Rambo hangs on to the pick and we turned it into points, all of a sudden things look a little bit different. So there’s a lot of things that could have happened along the way if we could have [pass-]protected better or run- blocked better and been more accurate or tackled better — all of those things. I’m still going to say South Carolina did a heck of a job, and we didn’t get it done.”
Georgia averaged 48.2 points in winning its first five games, but the Gamecocks jumped to a 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes and held the Dogs scoreless until the final two minutes.
As South Carolina built the early lead, Georgia had breakdowns on offense (a tipped interception), defense (a missed interception, open receivers) and special teams (a 70-yard punt return for a Carolina touchdown). So it went, the Gamecocks’ domination starting on the line of scrimmage and permeating all phases of the game.
“It’s definitely humbling,” Bulldogs linebacker Jarvis Jones said.
“They were shell-shocked,” South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore told reporters. “We hit them in the mouth, and they weren’t ready for it.”
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF GEORGIA-SOUTH CAROLINA GAME
- Game story: South Carolina 35, Georgia 7
- Bradley: A sobering night for overwhelmed Bulldogs
- Spurrier: ‘They can’t say they own us anymore’
- Georgia’s defense no match for South Carolina’s offense
- Notebook: Gamecocks’ Shaw shows off against state school
- Photo gallery from No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 6 South Carolina
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654 comments Add your comment
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:06 pm
Git im somewons face Richt. Thats way you cant win becauese you wont yell at peeple. I culd site all kinds of useles facts aginst you but I will leeve that to all of the other reely cool bloogers on heer that now more that anybody. Just grow some and yell at peeple. Listem to all of the winners on this forim.
Me too
October 7th, 2012
9:07 pm
@JDawg, I say the students ought to ban together and get the players to quit on Richt. I bet they would. A missed assignment here and missed reception here, a missed tackle. Sure, they could throw the game and keep their NFL chances alive. Spread the errors around.
Ward
October 7th, 2012
9:08 pm
m an alumni and it hurts so bad to see this program fall like it has over the past few years… It is a program of cowards, which starts at the stop with Greg McGarity not having the strength to make a decision that should have been made 2 years ago. Instead, we have the most over paid coaches in history. The entire staff needs to be dismissed and we need fresh blood no matter the cost. Aaron Murray needs to go… I don’t care if he breaks ever record in UGA history; he will never be someone the fan base cares about. He is not a winner or someone that can lead any team to the promise land. I am quitting on this team like they quit on the field in Carolina last night. I am over it and the University will not get one more dollar from me until they make a change at the top of the program. I am going to encourage all of my fellow alumni to do the same…We cannot vote Richt out, but we can vote with our dollars and I implore you all not to use any of your dollars to support a program that will not give us what we ask for and deserve: HOPE! As long as Mark Richt and his band of dwarfs are here we will have no HOPE. I cannot keep the faith expecting good things to come down the road; I have been fooled too much over the past few years. UGA has become a C-USA program. We look good playing against teams less than us (the Tulane or Duke), but when it comes to teams like Bama, LSU, and I guess now South Carolina we see how mediocre we truly are now days…It is an embarrassment to this state, much the same as Tech is to the state… at least they don’t have talent. I know some will say that we will still we 10 games this year (and we may well do that), but we will lose to USC & UF in the only two games versus real teams all year… Most likely we will lose our bowl game too and I am afraid that people will feel like that is good enough to keep the coaches… Well, I am here to say it is not. I do not care that Mark Richt is a good Christian man. So am I, and if I don’t do my job well I would still get fired. Being a good man doesn’t make you a good coach…Just look at all the arrest and suspensions! Being a Christian means that you have salvation; it doesn’t mean that you become good at all you do, nor does it qualify you to do things that you really cannot do well. The results should speak for themselves and as far as I am concerned they do not meet where we should be as a program.
Huh?
October 7th, 2012
9:09 pm
LakeDawg…a lot of good coaches are Christians. You don’t have to be an A$$, a jerk or a non-Christian to be a good coach. Now, I”m not a Richt supporter, and it’s pretty clear that it’s time for him to move on. But don’t confuse the two issues.
mark
October 7th, 2012
9:09 pm
Richt got whipped,out coached again! Him getting paid 3 mil a year is nothing short of stealing.he is more of a thief than a coach. we paid him $250000 for coaching that game. I wouldn.t walk across the streetto watch that slop much less buy a ticket …not me!
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:10 pm
Mee too thank you. Thats wat im saying. And Huh!, of course tey woold come here. Just listem to the geanasses on this blog and they will tell you and all of us wat we need.
Dum-Bass
October 7th, 2012
9:11 pm
Sounds like Richt and Fredi Gonzalez went to the same school of underachievement. Their quotes after losses are actually interchangeable. I know the Braves fan base is going to drop tremendously next year with CJ gone, and two years pitiful failure in a row, but what about the DAWGS? Do the GA fans just keep putting up with this same crap year after year? Only YOU can make a difference.
a voice in the wilderness
October 7th, 2012
9:11 pm
well said Ward! The rest of yall are a bunch of loosers!
Hairy Dawg
October 7th, 2012
9:12 pm
I don’t think Richt realizes how tired fans are of seeing his teams miss the bus to the stadium before big games. When it happens over and over again with different players over the course of five or six years, then the problem is with the head coach, his staff, and how it evaluates the three and four-star players it brings into the program. Our defense is stacked with talent and plays like crap. Our offense is stacked with talent and stunk out the joint in Columbia. And yes, of course the Dawgs’ season isn’t over. One loss doesn’t do that. However, it sure as hell makes it almost impossible to lose another game and have a chance at a national title, which is what every Dawg fan, delusional or otherwise, wants.
bobdawg
October 7th, 2012
9:13 pm
Who really cares anymore?
I give!
TossSweep
October 7th, 2012
9:13 pm
What’s the possibility of hiring a really good coach next year such as Christ Petersen from Boise State who will actually take talent and use them to their full potential? I don’t think SC is ever ranked as high as UGA in recruiting yet their players have become bigger, faster, stronger and more disciplined than UGA. Am I wrong?
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:13 pm
Richt had run this progam into the graound. He is okay but Booboo has to go. Did you see how bad he called those playse las t nite? Come on. All of us geanasses on heer can do bettr than that.
anon1
October 7th, 2012
9:13 pm
Florida is their only other game against a team with a winning record. Why should they quit. Easiest schedule in the SEC.
Vincent Ray McGarity
October 7th, 2012
9:14 pm
As a graduate and season ticket holder (four tickets) for 34 years, I’m over the proverbial barrel. I cannot give up my tickets in protest of Mark Richt. My legacy tickets are now for my children and their kids. If I “protested” by not renewing, I would never get the seats I have now again. My loyalty is to The University of Georgia. Coaches and players come and go, but as a lifer, I cannot act on emotion.
Having said all that, it has been time for three years now to show the coach the door. This is what will happen this year: We will win the remaining games on the schedule, except Florida-that means we beat Auburn and Tech. We finish the regular season 11-1. We are “awarded” a New Years Day bowl game against a weak Big10 team. We will most likely win that game because the Big10 is even worse than us at the moment. We will finish back in the top 10, and we’ll be fooled once again into believing we are a national power program.
Next season, we replace nine starters on defense. We’ll not have a very good season in 2013, but Coch Richt will be given all benefit of doubt because the defense is very young and inexperienced. The cycle repeats itself for the foreseeable future.
Get the pattern here………?
LoganvilleDAWG
October 7th, 2012
9:14 pm
Lake Dawg, you are a DIPSTICK. I know more about this program then you will ever know. We will continue to give money and support our team. You were not complaining when were were avg. 7-8 wins a seasom with Dooley and Donnan.. Vince is a great man and a good friend, but he would not have won a NC without Herschel Walker. So go back to the lake, I will have you cut my grass the next time I’m at the lake.
stopthemorons
October 7th, 2012
9:15 pm
Coach, they didn’t get whipped, they got steamed-rolled. Also don’t forget embarrassed, out coached, out prepared, out played, and out post game presser with witty comments. That’s right a coach that just got beat 35 – 7 doesn’t make witty comments.
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:15 pm
We speek with our muny and hour brilance dog fand! Tell them waht we think with our muney and uor words. We want Saben!!!!!
anon1
October 7th, 2012
9:16 pm
Spelling people, check it. It at least makes you look intelligent.
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:17 pm
Yaay stomp the morons. Thts wat Ive been saying. Weere tired of this! Fire someone and hire Saben!
Huh?
October 7th, 2012
9:17 pm
anon1…they are doing it on purpose…I guess they think they are being funny…
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:19 pm
Richt and Gonazles are the same. There losers. Hire Saben to coach the Dogs and the braves.
Pug
October 7th, 2012
9:20 pm
Huh?, I agree with every word you said!
LakeDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:20 pm
Huh?
October 7th, 2012
9:09 pm
LakeDawg…a lot of good coaches are Christians. You don’t have to be an A$$, a jerk or a non-Christian to be a good coach. Now, I”m not a Richt supporter, and it’s pretty clear that it’s time for him to move on. But don’t confuse the two issues.
——————————————————–
You are the one confusing the issue. I never said that one has to be an a$$ or a non-Christian to be a good coach. I just want a good coach and I’m not willing to give Richt a pass because he’s a good Christian…
lol
October 7th, 2012
9:20 pm
That’s why I hate this man.
Dawg89
October 7th, 2012
9:20 pm
I have to got to work in the middle of gamecock country tomorrow. It’s going to be a long week! There is nothing more obnoxious than a gamecock fan after beating UGA. I guess maybe I can take solice in the fact the chickens usually make a crash landing.
anon1
October 7th, 2012
9:20 pm
Are you sure of that, Huh?
t2go
October 7th, 2012
9:21 pm
Historically I have been a hater of teams like Notre Dame, Ohio State and U Southern Cal because I felt they were resting on their laurels, or over-hyped, or didn’t play anyone and chocked in the big games……well?????
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:22 pm
anon1 wee dont keer about speling. We Keer about wining. Thats wy we show how smart we are evry day on heer.
LakeDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:22 pm
@Ward
You are spot on.
Marcus Lattimore...Act Like You've Been There Before
October 7th, 2012
9:22 pm
…punched them in the mouth quote.
There’s nothing like young males full of vinegar to engage their mouths before there brains. Young man you have no class.
joe taxpayer
October 7th, 2012
9:23 pm
CMR just go away. We know you are not going to get fired. So please resign. I am done until you are gone.
Bulldawg
October 7th, 2012
9:24 pm
The best thing Coach Richt could have done was to state the obvious – “As a staff, we did not do a good job of preparing our players for this game.” Great coaches take the heat. They don’t lay it on the players.
Yes, Georgia was physically whipped, but it was clear that the gameplan was severely lacking in all phases of the game.
“if we could have [pass-]protected better or run- blocked better and been more accurate or tackled better — all of those things”. That’s where good coaching makes the difference between a good team and a bad one. Georgia was a bad one last night.
harold
October 7th, 2012
9:25 pm
Won’t fall apart? Hell…the players quit.
It is time for Richt to go.
UGA has such an easy schedule the only other “certain loss” is to Muschamps Gators!
Tc
October 7th, 2012
9:25 pm
Florida has already turned the corner in the same time period that we have been complaining about CMR
Please
October 7th, 2012
9:26 pm
I am not worried about the Dawgs falling apart. I am worried about how poorly they are coached.
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:27 pm
I hav and idea. Lets all of us geanasses come up witha game plan for Knetuccky and share it with all of the other geanasses on this blog. I dont just mean blok up front or run better. I meam and onest to goodness plan to show the hole staff off this teem that we now what whe are talking about.
Huh?
October 7th, 2012
9:28 pm
“Can we stop with all of the Christian talk. Just give me someone who can coach a lick. Geez”
LakeDawg…pretty much sounds like you would be willing to hire the anti-Christ if he could win a championship for UGA.
JDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:29 pm
Yeah Richt we hate you and want you gone!!!! We dont have a cluue hoo to hire or even how to git our own children to forgibe us for not paying child support dut dam it feels good to vent on this blog!!!!
LakeDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:30 pm
LoganvilleDAWG
So you are connected…a big man…LMAO. Doesn’t keep you from being a dumba$$, which you proved with your last post. If you can’t see the difference between the Dooley years and now, you are clueless, but I already knew that.
Reality
October 7th, 2012
9:31 pm
The Dawgs will lose 2 more games during the regular season. One to Florida by 3 touchdowns and one to a team that they are supposed to easily beat. Then Richt will lead them to another Bowl game choke just like last year.
Reality
October 7th, 2012
9:31 pm
The players and fans have tuned Richt out. Might as well have his news conferences all alone.
Dawg89
October 7th, 2012
9:32 pm
I don’t know about coming up with a complete plan. But, if I were coach for a day, I would be relying a whole lot more on Gurshall and a lot less on Aaron Blurray.
Huh?
October 7th, 2012
9:33 pm
Dawg89…that wouldn’t have worked against SC…heck, Shaw had more rushing yards than Thunder & Lightning…er, I mean Gurshall.
LakeDawg
October 7th, 2012
9:34 pm
“LakeDawg…pretty much sounds like you would be willing to hire the anti-Christ if he could win a championship for UGA.”
Huh?…pretty much sounds like the only thing you are interested in is having a Christian coach. Apparently, coaching is irrelevent to you. Hint: There are other Christian coaches out there that have a clue. Now please quit trying to put words in my mouth. It betrays you’re agenda.
Believe it
October 7th, 2012
9:34 pm
Soft coach, soft team
Ronin
October 7th, 2012
9:35 pm
Coach Richt is one of the nicest people that you could ever meet. The problem is, he’s actually too nice. Steve Spurrier is more in your face and aggressive, his players don’t give him any grief, or as many problems off the field. Georgia has real talent and should be able to play with anyone in the nation. They may not win every time, but they would be in the game, or should win at least half of them. However, there not winning any of the big games, not because of greater talent on the field, but because of better coaching and play execution. Yes, they are getting blowout by teams of equal or less raw talent. This isn’t just one game, this goes back for years. All options should be on the table to recruit a coaching staff that can bring the dawgs to the top of their game.
Dooley vs Richt
October 7th, 2012
9:35 pm
Dooley only had 40+ points scored on his defense once in 25 years. Dooley’s Dawgs may have been whipped a few times but they never quit. Neither of those is true for Richt whose defenses have given up 40+ & 50+ points several times and are known to quit in a game every now & then.
Dolley won a national championship. Richt never will.
Time for a change
October 7th, 2012
9:36 pm
The team quit on CMR last night. The administration need to quit on CMR
jack bull
October 7th, 2012
9:37 pm
CMR hasn’t just forgotten how to coach all of a sudden. All I know is, AM is 0-10 against ranked teams.
bottom line in this game though, our OL got whipped, bad! No worries though, the chickens will end up losing at least 3 games in the SEC. We’re in good shape.
Reality
October 7th, 2012
9:38 pm
Actually Ronin Spurrier has had just as many off the field problems with players as Richt. They just very rarely suspend a player at USC. Regardless of that Spurrier is 10x the coach Richt is and now owns him. Richt may never win another game against Spurrier ever.