During the first eight years of Mark Richt’s time at Georgia, the Dawgs’ road record became almost a thing of legend. Over those eight seasons, the Dawgs were an amazing 30-4 in an opponent’s stadium.

It’s kind of shocking then to see a Missouri preview bring up Georgia’s recent road record as a possible Missouri advantage when the Dawgs visit Columbia. But there it is: “Georgia is just 10-12 away from Athens the last three years.”

There are separate issues here. Record aside, it’s ridiculous to think that Georgia will be out of sorts in an SEC road game. That’s just another Saturday. Tyler handles that point very well here.

On the other hand, it takes more than composure for a successful road trip. There’s definitely a mindset to going on the road. Following the landmark 2001 win at Tennessee, there was an audio clip that made the rounds of a player explaining Mark Richt’s approach to the game: go in “like a bunch of commandos,” get the job done, and get out. This mindset served them well in some big road games at Tennessee, Clemson, Auburn, and of course in Atlanta.

It’s not all mindset, sure. Georgia’s recent run of problems in big road games went along with some very ordinary teams. But whatever advantage Georgia used to have on the road has often been absent since the 2008 season that saw memorable wins at Arizona State and LSU. Think about some of the disastrous road trips since: Oklahoma State 2009. Tennessee 2009. Colorado 2010. Those are just the lowlights; there were plenty of other road losses. None of those environments was especially intimidating, but the Dawgs still laid an egg.

If we can dig up an unpleasant memory, go back to the 2008 Alabama game. (It’s not an exact comparison; Georgia was favored.) Athens was more than a little pumped for its blackout game. Bama came in focused, silenced the crowd, and announced its place back on top of the SEC. It helps that Bama had a future Heisman winner and a sick defense, but they were still able to cut through any pre-game hype, dominate an opponent on the road, and keep doing it week after week.

No, we don’t need a video of Coach T. talking trash about Missouri. But Georgia’s biggest obstacles in 2012 come away from home, and they’ll need that same kind of determination to take out these hostile crowds and put away these teams in the way of Georgia’s goals. The Dawgs took a nice step last year with a perfect 4-0 record in true road games. The road competition is much tougher in 2012, and Georgia’s success in repeating as SEC East champs will most likely hang on their ability to recapture some of that road mojo.