Missed It By That Much: How Close Are the Georgia Bulldogs to Being a Good Football Team?
by T Kyle King on Sep 28, 2010 4:30 PM EDT
in Football
Email
PrintMaconDawg says the Georgia Bulldogs are "consistently 1/32nd of an inch off." Spencer Hall says the Classic City Canines are "a non-horrible team" with "nothing overtly inept about them" putting together "the most boring fiasco in college football" thanks to "a holding penalty here, a missed assignment there, a moment of hesitation on a play-action pass allowing a receiver to get this much [holds fingers apart] of an opening over his defender." Brian Cook says Mississippi is not a state. (All right, that last one isn’t really relevant, but it still struck me as odd.)
This topic came up briefly in last night’s radio interview with John Frary, then again at somewhat greater length during my conversation with Kit Kitchens for this week’s podcast. How close is Georgia to being a good team? How close was last Saturday to being a great day instead of a disaster?
As always, things are never as good or as bad as they seem. Three quarters into last weekend’s three most consequential SEC games (from Bulldog Nation’s perspective), matters weren’t looking too bad. The Arkansas Razorbacks held a 20-14 lead on the Alabama Crimson Tide, the South Carolina Gamecocks held a 27-21 lead on the Auburn Tigers, and the Red and Black trailed the Mississippi St. Bulldogs only by a single point. Had the ‘Cocks, the Hogs, and the Georgia D all held serve, the ‘Dawgs would have been a lone Blair Walsh field goal away from a .500 record with narrow losses to a pair of top ten teams and division frontrunners. Life wouldn’t have been great, but it would have been good, and our outlook today would be dramatically different.
History, however, took a different turn, as Alabama, Auburn, and Mississippi State went on fourth-quarter runs of 10-0, 14-0, and 17-6, respectively.
Arkansas began the final period of play with a first down at its own 35 yard line. Three plays later, the Razorbacks punted, and the Tide began a 15-play, 67-yard field goal drive to cut the deficit to 20-17. The next two Arkansas possessions ended in Ryan Mallett interceptions, and the defending national champions were able to card the comeback win.
Auburn began the final period of play with a fourth down deep in Gamecock territory, but the Plainsmen were backed up by a false start penalty, after which Wes Byrum missed a field goal. However, Stephen Garcia fumbled on the next play, and the Tigers recovered to set up the go-ahead touchdown four snaps later. The next South Carolina drive also ended in a fumble, which Auburn again turned into a touchdown.
Georgia began the final period of play with the Maroon and White on the visitors’ 29 yard line, but the Eastern Division Bulldogs held their Western Division counterparts to a field goal before moving the ball to the Mississippi State 25 yard line. A critical penalty put the Red and Black in third and long, leading to a punt. The hometown Bulldogs then went on a ten-play, 93-yard touchdown drive to put the game away.
None of these events unfolded due to luck, of course; capable offenses took advantage of their chances and opportunistic defenses forced game-changing turnovers. Whatever element of randomness exists in such instances was made to break one way or the other based on preparedness and perseverance. However, MaconDawg and Spencer are right: Georgia is just a bit off, just an inch off, just far enough off to make the difference between winning and losing right now, but not so much so that all hope is lost.
That’s not to minimize the extent of the problem or to suggest that changes are not needed; the problems are real, and additional changes are required. The troubles that ail this program will not be overcome with more of the same. While the consequences are large, however, the margins are small, so the trends are reversible.
Remember how irretrievably broken the Florida Gators’ defense appeared, and how horrible Dan Mullen’s play calling seemed, after the 2007 season? Remember how much of a laughingstock Alabama was after the Tide lost to Louisiana-Monroe? Systemic problems seemed overwhelming then, too. How has being patient with proven head coaches worked out for Alabama and Florida the last two seasons and the first portion of this one?
Yes, we’re in a mess. We’re also separated from success by inches and consistency. By all means, call a spade a spade, critique what needs improvement, and propose solutions to persistent problems, . . . but don’t forget along the way that it’s the same distance from the outhouse to the mansion as it was from the mansion to the outhouse.
Go ‘Dawgs!
90 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I don't think...
That UGA is far from being a good team.
In my opinion, we’re two Ealey fumbles and a bad 3rd down call from 4-0.
The momentum swing of the Ealey fumble against Scarolina was tremendous, as we would have been tied or been down by just 2 points had we scored a TD there. The crowd would have been silent, and the Gamecocks, despite dominating to that point, would have been shell-shocked. Instead we fumble, the momentum swings back to the Gamecocks, and Scarolina puts the game away.
Pick up 3rd and 4 and we win the game against Arkansas.
Ealey’s fumble against Miss. State was not nearly as bad as the South Carolina fumble; however, we allowed the other Dogs to believe they could win for too long. Put the ball in the endzone, and the cowbells go silent.
Thus, I think we are three crucial plays from 4-0. Maybe 3-1.
I am not blaming Ealey for the two losses, especially in the Miss. State game, as we had many other problems and had plenty of other opportunities to rebound from those two mistakes.
Murray is improving, we get AJ Green back, and the defense will hopefully start to gel in the new scheme. I still have reservations about Bobo, but I do not feel that our situation is as dour as some have suggested.
That said, we’re 1-3…Let’s see what happens from here.
"You can't print what I said, but they have to catch us." - Chipper Jones
I think we're perhaps more than 3 plays away, but not much more. Perhaps 6.
Maybe we add one of the busted coverages against Arkansas, Marlon Brown’s holding penalty last week that negated a Kris Durham TD, and the 3rd down debacle of your choosing during the South Carolina game.
If we estimate 80 or so snaps per game (I haven’t bothered to look up the actual numbers for the last 3) we’re talking about 2.5% of the snaps we play being the difference. That’s the way football is, and any of the schools we play could of course pick 2-3 snaps a game on their side of the equation as the reason they didn’t really shellack us, but instead merely beat us.
That’s probably the toughest thing about where we are. We could improve modestly and finish 6-6, or even 7-5. But we’ll never get these 3 games back. If we go on a tear and finish with wins over 2 out of the 3 most significant second half opponents (Florida, Auburn and Tech) I’ll be pleased. But I won’t forget what could have been if we only had those September snaps back.
Being prepared and disciplined...
…..puts you in situations to maximize the times the play goes your way. Yes the ball bounces funny for everyone, and the MNC comes down to one or two plays over the year. But the teams that are ready can minimze the effect of the funny bounce, and make them go their way.
Good read
This is a phenomenon that always facinates me. Especially when you consider the big picture implications of wins and losses and how they amount to whether or not a season is deemed a success or failure.
You can look at every national champion and find a game or 2 or 3 where the ball simply bounced their way. You can do the same with losing teams as well.
Bring it across, shape it down
Very true. I had a coach in high school who put it well.
Every game comes down to 2-3 plays. The problem is you don’t know which 3 it’s going to be.
How different would Tennessee's season have been last year
If Daniel Lincoln hits that FG against Alabama? How different would the season have been last year?
______________________________________________
I will give my North Carolina for Tennessee Today. Apparently.
Think even bigger...
2008, Tennessee doesn’t fumble at the goal line against UCLA & Auburn, they win those games. They’re then 5-4 with 3 to play and theres no way they lose to Wyoming without it being 5 days after Fulmer got fired. 5-7 becomes 8-4, Fulmer’s contract would have been automatically extended per its terms.
Bring it across, shape it down
by Getoffmyvols on Sep 28, 2010 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Good points.
The flipside is true, as well: if a penalty against Florida goes differently, or an improbable fumble against Arkansas does not occur, there is no 1998 national championship.
That’s not to minimize the Volunteers’ achievement that year—-I was in Sanford Stadium when Tennessee absolutely demolished Georgia in a game that was nowhere near as close as the score suggested—-but to underscore your point that the gap between spectacular success and dismal failure can be a tiny one.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 28, 2010 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep
Just demonstrates how fragile the outcome of a football game is.
Bring it across, shape it down
by Getoffmyvols on Sep 28, 2010 10:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, and if 70X Takeofff doesn't work
We don’t win the SEC title in 2002. Every year – good and bad – comes down to about 5 or 6 plays.
Think of UT's 1998 undefeated season--I did not watch the Syracuse game back then,
but looking at the score, that had to be a real nail biter as were both the Florida and Arkansas games. Aside from some luck, good teams find a way to win those close ones. If UT starts that season 0-2 with tough close heart wrenching loses, the season may have been very different. Maybe you lose to Auburn or some other team you are supposed to beat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Tennessee_Volunteers_football_team
So we're not far off
How do we make sure that we improve, and we aren’t 1 fumble away from victory.. Or 2 inches from this, or 2 inches from that. How do we ensure that we control our destiny? What changes need to be made?
I watched the Richt press conference today, and the answer as to what they want the team to be is a smashmouth offense, I-formation, play action passes. And I wondered what the difference really was after this weekend.. I’m not saying that there should be a massive overhaul, nor did I expect that, but is us hoping that we get a little better this week and that what we’ve been looking for in the 1st four games suddenly clicks? I’m wondering if that’s just sidestepping the issue and having a lackadaisical attitude and shrugging your shoulders, “We did some mat drills, we talked to them about what they did wrong, studied the playbook some.. Hopefully we get better.” Is that the correct response?
At this point, the team needs a shot of adrenaline in the chest. We need a resuscitation, and I’m thinking we need something along the lines of the famed dance in the endzone at Florida a few years ago. Not something like that that will draw a penalty then and then make the referees more penalty prone towards us again. But we need something. Maybe we need Herschel to come in and give them a pep talk. Maybe we need Pollack to come in there and talk to the Defense about a junkyard dog mentality. Something needs to change about the status quo. It’s not going to fix itself is my point.
I don't think its even that far off.
If the defense had caught the just one of the interceptions that bounced out of a defenders hands in each of the last two games, it would have made the difference between an L & and a W. I’m not saying the losses are all on those players since the offense could have just scored more, but I think it shows its been closer than the final scores and records lead people to believe.
Emotions often cloud judgement...
Paul Finebaum has an affinity for getting under my skin. According to him, we are all delusional and should know our role and shut our mouths. Yet, I was facinated to hear one Alabama fan call into his show yesterday and demand the firing of the Bama OC because he is “unimaginative & predictable”. Sound familiar? Bama hasn’t lost a regular season game in 3 years and the fans want the OC fired. Now that is delusional. As a coach, I’ve been on the losing end of heartbreakers, and I’ve been on the winning side of extraordinary comebacks. To be in those situations though, you have to stay close to even give yourself a chance. If the Dawgs were a horrible football team, we could not have stayed close to Arkansas or South Carolina. Be there at the end with a chance to win it. EVENTUALLY, the ball will bounce our way. Of course, then Penn Wagers will just overturn the call.
Know thy enemy...
Not to open a can of worms
But Ealey claims that he didn’t try to grab the ball partly because he was partially unconscious, and also because he heard the officials on the field whistle the play dead. Nobody made much of it, so I’m not either.. But if the officials on the field did whistle the play dead, I wouldn’t think that the replay officials could rule it a fumble.
I thought the same thing...
They were blowing their whistles and pointing to the ground before anyone recovered the fumble. Does that matter? I don’t know the answer, but I am sure someone who is reading this comment right now does.
Unfortunately, the fumble counted one way or the other.
"You can't print what I said, but they have to catch us." - Chipper Jones
Rules
Rule 4, Section 1, Article 3 paragraph q
Alive ball becomes dead and an official shall sound his whistle or declare it dead when
q. When a ball carrier’s helmet comes completely off.
My understanding is that the ball goes to the spot and possession is to last possessor. Didn’t understand it at the time and still do not.
So...
Since his helmet came off before the ball was recovered, why did we not retain possesion?
"You can't print what I said, but they have to catch us." - Chipper Jones
Overheard from the official's replay booth....
Replay official: “Balls out guys, but the helmets off. Did you blow the play dead”
Penn Wagers: “Yeah, so what?”
Replay official: “Well then, we got to leave it with GA on the 1”
Penn Wagers: “Bull**it!!” I’m giving it to MSU. As a heckuva engineer, I know what’s technically best!!"
And now you know how the ruling was “interpreted”….
Run Lindsay Run!
These are questions
I had during the game as well. A kid with a helmet off I thought signaled the end of a play PERIOD because, as we all know, the NCAA is for protecting the student athlete. Add to that the fact that the play was blown dead by officials and I don’t see how the ball could have been given to MSU. Ok, I can see it with just the fact that the officials were blowing it dead, but with the missing helmet, it just doesn’t make sense.
Can you reference that rule because
I was under the impression the rule about helmets popping off was an NFL rule only, not college. Secondly, Missisppi State challenged the play should not have been dead. Replay shows he wasn’t down and Miss State had recovered, Miss State Ball. In the NFL, that play would not have been overturned, but in college they are allowed to change posession post whistle. They got the call and the interpretation of the rule right. Bad break but it happens
As TerryDawg noted above, the rule is:
Rule 4, Section 1, Article 3 paragraph q
Alive ball becomes dead and an official shall sound his whistle or declare it dead when
q. When a ball carrier’s helmet comes completely off.
As such, whether called dead on the field or not (which it appeared to have been, and Ealey believed it had), on replay the “or declare it dead” should (apparently) have governed, making it the equivalent of a fumble going out of bounds – so Georgia’s ball on the 1.
seems to me
That Ealey fumbled before his helmet came off, thus the ruling.
by dgreene on Sep 29, 2010 7:45 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I think he definitely did; but when the helmet came off, the ball should have been declared dead. And the recovery of the ball was certainly after that point.
I’m by no means an expert on the rules, so my interpretation of that may be off the mark, but I for one did wonder (along with at least some others, apparently) why our guys didn’t challenge on this point. Not that anything could be changed now, but I do wish the NCAA would offer some kind of clarification on the point, either admitting error or distinguishing what occurred from what the rule means.
Look at the 1980 season, for example:
Game one: In Knoxville, Tennessee fumbles inside our 5 yard line in the last 2 minutes of the game.
Game Three: Clemson in Athens. We get two big plays from Scott Woerner. A punt return for a TD and a long interception that sets up a 1 yard dive. Otherwise, we lose. Clemson stuffed our offense all day long that afternoon.
Game Eight: South Carolina at home. Despite Herschel’s heroics, George Rogers fumbles inside our 25 as time is getting short. Carolina was absolutely wearing down our offense, and at the minimum, they kick a tying field goal.
Game Nine: What if Lindsay Scott slips instead of the Free Safety?
Sugar Bowl: If Notre Dame fields a kickoff, or if Terry Hoage doesn’t block an attempt, we could have easily lost this game.
There are 5 or 6 singular, game changing plays right there. If these don’t happen, we don’t win the National Championship.
As good as Herschel was in 1980, the defense created turnovers by the bucketload that year. Sooner or later, that will win you a game or three. This is the critical statistic for any successful season.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
They don't happen randomly, but . . .
. . . the margins are small.
Obviously, the 1980 Georgia team played much more fundamentally sound football than the 2010 Georgia team; that would be so even if the 1980 Bulldogs had gone 6-6 and the 2010 Bulldogs were 4-0.
The point is that the gap between 12-0 and 6-6 for the 1980 Bulldogs was small, as is the gap between 1-3 and 4-0 for the 2010 Bulldogs. We are where and who we are, but minor adjustments can make a big difference. This isn’t happening because Georgia is unlucky, but it also isn’t happening because the Bulldogs are irredeemably awful.
Go 'Dawgs!
There is at least some randomness.
True, to a certain extent preparedness, being fundamentally sound, and playing hard can improve your luck.
But people who get all dogmatic about “they were lucky because they were good” vastly underestimate the capriciousness and power of the Football Gods.
by Blog Goliard on Sep 29, 2010 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Which Buttwad Deleted My Marvelous & Insightful
post from last evening? I know it wasn’t Kyle. He adores me. Or perhaps I didn’t press the “post” button. Oh well. Don’t worry about it too much. I might even post it again at some point. I’m not right now though because I have a prior engagement, so you’ll have to wait…
Well, "adore" would be a bit strong, . . .
. . . but I haven’t deleted anything you’ve written.
I do appreciate your effort to contribute productively to the discussion since receiving an initial warning a few days ago.
Go 'Dawgs!
Asking which "buttward" deleted his post is productive discussion?
What exactly is a “buttward” anyway?
Don't know what a "Buttwad" is, really...
and I think this is fairly close to what a Buttward looks like…
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Since "buttwad" was not directed at a specific individual, . . .
. . . I decided to assume it was humorous hyperbole (like “marvelous and insightful” and “adore”) and let it go.
Calling a particular someone a “buttwad” would get a friendly reminder to play nice.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 28, 2010 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
If frogs had wings.........
If If If – ifs are like statistics you use them when things go poorly.
In last year's Super Bowl, Sean Payton used statistics . . .
. . . when he attempted a surprise onside kick.
Was he using those statistics because things were going poorly? Did things go poorly thereafter because of that decision?
Urban Meyer says that the phrase “statistics are for losers” is not a phrase used by winners. I realize you didn’t use that phrase, so please don’t think I’m insulting you, but statistics are very much a part of the modern game of football, not just on the message boards and in the blogosphere but on the sidelines and in the booth.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 28, 2010 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Kyle my point is
similar to what Earbane says and I don’t consider it an insult.
How often do you hear the winner say – “Well look at our stats”? A win negates the importance of stats.
Sean Payton possibly used statistical knowledge but that is a very different stat from my chair. I would think SP saw something on the film that indicated an OS kick would work.
I'm sure that's also true, but his postgame comments made it clear . . .
. . . that he knew the statistical probabilities, and played to them.
A win negates the importance of stats for that game, in the sense that winning cures all, but fundamental problems will get you beaten in the long run, even if a particular result is a W, and statistics show where you are weak and where you are strong.
That’s why we can’t simply look at particular outcomes and declare them definitive; it’s why an unbeaten Boise State team hasn’t accomplished the same thing as a once-beaten SEC champion. It’s about decisions, not results. If Washaun Ealey hadn’t fumbled, and Georgia had won, the criticisms of Mike Bobo’s play calling would be just as legitimate, they just wouldn’t be backed up by the emotional force of a loss. The rational basis for those arguments would be exactly the same, though.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Sep 29, 2010 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
We are a bad team this year.
Stop with the “3 plays away” stuff. If those had happened, we’d have wins…with a bad team.
The problem is we are much worse than we expected (O-line anyone??). Kyle’s correct though, that it’s just a few players, and just a few key plays in a season that create greatness…again.
Problem is, the program seems lost at the moment in recruiting/creating those players and plays….and we don’t understand why.
Run Lindsay Run!
I'm with you on this 3 plays talk ausdawg85
“GOOD” teams make good things happen and overcome “BAD” things when they happen.
Measuring where we stand is easier to see if you compare our players to others – how many of our starters would be starting for _ _ _ _ _ ?
by JRL on Sep 28, 2010 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
If this was 2008, I'd agree with y'all.
But it’s not: we have a 4-game QB veteran and a brand new defense. NOT minor changes/obstacles. I agree with TKK on this one, and Podunkdawg.
Prior to the Ooo-La-La game, I was going to be happy with a 7-5 season. However, after that game, my expectations rose without reason. And now I have the nerve to question CMR? Because my credentials far outweigh his! I think not. These past 3 days of searching the Dawg part of my soul has been both refreshing and enlightening. We’re all just pissed we’re not 4 and 0, with a RS QB and a brand new D, where the kids are obviously still trying to know their role(s) in this scheme.
I’m neither an apologist, an excuse maker or a lover of mediocrity. I am going to try and be a little more rational and let the best damn coach we’ve had in the past 20 years do his thing.
If you're gonna do it, go ugly early.
I disagree totally
I didn’t expect them to be 4 and 0…I thought that with a veteran line (3 jnrs, 2 snrs), an improved D (which I think it has in a very small way) and a sleu of talented wide receivers, we would be able to salvage a 9 and 3 season, worse case 8 and 4. But it’s the way we are losing…which is the same way we have been losing for 3 years…that is why I am, not pissed, frustrated and disappointed
by UGARegimechange on Sep 28, 2010 8:33 PM EDT up reply actions
How are we losing?
I can make an argument that we’re doing a better job of losing this year than last (sounds oxymoronic, doesn’t it?). We’ve not been blown out or overmatched yet. Last year, Tenn and Fluckida? Nasty.
Like I said, I’m going to stay rational. We should see an improvement, and what I’m really now waiting to see (now that I’ve got my head out of the clouds) is how we do handle Fluckida. That’s my barometer.
If you're gonna do it, go ugly early.
I'm looking for progress
All I’m looking for is progress, eliminating the mistakes that have haunted us for the past 3 seasons (it’ truly been longer than that, but we had much better talent before that masked our mistakes) Volumes of penalties, untimely penalties, lack of discipline, weak execution (same mistakes being made over and over), turnovers, our D’s and O’s inability to dictate the game (being reactive vs proactive), poor play calling on offense, lack of intensity amoung the coaching staff and players, etc etc…I could go on with many examples of each but don’t want to make a term paper…I’ve been waiting for these aspects of the game to improve or be ‘coached’ over the past 3 seasons…same mistakes in ’07 exist in ’10
by UGARegimechange on Sep 28, 2010 8:58 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
don't forget...
we haven’t played Tenn or UF. (and i know you comment above that you’re waiting)
but saying we’re doing a better job losing this year…TO TEAMS WE BEAT LAST YEAR…is what?
lol
what are you talking about, man
is Ray Go(o)ff still the head coach there?
Did ya'll see this quote from A.J.?
From Chris Low’s most recent blog post:
"When I lay down sometimes, I feel like I owe the fans and maybe should think about coming back [next year]," said Green, a certain first-round selection if he comes out this year. "I just feel like I owe the fans for missing those four games."
I know it’s probably nothing, but you never know…
"Sometimes I think it is a great mistake to have matter that can think and feel. It complains so. By the same token, though, I suppose that boulders and mountains and moons could be accused of being a little too phlegmatic."
-Kurt Vonnegut, "The Sirens of Titan"
by Bravely going forward on Sep 28, 2010 8:09 PM EDT reply actions
1/32nd is a hell of a lot more than you think...
a penalty here, a hold there, a half a second off on a throw, blah, blah. blah…that 1/32nd is quite a leap even hough it sounds quite small. Everything that this guy lays out is a bunch of excuses for mediocracy. If half the people on this blog had that 1/32nd we would all probably jump about 10 pay grades.
by UGARegimechange on Sep 28, 2010 8:25 PM EDT reply actions
Where is the punch bowl you guys are drinking out of??
Majority of these post read as if we are 3 and 1 instead of 1 and 3…guys, lay off the Richt kool-aid…I would bet some of you are the guys who called into the GA hotline last night and told Richt you love him:)
by UGARegimechange on Sep 28, 2010 8:29 PM EDT reply actions
I would have made that call
and it would have been the truth. I trust him to do his job. Just like the people I work with trust me to do my job. I may not always be perfect, and sometimes I make mistakes. But they continue to trust me to do my job. Since my graduate degree & years of experience are in Taxes & Accounting and not in College Football Coaching, I’ll leave the coaching to CMR, and just support my team.
I can bake like a demon.
for ~$3mil/year with these coordinators and assistant coaches...
i could lose to UK/Vandy/Tech (irregularly), UT UF (annually)…couldn’t you?
i mean you trust in his ability to make mistakes just like you do in your job…do you make ~$3mil/year? bc if you do, i imagine your mistakes don’t throw the entier tax season right out the window for your cleints, do they? :-)
is Ray Go(o)ff still the head coach there?
I'm not sure exactly what your point is, there, dawgaddict...
… but no, I don’t expect someone to be perfect it all aspects of their job or life, no matter how much money they make.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 29, 2010 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions
I work for a private company
in some of the work that I do I have to bid things I may or may not know a thing about, if I make a mistake, it can cost us a great deal. Since these bids are in the millions of dollars (and in some cases thousands of millions), it’s entirely possible I could make a very large dollar mistake. I have made mistakes that cost us thousands of dollars, it doesn’t happen often, but it has happened. The most expensive mistake I ever made cost us $50k on one year of one contract, it was kind of a big deal – the entire profit for that year. I had help making that mistake, but I still made it. So I’m willing to forgive mistakes from time to time.
But more importantly – I think it is important that we remember who our players are. These are young men 18-22 yrs old. I have children that are 19 & 20, also young men. The very last thing our players need is for us to be calling for their leader’s job or fussing about how awful they are. It doesn’t help. I actually saw a tweet from a player responding to a student who was calling for CMR to be fired – he very politely said – “no stop those comments asap.”
Constructive analysis & criticism is one thing, and should be carefully and judicially done. It’s not our job to coach the team. We do not have all the information Mark & co have. We don’t have the experience, skills or abilities our coaches have, if we did, we’d be coaching the team. We are fans – “an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or a performing art) usually as a spectator” or “A fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something.” Our job is to be supporters. Support the players first and foremost. From CMR “I just hope everybody supports these guys through it all.” He didn’t ask us to support him, but he did ask us to support “these guys.” At least one player has asked that negative comments about his coach be stopped.
Are they really asking for that much?
I can bake like a demon.
by podunkdawg on Sep 29, 2010 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
3 part answer...
1) have you made a mistake in a job for a client and cost them their entire season? Tax, investment, whatever. Have you taken a year of their efforts and expectations and thrown them away w what looks like incompetence?
2) the players in Gainesville still loved Zook. Why is that important? They don’t seem to be blocking much, or staying out of trouble for him. When did the players become HC talent-evaluators??
3) i don’t owe the coaches anything. If UGA asked for more money, i would pay it bc I am a season-ticket holder through thick and thin and i think i purchase the right to speak my piece. The players work for their scholarships and the staff work for the fans, so who owes who here?
^ i bet #3 is gonna be unpopular, but that’s where i’m at when there is an attempt to silence dissent.
Not meaning to be rude, podunk please accept my sincere apology if i come across that way.
is Ray Go(o)ff still the head coach there?
by dawgaddict on Sep 30, 2010 12:27 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Multi-part response...
1) I don’t think you understand what kind of accountant I am. I don’t work with the public at all, and I’m not sure how even a public accountant could cost someone their entire season, but no matter. I am the Asst Controller for a private company that works on military simulators (mostly aviation simulators.) We have to bid for our work, and as part of my job, I price those bids. On one particular multi-year contract, I made an error that cost us the entire net profit for the first year. We made no money on that contract for the first year, all we did was cover our costs. That is an incredibly significant mistake. As I said previously, I had help making that mistake, but I made it nonetheless.
2) I made a two part statement – first that Mark Richt has asked us to support the players through this and second I made the inference that our players are not helped (supported) when we there is a loud cry for the head coach to be fired. I was not trying to imply they are evaluators of coaching talent. Merely that the players would like the coach supported and the coach would like the players supported.
3) Furthermore, with respect to players "not staying out of trouble for him" of the 10 football players arrested this year, I think we can agree that 2 of the arrests were fundamentally bogus (not knowing how to spell your middle name and exiting from an alley.) With an estimate of 85 players on scholarship that means just under 10% of the Georgia Football team has been arrested, mostly for alcohol or suspended license related incidents. Of those 8 players, 4 have been dismissed from the team. How else could CMR have handled these situations?
4) You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I can see where an argument could be made that the fans are stakeholders in the process and have a reasonable expectation to a return on their investment – fans invest by making donations, purchasing tickets, etc. and they expect a return in the way of winning games. I simply believe this is a two-way street. The staff & players have a job to do, which is winning games. I think it is unreasonable to expect sustained perfection year in & year out. As much as we might like to believe otherwise, neither the staff nor the players are super-human or perfect. They are humans just like the rest of us and sometimes they make mistakes. If my child makes a mistake, I don’t disown him or withdraw my support for him. I will likely impose consequences for his actions in an effort to help him learn, but I won’t cut him off.
5) Lastly, I’m not sure I understand your sentiment that there is "an attempt to silence dissent." I have not attempted to silence anyone. I have tried to present my personal feelings and opinions on what I believe we fans should do given the present situation. You are of course free to agree or disagree.
I appreciate your intentions were not to be rude and I am certainly not opposed to debating opposing viewpoints. I suspect at the end of the day, we may just have to agree to disagree.
I can bake like a demon.
I can't follow this line of reasoning
We look at the times the ball didn’t bounce our way as game changers, but not the times it did. No team will succeed in the SEC without a defense that can tackle and an offense that can score in the red zone. Since we have neither it does not matter if particular plays went one way or the other.
Lets say they ball had bounced our way and through luck we were a team that can’t tackle or score in the red zone that is 4-0. In the end we will lose games and still wouldn’t be contending for the SEC east and that is really what matters. Is there really a difference between USC and Vandy when neither have ever been a contender?
What's up everybody?
I’ve taken a few steps back and decided to do some serious thinking before I posted anything about the feelings I’ve had since Saturday. I think Doug has summed up my thoughts on the situation perfectly:
“No longer, though. I still hope things will get better, but I no longer have confidence that they will.”
That’s pretty much where I’m at. One year ago I vehemently argued to my former roommate that there was nothing separating Mark Richt from the upper echelon of coaches based on the results of 2002 and 2007 which were no different than the results of the national champions from 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2008. I don’t feel that way anymore
Frankly, I’m tired of seeing a team that blows games for the same reasons – untimely penalties and untimely turnovers. Frankly, it’s just undisciplined football. This has gone on for far too long for it to just be a thing that needs fixing. As hard as it is for me to admit it, this is who the Georgia Bulldogs are under Mark Richt.
I’m also tired of seeing a team that looks like it couldn’t care less about being out on the field. I’m tired of telling myself to be patient and things will work themselves out and two or three years later we’re further behind where we started. I’ll continue supporting the team and going to the games. I’ll continue watching them on TV. I’ll continue hoping that things get better. However, I’ve lost the faith/confidence in Mark Richt to get that done. And that just makes me sad.
I’ll see you all at Blind Pig this Saturday.
http://hobnailboot.wordpress.com/
by AuditDawg on Sep 28, 2010 10:34 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
A decent point, but one-sided.
It’s encouraging to think that we might have stolen two or three more victories so far this season if we’d just had a couple more plays go our way. I’ve pulled for teams coughAvezzano’sBeaverscough that couldn’t have beaten a team of Pop Warner midgets on a field tilted 45 degrees in their favor.
On the other hand, we got our own breaks in each of those losses this season too. Change a few key plays going the other direction, and even the most formerly sober Dawg bloggers would be getting top billing on This Week in Schadenfreude.
In sum, I think you indeed prove that it could be much worse…but not that we’re necessarily within even 32 inches—much less 1/32 inch—of being a contender again.
Oh, and: does the leadership know how to bring it back into alignment, even if it is only 1/32 out of whack? I think the doubts on that point are what is really driving the anguish.
Exactly...
…so we didn’t pick off a pass. We still had an opportunity to stop the next play, or the next play, or the next. We didn’t.
It’s not Murray’s fault for getting sacked, but 3rd and 4 against Arkansas, our players had an opportunity to execute and get a first down. We didn’t.
There are a lot more plays where we DIDN’T execute that we don’t realize. Don’t think we have been unlucky, realize we haven’t taken it to lady luck. Fortune favors the bold and the best luck is the kind you make yourself.
UGA is a million miles away from being a good team. I hate to admit that, because it absolutely kills me inside. This is why I believe that:
1) Fundamentally flawed in strength and conditioning. Our guys are not as fit and strong as the other teams. Our S&C Coach is coaching from the 80s.
Here is Tennessee’s S&C coach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvtWug9yYAs
Here is ours:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM6S6h9ESf4
Pathetic.
2) We do not have a pair of elite coordinators. Our D-coordinator shows promise. Our O-coordinator is average at best, and possibly worse. He lacks imagination and creativity. He cannot adapt. Given a couple of NFL 1st round draft picks, he can do ok, but who couldn’t? Fact is, UGA as a program did better when Richt was running the O.
3) Our head coach is not hands on and detail oriented enough. The real difference between Richt and Saban/Meyer isn’t that our coach is nice and their coaches are assholes. The real difference is Saban/Meyer have their nose in every single aspect of their programs. That is why on the field and off the field, our teams are becoming more and more disjointed, undisciplined, and unpredictable.
Those 3 things above are NOT easy to fix. They would involve some seriously tough choices that I know would not make a lot of us very happy.
But sometimes short term pain is necessary for a cure.
Crap........
Like many here I heard we were lacking in the S&C department. I also wondered what we did in comparison to others. I watched the entire clip on UT and stopped watching ours at the 24 second point. Shameful.
I also see promise in the DC and defensive staff overall. I can’t say the same for the offensive side of the team. Bobo is decent to slightly better than decent when he has a few #1 picks.
I’m going to go back and look at the first 4 games paying particular attention to physical match ups and the total number of different plays we ran. I keep hearing how thick and difficult the offensive playbook is yet I feel like we run the same plays over and over. Perhaps I’m just an armchair QB that can’t see the forest for the tress but I swear I think I could shut down our offense.
I've often wondered about the effectiveness of our S&C program...
… but comparing those two videos is not a fair comparison of the coaches, or of the program they run.
The Tennessee video is a PR video made to showcase how badass the UT players are and how much their S&C coach kicks them in the butt to get them to push themselves. It has driving, hard, music and featues a guy yelling like Billy Blanks and saying, “Speed and Power. That’s what we develop.”
The video with Van Halanger is an instructional video made by Nike (I assume) to help train other athletes/coaches on the proper techniques to use when setting up a S&C program. This video corresponds to all of the well-known requirements of an instructional video: sleep-inducing music, a set script from which Van Halanger is clearly reading, and a subject that clearly looks like a field goal kicker.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 29, 2010 9:55 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't think we're far away either ....
…. however, would like to see an experienced, successful OC instead of Bozo.
Also, what if the other teams had made three or four plays – we would have been embarassed even more.
It's a gas, gas, gas.
by Keith Richards on Sep 29, 2010 8:42 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
um...
are we seriously suggesting that we have a ‘good team’ that just needs the right ‘breaks’ to beat USCe and MsSt?
we didn’t lose to MsSt at home since like the 60’s….have we been getting breaks all this time? bc i just thought they were sorry.
should i re-evaluate my position on 2 of the least successful teams in the SEC to support this theory that UGA is NOT THAT BAD?
i am seriously disappointed in this rhetoric.
is Ray Go(o)ff still the head coach there?
um...YES!
A good team, with bad breaks that are typical of the growing pains we are going through. Seriously, what the hell kind of year did you expect from a first year starting QB and a new defense? SEC Champs? Nat’l Champs? If so, I need whatever the heck you’re on!
If there’s no growth in this team by end of the year, I’ll start entertaining other points of view, but until then I’m going to back this coach, this team and these kids playing their hearts out. I mean, did AJ Greene’s comments yesterday (I think it was yesterday) stir any of that Dawg blood? These kids care about us, the fans, and being Bulldogs.
And for whoever it was that stated these kids don’t care about being Bulldogs, they’re just using UGA as a platform to the NFL…I don’t see your ass out there every Saturday laying it on the line.
The rhetoric I’m disappointed in is this fair-weather complaining.
Rant complete! GO DAWGS!
If you're gonna do it, go ugly early.
by Inteljumper on Sep 29, 2010 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
My ass has laid in on the line in hot combat however. And if I had the size I would gladly have put it on the line for UGA.
You dont have to agree that players use UGA to get to the NFL, but you most certaintly dont need to concern yourself with my ass or my service to UGA.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Tankertoad, you aren't the only combat veteran on here...
And I’m not going to play that game. I certainly didn’t attack your service, seeing how we’re both in the same branch!
However, if you take offense at me objecting to you questioning the motives of these kids, perhaps that is something I’m more than willing to engage in.
I still love ya for being a Dawg and fellow Airman, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with you. (I do think I said that to my then-wife a time or two! LOL)
If you're gonna do it, go ugly early.
you dont know anything about my combat tours or my service, hence the blog nature. You attacked me personally with foul language.
I take offfense to:
And for whoever it was that stated these kids don’t care about being Bulldogs, they’re just using UGA as a platform to the NFL…I don’t see your ass out there every Saturday laying it on the line
I am done forever with this one.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Again, to try to lighten the situation
I did not attack YOU, or anyone else. I simply implied to get your ass out there if you’re going to critique. If that’s an attack, then I apologize for the offense. But I will not apologize for defending those kids.
If this is not good enough for you, Tankertoad, then I too am done with this.
If you're gonna do it, go ugly early.
I appreciate the passion, tankertoad and Inteljumper, . . .
. . . and I appreciate even more your service to our country.
It’s been a tough week, and the frustration we all share has made us all testy. (I just left a comment in “Don’t Bet On It!” responding to a Gator fan who ticked me off a little.) We face critical questions about the future of our program, and no one likes being 1-3.
Let’s not turn on one another, though. It’s time to circle the wagons and develop an “us against the world” mentality. It’s not us against each other, though.
Carry on, gentlemen.
Go 'Dawgs!
Thanks Kyle for the support...
…not just for us but all service members. Folks like you make me love my job!
If you're gonna do it, go ugly early.
Besides if y'all turn
on each other, it will break my heart and then I will cry and let me promise you – I am SO ugly when I cry. =)
I can bake like a demon.
what'll you wager on whether AJ Greene comes back 2011?
I already lost a bet of this nature recently, concerning a certain RB underclassman. :-0
I’m not arguing whether they love UGA.
Heck, they’re in Athens and they wear silver britches. That’s enough for me.
We are primarily talking about coaching here, the same coaching that prepares players to make those efforts we are currently losing with. But my gripe remains w the coaches…
PS- i am also a veteran, of the Army and several deployments, but making the jump from laying it on the line as a player to laying it on the line as a soldier/airman…wut?
Why so sensitive?
is Ray Go(o)ff still the head coach there?
by dawgaddict on Sep 30, 2010 12:52 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
what'll you wager on whether AJ Greene comes back 2011?
I already lost a bet of this nature recently, concerning a certain RB underclassman. :-0
I’m not arguing whether they love UGA.
Heck, they’re in Athens and they wear silver britches. That’s enough for me.
We are primarily talking about coaching here, the same coaching that prepares players to make those efforts we are currently losing with. But my gripe remains w the coaches…
PS- i am also a veteran, of the Army and several deployments, but making the jump from laying it on the line as a player to laying it on the line as a soldier/airman…wut?
Why so sensitive?
is Ray Go(o)ff still the head coach there?
by dawgaddict on Sep 30, 2010 12:52 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I hope we don't lose to Colorado, too.
are you happy?
by knowshon loves legos on Sep 29, 2010 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions
And Ralphie is nowhere near as cool as Uga.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 30, 2010 3:04 AM EDT up reply actions
That may have been my biggest single disappointment at the 2006 game.
I was really looking forward to seeing Ralphie between the hedges, and, frankly, I was unimpressed.
It’s my understanding that they were breaking in a new Ralphie at that point (though I could be mistaken), so perhaps she (yes, Ralphie is a girl, like Spuds McKenzie) was still young and, hence, undersized, but I was expecting a large intimidating buffalo, and what I got was, “Aw, how cute!”
Hey, there’s always a litter of Uga’s puppies roaming around the Seilers’ place; we’ve got mascot cute to burn. I was looking for big and nasty, and what I got was small and cuddly. Major buzz kill (which, come to think of it, may explain the excessive pot smoking you mentioned below).
Go 'Dawgs!
(Point of clarification:
When I refer to Ralphie’s underwhelming entrance in Sanford Stadium as “my biggest single disappointment of the 2006 game,” I am emphasizing the word “single.” Obviously, most of the game was a major disappointment, but that was an accumulation of small disappointments adding up to one big disappointment. No individual play of that game was as large a disappointment on its own as Ralphie’s appearance, even though the game, obviously, was worse on the whole. This has been a public service announcement; please don’t throw a toaster at me.)
Go 'Dawgs!
Boulder is almost as great as Athens.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Boulder always comes in the top two...
… in the national weed-smoking championship. It’s always a neck-and-neck contest between them and Berkeley.
So, if you like weed and being near ski slopes, Boulder is better than Athens. If you like everything else that is good and nice about the world, though, including the colors red and black paired fashionably together, then Athens is your place.
(But I’m a little bit biased. Hey, BuffsFan99 wanted us to start talking about Colorado…)
by vineyarddawg on Sep 30, 2010 3:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Boulder is the home of
the very lovely Chatauqua State Park and some fairly decent bars on Pearl Street.
I can bake like a demon.
We are
just in secret dawg sports code – we call it the First Annual Dawg Sports Sacrificial Goat Roast.
I can bake like a demon.
Too Much Information (my statistical breakdown of the upcoming game) . . .
. . . will be up by Friday.
Go 'Dawgs!
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Dawg Sports
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
