Across the South, college football fans are packing stadiums to take in the spring scrimmage: that one morsel of something approximating real football during the eight month famine that is the offseason. Fans, especially in the SEC, bring near-capacity crowds to see how their favorite team has progressed through spring practice.

Georgia won’t be one of those schools.

Don’t let yourself be one of the Georgia fans who get caught up in the ridiculous comparisons of spring game attendance. There’s nothing wrong with a mostly-empty Sanford Stadium. It doesn’t mean we care less about our football. It’s not a statement of waning fan interest in the coach and the program. It might even be a sign of rational behavior, and since when are football fans known for that? Here’s why you haven’t seen anything close to a capacity crowd for G-Day and won’t for any time soon.

We have other things to do. We don’t have the excuse of a scheduling conflict with the Masters anymore, but there’s still no shortage of things to do on a spring afternoon in north Georgia. If you want to catch G-Day, you can still set aside 2 hours to see it on TV and have plenty of time to do other things on an April Saturday. Consider yourself blessed to live in a state where a few hours of watching the third string light it up isn’t your top entertainment option.

You won’t see what you want to see. You’ll find more vanilla at the spring game than at the University Creamery. G-Day is designed to keep the stars from shining. It makes perfect sense – sure, Murray could post a gaudy 400 yards if the coaches structured the scrimmage that way, but they have a team to evaluate and will send multiple units and player combinations out there. Rules designed for safety take some of the wow factor off of an aggressive defense. For those reasons, the stat leaders on G-Day are just as likely to be reserves.

In 2010, G-Day’s leading rushers were Carlton Thomas and Dontavious Jackson. The top passers were Mettenberger and Gray. The top receivers were Wooten and Durham, with reserve tight ends Lynch and Rich weren’t far behind. The leading tackler was linebacker Nick Williams who spent the 2010 season getting Tripped as he moved from linebacker to safety to linebacker.

It’s a pain to go to Athens for football. We do it willingly six or seven times for real games, but the hassles of tailgating restrictions and parking scarcity have soured many fans on the experience. Those issues aren’t as bad with 30,000 people descending on the town, but fans aren’t willing to push it for a scrimmage they can just as easily watch on TV.

Game? What game? No one could call the University hostile to G-Day; it’s not like they hide it or schedule it on a Tuesday. It’s often been a community fundraiser, and it is again this year. But it’s not like the event has been heavily promoted. I think they don’t want a large Alabama-like crowd. It’s not a huge money-maker, so the additional logistics of a large crowd might even cost the University and the city.

Those who care to ask when G-Day is already know when to find the particulars. They’re the ones who looked up the starting date of spring practice as soon as Signing Day was in the books. G-Day is a great chance for those who can’t afford season tickets or the casual fans to see the Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium. But those are also the fans more likely to be out of the loop on Georgia news unless they’re hit over the head with it. It’s better this year with the “It’s Great to Be a Bulldog” Weekend idea combining events involving four sports over three days. There’s an effort to make G-Day weekend bigger than it has been, but it’s still not reaching far beyond the diehards or the Athens area.

Should the Athletic Association put on a marketing blitz across the state to increase awareness and reach those casual fans? Sure, if the goal is a full house. I just don’t think it is. Again, that’s fine with me. I’m much more likely to attend and enjoy the day with some friends if I know I won’t face the parking and traffic crunch of 90,000 fans.

Bernie asks a good question: why are we just now finding out about the early February DUI arrest of a Tech baseball player?

The answer is probably a lot simpler than you think, and it can be summed up by this web page. Athens is a small enough town that media (or a random, bored message board denizen) can glance at the county and UGA arrest logs each morning and, without doing much work, see who got booked. Not much is going to get missed.

Try that in Atlanta. Does the Atlanta police department even offer a web page that logs who gets booked? How many people are ticketed or arrested on a given night in Atlanta? The city is big enough and the police active enough that an isolated DUI is going to have a lot of places to hide. That seems to have been the case here where it took several weeks for the story to come to light. The Damon Evans story broke as the result of media checking into a rumor and not as the result of someone hovering over the Atlanta city jail’s web site. Add in the many surrounding and overlapping jurisdictions in the metro Atlanta area, and it’s next to impossible to sort through. Athenians can keep up on a single handy, dandy web page.

Even the motivations of the local police and newspaper are different. You won’t get the AJC to cover the Tech beat unless there’s been another armed robbery. UGA dominates the Athens news. Both schools have their own police forces, but certainly the Clarke County police spend a lot more time dealing with student-related crime and patrol than the Atlanta police. I don’t suggest that either the Banner-Herald or the local police are out to get UGA students and athletes. But you do have a newspaper more likely to find smaller incidents newsworthy and a police force paying more attention than they would in a much larger city with a lot more going on.

A separate issue is one of policy. By now, most serious Georgia fans are unfortunately very familiar with the department-wide alcohol policy. The first offense earns you a suspension equivalent to 10% of the season. The second offense used to result in an automatic semester-long suspension from the University but now allows for some discretion based on the nature of the offense. A second offense now usually means a half-season suspension.

You might feel a little indignant that Skole’s public discipline to date is a one-game (less than 2% of the season) vacation against Georgia Southern. Let it go. There’s nothing that says that Tech or any school has to do anything. Is it right that Georgia student-athletes operate under a different and more strict set of rules? Fine. Until you codify student-athlete discipline across the NCAA (good luck with that), you’re going to have variation based on the priorities of the schools.

The surprising element to the story is that “Georgia Tech’s code of conduct for student-athletes doesn’t have any rules specific to DUIs.” You might think Georgia’s policy is excessive, but at least you know what it is. It’s an area into which the athletic department, with close cooperation from the University, put some thought. You might smirk and remark that Georgia has had a lot more experience in this area. Two responses – first, do we know? We just discussed how easy it is for individual incidents that are even matters of public record to get lost in the massive volume of Atlanta police activity. Tech has no obligation to release or comment on arrests or other disciplinary matters. Second, the present Tech athletic administration has had to deal with issues of drug abuse and DUI among its student-athletes and staff. There still doesn’t seem to be a unified policy, and that tends to leave things up to the individual program and away from public scrutiny.

We got what we expected last night from Xavier. In many respects, it was a dress-rehearsal for a tournament game. From the sense of what was at stake for both teams to the quality of competition to the close, competitive game – it had the feel of a game in March. That’s good and bad. The good is that it showed Georgia just what will be expected of them as they face several more tournament-quality teams down the stretch. The bad of course i that they lost. It was a hard-fought game, to be sure, but it was also the third time that the team had come up short at home with similar chances to get a significant win.

A lot of credit has to go to Xavier. They played outstanding defense, especially on the perimeter. Dustin Ware got very few good looks at the basket. Georgia’s outside opportunities were generally limited to contested shots or open looks for Thompkins which he missed. Georgia struggled from outside and hurt themselves with a few key turnovers, and that was enough to overcome a pretty decent defensive effort by the Bulldogs. The visitors finally figured out how to attack the Georgia defense, and the Bulldogs couldn’t get key stops down the stretch to keep themselves close.

At this point in the year, the scouting report is rock solid on every team out there. If Georgia looks as if they’ve run into a wall over the past couple of games, that’s mainly because the book on Georgia is out. You probably know most of the main points. Trap Thompkins. Force Robinson into a decision. Turn Leslie into a jumpshooter. Georgia’s big men struggle and can accumulate fouls in man defense. The team as a whole struggles against the screen and roll.

There’s a tendency to be overly harsh on bubble teams. We dwell on the warts and shortcomings of our team, but that’s why they’re on the bubble. Most teams in this group are dealing with their own weaknesses, and a lot of them would like to be in Georgia’s position. The Dawgs have taken a step forward this year, but it’s possible that the step has left them frustratingly close to their goals. Are postseason hopes a long shot? Not really. It’s reasonable to expect the team to be competitive in all of its remaining games, and a few going the right way could dramatically change Georgia’s outlook.

So what’s it going to take for Georgia to end up on the right side of things? Xavier was Georgia’s last chance for a significant nonconference win. They’ll have to be content with wins over UAB and Georgia Tech and point out that they really didn’t have any ugly losses. That’s fine, but it’s not a point on which you can build much of a case for postseason play. The Dawgs have seven regular season games left: four on the road, and three at home. Two of those road games are against Tennessee and Florida – teams that beat Georgia in Athens. Another is the regular season finale against SEC West-leading Alabama. You’re going to see the 10-6 benchmark thrown around a lot, and that would help, but things look positive even with a 9-7 mark and a strong showing in the conference tournament. The most important thing is to take care of the home games and then see what happens on the road. Taking one (or, while we’re dreaming, both) at Florida or Tennessee would really help.

That all seems reasonable, but remember the point about the scouting report. Everyone knows what to expect from Georgia, and opponents have adjusted to it. The difficulty is that the team hasn’t shown much in the way of evolving or counterattacking the scout. Thompkins still struggles passing out of the double-team. Robinson still gets out of control. This is still pretty much the same team that we saw in Orlando. Let me be clear – that’s not a criticism. Georgia’s good enough in certain areas that they’ll still be successful even if the opponent has scouted and prepared for those things. It just helps us anticipate what the team will see as they try to finish strong.

While we’re all anticipating good news tomorrow on Signing Day, Dr. Saturday asked a good question over the weekend. Georgia often has Top 10 recruiting class, so what’s so special about this one?

It’s a fair question. Blutarsky’s response captures the context: this class stands out because it comes from a program all but left for dead by the media and even many of its own. That helpless throw-in-the-towel mentality when it comes to recruiting (and the program in general) was alive and well less than a month ago. In his infamous rant against Mark Richt, Fran Tarkenton shared his angst.

In the meantime Alabama and Auburn and Tennessee are working and kicking our butts and recruiting people and getting coaches that have spread offenses…We’re going to lose the elite players this year. We haven’t in the past — we’ve gotten the elite player.

(Aside – former players like Pollack, the Baileys, Godfrey, and others have jumped in with a “how can I help?” attitude to do whatever it takes to bring this program back. Tarkenton? Well, he’s gone on the radio to attack the faith of the coach.)

But in less than a month it’s come full circle to the point that Mark Bradley, who shared Tarkenton’s words with the AJC audience, now senses that the wind is blowing in the other direction. Georgia isn’t going to lose the elite players. Other schools are recruiting harder than ever, but so is Georgia. They’re not “kicking our butts” on the recruiting trail. It’s important that Georgia is having success with its recruiting, but it’s equally important in the eyes of fans that Richt and the staff seem to be putting up a fight and won’t concede recruiting battles, especially for the state’s top talent, to the likes of Auburn, Alabama, and others who might be riding a little higher right now.

Beyond that, there are some other things going on with this class adding to the hype. I’m hesitant to count uncommitted players, but it definitely does have a different kind of feel than any class since that 1998 group that went on to form the core of the 2002 team. What else is there?

Momentum. Georgia’s recent stars like Murray, Green, Stafford, and Houston committed early in the process. Georgia’s biggest Signing Day commitment in recent years was probably Marlon Brown in 2009. The Bulldogs put a lot of their eggs in the Dream Team basket, and it was a big risk. The state of the class just a month ago was such that opinions like Tarkenton’s could be taken somewhat seriously. Rome and Mitchell turned it around, and Georgia has been on an incredibly hot streak since. Georgia isn’t just adding more commitments late. They’re adding some of their best.

Early contributors at positions of need. Every class has a few players who can or have to contribute right away. But this class is meeting immediate needs that even casual fans can appreciate. Some of the biggest needs have yet to announce, and that’s why there’s such anticipation over guys like Crowell and Jenkins. It might be unfair or unwise to do so, but fans have already plugged four or five guys from this class into the depth chart.

The Dream Team concept works. It’s an obvious concept and maybe even a little gimmicky. There was also a good deal of risk – such a public campaign had the potential to backfire on Richt. The class, even considering the significant contributions from out-of-state prospects, would be judged on Richt’s ability to deliver in-state. If Isaiah Crowell chooses Georgia, the Dawgs will have landed seven of the top 10 players in the state. Few schools can make their homegrown talent such a key part of a successful recruiting class, but it had to happen for Georgia this year. And it has.

Recovery from 2010. A repeat of the 2010 class, ranked 15th nationally by Rivals.com, would have been a bad sign for Georgia and Richt. Programs can survive the occasional sub-par class, but the recovery of the program has to have something to work with. Georgia hasn’t had an impact class in a while. Though the 2009 class was rated 6th in the nation, many of the top prospects in that class have yet to contribute – whether due to injury, transfer, or a failure to break through on the depth chart.

Magnitude. Georgia signed only 20 players in 2009. They added 19 last year. In the four recruiting classes since 2007, Georgia has signed just 86 players. That’s before you account for transfers, medical hardships, and others who no longer count towards the total over those four years. There will always be those who fret over the numbers, but my response is always the same: the folks in Athens can count to 85. The numbers always work out. If Georgia signs over 25, there will be those who lump the Dawgs among the bad guys who oversign, but Georgia has actually been dealing with the opposite problem lately. In recent years, Georgia has played its numbers close to the vest. That’s caused some Signing Say anxiety as some prospects have had to be turned away. The door seems wide open this year.

In other words, Georgia is due a haul. Combine the items above, and you are looking at 1) a large class 2) making a big push towards Signing Day 3) with several marquee prospects 4) that’s meeting urgent needs. And, yes, all that’s being done after such a downer of a season. This being a recruiting post, you always have to remind yourself of a few things:

• You still have to coach ’em up, right?
• A class is only as good as those who 1) enroll and 2) stick it out. If 2/3 of your great class flunks out, transfers, or ends up injured, that’s a thin senior class in a few years.
• It’s still just keeping up with the rest of the SEC. Even with three national top 10 classes since 2007, Georgia never had better than the third-best class in the SEC. The 2007 class that was rated #9 in the nation was only the 6th best in the conference. Insane. A single top haul doesn’t even mean that you have the personnel to compete in the Thunderdome of the SEC – it takes a string of good classes.

But for now, we’ll take it. It’s a good shot of success when the program really needs it. And if Georgia can add a few more pieces over the next week, we’ll be looking at an unprecedented class at Georgia in the face of great odds. Not a bad start to a critical season for the program.

Can Georgia score over 30?

It’s the stat you’ve been hearing about since late October: Georgia hasn’t scored fewer than 30 points since their trip out to Colorado.  It’s impressive that the streak has occurred during the meat of the SEC slate, and it’s been a result of the rapid development of Aaron Murray.  That production hasn’t always been enough for a win, though.  Georgia has dropped two of the seven games in which they’ve scored 30+.  They’ll go up against a UCF defense that could be better than most Georgia fans expect.  They’ve held both of their other AQ opponents, N.C. State and Kansas State, under 30, and they stifled June Jones’ SMU offense in their conference title game. UCF leads their conference in most defensive stats, and they’re top 20 nationally in both scoring and total defense.  They haven’t always been consistent, though.  They gave up at least 30 in three straight games to some sub-par conference opponents during the middle of the season.  DB Josh Robinson will be key in keeping A.J. Green from having a big day.

Can Georgia keep UCF under 30?

The flip side of Georgia’s productive offense is this: the Dawgs have given up at least 30 to their last three FBS opponents.  Giving up 30 to Auburn is no indictment of a defense, but the other two games aren’t feathers in Todd Grantham’s cap. Steve Spurrier mentioned yesterday that he had watched Florida try to rotate three quarterbacks this year.  “I think it worked in one game,” he said.  We all know which game that was.  Georgia Tech’s option offense can be explosive, but Duke did a better job keeping the Yellow Jackets in check.  Central Florida presents a familiar style of play that has caused Georgia problems: a mobile quarterback and an effective running game.  They don’t have the scheme of Mississippi State or the power running of South Carolina, but they can move the ball on the ground, move the chains with an efficient passing game, and their quarterback can scramble and turn third down stops into frustrating and drive-sustaining first downs. Georgia’s defense will have to focus on finishing off those third downs and getting off the field – something they’ve struggled with for much of 2010. 

Which freshman QB will have the better day, and will it matter?

The showdown between two of the nation’s best freshman quarterbacks is one of the big storylines of this game. Though the two have similar attributes in terms of a good arm and great mobility, their roles differ. Murray has become the unquestioned centerpiece of the Georgia offense.  Thanks to A.J. Green and a solid receiving corps, Murray’s development has turned an offense that was supposed to lean on the running game into an offense whose identity starts with the pass.  The numbers back it up:  Murray is on track to break 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns passing for the year.  He’s not just breaking records for Georgia’s freshman quarterbacks; he’s flirting with team records.  UCF’s Jeff Godfrey is also a productive passer, but his role is more about efficiency.  He’s the nation’s leader among freshman quarterbacks in efficiency, and he completes 68.4% of his passes.  He’s only thrown 13 touchdowns, compared with 24 for Murray.  That matters less because UCF can run the ball.  They’re 25th in the nation with 192.46 yards per game on the ground.  Godfrey doesn’t have to throw for 300 yards and 3 TDs in order to be effective; he just has to be efficient in those situations when he’s asked to pass, and he has to use his mobility to create yards on the ground or get out of trouble.  That’s just what he’s done this year, and it’s why UCF is where they are.

What impact will the weather have?

Storms are forecast for Memphis this afternoon, and rain can turn the best intentions of a game plan into a muddy slugfest.  There’s no end of discussion whether rain would help an offense or defense or slow everyone down, but it looks as if a wet track and a strong southerly wind will be a factor in this game. 

Can we expect the unexpected?

We’ve seen everything this bowl season from fake kicks to flea-flickers to the surreal ending of the Music City Bowl.  And that was just yesterday.  That’s not unusual; teams often pull out all the stops for their bowl game.  Big turnovers or special teams plays can either blow a game open or keep an underdog’s hopes alive.  Last year a series of plays from the return game and punting miscues turned the Independence Bowl from a nail-biter into a rout.  In a game with no turnovers and relatively benign special teams, you like Georgia’s chances in this one.  But what are the chances of ending up in that kind of game?

They played hard. They really did, and that’s what makes the outcome disappointing. After four straight wins in this series, putting up a good fight (literally, as it turned out) isn’t much solace. Yes, it would have been worse had the Bulldogs accepted their role and come in scared of the #2 team, and it would have been worse to look as outclassed as Florida did on Saturday. So there’s that. It felt a lot like the Blackout game did in 2007. Georgia had hit its stride after the Florida game, and there was no way that they were going to lose in front of the frenzied home crowd. Auburn shook off a close call at Kentucky, shifted to the next gear on Newton’s long touchdown run against LSU, and no one has come close to touching them since.

In that context, I understand why a lot of Georgia fans are patting the team on the back for a decent effort. The Dawgs ran into a good team and a great player on a roll. It’s a little depressing though to think back to when Georgia was that team. It wasn’t long ago, but it’s getting longer. Georgia might be better than their record indicates, but there are some very good reasons why they are a 6-loss team. You can start in the trenches – neither the offensive or defensive lines are bad, but that’s not what we expected. The offensive line was billed as one of the top units in the nation. It’s not. The defensive line just doesn’t have the size and depth it needs to be effective, and that’s shown up in a lot of these close games where a stop against South Carolina, Mississippi State, or Auburn might have made a difference.

Shrugging off the Auburn loss as a valiant effort against a juggernaut is fine – it was overall a pretty good effort, and the team didn’t quit. There are a lot worse things you can say about a team. You’d hope that some wins come from that resolve, but that takes something more. Even little things like the disappearance of the return games make a difference, and it explains why some teams are better than others in close games. Take the final series of the first half. The decision to run out the clock changes (we hope) if the drive starts on the 35 rather than the 21. Auburn’s secondary is getting roasted in post-game analysis, but did Georgia’s fare much better? Rambo was fortunate to be out of position on his interception, and did the unit make another significant play all day?

The “play” of the game? There were a number of big plays in the game, but a misfire on two similar play calls served as turning points. I need to set aside a separate post for this, but Georgia just isn’t good at executing the screen pass. I don’t know it it’s a skill Murray has yet to refine, something to do with blocking, backs who aren’t the best receivers, or something being telegraphed that allows defenses to read the play. As with most plays, a screen isn’t intrinsically a bad call. A lot of teams run them against pressure or in long-yardage situations. A screen is a bad call though when 1) you’re not particularly good at them, and 2) you have better options. Georgia’s two attempted screens were disasters and killed significant drives. Throwing to a triple-covered A.J. Green would have had a higher chance of success than throwing it off the back of Caleb King’s helmet.

Speaking of Green, his performance on Saturday was at once breathtaking and heartbreaking. Did Georgia get away from Green? His receptions were split pretty evenly – five in the first half, four in the second half. The yardage tells a different story. At halftime, Green had 114 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with 164 yards and two touchdowns. Facing a secondary on its heels, the offense gave Green four catches and 50 yards in the second half. Certainly other receivers became involved as Green opened up opportunities: had Georgia won, Kris Durham’s third quarter catch would be one of the biggest plays of the season. For whatever reason, Green just had far less of an impact the later the game went. Is it a coincidence that the Dawgs managed only 10 points after the first quarter? The heartbreaking part? The best Bulldog receiver of all time is playing during a stretch of years we’d just as soon forget.

There have been enough words wasted on Nick Fairley, and if that outrage gets the players good and fired up over the next two weeks, great. Otherwise – yes, he’s a cheap shot artist, and none of it changes the scoreboard. I do want to say something about an incident from the game that’s getting slightly less play – the injury to Reuben Faloughi. If your memory needs jogging, it’s the only injury you’ve seen outside of Philadelphia that got booed by the crowd. As much as we like this CBS crew, we all know of their propensity to go over the top with the cheerleading. But it was a reach even for Gary to lavishly congratulate the Auburn crowd for its savvy in booing the hurt Georgia player – as if it were a calculated bit of gamesmanship (by a former walk-on) to slow down the momentum of the Auburn offense. The crowd at least has the excuse (though not much of one) of not having ready access to replay. Faloughi did go to the turf a ways from the play after trying to walk it off. Verne and Gary, if they had looked at their monitors, would have seen the same replay we all did – Faloughi, coming off the bottom edge, taking a legal cut block from #32, Eric Smith. The left knee takes most of the impact. Watch this segment and pay special attention to what the replay is showing right as Verne claims that the injury occurred on the opposite side of the field.

I won’t waste much more time on Auburn because my most important game of the year is next. Justin Houston’s ominous quote about assignments is going to bother me for the next two weeks. If there’s one trait you want in a defense going up against an option attack, it’s attention paid to assignments. Tech doesn’t have Cam Newton; they don’t even have Josh Nesbitt. But what they do have is a similar offense that can use numbers and misdirection to hurt a defense that isn’t playing its assignments. If you got tired of seeing Onterio McCalebb go for big yardage on the sweeps, wait until Paul Johnson runs the toss to his A-back over and over.

We hope that you choke, that you choke

The thing that gets me about the Grantham story isn’t the manufactured outrage from the Florida camp or the local media. We expect it from them (but, jeez Tony Barnhart). It’s that a fair number of Georgia fans are so willing to fall into line for the self-flagellation. Here we go forging another sword for the sole purpose of falling on it – there’s no fan base better at it.

I have to admit though that I’m now giving long thought to opting out of the “BLOCK THAT KICK!” cheer this weekend. That’s just not how things are done at Georgia.

Hoops

If you’re looking for a distraction from the football season, both basketball teams will start their seasons with exhibition games during the next week. The men open this Thursday night (an unfortunate missed opportunity with Saturday’s home football game). The women host their exhibition next Wednesday. We learned last week that the men will start the season just outside the national rankings, and the Red & Black reports that the women will open the season #19 in the initial AP poll.

McGarity makes a move

Volleyball coach Joel McCartney was dismissed on Monday after a relatively disappointing four years at the helm. The season is still ongoing, and an assistant will take over on an interim basis. This is new athletic director Greg McGarity’s first head coaching change. Some will read a lot into this move – certainly justified by the state of the program – and suggest it’s a signal that the bar is being raised for other coaches and programs, but we have no idea what else went on to bring about a midseason change for a nonrevenue sport.

Singing virus

Finally, UGA graduate student and composer Alexandra Pajak has created a musical composition based on the genetic sequence of the HIV virus. “Sounds of HIV (Azica Records)…explores the patterns of the virus’s nucleotides as well as the amino acids transcribed by HIV, playing through these biologic signatures in 17 tracks.”

On one hand, it was nice to avoid the blowout/collapse that we’ve been treated to during the last two trips to Jacksonville.  Instead, 2010 will go down like 1992 or maybe 2002 or 2003 – games in which Georgia might’ve had momentum or an even shot coming into the game but left empty-handed and thinking about a handful of plays, decisions, and missed opportunities.

Florida deserves a ton of credit for the way in which the won the game.  They made their chances, and just as Georgia did a week ago in Lexington, Florida cashed in with good efficiency.  The game might have come down to overtime, but the game was framed during the consecutive Georgia turnovers and Florida scores that made it a 21-7 game and forced Georgia to, once again, play from behind in Jacksonville. Even with Georgia’s defense standing tough for a quarter, there was only so long they could hold back the inevitable. Whether it was the pressure that caused Murray’s fumble or good recognition to jump the first pass, Florida made their luck.  Contrast that with a chance at a fumble recovery or a dropped interception by the Georgia defense – plays they made only a week ago in a much different environment.

So the "overtime game" will go down next to the timeout game and the Edwards drop and the facemask in 2006 as just another year where Georgia had its chances to do something about the dreadful record against Florida but couldn’t. Georgia was again part of a classic Georgia-Florida game and played its usual role in a game between two fairly even teams. Of course Florida’s punter-turned-placekicker would nail two out of three after his 0-fer in the loss to Mississippi State.

But to focus on the mind games and to buy into the role of Charlie Brown to Florida’s Lucy is to ignore what Florida did to win the game.  The 450 yards of offense were as many as Florida has put up against Georgia since 2004.  A team that had been held under 100 yards rushing in two of its last three games gashed Georgia for 231 yards on the ground.  They had the game’s biggest playmaker:  Chris Rainey made the most of his return with 241 all-purpose yards. If you had to guess based just on this game which team was riding a winning streak and which was struggling with its offense, you’d have a tough time getting it right. Even with the success Georgia had throwing the ball, the game was played the way Florida wanted it on both sides of the ball.

As for Murray, it’s asking a lot to put a game of this magnitude and the angst of a program on a freshman.  His shaky start was the product of something we talked about the other day.  "Urgency can lead to intensity and focus, but it can also lead to pressing…and turnovers." He was amped up and tight and played like it.  That he kept his head, adapted to the defense, and led Georgia to the brink of victory was a tremendous accomplishment.  If this is his "worst" Cocktail Party, he won’t leave with a losing record against the Gators. At the same time, he’s yet to have his first signature moment in a big game like this with the game on the line.  Will he get another opportunity in two weeks?

Georgia’s offense should take a good deal of confidence from the game.  They won’t face a defense that good as a unit again, and Murray won’t be in nearly as harsh of a spotlight as he was on his first start in his home state.  Defense is another story.  Georgia’s difficulties stopping the run and dealing with multiple looks from the backfield weren’t encouraging given who the final two opponents of the season are. The Dawgs had to come up with two great performances to get to 7-5 and a bowl game last year, and Florida’s success running the ball leaves us with a clear picture of the biggest challenge facing this year’s home stretch. 

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:  Florida is coming into the Georgia game with problems and questions on offense. We know all about the struggles they’re having in 2010, but the Georgia game proved to be a panacea for a Florida offense facing many of the same issues a year ago.

In 2009 Florida had just come off a stretch during which they scored under 30 points in 4 of 5 games. Relatively narrow escapes against LSU, Arkansas, and Mississippi State had Florida fans grumbling and asking questions not only of their coaching staff but also of the senior Heisman-winning quarterback. They had scored only 7 touchdowns in 25 red zone trips. What led to a 41-point outburst in their second-straight blowout of Georgia? Three things:

• Put the ball in the hands of Tim Tebow.
• Mixing run and pass, came out firing against a tentative Georgia defense.
• Took advantage of Georgia turnovers and penalties.

Tebow. The Florida star threw or carried on 64% of Florida’s snaps. That figure is actually skewed low: eight meaningless handoffs on their last clock-killing drive padded the numbers. Removing that final drive, Tebow accounted for 74% of Florida’s plays. It was one of the better games of his senior campaign.

The start. It hasn’t taken long to figure out how a Georgia-Florida game is going to go lately.  When Georgia opened the scoring in 2004 and 2007, the Bulldogs came away with wins.  In the other games since 2005, Florida has jumped out to lead by double-digits at halftime.  Florida came out swinging again in 2009:  en route to a 14-0 first quarter lead, Florida faced a third down just once. They ended the first half with 24 points; they had scored 26 combined first half points in their previous three games.

Georgia mistakes. It started even before the game with Vince Vance’s midweek arrest. Once the game began, it didn’t take long for Georgia to start hurting themselves with some big penalties.  There was a Georgia personal foul on each team’s first drive.  The 15-yarder when Georgia had the ball killed any chance of answering Florida’s opening score by turning a 3rd-and-1 at midfield into a 3rd-and-16.  Georgia got back in the game though and had the ball down just 17-10. A holding penalty killed that drive. The Bulldogs ended up with nine penalties.

As if the penalties weren’t enough, the second half featured four Georgia interceptions.  The Gators scored two second half touchdowns to put the game away – both came as a result of one of those interceptions.

So what?

Last year only serves to fuel the pessimism that Georgia fans usually pack next to the golf clubs for this trip.  Florida will find its offense again, all of their injured players will rise and walk (for 120 yards each), and Lucy will pull the football away again.

The biggest difference from a year ago is that Florida’s struggles on offense are leading to losses.  There’s also no Tebow to rally the troops with his own elevated play.  We mock his leadership, but there was no question that it was his team and his offense.

What does it mean for Georgia?  We know how important the start has been in this series over the past several years.  We also know how much the first few series have meant for the Bulldogs this year.  The Dawgs have come out firing on both sides of the ball during this winning streak.  It would be a big blow to the team’s fragile confidence to get into the same pattern of early Florida scores. On the other hand, a few early stops by the Georgia defense could test the patience of those on the east half of the stadium.

With a series that has been this lopsided, the mental side of the game plays a heightened role.  Urgency can lead to intensity and focus, but it can also lead to pressing…and turnovers.  It’s one thing to come out confident and aggressive; it’s another for that aggression to lead to early dumb personal fouls. 

While Georgia’s defense had its problems with Kentucky last week, the offense did a very good job of keeping its head and maintaining the team’s control of the lead. If the Florida offense continues to have its problems, Georgia’s offense can have a big impact just by not helping the Gators with a short field, or worse, a defensive score. Whether or not the Dawgs can score against a tough Gator defense, at least make the Florida offense work for what they get. Another turnover-free game would be a very good sign for Georgia’s chances.

I know this post has pretty much all been about the Florida offense, but I come back to the same thing I usually do for the WLOCP.  For all of the talk about problems on offense, they still have a formidable defense.  It’s important to make sure that Florida’s offense doesn’t have another breakout game because this isn’t Kentucky or even 2007.  Georgia’s going to have its hands full getting its own points, and Georgia’s ability (or inability) to put points on the board in this series continues to be as big of a story as any.

After witnessing the horror of a -16 turnover margin last year, I’m glad to finally be on the other side of one of those games.

Maybe I’m just overreacting to the annoying habit of the CSS broadcast of pointing out Kentucky’s statistical advantage throughout the game. Kentucky was built up quite a bit coming into this game based mainly on their comeback against and upset of South Carolina. Few seemed bothered that Kentucky’s celebrated comeback a week earlier was also fueled by four South Carolina turnovers – or that the Gamecocks had the better stats. A year ago Georgia outgained the Wildcats 487 to 260. All I’ll remember is the loss.

It’s tempting to write off the turnovers as luck, and we had plenty of discussion about that last year when the ball was bouncing the other way. But for the bobbled ball on Kentucky’s goal line, Georgia had plenty to do with those turnovers. Kentucky’s offense had allowed just six sacks entering the game – tops in the SEC. They also came into the game with only six turnovers. Whether it was the sack leading to the fumble on the opening drive, the persistence that caused the second Kentucky fumble, or the huge 4th down stop at Kentucky’s 39, those were positive plays by the Georgia defense that helped the Dawgs, as they say, make their own luck.

Three points: First, Georgia could have made Kentucky’s comeback a lot easier or even unnecessary. A year ago, Georgia led Kentucky 20-6 at halftime. In Athens. It was a 14-point edge instead of the 18-point halftime lead we enjoyed this year. It would have taken a conscious effort to match or beat the four-turnover meltdown that led to Kentucky’s win a year ago, but there’s no understating the fact that Georgia’s offense got out of its own way in the second half. The running game was working, a few high-percentage passes were peppered in, and Georgia made Kentucky work for what they got.

It’s also worth mentioning that Georgia was cashing in these short field opportunities with seven points instead of three – or none. Think back to a key series at the end of the first half of the Colorado game. A Dowtin interception set up Georgia at the Colorado 38 with enough time left to widen a slim 17-14 lead going into the locker room. Instead, Georgia got nothing from Colorado’s lone turnover of the game. That happened also in Lexington as Georgia more or less wasted the second Wildcat fumble, but they got all they could out of Kentucky’s other miscues. It’s potentially a much different game if Ealey gets stood up on 3rd and 2 from the Kentucky 15 on Georgia’s first possession.

Georgia also deserves credit for not letting off the gas. Kentucky’s comebacks earlier in the season were led by defensive turnarounds in the second half that held Auburn to six points and shut out South Carolina. If Georgia fell into that pattern, Kentucky would have been in a position to win this game as well. Instead, Georgia did a great job of putting three second half scoring drives together. Those scores answered Kentucky scoring drives and made sure that the temporary swings in momentum wouldn’t snowball into another comeback. The 8:05 drive midway through the fourth quarter was a devastating use of possession to seal the win.

If there’s a game on Georgia’s schedule each year which gets fans looking forward to / dreading a nail-biter, it’s probably South Carolina. The competitiveness of those games is a favorite preseason storyline, and the next game in the series usually doesn’t fail to deliver. But trips to Lexington have often been as tight and back-and-forth as any destination on Georgia’s schedule. Georgia is 5-2 against the Wildcats in Lexington since Jim Donnan took over in 1996, but the Wildcats have led well into the game in all but one of those meetings. Another close game is expected on Saturday between two teams with tons of potential on offense, but it will take a lot to top some of these recent Commonwealth Stadium visits.

1996: It was a miserable night to be a sports fan from the state of Georgia. On the same night that the Braves’ World Series hopes circled the drain, the Bulldog defense was helpless against Kentucky’s freshman tailback. Robert Edwards fumbled on Georgia’s opening possession, and it was going to be one of those nights. SEC Freshman of the Year Derick Logan had a school-record 41 carries, gained 140 yards, and scored two touchdowns in a 24-17 Wildcat win. Georgia rebounded from an 0-2 start in 1996 under new coach Jim Donnan to enter the Kentucky game at 3-3, and the Wildcats had yet to win a conference game. The unexpected loss in Lexington all but knocked the Bulldogs from bowl contention in 1996.

1998: This is apparently one of the three games in the “College Flash Classics” library. If you ever want to catch this game, just tune into Sports South on most any summer afternoon. Kentucky came into the game led by star QB Tim Couch and had a host of weapons on offense including receiver Craig Yeast. The Wildcats, en route to 530 yards of total offense, jumped out to an early 10-0 lead and threatened to put the game away in the first quarter. With the ball on Georgia’s 1-yard line, the Bulldog defense held. The play of the game might have been Georgia linebacker Orantes Grant recognizing and stopping Couch on a naked bootleg on 4th-and-goal. Grant’s stop changed the game’s momentum, and Quincy Carter finally got the Georgia offense going with a long touchdown run and eventually a couple of touchdown passes to put Georgia up 28-20 in the second half. Kentucky scored late but couldn’t complete the conversion. Georgia just had to run the clock out, but a Ronnie Bradley fumble gave the Cats new life. Kentucky lined up for a potential game-winning 49-yard field goal, but holder and coach’s son Matt Mumme bobbled the snap. Georgia escaped with a 28-26 win.

2000: Carter might’ve been one of the heroes in the 1998 win, but an injured shoulder kept him out of the next trip to Lexington. Carter’s absence cleared the way for one of the best pinch-hit performances in Bulldog history. Backup QB Corey Phillips torched the Wildcats for 400 passing yards and four touchdowns in a wild shootout that saw both teams combine for four touchdown passes of 40 yards or longer. The Dawgs once again fell behind early and trailed by as many as 13 in the second quarter. Jared Lorenzen lit up the Bulldogs with 528 yards on 39-of-58 passing. The Dawgs took control with 17 points of their own in the third quarter to erase a halftime deficit and take a 27-20 lead into the final period. Kentucky pulled level on a 75-yard strike just two plays after Georgia’s 85-yard touchdown reception by Damien Gary, but Georgia answered less than two minutes later with Phillips tossing a 27-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Edwards. Kentucky got within four on a field goal but couldn’t get the go-ahead touchdown. Lorenzen was intercepted inside of the final minute to end any comeback hopes, and Georgia came away with a 34-30 win.

2002: Georgia came into Lexington undefeated and riding high with a #5 ranking after surviving its early-season tests. The big news though was the buzz going around about Kentucky fans making plans to tear down the goalposts when the Wildcats pulled the upset. An enthusiastic Homecoming crowd had plenty of reason to be excited as Kentucky took a 24-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. The eventual SEC champions responded with 31 unanswered points in the second half and breezed to a 52-24 win, sparing the goalposts for at least a few years. One storyline entering the game was the injuries to starters Musa Smith and Fred Gibson. Georgia’s other receivers picked up the slack for Gibson. Terrence Edwards, Ben Watson, Damien Gary, and Reggie Brown all had at least five receptions, and Edwards put up 127 yards and three touchdowns. The injury to Smith gave Tony Milton his first start. Milton had a respectable 78 yards, but his biggest and most memorable play would be a crushing block on a blitz pickup that allowed David Greene to get off a long touchdown pass to Edwards.

2004: This was the lone game in this look back that wasn’t ever in doubt. Georgia’s national title hopes were derailed earlier in the year against Kentucky, but they shook off a slow start to unload on the Wildcats in a 62-17 rout. It was Georgia’s highest point output since 1994. The Dawgs led just 3-0 after one quarter, but they took a comfortable 20-3 lead into halftime. The blowout was punctuated with 28 fourth quarter points thanks in part to a long punt return from Thomas Flowers and a Kelin Johnson interception, both of which set up short scoring drives. The Dawgs exploded for 589 yards of offense and probably could have scored more if not for three fumbles. Thomas Brown led the way on the ground with 130 yards and three touchdowns. The game was noteworthy as David Greene set an SEC and NCAA record with his 40th win as a starter.

2006: The Wildcat fans finally got a chance to go after those goalposts. Georgia and freshman QB Matthew Stafford had dropped 3 out of their previous 4 games, and a narrow escape from a bad Mississippi State team was the lone victory. Crushing turnovers had played a role in Georgia giving up leads against Tennesssee and Vanderbilt, and they’d show up again in Lexington. The Bulldogs took a 14-3 lead thanks in part to a Tra Battle interception deep in UK territory. Stafford was bailed out of an interception deep in his own end by a Tony Taylor pick, but Georgia was unable to open up their lead as Stafford was intercepted again right at the end of the first half. That missed opportunity would prove costly. Georgia’s slim 14-10 lead held until the fourth quarter and the pivotal play of the game. Stafford completed a middle screen to Mario Raley. Raley took a fierce hit from Kentucky DL Myron Pryor that dislodged the ball and knocked Raley out cold for several minutes. Following a tense delay to tend to Raley’s scary injury, the Wildcats took over on Georgia’s side of the field and soon scored for the lead. The Bulldogs were able to answer with a score of their own, but the Wildcats came right back with their second scoring drive of the fourth quarter. The Dawgs had a chance to mount one final drive, but Stafford’s third interception of the day sealed the outcome. Georgia’s four turnovers as well as a missed field goal and extra point were just enough for Kentucky to emerge with the 24-20 win.

2008: By the end of the 2008 season, Georgia’s defense was reeling after a disappointing outing against Florida. We were already talking about issues with kickoff coverage. The offense featuring Stafford, Moreno, Massaquoi, and Green was Georgia’s strength, but even it had some problems with consistency. The Bulldogs outgained Kentucky 520-331, but they’d need every yard plus an heroic game-saving interception by Demarcus Dobbs to escape with a 42-38 win. Georgia was introduced to all-purpose wonder Randall Cobb in this game. Cobb was still a quarterback at this point, but his future as a playmaker became clear. Cobb was an ordinary 12-of-20 for 105 yards passing, but he did his real damage on the ground. Kentucky gashed Georgia all afternoon for 226 yards on the ground. Cobb was responsible for 82 of those rushing yards and scored three rushing touchdowns. Cobb’s handoff options of Tony Dixon and Alfonso Smith combined for 121 yards and two more scores. The Bulldogs were able to keep pace thanks to a 17/27/376 performance from Stafford and 123 yards rushing from Knowshon Moreno. Stafford and Moreno each accounted for three scores. Georgia’s 21-14 halftime lead soon evaporated as Kentucky combined a field goal and a Cobb score following a blocked punt to take their first lead. The teams traded scores in the third and fourth quarters, and Kentucky found themselves up 38-35. Two late Massaquoi fumbles put tremendous pressure on Georgia’s defense to keep the Cats from adding to their lead. After a few huge stops, Georgia was finally able to complete a go-ahead drive as Stafford evaded pressure and unloaded a perfect pass to A.J. Green in the end zone. Kentucky had one last gasp and drove inside the Georgia 20 before Dobbs’ interception preserved the win.

• When Phil Steele and Vegas tell you top expect a big win, listen up. Steele predicted a big afternoon for Murray and the Georgia defense as well as a 21-point win. His computer predicted “just 17 pts and 240 yds for the Volunteers.” The final numbers? 14 points and 269 yards.
• If there was any doubt, this is Aaron Murray’s team now. That’s not to take anything away from what A.J. Green means to Murray and the offense, but Murray is coming along at a pace that’s ahead of even Greene and Stafford. We’ve come full-circle from the preseason expectation of running a fleet of tailbacks behind a veteran line, and we’re watching Murray make plays with his arm, his legs, and his head.

  Late in the third quarter, Murray completed a 20-yard pass to Tavarres King which set up Georgia’s final score. You’re not going to get a better-looking pass this year. It was placed in stride perfectly beyond the cornerback and in front of the safety and along the sideline. Finding that spot in the coverage 25 yards downfield is a skill many seniors don’t have. One of his best passes was an incompletion – the across-the-body improvisation into the end zone that King couldn’t control.

• Green’s first touchdown at Colorado deserved to be all over the highlight reels. But I’ll go on record that his first quarter catch to set up Georgia’s second touchdown was better. He was hit by two defenders as he was catching the ball – one high and one low. The impact of the second defender twisted his body and snapped his head forward. If you see the replay, you’ll notice that the ball was knocked loose. Green’s direction was changing, and he was shaken up enough by the force of the hit to have to come out of the game. Yet he still had the presence and the athletic ability to regain control of the loose ball and secure the catch. I wore out ESPN’s slow replay of the play…it happened so quickly that it looked like a tough but fairly routine catch. Slow-motion showed it to be about as incredible as Pollack’s split-second strip-and-catch in 2002.
• If there’s a difference in Green this year, it’s his noticeable increase in strength. Murray’s first touchdown scamper was set up after Green took a short pass and stiff-armed the defender on the way to the sideline and a first down. Green’s touchdown reception came on a play where he had a Tennessee defender hanging off of him for the final five yards. It’s concerning that A.J. has had to come out of both games in which he’s played, but he’s also showed the ability to
• A year after Tennessee shredded the Georgia defense with bootleg after bootleg, it was enjoyable to see Georgia give some of it back. Georgia’s use of play action was effective, and Murray often found himself rolling out with several passing options as well as enough green in front of him to make running a possibility.
• I’d still like to know what the coaches were thinking by lining up for the field goal so quickly after Murray’s early third quarter stab at the pylon. It was a call that was likely to be reviewed, and the outcome of the review was a possible touchdown. Even if the play clock became an issue, you’re talking about a field goal attempt from the 6 rather than the 1 if a delay penalty occurred while waiting for the review. Georgia instead came out and got the field goal attempt off with enough speed to make Les Miles’ head spin. Fortunately the officials stopped the play in time. The review spared us from talking about another questionable decision – a field goal attempt on 4th and goal from the 1? Really?
• With plays like the acrobatic interception, Bacarri Rambo shows why he belongs on the field. But with his role in some big coverage blunders, Rambo also shows why the coaches might not have been so stupid with their handling of the safety position a year ago. He’s not alone – Georgia still has issues defending the pass. Talented Tennessee freshman receiver Justin Hunter had his first 100-yard game against Georgia. Matt Simms actually had his highest passer rating of the season on Saturday. Georgia’s job against Tauren Poole though made a big difference. Colorado was able to gash Georgia with some big running plays while hitting some big passes through the air. Tennessee’s ground game never got a chance to get going thanks to Georgia’s big lead and some nice tackling up front.
• Georgia’s biggest defensive breakdowns came in areas we talked about following the Colorado game. Tennessee’s first touchdown came on a coverage breakdown following a missed opportunity at a sack – the same kind of improvisation with which Colorado hurt Georgia time and again. The Dawgs did a better job at getting results from their pressure for most of the rest of the Tennessee game. The Vols set up their second score with the wheel route – as we saw against Arkansas and Colorado, a player was able to get loose from the backfield and get wide open for a big pass play down the sideline. Whether coverage on those routes is ultimately the job of the OLB or the safety, it’s proving to be a consistent hole in Grantham’s scheme.
• Speaking of Colorado, they were shut out by Missouri on Saturday. Against quality teams like Cal and Missouri, the Buffalo offense has been absent. Even Hawaii managed to shut them out for the first half. Georgia should feel good about bouncing back against the Vols, but giving up over 20 points and four touchdowns to Colorado could go down as the low point for the new defense.
• South Carolina’s magical Saturday got even better with the result of the Florida game. Florida can still win the East with a head-to-head win over the Gamecocks, but they can’t afford to drop another along the way. Except for that showdown in Gainesville, South Carolina’s only remaining high-profile game is a visit from Arkansas.
• At this point, you can take about five or six teams and pick any of them to win the SEC. Auburn is the only team to beat South Carolina, but the Tigers were just a field goal better than Mississippi State and Kentucky. LSU needs a miracle to beat hapless Tennessee in Death Valley but gets the job done in the Swamp. I think I’d still have to take the Tide in a rematch with the Gamecocks for the SEC Championship.

Blutarsky had a post the other day about Georgia’s best chance of the year to get a good pass rush. Tennessee’s offensive line is young and thin, so it’s not a surprise that they lead the league in sacks surrendered. Can Georgia take advantage of that fact? The situation seems tailor-made for Grantham’s aggressive defense, but that aggression has bit Georgia about as much as it’s helped them so far.

The Dawgs shown an uncanny ability to get into the backfield and just miss making the play. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. Houston and Gamble just about lived in the Colorado backfield on Saturday, but the enduring memories will be the plays where Tyler Hansen getting away. It happened on the first drive when Hansen scrambled to convert a third and six and followed that up with a planned QB draw to set up the Buffs with first and goal. It happened when Hansen got a weak pass away just in time to draw a questionable roughing penalty from the oncoming pressure. It happened yet again in the fourth quarter when Hansen got loose to the left on a 3rd and 13, drew in the safety, and hit a wide-open receiver.

Of course bringing pressure accepts a certain amount of risk. It’s not just a question of what happens if the quarterback evades the pressure. You can look at Colorado’s first touchdown. Or the swing pass to the tailback that set up another score. Or the touchdown run following the roughing the kicker call. In each case, an outside linebacker was put in a spot to have to make a decision. Utility back Matthew Bahr was able to slip behind inexperienced reserve Reuben Faloughi for the first score. Cornelius Washington lost the tailback on that long gainer. On Colorado’s final score, the linebacker got caught moving with the play to the left while the pitch went right.

In a lot of these cases, you’re talking about guys who were capable defensive ends but who are now being asked to make these quick assignment vs. coverage vs. pursuit decisions as outside linebackers. It’s probably the biggest adjustment in Georgia’s transition to the 3-4, and that adjustment is still ongoing. You’re starting to see better play around the line of scrimmage, and more traditional linebackers like Dent are cleaning up. One of the next steps in the improvement of the defense has to be better awareness from the converted defensive ends now playing OLB. If Georgia is going to be multiple and aggressive in its pressure, these guys are often the ones left to pick up the tailback out of the backfield or the tight end in the flat that can serve as quick reads for the QB under pressure.

Tennessee QB Matt Simms isn’t as mobile as Hansen, but he’s not a potted plant either. Tennessee called several designed runs for him at LSU, and one of them resulted in a touchdown. He’s not going to be a stationary target. Georgia will be looking to pile on to Simms’ sack total, but they’ll also likely be faced with several more plays where the pressure breaks down and the improvisation skills of both Simms and the Georgia defense are put to the test.

Boulder is a lovely place. It was a great trip…right up until about 5 minutes after kickoff.

A lot of credit has to go to the Colorado Dawgs. They went above and beyond looking after those of us coming in for the game. The huge tailgate party held in partnership with the Alumni Association was a tremendous success. If you can keep 3,000 tailgating Dawg fans well-fed, entertained, and not come close to running out of beverages (fermented or otherwise), you’ve done an exceptional job. Our hosts and everyone involved in the event were prepared, efficient, and professional. Even with a 1-3 team coming to town, the Colorado Dawgs still had an enthusiasm about and pride for their University and their current home that should be a model for any Georgia alumni group.

While we’re talking about fans, I was impressed with the spirit of fans of both teams. Colorado has suffered through several seasons worth of what Georgia is getting, but they (eventually) just about filled their stadium with a good crowd. Their cheers were loud and coordinated whether filled with profanity or not. It’s too bad that I can confirm vineyarddawg isn’t exaggerating the problems with individual Colorado fans. Anyway, the unusual proximity of the seats to the field made the smaller but vocal crowd very effective. What can you say about the Georgia fans? They made a surprisingly good showing for a team off to a 1-3 start (more on the “yeah, but” of that in a second) and made just about as big of an impact on Boulder as they made on Tempe two years ago.

The Georgia fans are already part of the story for the Tennessee game. After consecutive losses to ranked teams earlier in the year, fans could coax out a halfhearted pat on the back. It was still early, the defense was still new, and Murray was still a freshman. Is it fair to say that a lot has happened since the last home game?

The Senator is right to be concerned about how things could turn. Richt’s worry shouldn’t be with the ugly minority that have mocked him and his personality for years. The problem is that he’s losing the rest of the fans. That displeasure won’t manifest itself with ugly message board posts or confrontational call-in shows. Many will just stay home. The disappointment and apathy is already having an impact in Athens. If the crowd for the Tennessee game doesn’t tell the tale, wait for Homecoming. I don’t know how many people I ran into in Colorado who lamented that the trip was already paid for, so why not go?

It would be different if Richt were some jerk that we never liked anyway. Even Jim Donnan was abrasive enough for some to make evaluating his career a lot less of a personal and emotional task. Other than that minority Richt talks about, most of us really want him to succeed and remain at Georgia as long as he likes. So after the initial anger over some of these losses subsides, there’s just a sadness and regret that it’s not working out.

Tony Barnhart is spot on in the observation that it’s to the point that “the team needs to lift its fans.” Most still want Richt to succeed. He’s good for the school in so many ways. A man whose faith is such a part of his character finds himself in the center of a crisis of faith of a different sort. One game won’t end that crisis, but those holding on to some hope that Richt is the man to turn this around need something.

It’s still September, and Georgia isn’t just out of the SEC championship picture; they’re reduced to the spoiler role with 2/3 of the season remaining.  Everything you and I thought about this program is wrong – even the “Richt’s teams win on the road” meme is done. Of course it’s not just a one-year problem or the 0-3 SEC start.  Georgia is 2-7 in their last nine SEC games and under .500 against their division since 2006.

Back in May, former beat writer David Hale threw a few questions to the masses about Mark Richt’s future.   At that moment far removed from the emotional maelstrom of midseason, it was easy to respond like this:

Will you stick by Richt if Georgia finishes 8-5 again this year, but does it with a more fundamentally sound D, a better approach to kickoffs and a duo at tailback that understands how to play the position?

I don’t outright reject the possibility of another 8-5 season. The defense will take some adjustment. We’ve seen that even Vanderbilt and Kentucky are ready to pounce on a sign of weakness.  You can bet that everyone on the schedule from Mississippi State to Tennessee to Georgia Tech sees the opportunity to take their shot at a program that might be doubting itself a little. You only have to look over at Foley Field to see how the wheels can come off a season when negative momentum starts building. In fact, as Hale notes, the job the team did pulling it together at the end of last season against two big rivals is one of the underrated stories from a year ago (and is what keeps us from adding Richt’s first losing record to the ledger).

At the same time, it would be devastating to go 7/8-5 against this schedule.  You’re trading Oklahoma State and LSU for lesser opponents.  The home schedule is extremely favorable.  Five losses against this schedule would include some very, very bad losses as well as losses to rivals that don’t sit well even in the best of years. Think about which five teams on this year’s schedule you’d accept losing to.  Improvement in relatively obscure areas like kickoff coverage won’t mean much if the offensive line doesn’t live up to billing or if Georgia’s highly-rated starting quarterback isn’t ready for prime time.

Wow.  And so here we are.  I think most of us would be pleasantly surprised if the team can pull it together for 7-5 now. It was a big and exhausting job to regroup at the end of last year, and I have to wonder if there’s enough in the tank to do it again.  The goal of just finishing with a marginally winning record is on the table now.

I’m especially concerned about this line: You only have to look over at Foley Field to see how the wheels can come off a season when negative momentum starts building. Georgia’s in what you would call the soft part of their schedule.  That part of the schedule was supposed to include Mississippi State.  Look back at the 2008 Auburn schedule. They had tentative success early on, but the ugly road loss to Vandy set in motion a collapse that would end with the dismissal of Tommy Tuberville.  Life in the SEC is tough and competitive enough as it is; a team that’s frustrated and doubting and starting to question itself comes into any game at a major disadvantage even against what should be inferior competition.

That’s where Mark Richt and his team are this morning.  Those of us out here are already talking about the big picture and what should be done at the end of the season, if not sooner.  Richt has to throw a team back on the field again in six days.  He wants to “look within” and reassess the program, but there’s just no time over the next two months that lends itself to much introspection.  That’s a big reason why seasons like this are so easy to lose control of – you can’t afford the time away from preparation to really address the doubts and lack of confidence that end up tearing apart what you had prepared.

So you triage.  Stop the bleeding. Maybe A.J. Green is the short-term tourniquet Richt needs.  None of the fundamental problems with the program will be addressed any time soon, but Richt is coaching now just to have something worth saving and something capable of being saved when that time comes.  He’s done it before – famously in 2007 and to a lesser extent last year – but there’s only so much first aid that can be done on a diseased patient.