Any Success Gleaned from this Season is Fool's Gold for Georgia Fans
Posted on January 5, 2012 by Jacob Bunn
At one point on Monday afternoon, the Georgia Bulldogs seemed to have an Outback Bowl victory within their grasp. Then, they allowed Michigan State to erase a touchdown deficit before failing to convert on the game-winning field goal, sending the contest into overtime. In the extra period, Georgia allowed Michigan State to win. It was another disappointing bowl outing for the Georgia program and its head coach, Mark Richt.
Things happen in games that define teams and their chances of winning. Sometimes those things, either positive or negative, occur because of the leadership of a team’s head coach.
When Georgia had the ball and the lead late in the game, there was a moment when the competitive spirit of the two head coaches was on contrasting display.
On one sideline, Richt was smiling and seemingly joking around with a player from Michigan State. This was while a stoppage in play was taking place because Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio had asked for the previous play, a disputed catch or incompletion by Georgia, to be reviewed.
At that time, I was wondering why Dantonio had asked for a review because it looked clear to me that the Georgia player made the catch.
When the head referee made the announcement, he said the catch would stand but that Michigan State had won the challenge because several seconds needed to be added to the game-clock. It became apparent to everyone watching that Dantonio had wanted those seconds badly.
In the sequence of events following the challnge by Dantonio, the Spartans got the football, drove down the field and tied the game in the final seconds. In fact, the time was close enough that Dantonio’s challenge to place the extra seconds on the clock was well worth it.
In overtime, a timid looking Georgia squad continued to squander opportunities. Eventually, that led to a Michigan State victory in the Outback Bowl. More than that, it was a Big Ten victory over the SEC, which has now only happened twice in the last two bowl seasons.
Monday was a day when Penn State was drummed by Houston, Florida upended Ohio State, South Carolina pummeled Nebraska, and Wisconsin choked away the Rose Bowl to Oregon. On a day when the Big Ten was scoffed at from coast to coast because of it’s beyond lackluster performance, Georgia gave it something to at least carry into next season.
But this is not Georgia and Richt’s first rodeo when it comes to losing to inferior non-SEC teams. Last year the Bulldogs lost to Central Florida 10-6 in what really was one of the sloppiest football games I have ever seen. At the beginning of this season, Georgia performed horribly in a two-touchdown loss to Boise State.
Georgia fans are fooling themselves if they think they are on the same level with the front-runners in the Southeastern Conference. It’s like Ron Paul thinking he has a legitimate shot at being the Republican nominee for President of the United States.
This year, Georgia started the season with a 35-21 loss to Boise State in Atlanta and a 45-42 loss to South Carolina in Athens. Then, the Bulldogs played the easiest schedule imaginable to get to the SEC Championship Game. There was no LSU, Alabama or Arkansas on the schedule for Georgia this regular season.
Georgia, not South Carolina, played for the SEC Championship Game representing the SEC East, even though the Gamecocks are a better team. But, such is life for Steve Spurrier’s squad since it had to play decent opponents from the SEC West.
Georgia was promptly destroyed in the SEC Championship Game by LSU. Sure, they took advantage of what must have been a sleepwalking Tiger team in the first half. But, LSU demonstrated the divide between the great programs in the SEC and the decent ones in the second half by scoring 42 unanswered points.
This upcoming year will be no different for the Bulldogs. They will get to play none of the top three from the SEC West again and will have minimal competition in the east. So, Georgia fans are sure to continue believing that their program is on the precipice of greatness, when in reality it is becoming a mainstay for bad bowl games.
LSU and Alabama decided that they wanted their programs to be the best in the nation earlier this decade, so they made adjustments accordingly. Florida had a historic run under Urban Meyer and dominated the Bulldogs for a long time. Even Auburn won a national title last year. But Georgia simply cannot become an elite program.
I like Mark Richt. But as a coach, he is not who Georgia needs leading it forward if it wants to be great.
Georgia completed the season in the exact same manner they began it – with two embarrassing losses. One day Bulldog fans and administrators will realize that what is going on now is unsustainable if competition in the highest tier of the SEC is something to be desired. But until that happens, mediocrity will continue in Athens.
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Email Jacob at jacob@bunnsports.com and follow him on Twitter at @JacobBunn
