The most popular punditry game this week has been pin-the-failed-coach-on Mark Richt. So far he’s been portrayed as:

• Phil Fulmer
• Tommy Tuberville
• …and even contrasted with Paul Johnson

I’m surprised even more people haven’t jumped on the Bobby Bowden decline given Richt’s coaching pedigree.

The comparisons with coaches who pulled out of a nosedive are much more difficult to find although there’s one within our own program. Is that because it’s relatively rare for successful coaches to recover from this position? With more dollars at stake and the pressure to produce right away, is it becoming unreasonable to expect that coaches at major programs will be given much time or latitude to see if they can turn it around?

At Georgia it seems as if the market has already corrected itself to some coaching changes after the season. That is to say that the inevitability of change is so universally accepted among fans that future expectations already take those changes into account. The resulting mood isn’t great, but it is a good more upbeat than it was on, say, Monday. There is enough faith left in Mark Richt to see how he’ll respond and see whether he’ll be able to get back the championship culture that’s been eroding for a few years.

The idea hit the news a week ago, but Damon Evans stated yesterday that Georgia and Georgia Tech will not open the 2011 season at the Georgia Dome.

The sticking point seemed to be the loss of a home game for Georgia. Many of us originally assumed that the neutral site game would simply take the place of Tech’s turn to host the game in 2011. The proposal actually called for the series to resume at Tech in 2012 meaning that Georgia would go two seasons without a home game against Tech.

From the Tech perspective the deal was attractive because it would spread out attractive home games across different seasons and, presumably, level out ticket sales form year to year. Currently Tech hosts Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Georgia in the same year, and the home schedule in the even-numbered years is much less attractive to prospective ticket buyers.

Georgia’s defensive coordinator has become a punch line this week, but you know it’s getting over the top when South Carolina partisans start piling on.

If Georgia has to play South Carolina every year with Martinez as defensive coordinator …
Willie Martinez should absolutely remain defensive coordinator at Georgia as long as he wants.

If Georgia’s defense played other teams as they have South Carolina, Martinez would be named Georgia’s coach-in-waiting. The Gamecocks have averaged just over 13 PPG against Georgia since Richt took over in 2001 and just 15 PPG since Martinez was named coordinator for the 2005 season. Those averages include this year’s 37 points (which itself includes a safety and a pick-six that has nothing to do with the defense). Martinez was also the man behind the shutout in 2006 and the defense that held South Carolina to just 7 points a year ago in a series that has come to be defined by defensive struggles.

We’ve had to learn to laugh at ourselves this week, but you’d think South Carolina fans would be among the first to celebrate the idea of a regime change for the Georgia defense.

There’s a certain clarity that comes from games like Saturday’s loss. There’s no ridiculous penalty, no turnover, no play (unless you count 17 versions of the same bootleg play), and no specific coaching decision on which you can pin a loss like that. In earlier setbacks you could take some solace in the performance of the defense as the offense struggled, excuse points away to field position, or zero in on horrible calls against Rashad Jones or A.J. Green. You could look ahead to the next game thinking how things might finally click if we just stopped those pesky turnovers. That fog has lifted after a weekend that ended with Mark Richt admitting that “where we are right now is a culmination of everyone.”

HR Department

It’s not my place to be flippant with the careers and livelihoods of Georgia’s coaches. We’re customers and not shareholders or managers, and our choice is ultimately whether or not to buy the product (a fact which will be very evident come kickoff of the Tennessee Tech game). That doesn’t imply satisfaction or complacency. It’s Mark Richt’s job to manage his staff and team, not mine, and his program’s success will ride on those decisions. He’s certainly given us plenty of reason to trust his judgment when it comes to building a successful program, but the current competitive landscape and the state of the Georgia program are uncharted waters for this coach. At the very least he’s earned the opportunity to try to navigate these waters.

I will say one thing though to those who still maintain some sort of firewall between their feelings for certain assistants and their reverence for the head coach. If the start to this season has made any difference in the way fans view the program, it’s that their dissatisfaction can no longer be put on a specific area or assistant. There is a program problem now, and it’s Richt’s problem to address.

Calling for changes on defense is nothing new; some have been at it since the first half of the West Virginia game that concluded the 2005 season. Grumbling about special teams (and kickoffs in particular) is also a well-worn path. But aside from the occasional gripe with John Eason whenever a receiver dropped a pass or pointing out the offense’s role in some of the spectacular team meltdowns over the past couple of seasons, most of the vocal critics have been able to target the bulk of their criticism at one or maybe two assistants and reassure themselves that the one simple change is all that’s keeping Richt’s Georgia program from reaching its fullest potential.

Is that possible any longer? Is there an area of the program about which to feel confident apart from A.J. Green’s natural gifts or the legs of Butler and Walsh? I don’t mean that in an emotional fling-poo-blame-everyone sense. There just isn’t a part of the team performing at a high level right now. Even the offensive line – the supposed strength of the team – hasn’t been able to survive the loss of a single player. I’ve even seen calls for Richt to take playcalling duties back from Mike Bobo – a decision that was universally hailed as a success at the end of the 2006 season.

I don’t envy Richt’s position over the next couple of months. Fans would replace coaches weekly if they could with all the cold consideration of managing a fantasy football roster. Richt has to deal with some very difficult decisions regarding men he respects professionally and likes personally. Part of the current level of grumbling among the fans has to do with Richt’s unwillingness to make changes following last season in which some of the same issues manifested themselves. Instead an intact staff (except for voluntary turnover) plus an emphasis on the vague concept of “leadership”, a relatively healthy roster, and even a well-disciplined off-season haven’t added up to much. It could be argued that the program is currently living with the consequences of prior indecision.

You can see the weight of the situation pressing on Richt. It shows up in sharp postgame exchanges with reporters. It shows up in the bunker mentality that has Richt talking about the “honor in being in the arena.” It’s even more frustrating and concerning for the staff and players, but at the same time there are many fans and members of the media still willing to stay in Richt’s corner. Now’s not the time to push them away no matter how high the level of frustration.

This painful situation is of course the tradeoff of a program built on loyalty and family. That’s almost always a feature and not a bug. It’s proven to be a winning culture – a culture that was cited when sought-after assistants turned down opportunities elsewhere to continue on in this working environment. Is part of the appeal knowing that the pressure to produce is sometimes less in such a culture? That’s a question for Richt that will have to be considered even any staff changes that take place; any postseason assessment will have to look at the incentives and rewards within the program that guide and reinforce the culture, and it goes way beyond money. Those kinds of touchy-feely management issues can be some of the most difficult for technically proficient head coaches who excel at the principles of football.

What’s Next

Regardless of how you feel about the staff, we’re just not likely to see many changes before the end of the season. This is the team and staff that’s going to trot out there for the next six or seven games. We have the luxury of thinking about decisions that are months away, but the team still has at least six games left and can’t afford to become preoccupied over the last one.

Earlier in the season it was possible to talk about the team Georgia could be if they eliminated certain mistakes and played more efficient and smart football. Now halfway into the season we have to admit that those traits are more or less the identity of the team. Turnovers, questionable decision-making (fielding a punt on the 1? spiking the ball as the clock runs out?), and porous pass coverage remain and don’t seem to be going away.

It’s disappointing and frustrating for fans, and I know many people have already written off this season and will wait for significant changes before getting back on board. That’s understandable – it can be a big investment of time and money. For those willing to stick it out with this team and season, I hope you listen to Michael Moore. That seems much more honest – and also much more likely to be embraced by the fans – than the stone wall coming from the coaching staff. Following Saturday’s comments, Richt was much more open on Sunday about putting everyone on notice. “I’m pointing the finger at all of us as a whole. We must all improve, period,” he said.

Any time a program faces a crisis like this, you have to pay attention to recruiting. Georgia has the bulk of another impressive class already committed, but it’s reasonable to expect that even the most rock-solid commitment will be observing how Georgia finishes the season with special attention given to any changes on the staff. Lane Kiffin is going to wave this win in the face of as many recruits as he can find this week, and I don’t blame him; it’s the only thing on which he can hang his hat going into the bye week recruiting trips. The building frenzy of Georgia fans calling for a scorched-earth approach to the coaching staff won’t go unnoticed either.

2007?

We love our analogies. Towards the end of last week I began to hear a lot of Georgia-following-FSU comparisons to tie Richt’s problems to Bowden’s, and FSU’s shootout loss to Tech on Saturday certainly didn’t help things. Now we’ve started to see and hear a few people mentioning Georgia’s stunning turnaround in 2007 which followed a disappointing start and an ugly loss at Tennessee.

Is such a turnaround possible? Sure. Georgia stands a chance against all of its remaining components (and that includes Florida). The biggest difference between 2007 and 2009 is the lack of upward vectors on this Georgia team. In 2007, you had a sophomore Matthew Stafford coming into his own. Knowshon Moreno put up 157 yards at Vanderbilt in a game that transformed him from impressive newcomer to the supercharged star we all saw finish the season. Defensive end Marcus Howard also began to come on strong towards the middle and end of the season and gave Georgia the pass rush they needed to become a much more effective defensive team. There appear to be few players on those kinds of trajectories this year. Joe Cox hasn’t been a disaster at quarterback, but his floor and ceiling appear to be set. The tailback situation is as muddled as it was before the season. Justin Houston’s return did give the pass rush a nice shot in the arm, but the overall defense still struggles.

“Georgia is just as close to 1-5…”

One last thing: please – enough of this. It’s bad enough that Georgia is 3-3; let’s not start taking away wins or players. Yes, Georgia would be worse off without A.J. Green (duh). But he’s on the team. Georgia did come close to losing the South Carolina and Arizona State games, but playing the what-if game with those close outcomes does a disservice to the plays made by guys like Green and Rennie Curran to secure those victories. If this isn’t going to be a championship season, such standout plays might be the best things we’ll have to take from the season.

1. Is the absence of Dowtin and Dent going to be more important than we think? When you consider what Tennessee does best on offense – run the ball, screen passes, and short-yardage passes – not having two of your better linebackers available seems to be a pretty big deal.

2. “What’s wrong with Georgia’s special teams?” is a topic that can and has been discussed all week, but there’s one area I’ll focus on here: punt returns. Georgia’s 2001 and 2005 wins in Knoxville each featured a Georgia punt return for a touchdown. In 2001, that Damien Gary return enabled Georgia to get back off the carpet from an early deficit and prevented the game from following the script of so many trips to Neyland. Thomas Flowers’ return in 2005 came in a tight 13-7 game and gave a strong Georgia defense the cushion it would need to close out the game. Are the days of Flowers and Mikey Henderson that far gone? Did the fake punt by South Carolina rattle Georgia that much?

3. Is it likely that another big return will help Georgia this year? Not if current trends continue. The Dawgs are so frozen in nearly every element of special teams that even once-explosive units like punt return are stuck with trotting out a backup quarterback to field fair catches because “Georgia is using essentially its regular defensive unit to prevent a fake.” I understand situations where you’d want to play the fake, but it was disheartening to see Prince Miller call for the fair catch after LSU punted from its own goal line to start the second half.

4. Which development is going to make a bigger difference in the game – Washaun Ealey or Tennessee’s higher-tempo offense? Ealey was credited with being a second-half “spark” for the Georgia offense. (What does it say about the state of the Georgia running game that ~30 yards and a 4 YPC average is enough of an improvement to stand out?) Meanwhile Tennessee got things going with a little more pace towards the end of the game, and the words “no” and “huddle” are getting thrown around a bit this week in Knoxville. Then again, Tennessee’s success with an up-tempo offense came with the game pretty well in hand.

5. How many college players are being mentored or otherwise involved with Deion Sanders? Sanders has been a mentor and spokesman for former Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree. Sanders also nearly became the legal guardian of Noel Devine. Now he’s at the center of the Dez Bryant eligibility issue. I don’t question Deion’s motives or claim he’s doing anything but looking out for some guys with very troubled backgrounds, but all we need now turning up in related stories is M.C. Hammer. What’s that you say?

6. Is the kickoff scheme so complicated that even Georgia’s best players can’t get it right? Richt talked about the experience and youth factor on kickoff coverage, but was that the problem on Georgia’s last flawed kickoff? For starters, junior linebacker Rennie Curran appeared to go the wrong way and was the cause of the formation penalty. That left the Dawgs shorthanded on the right side of the field with just three players – Prince Miller, Baccari Rambo, and Nick Williams. Rambo and Williams aren’t the most seasoned Bulldogs, but they’re not exactly freshman walk-ons either. I don’t know where Blair Walsh was supposed to put the kick, but it was relatively deep (it would have been fielded on the 2 or 3 were it a normal kickoff), and the ball went to the center of the field from the right hash. It didn’t take long for the returner to head left towards the sideline where Georgia was shorthanded essentially putting most of Georgia’s coverage unit behind the play.

Assuming that Walsh didn’t put the ball exactly within the 3-inch landing zone prescribed by the strategy, two of the bigger mistakes on the play were made by 1) Georgia’s starting placekicker and 2) the SEC’s leading tackler. Is that really a question of experience?

7. Does the relative success (and I use that term very loosely) of Ealey play into the discussion of what’s wrong with the offensive line and specifically run blocking? I don’t mean to imply that the blocking has been there all along, but were the struggles of King and Samuel really mostly to do with the line?

8. Is this the week Crompton puts it together? Every pessimistic prediction this week has had a variation of this: “Our defense and Willie are going to make Crompton look like Joe Montana this week.” The problem with Crompton though hasn’t been one of coverage. He’s had his open receivers, and the broadcast of their Auburn game took pains to point out the open underneath crossing routes. Crompton just isn’t hitting them, or they’re being dropped. It’s possible that this is the week that he finally starts hitting open receivers in stride, but that would have a lot more to do with Crompton than the coverage. If Georgia’s pass rush continues to show signs of life, it’s reasonable to expect that passing game to continue to struggle.

9. Has Georgia had a touchdown drive this year without a play or return of 20+ yards involved? David Hale digs up the fact that “well over half of Georgia’s drives are five plays or less,” and those include a few scores. If you wonder why the offense bogs down for stretches, consider how feast-or-famine things have been. Of course sustaining drives goes back to the running game…

10. Does the news of Dez Bryant’s ineligibility affect Georgia? Heismanpundit thinks so – at least indirectly. Whether or not Bryant is able to regain eligibility, HP speculates that the incident “probably narrows the Biletnikoff Award field [for the nation’s top receiver] to Golden Tate, Eric Decker and A.J. Green.”

That was the report according to Chuck Dowdle of WSB-TV yesterday. (Dowdle is also involved with the football radio broadcast team and the Mark Richt television show.)

According to reports, the Dawgs and Jackets have at least talked about playing in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome. Both Mark Richt and Paul Johnson have expressed displeasure over the kickoff game giving other programs a prime showcase in the state of Georgia, so this might be the solution to give the hometown teams a little satisfaction.

Since the game would be in 2011, it would take the place of Tech’s home game in the series. Georgia would not be giving up a home game in order to play at the Dome. I’m getting ahead of myself, but I wonder if the game would be ticketed as a Tech home game or if it would continue to be sold as a neutral site game.

Anyway, what would you think about the game being moved to the start of the season and to the Dome?

UPDATE: Marc Weiszer of the ABH has more information including comments from Damon Evans. Evans confirms a “few talks” about the possibility of playing Tech at the Dome to open the 2011 season, but he stresses that “there’s nothing definitive about doing that right now.” A lot has to happen for this game to take place. For starters, Georgia would have to do some scheduling gymnastics with the Louisville game that’s currently slated as the 2011 opener. On top of that, we haven’t heard from the Tech side of things, and I can’t imagine how excited their fans would be about giving up a home game in order to fit that many more Georgia fans in the Dome.

Both the Tennessee and Vanderbilt games have been picked up by the SEC Network and will kick off at 12:22 ET.

Following these two regional broadcasts, Georgia will appear again on national TV against Florida.

For a list of SEC Network affiliates, use this link. The games will be on Peachtree TV in Atlanta. For Atlanta Comcast subscribers, that means no HD broadcast. We’ll try to find contact information to get that changed this week.

Freshman receiver Rantavious Wooten continues to earn more playing time and made two big catches in last week’s win. Last week the students also named him heir to Musa Smith, Michael Cooper, and Greg Blue by saluting him with a loud “Woooooooooooooooo” after the catches.

But Wooten already had an underground following among recruitniks long before he got to Athens thanks to his highlight video. It wasn’t for the highlights, though those showed why he was a target of most every program in the area. The video was famous for the calls of the PA announcer who narrates each play and will forever make it impossible for a subset of Georgia fans to mention Wooten’s name without adding “daballcarrier” immediately afterwards. Here’s the video…

David Hale spoke with Wooten about the video’s fame, and it’s no surprise that Rantavious is aware of the phenomenon. He seems ready to take it to the next level. If rumors are true, Wooten will be sporting this eye black during Saturday’s game. Now if someone can just get word to Brook Whitmire…

The addition of Idaho State finalized the 2010 football schedule yesterday. We’ve got plenty of football left to play this year, but we’ll take a quick look at the 2010 slate while it’s still fresh on our minds.

• The biggest change will be moving the Kentucky game from November back to the late October spot it occupied during the 1990s. One word: horses.
• Georgia will play 11 straight games before a bye week. That’s not unprecedented, but it’s never easy. That’s the trade-off for moving the Kentucky game.
• Your home schedule will be UL-Laf., Arkansas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Idaho State, and Georgia Tech. Excited yet? Without a major turnaround from either Arkansas or Tennessee, the Tech game might be Georgia’s only chance at a home game against a ranked opponent next year.
• You hate to assume things this far out about the relative strength of conference opponents, but it’s hard to complain about an SEC West schedule that avoids LSU and Alabama.
• It’s nice to see the schedule spread out so that there will be two home games in each month. That means there’s really no road game gauntlet next year; the Dawgs will play no more than two consecutive games away from home. Sticking a road game in front of Florida isn’t ideal (see last year), but it’s also not a trip to Death Valley. Coming home to play Tennessee following two road games and a trip to Colorado might be tough, especially if the Vols are much improved, but the Vols will be coming off a tough road game of their own at LSU.

It’s not going to win the respect that the 2008 and 2009 schedules did, but if the Dawgs can win the games, not many will care. There are still two non-conference opponents from BCS conferences, so there’s not really anything about which to apologize. The SEC schedule looks favorable at first glance, but that didn’t help Georgia much in 2006 when they avoided Alabama and LSU but still went 4-4 in conference. You’ve still got to play the games.

Your thoughts?

No, not Boise State. Idaho State. The same program that has lost 50-3 to Arizona State and 64-0 to a Bradford-less Oklahoma team so far this year.

The University of Georgia and Idaho State University have scheduled an minterconference football game to be played in Athens, Ga., on November, 6, 2010.
The two teams will play in UGA’s Sanford Stadium. Located in Pocatello, Idaho State is a member of the Big Sky Conference. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.

“minterconference game” is a typo in the press release, but that’s just what this game is…a palate-cleanser following the Cocktail Party. Georgia’s 2010 nonconference schedule is now complete and looks thusly:

• Sept. 4: vs. Lousiana-Lafayette
• Oct. 2: @ Colorado
• Nov. 6: vs. Idaho State
• Nov. 27: vs. Georgia Tech

Georgia also replaces LSU with Mississippi State on the SEC rotation. I don’t think we’ll be winning any “toughest schedule” awards in 2010, but that’s fine with me and Jeremy Foley.

1. How close is the Georgia offense to qualifying for 501(c)3 status as a charitable organization?

2. Would you rather be a Cal or Miami fan this week? If there’s one thing to be said for Georgia’s opening game loss, it got the disillusionment out of the way quickly.

3. Does Arizona State have another formation on offense besides the three-wide shotgun or another running play that doesn’t go off-tackle? The reverse off that running play was a nice wrinkle late in the game, but credit to Georgia’s defense for staying mostly at home and turning a potential big play into a gain of just four yards.

4. What’s happened to the fullback position? Yes, Munzenmaier scored Georgia’s second touchdown, but that’s been the highlight of production from the group so far. Chapas and Munzenmaier have a combined 8 yards rushing, and Chapas has a total of 25 receiving yards. The position is never going to be a source of gaudy stats, but it has been a lot more visible in recent years. It’s a bit out of character for the fullbacks to be noted more for getting stuffed in short yardage situations.

While we’re at it, Chapas has been a bit of a lightning rod this year with problems on kickoff returns. It’s his job to tell returners to bring the ball out of the endzone. Communication was also an issue against Arizona State with two shaky results on kickoffs, one of which allowed the ball to bounce before it was fielded. I’m not putting all of the kickoff communication issues on Chapas – clearly Boykin needs to scream like a centerfielder if he’s going to field the kick.

5. Is the Iron Bowl shaping up to be one of the most interesting games in the SEC this year? Not to knock LSU or Ole Miss, but tell me you’re not getting more and more curious about seeing the Auburn offense collide with the Alabama defense. (Of course we said the same thing about the Arkansas offense heading into last weekend.) Auburn will have their chance to claim the title of top contender with back-to-back games against Ole Miss and LSU at the end of October.

6. Speaking of Auburn, is anyone still upset that Chizik got the nod over someone like, say, Turner Gill?

7. Were we spoiled by Stacy Searels? That Georgia was even able to field a competent line in 2007 was a miracle. Last year was mostly a wash due to the significant injuries, but the offense was still very productive. There was always a question how good Stafford and Moreno made the line look, but nearly every preseason preview of the 2009 Bulldogs listed the offensive line as a strength that would help the new quarterback and tailback find their way.

The pass blocking has been mostly adequate though Cox has taken several big hits. Run blocking has been a little less successful, and that shows up in Georgia’s relatively poor rushing numbers. “This game in particular wasn’t one of the best ones of the year (for the offensive line),” said Mark Richt after the Arizona St. game. They’re trying different alignments with Glenn lined up at left tackle in place of the injured Sturdivant, but even reliable linemen like Jones and Boling have had their issues this year.

9. So a turnover doesn’t automatically have to lead to a score? Georgia’s first turnover left the Sun Devils with only about 40 yards to go for their first score. Though the Bulldog defense faced a short field, they twice had a chance to stop ASU on third down but didn’t. It has to be deflating to keep getting put in those situations, but I don’t recall many, if any, instances where the Bulldog defense held their own after a bad break. The Oklahoma State field goal before halftime is the only one I can think of. On one hand, you had to grant that the defense was being put in tough spots. On the other hand, geez, guys, make a stop every now and then.

That’s what makes the fourth quarter defense all the more impressive. ASU started two drives in Georgia territory – one as the result of a punt return and the other of course after Cox’s second interception. Both drives resulted in three-and-outs. Neither led to points. The two drives combined led to a net of three yards, and ASU even went backwards on their final drive. Though they’ve deservedly been put through plenty of criticism this year, whether at the end of the South Carolina game, the fourth quarter at Arkansas, or the fourth quarter Saturday night, the defense has stepped up when they’ve absolutely had to.

10. For whom should Mark Bradley make the case to fire this week?

Lord knows I’m glad A.J. Green is on our side, but am I the only person who doesn’t accept this photo that’s going around as clear and indisputable evidence that Green’s right foot was on the ground? The perspective of the photo (looking down) makes it look as if the toe meets the grass, but that’s not consistent with the lighting and the shadows. There’s still a couple of inches of clearance under his right foot which is cocked back slightly inside. The overhead replay was more convincing; it showed a pretty clear bounce where he tapped his toe in-bounds. I just don’t think we’re seeing that in this picture (not to get all Oliver Stone back-and-to-the-left about it or anything).

Georgia’s October 10th game at Tennessee is one of four games being held for a six-day selection. The networks will have until next Monday (Oct. 5th) to sort out the schedule.

As expected, CBS chose to put the Florida @ LSU game in the prime time 8:00 p.m. start. The four possibilities for Georgia’s game time involve the usual 3:30 CBS slot and a trio of broadcasts starting around noon:

• CBS: 3:30 ET
• ESPN: Noon ET
• ESPNU: 12:30 ET
• SEC Network: 12:21 ET

The other games that will fall into three of those slots are Alabama at Ole Miss, Auburn at Arkansas, and Houston at Mississippi State. The Alabama-Ole Miss game especially looks like a strong challenger for the coveted 3:30 spot.

One of the small pleasures of the football season is watching the typically unpredictable nature of every season turn the conventional wisdom on its head. The power polls, bombastic predictions, Heisman candidates, and what-if scenarios get blown up and regenerated every week. The lesson every time is to let the season play out, but what’s the fun in that? It was especially enjoyable to watch Tommy Tuberville get taught that lesson. In October of 2006 Tuberville, with Auburn undefeated and ranked #2, got caught up in worrying about the BCS and promptly got blown out by Arkansas. Georgia would do their part to keep Auburn out of the BCS a few weeks later. Damn, that was fun.

On to this year. We’ve already seen BCS-buster and Oklahoma slayer BYU go from favorite to forgotten. Now it’s Ole Miss’s turn. The ink was barely dry on this Glenn Guilbeau article in the Shreveport Times talking about the high rankings enjoyed by the SEC and the SEC West in particular when Ole Miss laid their egg in Columbia last night. I guess the SEC West *had* three teams ranked in the top 10.

It was always unrealistic to expect the SEC West to finish with three teams in the Top 10 (hindsight is great!) when they all play each other. No matter how good LSU, Ole Miss, and Alabama are, there are three losses to be had when those teams play the round-robin divisional schedule. Even that ignores LSU’s games with Florida and Georgia and, as it turns out, Ole Miss’s game at South Carolina. Throw in a resurgent Auburn team, and the difficulty of remaining unblemished and highly ranked is that much tougher. The polls might exalt the SEC and the SEC West right now, but the reality of the conference schedule has yet to hit.

About Ole Miss…they’re getting killed this morning, and it’s for good reason. They just didn’t play well and made some strange coaching decisions. That said, a lot of the reaction is predictably overboard. They still have the pieces to be a quality team and the schedule to finish with a record that gets them back to a New Year’s Day bowl. It’ll show a lot about them whether they realize they still have a lot to play for and are able to regroup. The best thing about the loss is that it comes against an SEC East team, so they’ll still be able to determine their own fate in the SEC West.

That said, I have to pile on left tackle Bradley Sowell’s comments.

“I’m glad it’s gone,” Rebels left tackle Bradley Sowell said of the high-intensity spotlight, “so we can just get back to basics and win ballgames.”

I don’t think you’ll hear that from an LSU or Alabama player if they lose. Unfortunately I did hear a lot of that sentiment from Georgia players and fans in the aftermath of the 2008 season. That’s just not a winning attitude.

The good news (at least from Bruce Figgins’ perspective): The athletic department decided that redshirting this year would count as “time served” for Figgins’ six-game suspension.

We raised the question back when Figgins’ suspension was announced whether or not he’d have to serve the six games if he decided to redshirt. He was going to miss the early part of the season anyway recovering from shoulder surgery, and a redshirting in 2009 might allow him to get back into top form in time to play a complete 2010 season. There was some discussion whether the redshirt went against the spirit of the suspension, but this week’s decision put an end to the uncertainty. It’s now up to Figgins and the coaches: return in the middle of this season with a senior season to follow in 2010 or redshirt and have two years of eligibility remaining.

The bad news: The suspension might have already had its biggest impact on Figgins’ future regardless of when he returns. At the beginning of the season the position was pretty wide open. Aron White was the only returning tight end with any experience, and he had just three receptions a year ago. That window of opportunity might be closing though as Georgia has three emerging young tight ends, and the position looks to be in good shape. As David Hale points out, the tight ends are already just two receptions shy of last year’s total for the entire season. White is a dependable receiver with good hands, Orson Charles just gets better and better, and Arthur Lynch is gaining situational experience. Whose playing time diminishes in order to get Figgins back on the field?

If there’s a niche where a return by Figgins might have the biggest impact, it’s in blocking. It’s not that Charles (or White for that matter) are blocking liabilities, but their strengths are as receivers for now. Lynch, who considers blocking his strong point, might not be quite ready yet – certainly no knock on a true freshman. If the offensive line play continues to be average, the coaches might look to use a blocking tight end more, and Figgins could fill that role. It would also give the coaches the option to use more two tight end sets while keeping both a strong blocking and receiving option on the field.

Mark Richt has a lot on his plate between now and the Vandy game (Figgins’ earliest possible return), and will worry about it then. “I think a lot will have to do with where we are and where everybody is at that time,” Richt said.

PS…if you’re able, read Anthony Dasher’s conversation with Lynch over at UGASports.com (subscription required). Lynch talks about everything from his homesickness (“…there was definitely a time when I wondered if I made the wrong choice…”), his resolve (“I’m the one who chose to come here and I don’t regret it a bit.”), his relationship with his mother (“She taught me to be a good person…”), and of course his approach to playing the game (“That’s the way I was brought up, to just go out there and fight, go out there every day and work my butt off, fight and play with a passion….I take pride in my blocking”). He comes across as a guy that’s already matured a great deal as a true freshman a long way from home.

You’ll also want to catch David Hale’s Q&A with Orson Charles. Again, tremendous maturity and self-awareness from a true freshman. When he scored his first touchdown at Arkansas, Charles said, “Thank you God for putting me on this team.” I think a lot of fans were saying that too.