You’ve got to hand it to Mark Richt. When Georgia loses these days, it’s in pretty spectacular fashion. That means that losses aren’t the result of a series of plays, mistakes, and events against some pretty decent competition. No, now every Georgia loss is a trigger for soul-searching, demands for massive organizational change, and hand-wringing over the future of the program. I’m sure ol’ Dink is warming up the presses.

Georgia’s not the #1 team in the nation – or the SEC. They’re also not Auburn or Tennessee. The funniest thing I read in the aftermath was that a 10-2 record (if we are so fortunate) is "mediocrity". Or that we’re no better off now than in the Goff or Donnan days.

Please.

That doesn’t mean that everything’s OK. There’s something very much not OK with losing games this way. Coach Richt might think that "when the season is over, history might prove (Florida and Alabama) are the best teams in the country, too, at least two of the top five anyway." That’s true, but Georgia fans are right to point out that Richt’s Dawgs were supposed to be among those teams. Performances against Alabama and Florida show that the 2008 Bulldogs come up well short of where they expected to be, and that’s not something that can be dismissed just by saying that, shucks, we played some good teams.

Meanwhile, we’ve still got a quarter of a season left to play. While the Dawgs have imploded against elite competition, they’ve been able to get it done against everyone else. Finishing out strong is what will separate the present disappointment from disaster. We’ve seen Mark Richt teams regroup from worse spots. Does it say something that we’ve been at such a point in each of the past three seasons? Does it say something that the response each time has generally been positive?

The offense that struggled to convert against Florida will again be in the spotlight over the last three games. Kentucky, Auburn, and Georgia Tech all have decent defenses. You’ll laugh and point to Florida’s 63 points against the Wildcats, but we all saw how well UK played Alabama, and they are getting some injured players back. Auburn’s defense hasn’t been Quentin Groves scary, but it’s still been sound enough to keep them in most games despite big problems on offense. Tech’s defense has been able to help the team overcome a high number of turnovers and has them in position to challenge for the ACC title in Paul Johnson’s first season.

Eight Mark Richt teams have made the trip to Jacksonville. Six have failed to score more than 14 points.

• 2001: 10
• 2002: 13
• 2003: 13
• 2004: 31
• 2005: 10
• 2006: 14
• 2007: 42
• 2008: 10

We tend to focus on Florida’s coaches and playmakers on offense when this game comes up, but Sylvester Croom’s offense can put up enough points to outscore what the Dawgs usually put up in Jacksonville. It happened again on Saturday. Many fans will look at the 49 and complain about the defense again, but this one is on the offense from the coaches on down. Blame refs, kicking woes, whatever, but the best RB, QB, and WR pair to play on one Georgia team in decades couldn’t manage but three points until garbage time.

For the second time this season, the Dawgs have failed – in spectacular fashion – to capitalize on the #1-ranked team losing. With the national and conference goals unattainable now, Georgia’s going to get a gut check the next two weeks with two more road games. The players always seem to have an easier time than we do of shaking it off, so hopefully they’re already thinking about getting it back together for Kentucky.

It’s not that easy for me. There’s still plenty of football this season, but this loss needs to stick in Georgia’s craw. We mock the public drama and theatrics of Tebow and Meyer over last year’s game and the Ole Miss loss, but, hey – it worked. Yes, losing 49-10 is a BIG DEAL.

And the next time Knowshon tries to take himself out again at a key moment in the game, tell him to turn it right back around and man up.