It’s been a rough week in Bulldog Nation. Since Georgia’s underwhelming win in a ho-hum bowl game, the best news for the Red and Black has been the retention of existing assistants while our rivals have been upgrading their coaching staffs. Knowshon Rockwell Moreno and Matthew Stafford announced the decisions we all knew deep down were inevitable all along, and, no matter which way you were rooting last night, you were bound to be disappointed merely by the Classic City Canines’ absence from the game. Let’s face it . . . ever since the bottom of the third inning of game two of the College World Series finals, it’s pretty much stunk to be a Georgia Bulldog.

Hopefully, that creeping sense of malaise will begin to end tonight, when Suzanne Yoculan’s Gym Dogs kick off their 2009 campaign.

My suggestion for this year’s slogan was: "We use national championship trophies as doorstops."

Yes, we’re talking about women’s gymnastics. Why? Well, for one thing, the site is called "Dawg Sports," so I take it as a given that we’re supposed to cover more than just football. While our primary focus always will be between the hedges, there are other Red and Black squads, and they deserve our attention. If that’s not enough to sway you, here are five reasons why you ought to care about this season of Georgia gymnastics:

1. Courtney Kupets’s senior season. Courtney, whose sister Ashley was an all-American for the Gym Dogs, made her mark in her first year in 2006 by becoming the Red and Black’s seventh S.E.C. Freshman of the Year and joining Hope Spivey as the only Georgia gymnasts to win three N.C.A.A. individual titles in a single year. Kupets continued that success as a sophomore, winning the Honda Award in 2007 (when she was a first-team all-American in all five categories and an academic all-American) before seeing her junior campaign cut short by a torn Achilles tendon in last year’s meet with Arkansas. This winter, you’ll get to enjoy her triumphant return in her final year of collegiate competition.

2. Yoculan’s last stand. Coach Yoculan enters her 26th and final season with the Gym Dogs having achieved a level of success in her first quarter-century that virtually defies description . . . and I have a fairly extensive vocabulary. In that time, she has produced 804 victories, 16 conference crowns, 20 regional titles, nine national championships, 33 N.C.A.A. individual champions, and 57 individual all-Americans. Her teams have finished in the top three, either nationally or in the league, in each of her previous seasons. Coach Yoculan has achieved success at that extraordinary level while running her program with integrity. Her gymnasts graduate, do not transfer out of the program, and depart Athens as mentally and physically healthy young women, which is a remarkable achievement in a sport that often produces horror stories about the treatment some girls receive from their coaches. This is Suzanne’s last season; don’t miss the chance to watch one of intercollegiate athletics’ finest coaches in her final year on the job.

3. The chance for five straight national titles. That’s right, five. The Gym Dogs have captured four in a row, and, this year, they have an excellent shot at a fifth consecutive championship run to bring the school its tenth overall. Since women’s gymnastics became an N.C.A.A. championship sport in 1982, the field has been dominated by just four teams. Georgia’s gymnastics archrival---yes, we have a gymnastics archrival---Alabama has captured four national crowns, most recently in 2002. U.C.L.A. won five N.C.A.A. titles between 1997 and 2004, while Utah was the country’s principal power from 1982 to 1995, when the Red Rocks finished first in the land nine times in 14 seasons. The Gym Dogs have a chance to become the first program to win ten titles, and isn’t it nice to see a Georgia squad begin a season already knowing it has the ability to overcome injuries and justify its preseason No. 1 ranking?

4. Commentary by Katie. Tonight’s season-opening meet against West Virginia will feature live streaming video and audio, with commentary provided by Katie Heenan Dodson. When last we saw Katie, she was in Omaha, cheering for then-fiance Stephen Dodson of the Diamond Dogs. Before that, she concluded a Georgia gymnastics career in which she was a 13-time all-American, a four-time all-S.E.C. selection, a two-time all-around champion, and the recipient of 2007 S.E.C. Gymnast of the Year, Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year, and Georgia Sportswoman of the Year honors. I’m guessing she has a pretty good idea what she’s talking about when it comes to this sport.

5. A gymnastics meet is a great date event. Guys, I tell you this every January and I’m going to keep repeating it, because it’s good advice. If you’re a poor young male college student at the University of Georgia, ask a gal to go to the gymnastics meet with you tonight. It’s not your conventional dinner-and-a-movie date, so you’ll come across as a little more original than the average guy. Gymnastics is a nice blend of sporting event and performance art, so you get to see athletes performing at the highest level in a competition you can both enjoy, even if your date isn’t particularly a sports fan. You can interact during the meet while still getting into the action on the floor. The night will still be young when you’re done, and it’s cheap: student tickets are two bucks apiece and they’re on sale at the bookstore (9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.) and at the Coliseum (after 5:15 p.m.). For way less than the cost of dinner and a movie, you get to watch sports and have your date find you memorable and think you’re at least relatively cultured. That’s a win-win-win . . . and, when you add in the Gym Dogs’ record in home meets, it’s likely a win-win-win-win. Granted, I’m no Mike Leach, but trust me, that’s good dating advice.

Are you still sitting there looking at weblogs on your computer or your R.S.S. reader? For crying out loud, get up---O.K., click through to a few more pages first; we have our Sitemeter to think about, after all---and go buy tickets to the gymnastics meet. Be there in Stegeman Coliseum or follow the meet on-line, but let’s show our support for the Gym Dogs.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Matt. Does a Big Ten also-ran in the Ex-Citrus Bowl even qualify as a consolation prize for Georgia? Or is UGA's season just a crater after getting pantsed by Georgia Tech, no matter what?

Ten wins (assuming a win over MSU, whose defense has been ripped on numerous occasions) with a slew of injuries sounds like a fine year to me. Georgia fans ... they do not readily agree.

Holly. Georgia Tech on its own, maybe not a crater. Georgia Tech and an impending Knowshon departure? Yeah, that might do it.

(Matt Hinton and Holly Anderson, Dr. Saturday)

Let us leave aside for now the question of whether Knowshon Rockwell Moreno is N.F.L.-bound; we will know the answer to that one soon enough. Sticking strictly to what happened on the field in 2008, do we in Bulldog Nation have any business feeling as dour as we (or, at least, I) do in the wake of the campaign just concluded? Given the rash of injuries (including the loss of two starting left tackles and our best defensive lineman), was it, as Dr. Saturday says, "a fine year"?

I take the position that it was not, and, while I know the Doc meant no offense, I believe it says something about the popular perception of the Red and Black that the question even would be raised. No one would ask whether Florida, Ohio State, or Texas fans ought to be disappointed by a three-loss season and no conference crown in an autumn in which a national championship game berth was anticipated; it would be taken as a given that they would be and should be dejected at such a result.

After the Gators won a national championship in football in 2006 which was bookended by back-to-back N.C.A.A. tournament titles, there was fear expressed in Bulldog Nation that the Saurians were about to dominate the league. I took issue with that assertion, and my position was bolstered by the following year’s result in Jacksonville.

Then came 2008, with its lofty preseason expectations, its lopsided loss on Duval Street, and its embarrassing culmination in the final home game. If the Gators had suffered exactly the same injuries the Bulldogs suffered this season---meaning, of course, that all of their skill position players remained healthy throughout the fall---and, instead of making it into the national championship game, they had lost badly to a Western Division opponent, gotten blown out in the Cocktail Party, and been beaten by Florida State to end up in the bowl formerly known as you-can’t-spell-"Citrus"-without-U-T, would anyone anywhere call that "a fine year"? Not on your life.

I respect the fact that Doug Gillett views the glass as half-full, but I agree with Damon Evans that Georgia should be judged alongside its peer institutions. By that standard, 2008 was a woefully dispiriting year for Bulldog football. I agree with the maxim that things are never either as good as they seem or as bad as they seem, but the season just concluded gives real cause for concern that the program slid backwards, not just from a preseason No. 1 ranking that now seems like a cruel joke, but to the late 1990s (when blowout losses to the Gators and close losses to the Yellow Jackets were the norm) or even the early 1990s (when shootouts were standard and the ‘Dawgs often came out on the short end of high-scoring games).

At the end of the 2005 campaign, it was clear that Georgia and Louisiana State were the top two teams in the Southeastern Conference. In the three years since, the Red and Black have not attended a single S.E.C. championship game, while Florida has won two conference crowns and is about to play for its second national championship in a three-year span, L.S.U. has won league and national titles, and Alabama has resumed its historic place among the conference and national elite.

In 2008, for the first time in the Mark Richt era, Georgia seemed to be losing ground. That perception is being perpetuated as we enter the offseason. The Bayou Bengals, following a brief downcycle, have found the quarterback and made the coaching staff changes to place themselves back among the S.E.C.’s upper echelon. Rumored or reported assistant coach acquisitions not only by L.S.U. (John Chavis), but also by Auburn (Gus Malzahn and Trooper Taylor) and Tennessee (Monte Kiffin and Ed Orgeron) represent positive developments for those annual Georgia rivals, as well.

Yes, Coach Richt managed to keep Rodney Garner and Stacy Searels in the fold, but all of Georgia’s hopes (including the fervent wish that Moreno and Matthew Stafford return for another year) are based on holding the line rather than rooted in getting better. Merely not regressing (or not regressing further) is not synonymous with progress; when your rivals all are improving, standing still is tantamount to losing ground.

Three years ago, Georgia was no worse than the second-best team in the conference, and, given the Bulldogs’ lopsided wins over the other contender for the top spot in 2004 and 2005, the Classic City Canines had a compelling case for being the top team in the country’s toughest conference. Today, the Red and Black clearly are behind Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana State, and Georgia’s argument for being the No. 4 team in the league presently holds water only because Ole Miss was not among the Western Division foes the ‘Dawgs faced in 2008.

I have great faith in Coach Richt based upon past performance, but changes must be made if we are to stop the slide, reverse the trend, and begin again to ascend. If we do not get moving anew, we will be left behind; we already appear to have been lapped by the parvenu program to the south of us, and why? The Gators have a wealth of institutional advantages, including a devoted fan base, excellent facilities, a compatible climate, a natural nearby recruiting base, extensive financial resources, a proven head coach, a forward-thinking athletic director, regular television exposure, a strong conference affiliation, and a run of success in recent years.

Those characteristics give Florida a built-in edge over all but a handful of programs in the country . . . but Georgia has every one of those advantages, and, whereas the Gators have a winning tradition dating back to the early 1990s, the Red and Black have a winning tradition dating back to the early 1890s. There is absolutely no excuse for what has happened in Jacksonville over the last 19 years, much less for what happened there last November 1.

Was 2008 "a fine year"? With all due respect to Matt, Holly, and Doug, no, it wasn’t. Hell, no, it wasn’t. It wasn’t even close. The win over Michigan State took an absolute disaster and turned it into a mitigated disaster. I’m not the least bit satisfied with the season and I will not be satisfied with any subsequent seasons until the Bulldogs get back where they belong. Falling from No. 1 in the country before Georgia Southern to No. 2 in the state after Georgia Tech is and always will be utterly unacceptable. Losses sometimes happen, and there is no dishonor in falling to a superior opponent, but Georgia should never encounter three superior opponents in any single regular-season schedule, and failing even to show up in big games invariably is inexcusable.

Georgia went into the 2002 Auburn game needing to beat a longstanding orange-and-blue-clad rival on a field in that opponent’s home state to claim a division crown and open the door for much more. The Bulldogs trailed 14-3 at halftime, but team leaders voiced their discontent in the locker room and capable coaches made effective adjustments at intermission. The Red and Black came back for a stirring win to propel them to an S.E.C. title, a Sugar Bowl victory, and a No. 3 final ranking.

The identical scenario unfolded in 2008, when Georgia went into the Florida game needing to beat a longstanding orange-and-blue-clad rival on a field in that opponent’s home state to claim a division crown and open the door for much more. The Bulldogs once again trailed 14-3 at halftime. Where was the leadership? Where was the coaching? They were in the other locker room.

When a program reasonably expects to end the year in the Promised Land, no season in which the team wanders blithely back into the desert can be counted a success. By no reasonable measure was this "a fine year" and Georgia will have something to prove in 2009. The Classic City Canines lost much of the respect they spent the previous six or seven years earning, and deservedly so. The Bulldogs will have to break out the hobnailed boot, if not 70 X Takeoff, to get back to where they were one year ago.

There are 244 days remaining until the Oklahoma State game and the Georgia Bulldogs will spend Thursday night watching the national championship game instead of playing in it. It’s time for finishing the drill to stop being a slogan and go back to being a way of playing. First snap. Last snap. Every snap.

Go ‘Dawgs.

Shortly before my family and I sat down to supper on New Year’s Eve, my wife, Susan, asked me what I wanted to drink with my evening meal. Reflexively, I told her I wanted a Coke.

When we had members of our extended family over for Christmas, however, my in-laws brought some soft drinks with them, including a twelve-pack of Fresca. My son, Thomas, who is five years old and whose status as a mojo savant has been confirmed repeatedly through several successive football seasons, asked me whether I wanted a Fresca instead. Without thinking much about it, I took him up on his suggestion.

After we had finished eating, I sat there at the kitchen table for a few more minutes when my eye spied the empty Fresca can, along the side of which were emblazoned these words: "Original Citrus."

Then it hit me: Thomas intuitively had done it again. Just before kickoff of the Chick-fil-A Bowl---an Atlanta-based postseason game featuring an Atlanta-based rival team---I had chosen the definitive Atlanta-based soft drink until my son talked me out of it, convincing me instead to drink a beverage billed as the original citrus on the night before the Bulldogs were to take the field in the Capital One Bowl . . . or, as it previously was known, the Citrus Bowl.

From that moment forward, I had no doubt that Georgia Tech would lose, Georgia would win, and order would be restored to the universe . . . or, at least, to the Peach State, which is near enough to being the whole cosmos to suit me.

If you buy the idea that Thursday’s game was a referendum on Willie Martinez, you are free to come to one of two conclusions. If you prefer to see the glass as half-full, it is clear that the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator put together as effective a game plan against Michigan State as he had against Hawaii a year ago. If you prefer to see the glass as half-empty, it is equally clear that, if the ‘Dawgs are given four weeks to prepare for every opponent and Georgia joins the Big Ten or the W.A.C., Willie Martinez is our man. Against S.E.C. opposition with a game every Saturday, not so much . . . although my confidence would be bolstered by a public announcement that Coach Martinez TiVo’d the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Nevertheless, credit must be given for a stout defensive effort. The Spartans spent much of the first half in Georgia territory but managed only six points before the break. A first-quarter interception thrown by Matthew Stafford set up M.S.U. with first and 10 at the Bulldog 12 and a personal foul penalty halved that distance. Sparty picked up three yards on the next three plays and settled for a field goal.

Later in the opening period, a forced fumble was recovered by Michigan State on the Red and Black’s side of the field. The ‘Dawgs held, turning first and 15 into third and 24, when a borderline roughing the passer call give the Big Ten team a fresh set of downs at the Georgia 36 yard line.

By the way, as many times as Brian Hoyer was put on the ground on New Year’s Day, how could the announcers not use the phrase, "Down goes Hoyer!"? (Associated Press photograph by Michael Conroy.)

It was the sort of situation in which the Georgia D has folded this season; it was, in fact, the sort of situation in which the Georgia D has given up a play that covered whatever number of yards separated the line of scrimmage from the end zone. Instead, Asher Allen threw Keshawn Martin for a six-yard loss back to the 42. Javon Ringer’s second-down carry yielded a four-yard setback to the 46. An incomplete pass made it fourth and 20.

Overall, the Spartans held the ball for exactly 30 minutes of clock time, won the turnover battle, and picked up nearly as many first downs (16) as Georgia (19). Even so, though, M.S.U. was limited to a 25 per cent conversion rate on third down (4 for 16), managed only 236 yards of total offense, and averaged less than one yard per carry (34 rushes for 31 yards). Ringer picked up 47 yards on 20 attempts and never carded a scamper of longer than 21 feet.

There were, as there too often are, foolish penalties (7 for 53 yards) and long stretches in which Stafford simply appeared off his game. (From his vantage point on my living room couch, my brother-in-law opined that the Georgia quarterback was simply trying to get out of being drafted by Detroit.) Knowshon Rockwell Moreno had more receiving yards (63) and touchdowns (1) than rushing yards (62) and touchdowns (0).

Smart second-half adjustments saw the Georgia offense improving significantly, as the ‘Dawgs got away from attacking the middle and began using screens and going after the perimeter. Kris Durham had a moment or two at which he looked like he could be in the passing game what Brannan Southerland was in the running game. With six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, Michael Moore took up the slack when A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi were held in check.

Bad breaks and dumb luck (particularly in the kicking game) appeared for a while to be conspiring against the Classic City Canines, whose no-huddle attack worked like gangbusters for the first four plays of an eight-play opening drive that looked at the outset like the prettiest initial series ending in three points ever . . . or, at least, since the 2005 Outback Bowl. After that, though, it looked like a typical 2008 Georgia effort, in which the ‘Dawgs looked great in one phase of the game but only intermittently good (at best) in the others.

There is no denying that the Red and Black were lucky to be trailing only by a field goal at halftime. The opening possession of the third quarter gave little cause for confidence, as a 24-yard kickoff return and a 16-yard drive were squandered on a penalty and a punt. It wasn’t that I ever doubted that the ‘Dawgs would win---again, the Fresca on New Year’s Eve and the resulting Chick-fil-A Bowl win for the good guys left me certain of a Bulldog victory---but I had my doubts whether the Red and Black would win any way other than ugly.

Then an Aaron Bates punt went 53 yards and took a favorable bounce for the Great Lake State Gladiators inside the five. Moreno went 10 yards on first down and caught a five-yard pass two plays later. Stafford’s next five passes went to Moore for 16 yards and a first down, to Green for 12 yards, to Durham for 13 yards and a first down, to Caleb King for 11 yards and a first down, and to Moore for 35 yards and a touchdown. After that, the outcome never really was in question.

The 2009 Capital One Bowl resembled the 2005 Outback Bowl in ways more profound than the similarity of the Bulldogs’ opening drives in the two Sunshine State season-enders. We knew that beloved players, including an established starter under center, were or probably were playing their final game in silver britches, and we felt a profound sense of disappointment at the thought of what that season might have been.

That feeling has pervaded most of this autumn. It will rear its ugly head anew as I sit down to watch the national championship game in which my alma mater’s football team does not appear. That depressing sense of opportunity lost will weigh me down throughout most of the coming offseason. Even with Thursday’s victory, this will be a cold hard winter in Bulldog Nation. For now, though, I am going to enjoy a game which, however imperfect, ended in a Georgia win. That’s enough, at least---if only---for the moment.

Go ‘Dawgs!

All right, I’ve postponed the inevitable long enough. After offering a bare bones beginning to my look at Michigan State, I now have no choice but to give you some semblance of an examination of the Spartans, since the ‘Dawgs will be playing them on Thursday and all, so let’s get this over with dive into the nuances of the Capital One Bowl!

Overall, the Michigan State attack stands smack dab in the middle of the Big Ten pack. The Spartans rank sixth in the league in scoring offense (26.2 points per game), sixth in red zone offense (84.0%), fifth in pass offense (214.0 yards per game through the air), and a surprisingly low ninth in rushing offense (138.4 yards per game on the ground).

For all the attention paid to senior running back Javon Ringer and his 132.5 rushing yards per game, the most prominent player for M.S.U. is less impressive than you might expect. Paul Westerdawg already has exposed Ringer’s inflated numbers and a quick glance at the Big Ten stat sheet reveals that, although he is the conference’s second-leading rusher, his average yards per carry (4.3) are by far the lowest of the top eight ballcarriers in the league. Unfortunately, his 21 rushing touchdowns cannot be ignored.

Peeks inside the Spartans’ other offensive numbers reveal other holes elsewhere in the team’s stats. Michigan State is tied with Penn State for the most field goals in the Big Ten (20), but, while the Nittany Lions have scored a league-leading 60 touchdowns, Sparty has had to settle for 36 trips into the end zone. Only Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Northwestern scored fewer T.D.s.

Likewise, Ringer’s running did not help his team gain more than 88 rushing first downs, the second-fewest in the conference. Michigan State actually was much more adept at moving the chains through the air (116 first downs gained on pass plays), but only Wisconsin managed fewer touchdown passes than the Spartans. Sparty tallied eleven T.D. tosses to nine interceptions and, although M.S.U. had the best completion percentage among Big Ten teams in its home state, it had the tenth best in the conference overall (53.3%).

Of greatest concern to Bulldog fans regarding the M.S.U. offense is the fact that the Spartans gained 24 first downs on penalties . . . more than any other Big Ten team except Northwestern.

Coming Soon: A look at the Michigan State defense.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Right now, the attention of Bulldog Nation is scattered among several people. We all are wondering whether Stacy Searels is going to Auburn and whether Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Rockwell Moreno are headed for the N.F.L. We’re all glad Jeff Owens is returning and we’re all looking forward to at least another couple of years of A.J. Green. We all have our opinions of Mike Bobo and Willie Martinez, and whether their continued employment in their present positions is what’s best for the Red and Black.

Lost in all of this, though, is the fact that, while New Year’s Day 2009 may be---likely is---the last time Stafford and Moreno will take the field for Georgia, January 1 will be the last time another prominent Bulldog on the offensive side of the ball dons the silver britches.

I am speaking, of course, of Mohamed Massaquoi.

Perhaps because the ‘Dawgs ran the ball so much and so well for so long, we as a fan base have tended to be a tad tough on our receivers. Georgia receivers are a lot like presidents of the United States . . . since the late ‘80s, almost none of either have left their posts as popular as when they arrived.

Oh, we’ve been fond of any number of tight ends along the way; who among us didn’t love Troy Sadowski, Randy McMichael, or Leonard Pope? We have, however, been harsh towards the guys split wide ever since the Classic City Canines got serious about this whole "forward pass" business.

Andre Hastings was overshadowed by Eric Zeier and Garrison Hearst. Michael Greer caught everything thrown his way until his career went up in smoke. Hason Graham, Brice Hunter, Juan Daniels, Fred Gibson, Reggie Brown, Bryan McClendon, Sean Bailey, and A.J. Bryant all tend to be remembered more for that portion of their potential which went unfulfilled than for the percentage that they realized.

While we revere Lindsay Scott for a third down catch against Florida, all we recall about all-time leading receiver Terrence Edwards is a third down drop against the Gators. Unless a fellow was a Hines Ward who did double duty under center when desperate times called for desperate measures or a Michael Johnson who made 70 X Takeoff this generation’s chair-breaking, property-destroying moment, we tend to think of him less fondly than we should, if we think of him at all.

It is likely, therefore, that Bulldog Nation is eleven days away from consigning Massaquoi forevermore to the scrap heap of Georgia receivers we deem disappointing either because our expectations for them were so high or our faith in the passing game was so low.

We will remember Massaquoi’s sophomore slump, but we will forget that he still led the team in receptions that year. We will conclude that the 2005 offensive newcomer of the year and Sporting News freshman all-America honorable mentionee failed to live up in his last three seasons to the hype he generated in his rookie campaign. We will remember the afternoon he seemed like he couldn’t catch a cold and will pretend that a bad game made the fans justified in cheering when he was taken out of the lineup.

What we won’t remember, because we seldom do---but what we should remember, because he earned it---is that Mohamed Massaquoi caught a pair of passes in his collegiate debut against Boise State, and that he went 23 yards on his first career rush in a win over Tennessee, and that he hauled in half a dozen balls for 108 yards and a touchdown against Auburn, all as a freshman.

We will find a way to overlook six catches and a touchdown in a 15-12 win over Georgia Tech in the year in which he supposedly played so terribly. We will manage to ignore a tackle for a 20-yard loss on a botched punt to set up a touchdown against Oklahoma State. We will, if we try, succeed in forgetting his 84-yard touchdown reception in last year’s win over the Gators, or how he earned the True Grit Award at the end of spring practice and proved he deserved it by playing with all the guts and heart in the world in his last home game against the Yellow Jackets.

While we generally are good fans, we tend to be a little rough on our wide receivers here in Bulldog Nation. Given how much criticism Mohamed Massaquoi has drawn during his collegiate career, I have no doubt that he is but one game away from joining that long line of distinguished split ends and flankers, slot receivers and wideouts, who have passed through Athens and departed underappreciated and sold short.

Let us, however, take a break from speculating about the futures of Coaches Martinez and Searels and of Messrs. Moreno and Stafford. Let us, for now, for once, heap praises upon and be grateful to that tall, lanky kid out of Charlotte, N.C., who, try as he might, can’t resist smiling even at the end of a career that was a great deal more fun to watch than it had to have been to have lived.

For four years, we have had the privilege of seeing this young man usually play well and always play hard for his---our---team. While he had his bad games along the way, he hustled, showed toughness, and persevered. Mohamed Massaquoi was, is, and always will be a damn good ‘Dawg, and he deserves to be told that in terms much more uncertain than we have ever used when communicating that sentiment to him.

Don’t fail to appreciate Mohamed Massaquoi before he’s gone. He has 60 minutes to play and we have a lifetime to remember. We clearly got the better end of that bargain. Thanks for four great years, MoMass.

Go ‘Dawgs!

On Saturday night, after much discussion and reflection during a roundabout drive home which afforded additional (and appreciated) time during which to ruminate and converse, I advocated firing Willie Martinez as Georgia’s defensive coordinator.

Although I had taken this position before, I did so more heatedly and angrily, and I later backed off from the position. I have now returned to it, but pensively rather than vengefully. Because my co-author, MaconDawg, for whom I have the utmost respect, disagrees with my position, and because we here at Dawg Sports take no small amount of pride in the quality of the discourse that takes place here, I thought my argument required further explication.

I write this in much the same spirit that George Will wrote Restoration, as a convert to a position with which I previously disagreed, who hopes not to fan the flames of passion to encourage hasty action in the heat of the moment, but to state a persuasive case in order to promote thoughtful discussion over a potentially divisive issue in Bulldog Nation, one which ends in a reasoned conclusion arrived at without acrimony. I have invited MaconDawg to craft a case for the other side, but, obviously, all of you are invited to respond, as well.

One point in need of being addressed concerns the validity of my previous argument about the number of games the Bulldogs have lost in the last four years in which the Red and Black scored what historically have been enough points to win. When Viper2369 posted a link to my posting at The DawgChat, Rockmart Dawg offered a sensible retort:

For a VERY LONG time offensive schemes were completely melded with an overall game plan so as to keep opposing offenses on the sideline, run the ball, run the clock, and control the clock. Low-scoring affairs were the norm.

When Eric Zeier was recruited to Georgia it officially signaled the beginning of a brand new era at UGA, that being a pass-heavy offensive game plan... for the FIRST TIME EVER. That was... what.... 1990/1991?!

Have that same person tell us how many times since Goff was at the helm that UGA has scored more than 28 points and I guarantee you the ratio will far exceed that of all of the previous 100 years of Georgia football. The same will be true for the entire nation.

The game has changed significantly in the past 15-20 years.

Undeniably, Rockmart Dawg makes a good point. In Vince Dooley’s first season as the Bulldogs’ head coach in 1964, Georgia went 7-3-1, never scored more than 24 points in a game, and won three games by the final margin of 7-0. Times have changed.

However, football is cyclical. Major league baseball can be delineated sharply between the "dead ball" and "lively ball" eras; the same cannot be said for college football, which is a constant tug of war between offensive innovation and defensive adaptation. Bear Bryant once ruled the Southeastern Conference with the wishbone; Paul Johnson’s triple option is effective, in part, because it is seldom seen and can catch an opponent unprepared, much like Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s swinging gate maneuver at Gettysburg.

Georgia football didn’t start scoring points in bunches until Eric Zeier was under center? Tell that to Wally Butts, whose first two S.E.C. championship teams won conference games by such scores as 33-14 (Florida in 1946), 35-7 (Georgia Tech in 1946), 34-0 (Georgia Tech in 1942), 48-13 (Ole Miss in 1942), 41-0 (Auburn in 1946), and 75-0 (Florida in 1942).

Vince Dooley’s teams were purely about rock-ribbed defense, sound special teams, and a ball-control offense that kept the ‘Dawgs on the right side of low-scoring affairs? Tell that to the 1981 Tennessee and Georgia Tech teams and the 1982 Florida squad, which lost to Georgia by margins of 44-0, 44-7, and 44-0, respectively.

I will grant, however, that those scores are somewhat aberrational over the long course of Bulldog football history. These scores, though, are not:

13-7. 27-25. 18-13. 48-17. 52-24. 13-20. 31-17. 24-21. 30-3.

Those are the final scores of Georgia’s nine Southeastern Conference games (including the S.E.C. championship game) from the 2002 season.

In Brian VanGorder’s second season as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator, the Red and Black held two conference opponents in the single digits, allowed three more to score in the teens, and gave up more than 21 points just twice.

In 1986, for the first time in his then-23 seasons in Athens, Coach Dooley’s Bulldogs began the season by passing out of the shotgun formation. In order to let his team know he was serious about fielding a balanced attack, Coach Dooley publicly announced before the season started that Georgia’s first play from scrimmage would be from the shotgun.

He was true to his word. Against Duke in the opener, James Jackson took the snap and threw a nine-yard completion to Tim Worley. Georgia again lined up in the shotgun on the following play. It was a handoff to Keith Henderson, who picked up eight yards. The ‘Dawgs would not use the shotgun for the remainder of the game. Afterwards, Coach Dooley told the media, "You didn’t think we were going wild, did you?"

One week later, after David Treadwell’s last-second field goal gave Clemson its second win ever between the hedges and Georgia its second loss ever in which the Bulldogs scored 28 points, defensive coordinator Bill Lewis said, "28 points should be enough for us to win two football games." To reiterate, times have changed.

They haven’t changed that much, though. They haven’t changed so much that Coach VanGorder couldn’t figure out how to make halftime adjustments. During the aforementioned 2002 season, Georgia had to survive a number of second-half comebacks, eking out wins against Clemson (by the same 31-28 score by which the ‘Dawgs lost to the Tigers in 1986), South Carolina (13-7), Alabama (27-25), and Tennessee (18-13).

After the midpoint of the regular season, though, the Red and Black started slamming the door after intermission, surrendering just seven second-half points to Vanderbilt, none to Kentucky, eight to Florida, none to Ole Miss, seven to Auburn, seven to Georgia Tech, three to Arkansas, and six to Florida State.

How does this year’s defense compare to that year’s? After the break, Willie Martinez’s 2008 Bulldogs gave up 21 to the Bayou Bengals, 35 to the Gators, 24 to the Wildcats, seven to the Plainsmen, and 33 to the Yellow Jackets in their last five games. Even allowing for offensive and special teams miscues, that represents a clear regression, over the course of the season and over the course of Coach Martinez’s tenure as defensive coordinator. Maybe we no longer live in a world in which it is reasonable to expect to hold an opponent to three touchdowns or fewer over the course of a game, but surely it is not too much to ask that our defense not give up 21 or more points in the second half in four of their last five regular-season outings.

In saying so, however, I am focusing on Coach Martinez’s worst efforts. MaconDawg’s measured argument against firing the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator includes the fair point that Coach Martinez deserves to be judged on his entire body of work. Writes MaconDawg:

I am not a proponent of firing Willie Martinez. It's amazing how quickly people have forgotten his "brilliant" gameplans against Hawaii, Florida and Oklahoma State in 2007. However, if we're going to win with his system we have to have all the parts.

Coach Martinez does deserve the credit for the Bulldogs’ defensive efforts in those games; indeed, the performance of the Georgia D during the 2006 stretch run against Auburn, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech had much to do with my having reversed course on the idea of letting him go two years ago.

Coach Martinez’s problem isn’t that he’s bad, it’s that he’s maddeningly inconsistent and becoming less reliable with the passage of time. For every great defensive game plan that has been executed well, there has been another defensive effort which was lacking in game planning, execution, or both. When you compare the performance of his defensive unit with the performance of Mike Bobo’s offensive unit (and particularly Stacy Searels’s offensive line) as the season has progressed, the contrast is obvious and undeniable.

Coach Martinez’s performance as defensive coordinator reflects, and is reflected in, the way his charges have played on the field. Their inconsistency mirrors his own. Rockmart Dawg is right that teams score more now than they did a decade and a half ago, but that only means the standards for defensive success are lower than they were before. With Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Rockwell Moreno, Mohamed Massaquoi, and A.J. Green lining up on the offensive side of the ball, Willie Martinez’s defense doesn’t have to shut opponents down the way Erk Russell’s Junkyard ‘Dawgs did, yet, even with a lower bar to clear, Coach Martinez is failing to live up to a reduced standard. His continued employment in his present capacity suggests that his retention is the result of a "No Coach Left Behind" policy.

If it’s unfair for me to claim that a team that scores 28 points ought to win a football game, fine. How about 30 points? Georgia scored 30 or more points in a losing effort five times in the 111 seasons prior to Willie Martinez’s elevation to defensive coordinator in the Classic City; Georgia has scored 30 or more points in a losing effort five times in the four years since.

If 30 still is too low, fine. How about 33? Brian VanGorder was Georgia’s defensive coordinator for four years during the 20th century and, during those four years, the Red and Black never lost a game in which they scored more than 17 points. Surely it is not unreasonable to say the Bulldog D ought to perform well enough for the ‘Dawgs to win a game in which the Classic City Canines score nearly double the number of points that sufficed week in and week out just five years ago, yet Georgia scored 33 or more points and lost two times between 1892 and 2004 . . . and Georgia scored 33 or more points and lost three times between 2005 and 2008.

However, MaconDawg makes a fair point that winning with Willie Martinez’s system (which is, after all, Brian VanGorder’s system) requires having the proper parts. This is a point similar to the one Mark Richt made when, in a disturbingly Donnanesque moment, he recently said this:

People don’t get it. People think they know but they don’t. I mean, if people really knew football, they’d know that we’ve been blitzing; they’d know that we’ve been playing zero coverage; they’d know we’ve been playing cover one; they’d know that we’ve been playing robber [coverage]; we’ve been go fire-zone with cover three behind it; fire-zones with cover two behind it. So if they really knew football they wouldn’t be saying the things they say. But they don’t.

It’s the same basic defensive scheme that we’ve had since we got here. You know, it’s not like a kind of philosophical issue. I mean, the philosophy of our defense hasn’t really changed hardly at all in eight years. And we’ve not been in this spot in the past. So that’s not the problem.

The emphasis added is mine, because I believe the point is rather telling. While I do not pretend to be an X and O guy, and while I freely admit that I don’t know one-tenth as much football as Coach Richt knows, there may be a problem with playing "the same basic defensive scheme" that "hasn’t really changed hardly at all in eight years."

Eight years ago, Dennis Franchione was the head coach at Alabama; today, Nick Saban is. Eight years ago, Al Borges had not yet been hired as the offensive coordinator at Auburn; now, Tony Franklin has been fired as the offensive coordinator at Auburn, and Tommy Tuberville followed not far behind. Eight years ago, Steve Spurrier was running the Fun ‘n’ Gun at Florida; today, Urban Meyer is operating the spread option in Gainesville. Eight years ago, George O’Leary was stalking the sidelines at The Flats; today, Paul Johnson has brought back the triple option at Georgia Tech. How many times has Tennessee changed offensive coordinators since the hobnailed boot was brought down in the checkerboard end zone?

The world has turned more than a few times since 2001. For whatever reason, Willie Martinez has not kept up, at least not consistently, and the types of offensive attacks against which his defenses historically have struggled are becoming more prevalent and prolific rather than less so. Has Urban Meyer’s tweaking of his offensive system made it more productive during his tenure in Gainesville? I believe it has. Will Paul Johnson’s triple option become even more effective as he recruits players specifically suited to running it? I believe it will. Can Willie Martinez out-plan, out-scheme, out-think, and out-coach the shrewd men who appear on the opposite sideline each and every Saturday? I no longer believe he can.

Willie Martinez is not an idiot. He is neither inflexible nor arrogant nor ignorant. Willie Martinez is a fine man. In many ways, he is a good coach all the time, and, in most ways, he is a good coach much of the time. I take no joy in taking the position I am advocating. Nevertheless, facts are facts and these numbers do not lie. Point out all the Matthew Stafford interceptions you like; take note of every directional kickoff that sailed out of bounds and set up the opposition with good starting field position; stress the fact that offenses historically have not scored as much as they now do; I concede all of that, yet still there is no denying this:

Scoring 30 points at home ought to win you a football game, but, against Auburn in 2005, it didn’t. Scoring 35 points in a bowl game an hour’s drive from your campus ought to win you a football game, but, against West Virginia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, it didn’t. Scoring 33 points at home ought to win you a football game, but, against Tennessee in 2006, it didn’t. Scoring 30 points in a night game at home ought to win you a football game, but, against Alabama in 2008, it didn’t. Scoring 42 points at home ought to win you a football game, but, against Georgia Tech in 2008, it didn’t.

Many problems bedevil the Bulldogs, not all of which begin or end with the defense. The most serious of these problems, however, concern Coach Martinez’s area of responsibility, and I have not yet heard a satisfactory justification for the proposition that Willie Martinez ought not to be held responsible for the poor performance of the Georgia defense this fall and for the steady decline of the exceptional unit he inherited from Brian VanGorder. Absent the making of a persuasive argument I have not yet heard, I must conclude---not at all happily, but nevertheless sincerely---that the time has come for a new man to be named the defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia.

I like Willie Martinez, but I love my team, and it is to my team that my first loyalty is owed. That same obligation is incumbent upon every person with an office in Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.

Go ‘Dawgs.

I begin in the only way it is appropriate for me to begin, by congratulating Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on a well played game of football in which they were the better team and received the victory they had earned.

Having said that, let me also say this: I have had a long day. We had out-of-town relatives in the Atlanta area for Thanksgiving, one of whom went with me to the game. Despite the weather and the outcome, we had a nice outing, as I went to Sanford Stadium with the husbands of both of my sisters-in-law---I call them my brothers-in-law, although, technically, that is not correct; they are the men who are married to the women who are my wife’s sisters---but, because different people had to be gotten to different places afterwards, I left my house at 7:30 this morning and returned home around 9:45 tonight.

Consequently, I have not read any FanPosts or comments left at Dawg Sports since roughly 11:00 last evening. If anything needs addressing, it will be addressed tomorrow; if any of what follows repeats points already made, I regret the redundancy, although I believe these points bear making and reiterating, so I will not be saddened to learn that others are entertaining similar thoughts---not visceral reactions; thoughts, arrived at over a period of years and after sober reflection---and I hope a cogent conversation follows.

This posting might have been, but is not, the 82nd installment of the Mark Richt Victory Watch. Certainly, Mohamed Massaquoi, playing in his last game between the hedges, performed at a level fully deserving of victory. Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Rockwell Moreno, also probably playing in Sanford Stadium for the final time, showed grit, heart, and determination that were worthy of a win. The Bulldogs’ much-maligned offensive line generally played capably and the criticisms of Mike Bobo as an offensive coordinator hopefully were silenced by the former Georgia quarterback’s fine play calling. The offense, in short, played well enough to have produced an eighth straight victory over our in-state rival.

Offense, however, is not the only phase of the game. It’s just the only phase of the game at which the Bulldogs performed as well as or better than the Yellow Jackets.

The following facts all are facts:

• In the first century of Georgia football (1892-1991), the Red and Black lost two games in which they scored at least 28 points. During that same period, the Classic City Canines never lost a game in which they scored at least 29 points.



• During the Ray Goff and Jim Donnan eras (1989-2000), the Bulldogs lost seven games in which they scored at least 28 points, falling 34-31 to Tennessee in 1992, 42-28 to Auburn in 1993, 29-28 to Alabama in 1994, 43-30 to Vanderbilt in 1994, 37-31 to Auburn in 1995, 45-34 to Auburn in 1997, and 51-48 to Georgia Tech in 1999.



• During the aforementioned Ray Goff and Jim Donnan eras, Georgia had five defensive coordinators: Richard Bell (1989-1993), Marion Campbell (1994), Joe Kines (1995-1998), Kevin Ramsey (1999), and Gary Gibbs (2000).



• During the four years in which Brian VanGorder served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator (2001-2004), the Bulldogs lost ten games. In those ten games, the ‘Dawgs scored nine, ten, 17, 16, 13, ten, 13, 13, 14, and six points, respectively.



• During the four years in which Willie Martinez has served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator (2005-2008), the Bulldogs have lost twelve games. In those twelve games, the ‘Dawgs scored ten, 30, 35, 33, 22, 14, 20, twelve, 14, 30, ten, and 42 points, respectively.

To reiterate: Georgia scored 28 points in defeat just twice in the first 100 years of Red and Black football; Georgia never scored more than 28 points in defeat in the first 100 years of Red and Black football; Georgia scored 28 or more points in defeat seven times in the twelve years of the Ray Goff and Jim Donnan eras, during which the Bulldogs had five different defensive coordinators; Georgia never scored more than 17 points in defeat during the four years that Brian VanGorder served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator; Georgia has scored more than 28 points in defeat five times during the four years that Willie Martinez has served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator; and Georgia has not scored 28 or more points in defeat more than twice during the tenure of any previous defensive coordinator in Bulldog history.

Injuries have played a role in the failure of this Georgia team to live up to expectations. However, the offensive line has been hit hard by injuries, yet Stacy Searels appears to have found a way to get his players who are healthy enough to play to perform well as a unit and Mike Bobo appears to have found a way to put together an effective offense despite the loss of some key players. This is called coaching.

Injuries do not excuse all shortcomings. Injuries do not explain defensive players being out of position. Injuries do not justify an inability to make open field tackles. Injuries cannot account for why teams are able to outscore Georgia in the second half when Brian VanGorder’s defenses made a habit of slamming the door after intermission. Injuries are not the reason why an option team is able to make big gains despite the fact that everyone in the stadium knows (or ought to know) that the ball is going to the pitch man.

Georgia Tech had possession of the ball seven times in the second half in Athens this afternoon. The Yellow Jackets’ first drive went 60 yards in one play for a touchdown. Their second drive went 56 yards in ten plays for a touchdown. Their third drive went 23 yards in one play for a touchdown. Their fourth drive went 76 yards in seven plays for a field goal. Their fifth drive went six yards in three plays and ended in a punt. Their sixth drive went 70 yards in six plays for a touchdown. Their seventh drive picked up the first down that allowed the visitors to run out the clock.

If two of the Engineers’ seven second-half drives had ended in punts, Georgia would have won the game. Just a pair of three-and-outs would have put the ball back in Matthew Stafford’s hands and the offense would have found a way to finish the drill. The defense did not give the offense that chance. I do not lay this at the feet of the young men wearing silver britches, who played with passion and who managed to avoid some of the foolish penalties that have plagued the ‘Dawgs this season. I lay this failure at the feet of the defensive coaching staff, of the coordinator charged with the responsibility for that side of the ball, and, if sufficient steps are not taken, of the head coach charged with the ultimate responsibility for everything that happens in this program.

Georgia Tech deserved to win the game and a commitment to class even in the face of defeat compels us to tip our caps to the best college football team in the Peach State, which today calls North Avenue and not the Classic City home. However, a decent defensive effort on the Bulldogs’ part would have produced a victory, and that calls upon us as fans to ask reasonable questions in a responsible manner.

As I noted earlier, I have not yet read any of the FanPosts or comments to have appeared at Dawg Sports in roughly the last 24 hours. I will get to them later, but it is my hope that a civil and sensible tone has been maintained. I have not ventured elsewhere in the blogosphere this evening, so I do not know what has been written in other parts of "The Dawgosphere." I regret it if the foregoing is repetitive, although this a subject of sufficient significance to warrant our ongoing attention.

The act of addressing harsh realities requires the act of asking hard questions. Many good men are being compensated handsomely to mold the talented student-athletes enrolled at the University of Georgia into a championship-caliber team and most of these men are succeeding admirably at their jobs.

Georgia gave up 41 points to Alabama, 38 points to Louisiana State, 49 points to Florida, 38 points to Kentucky, and 45 points to Georgia Tech. It is time for one of the good men mentioned above to explain why he deserves to continue collecting a paycheck for serving as the defensive coordinator of the Georgia Bulldogs and it is time for another of those good men to perform his duty as the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs by taking the only appropriate step if that explanation proves to be inadequate.

Go ‘Dawgs!

I will be atypically brief, for two reasons.

First of all, all that really needs to be said about the Deep South’s oldest football rivalry generally and the 112th installment of that rivalry specifically essentially has been said in a pair of comment threads appearing here at Dawg Sports in recent days.

Secondly, my response to games of this nature is stark and uncomplicated, so little space is needed to articulate my postgame reactions and reflections.

To the tale of the tape, then: Georgia converted only three of eleven third down attempts, committed nine penalties for 95 yards, roughed the kicker and lost a fumble on opposite ends of the same play to turn a three-and-out that would have given the ‘Dawgs great starting field position into a one-play possession in which the Plainsmen went 52 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, muffed the center-quarterback exchange while attempting to run out the clock, had a 21-yard field goal attempt blocked, and only narrowly led one of the weakest offenses in the S.E.C. in first downs (20-19).

Auburn, on the other hand, converted seven of 17 third down attempts, racked up 303 yards of total offense, held the advantage in time of possession (30:49-29:11), and retook the lead with a little over eleven minutes remaining in a game the visitors were expected to win, perhaps handily.

In short, every criticism offered by every Georgia fan in the aftermath of this game is legitimate. I make no effort to rebut any of it.

My only response to the critics, who are myriad and whose points are valid, is this:

Scoreboard.

Although I foolishly predicted a double-digit victory, I ought to have known better. The last two series meetings notwithstanding, these are the kinds of games these teams play against one another.

The Tigers are our oldest rivals. Georgia has played Auburn more often and for a longer period than Georgia has played Georgia Tech. Auburn has played Georgia more often and for a longer period than Auburn has played Alabama. The cross-pollination between the two programs is so deeply ingrained that Auburn’s field is named for a two-time Bulldog all-American.

Low-scoring nailbiters are the rule rather than the exception. This is so not only of Georgia-Auburn games generally, but of this Tiger team specifically. The Plainsmen’s two S.E.C. wins were by final margins of 3-2 and 14-12. Their five S.E.C. losses have come by final margins of 26-21, 14-13, 25-22, 17-7, and, now, 17-13.

For the home team, this was a typical game against an S.E.C. opponent in 2008. These two rivals were tied at the end of 60 minutes of play ten times in their first 104 showdowns; Larry Munson looked at the sugar falling out of the sky after the ‘Dawgs won in Jordan-Hare Stadium by a 19-14 score; 70 X Takeoff lifted the Red and Black to an S.E.C. championship in a game that ended 24-21.

At the end of the day, 17-13 is business as usual. Heck, 17-13 was the final score between these two teams in 1974.

The only difference is, this time, Georgia won.

Georgia won because Matthew Stafford averaged 9.0 yards per pass, threw two touchdown strikes, and never threw an interception. Georgia won because Knowshon Rockwell Moreno carried the ball 22 times for 131 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and caught four passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. Georgia won because A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi each caught five passes, including the true freshman’s second straight game-winner.

Georgia won because, when the Bulldogs had to score to win, they did. Georgia won because, when the Tigers had to score to win, they couldn’t.

There are huge problems that will need to be addressed during the open date. For now, though, the Red and Black just went on the road and did not play their best in a rivalry game, yet they won anyway.

I, for one, feel like a Bulldog on Saturday night after beating Auburn.

Go ‘Dawgs!

All right, let’s start with the good news.

The Bulldogs started strong by leaping out to a 14-0 lead on the road, converted 40 per cent of their third downs, averaged almost five yards per rush, rolled up 520 yards of total offense despite holding the ball for barely 25 minutes of clock time, incurred only five penalties for 58 yards, and scored 42 points on a Kentucky defense that had given up more than 24 just once all season long.

Matthew Stafford had statistically his best day as a Bulldog, completing 17 of his 27 pass attempts for 376 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Knowshon Rockwell Moreno averaged 5.6 yards per carry, rushed for 123 yards while hauling in three passes for 40 yards, and found the end zone three times. Mohamed Massaquoi snagged eight passes for 191 yards and a touchdown, A.J. Green went up and grabbed the game-winner in the back of the end zone, and Michael Moore once again proved reliable in the clutch with two catches for 68 yards.

Also, the Bulldogs won.

That brings us to the bad news.

The Wildcats, who are as injury-riddled as the ‘Dawgs (if not more so), held the ball for nearly 35 minutes, converted eight of 17 third downs (usually in short yardage situations) and two of three fourth-down tries, and scored 38 points, all with a wide receiver at quarterback. Randall Cobb---no, not Randall "Tex" Cobb; we’re playing S.E.C. football here, not searching for Nathan Arizona’s baby---ran the ball 18 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns while hooking up on 12 of his 20 passes for 105 yards and, mercifully, one crucial interception.

Of course, the fact that the ‘Cats did all this to the ‘Dawgs while amassing only 331 yards of total offense is more than a little telling. Due to the increasingly ludicrous offense-boosting kickoff rules, the Blue and White began their first scoring drive from their own 40 yard line after Blair Walsh’s kickoff went out of bounds. The second quarter possession on which Kentucky tied the game began at the home team’s 33 yard line when the Red and Black turned the ball over on downs.

The Wildcats’ third quarter field goal was set up by Tony Dixon’s 28-yard kickoff return out to the U.K. 35 to begin the second half. The home team took the lead when Danny Trevathan blocked Brian Mimbs’s punt to give the Bluegrass State Felines custody of the pigskin at the Georgia nine yard line. Mimbs’s next punt went just 18 yards, setting up Kentucky at the Bulldogs’ 29 yard line. The ‘Cats scored three plays later.

I’m not picking on Mimbs, I’m just saying. (Associated Press photograph by Mary Ann Chastain.)

After Georgia scored to reclaim a 35-31 lead, Winston Guy broke a 96-yard kickoff return to set up another three-play touchdown drive. The Red and Black’s next two drives appeared promising until Massaquoi fumbled in U.K. territory, but both turnovers could be classified as what appellate courts call "harmless error": Kentucky took over on Georgia’s 49 yard line and the Wildcats’ 38 yard line, respectively, yet those two first and tens turned into a fourth and 15 at the Kentucky 46 and a fourth and eleven at the Georgia 35, producing no points.

From there, Massaquoi atoned for his earlier miscues by taking Stafford’s first pass on the Bulldogs’ final drive for 78 yards to the U.K. seven yard line. A foolish (albeit apparently accidental) facemask penalty on what otherwise would have been a game-sealing fourth down stop by the Georgia D gave the Wildcats new life, which Demarcus Dobbs proceeded to snuff out with the pick that at long last ended all doubts as to the final outcome in the final minute.

Kentucky moved the football more than they should have, but they seldom had to move it much. As was the case in Jacksonville last weekend, the initial blame for the opposition’s unsightly point tally must be laid at the feet of the offense that gave the ball away and the special teams that set the other team up with good field position. There is plenty for which to blame the defense, but, when a new U.K. quarterback who hasn’t put a lot on film is set up with field position ranging from good to great in his home stadium all afternoon, even a solid defensive effort is going to be made to look bad.

Consequently, I’m more concerned about the kicking game than I am about the defense. The Wildcats began three of their five first-half drives at or in back of their own 30 yard line; that trio of possessions produced no points and, on average, lasted four plays apiece and generated fewer than 20 yards each.

Kentucky never had to drive the length of the field. The Wildcats’ longest drive was 67 yards. Only two of their 13 possessions went for more than 50 yards. Just four U.K. offensive series covered as many as 35 yards of real estate. Had the Blue and White started in the neighborhood of their own 25 or worse as often as the ‘Dawgs did, Georgia would have won the game by at least two touchdowns.

As I noted earlier, the last two Saturdays have borne a disconcerting resemblance to the middle years of the 1990s, when beatdowns by the St. John’s River and shootouts in the Bluegrass State were the norm. I have to admit that it starts to look more like the rule than the exception when three straight opponents hang 38 or more points on the Bulldogs, but a couple of asterisks have to be appended to those tallies: Alabama hung 41 points on Georgia at home and every one of them accurately reflected the prowess of the opposing offense. The last three games were played in Baton Rouge, Jacksonville, and Lexington, and, in every one of them, the numbers artificially were inflated by garbage time yardage after the game was decided (at L.S.U.) or by offensive and special teams miscues (against Florida and at Kentucky).

There are problems in need of correcting; maybe there even are changes that need to be made among the members of Mark Richt’s coaching staff. Right now, though, we in Bulldog Nation have more immediately concerns. The Red and Black are 8-2, with two games remaining in which they may earn a New Year’s Day bowl berth, a top ten ranking, and a sixth ten-win season in a seven-year span.

Considering all of our lofty preseason expectations, that might not sound like much for which to play. I suspect a similar sentiment was heard in Tallahassee near the end of the 1992 season that was Florida State’s sixth straight ten-win campaign with nary a national championship to show for it . . . until the ‘Noles, with Mark Richt as their quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator, proceeded to finish No. 1 in the nation twice in the next seven years.

Forget about all that for now, though. Next Saturday, the Bulldogs will renew the Deep South’s oldest football rivalry when they travel to the so-called Loveliest Village to face an Auburn team that was tied with Tennessee-Martin---not Tennessee, but Division I-AA Tennessee-Martin---with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Now, as ever, there is nothing wrong with being a Georgia Bulldog that beating Auburn can’t fix.

Go ’Dawgs! Auburna delenda est!

There are several ways of looking at this, all of which presently are vying for the upper hand in my head and heart. These are they:

It’s Just a Game: With the exception of the couple of since-banned Gator trolls whose immediate reaction to the game was to visit this weblog, sign up for user accounts, and post cheap taunts because they’re the sorts of pathetic people who would rather make others feel badly than celebrate events that make them feel well (and who very much represent the exception to the rule, as the Florida fans who have been visiting and commenting here for the past week generally have been impassioned fans yet fine people), we all have much more important things in our lives than football. We have families who care about us; in many cases, we have wives and children whom we love; some of us even have birthdays tomorrow. This is an event that needs to be placed into perspective.

Any Win Over the Gators is a Fluke: 1997 was just one of those days when everything went right. 2004 was just one of those years when we caught Florida at a low point. I thought last year was a turning point. It wasn’t. The Saurians simply own us and any Bulldog win in Jacksonville has to be filed under the heading of "even a broken clock is right twice a day." They’re just better than us and they’re never not going to be, even when we occasionally catch them on a bad day and luck into a win.

It Really Is Difficult to Get Ready for Two Big Games in a Row: It’s hard to remember this now, but, at the time, the games at Arizona State and L.S.U. were big games. Playing your first road game outside the South in more than four decades is a big deal. Hanging 52 points on the Bayou Bengals in Death Valley is a big deal. No team could be expected to be at its best in back-to-back games of such significance. This schedule truly was too tough for any team to tame.

We All Saw This Coming a Mile Away: I told you before that I’d had a bad feeling all week long, but I rationalized my way out of it. My son, who is a mojo savant, gave me all the warning signs and I refused to heed them. Earlier in the week, he and I were playing a game that required us each to check off items on a list, so he had to go get each of us a pen. He reached into his box of markers and pulled out two of them. They were orange and blue. When I asked whether he had one that was red, he checked and replied, "No, but there’s a pink." I knew then it was a done deal, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. When I looked at the numbers, I saw this datum and quickly looked away in denial: the last time Georgia beat L.S.U. in Baton Rouge one week prior to playing Florida (in 1952), the Gators beat the Bulldogs 30-0. It was always going to be a rout. We were never winning this game. We were never even going to be in this game.

This Whole Thing Is Sick, Twisted, and Weird: We’re grown men with real lives. Tying any part of our emotional well-being to what an anonymous group of 18- to 22-year-olds does over three and a half hours on a Saturday afternoon is silly, strange, unseemly, and sad. We tell ourselves it’s for the glory of our state, but that argument holds little water when our favorite players are from New Jersey and Texas. The idea that anyone invests himself in these games is, at best, bizarre, and very well may be utterly indefensible. The fact that we care at all, much less this much, may be a warning sign that we all need professional help.

There’s Always Next Year: Losses in 1992 and in 2000 felt like the end of the world because we came into those seasons knowing this was our shot, and that, if it didn’t happen then, there was no telling when it might all come together again. The beauty of the Mark Richt era is that, while we all hope every year that it will be this year, we know that there’s always next year. Like Florida State under Bobby Bowden, Nebraska under Tom Osborne, and Penn State under Joe Paterno, Georgia under Mark Richt wins consistently enough that, eventually, that special season will happen. Matthew Stafford, Mohamed Massaquoi, and Knowshon Rockwell Moreno won’t win a national title this year, but there’s no particular reason why Logan Gray, A.J. Green, and Caleb King can’t go win one next year.

We Are Not an Elite Team: There are perhaps five really good teams in college football and we aren’t one of them. We’re going to beat a mediocre Kentucky team, a bad Auburn team, a vastly overrated Georgia Tech team, and a middling Big Ten team in a meaningless Sunshine State bowl game to finish 11-2 and ranked No. 10 in the final A.P. poll. We’re going to have another nice successful season to set alongside all the other nice successful seasons and we’re never going to have the breakthrough that makes the Stewart Mandels of the world treat us with respect.

I Need to Find a New Hobby: I hear stamp collecting can be really soothing. I could spend my autumn Saturdays going out into the woods with a gun and hunting a variety of edible game. If I devoted the time I put into writing this weblog to writing fiction instead, I’d have a novel knocked out in no time. Surely, there has to be something less anguishing than this.

The Suck Explanation (Situation-Specific): This sucks.

The Suck Explanation (Team-Specific I): We suck.

The Suck Explanation (Team-Specific II): We suck against Florida.

The Suck Explanation (General Philosophical): Everything sucks. This sucks because it is a part of the larger all-encompassing universal suckage.

The Suck Explanation (Call to Action Edition): Fire [insert object of your blame here]!

The John Blutarsky Solution: Start drinking heavily.

The Orson Swindle Solution: Start swearing profusely.

One Possible Religious Explanation: Steve Spurrier’s father was a minister. Danny Wuerffel operates a Christian charitable organization. Tim Tebow is the son of missionaries and a professing believer. Urban Meyer was named for a pope and he was Notre Dame’s first choice for a head coach. The game was played on All Saints Day. God is on the Gators’ side.

Another Possible Religious Explanation: Mark Richt is a devout Christian, too. God doesn’t care about college football.

Yet Another Possible Religious Explanation: Mark Richt is a devoted servant of the Lord, just as Moses and David were, but he is being punished for the celebration. It fell to Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, it fell to Solomon to build the Temple, and it will fall to Mike Bobo to win the national championship.

A Final Possible Religious Explanation: The Gators won exactly nothing for the first 85 years of their football history. They went from being nobodies to being nationally prominent overnight. There was no rebuilding process, no gradual upward incline, just mediocrity, awfulness, mediocrity, awfulness, a good season, probation, mediocrity, mediocrity, mediocrity . . . boom! Incessant sustained excellence! That’s a deal with the devil if ever I saw one. Sooner or later, Satan is going to show up at the end of a Florida-South Carolina game to drag Urban Meyer’s and Steve Spurrier’s immortal souls shrieking into the underworld. With any luck, it will happen on a Raycom telecast, ‘cause I bet Dave, Dave, and Dave could really do that justice.

This Sets Up Next Year Quite Nicely: We are now officially off of everyone’s radar screen. This is 2004 all over again; expectations were high, they were not met, and everyone expected 2005 to be a rebuilding year. Instead, it produced an S.E.C. championship and, but for a particularly ill-timed injury to D.J. Shockley, it might have produced a national title, as well. This year’s injuries will build depth for next year, Stafford and Moreno now have a powerful incentive to return next season, the Gators will pay us no mind next fall after having put us so decisively in our place this year, and we’ll be able to come into the season ranked No. 15 and catch some folks napping.

O-Ver-Ra-Ted!: The preseason No. 1 ranking was completely bogus. One close loss might have been explained away with the injuries to Trinton Sturdivant, Vince Vance, Jeff Owens, and Dannell Ellerbe, but top ten teams simply do not play whole halves of football as atrocious as the first 30 minutes against Alabama and the last 30 minutes against Florida.

It Really Wasn’t as Bad as the Final Score Indicated: Although the margins were dramatically different, Georgia actually was whipped much more soundly by ‘Bama than by the Gators. The former was out of reach early and the second-half comeback was entirely cosmetic; when the ‘Dawgs looked like they were going to claw back into it and the Tide needed a touchdown drive to put the game away for good, they got it without breaking a sweat. In Jacksonville, Georgia trailed 14-3 at the half due to a variety of bad breaks, including two missed field goals, a dropped touchdown pass, a Florida first down which the replay clearly showed was short of the marker, and an interception negated by a bizarre personal foul penalty against a player who was being egregiously held. The halftime score easily could have been 13-7 in Georgia’s favor and the game only really started to get out of hand after an interception that should have been negated by a penalty against the defensive back which went inexplicably uncalled. Bad luck and blown calls set up a blowout in a game in which the Bulldogs moved the ball as effectively as the opposition.

At Least We’re Not Michigan: It could be a heck of a lot worse and this posting could be nothing but pictures of kittens.

Without necessarily renouncing, repudiating, or disputing the validity of any or all of the above, I think the mindset that most closely summarizes where I am now is this:

It’s Still Great to be a Georgia Bulldog: I was Bulldog born and Bulldog bred and, when I die, I’ll be Bulldog dead. My team is my team, win or lose, and, sometimes, it’s just not your day. Mark Richt is still 79-21 after his first 100 games and his all-time record against the five current S.E.C. coaches who have won national championships (Phillip Fulmer, Urban Meyer, Les Miles, Nick Saban, and Steve Spurrier) is 13-11 . . . and that’s not even counting his 4-3 record against Tommy Tuberville, who led Auburn to an unbeaten season, or his 6-0 record against Chan Gailey, who won a national championship in a lower division with Troy. Yes, there needs to be accountability; yes, we lost to two eventual B.C.S. bowl champions (we’ll find out on the first Saturday in December which one will win the national championship game and which one will win the Sugar Bowl); for now, we need to tip our caps to the Gators, who were the better team on Saturday, congratulate them on their impressive victory, and take a moment to relax so that our reactions are measured, prudent, and reasonable even in the face of adversity and disappointment. MaconDawg, SavDawg, DavetheDawg, and RocketDawg seem to have gotten us off to a good start.

Go ‘Dawgs!