After the 1993 season---the last autumn before this one in which the Georgia Bulldogs limped to an 0-3 start in SEC play---I heard Ray Goff speak at the local Bulldog Club meeting. He ran through the eleven outings of that 5-6 campaign, and, when he got to the Red and Black’s humiliating home loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks, Coach Goff described that contest as the poorest effort with which he ever had been associated.
I believe tonight’s effort eclipsed that game for that dubious honor.
Drive-killing turnovers. Big play-negating penalties. Repeated attempts to run up the middle when running up the middle hasn’t worked all season. The inability to get a critical stop on third down. The inability to score a touchdown on the road in SEC play until garbage time of a loss. Conceding late scores that turned a close game into a blowout.
This game felt a lot like the 2000 South Carolina game, in which we kept waiting for the comeback that never happened, until the backbreaking fourth-quarter score that brought home the reality of the loss. That loss, though, was to a team bound for a successful season capped off by a solid bowl win. This loss was to a team that was 0-2 in conference play.
Every time I think this is as bad as it gets, it gets worse. This team has yet to hold a lead---never mind winning games; I’m talking about having a lead---in SEC play. Right now, and for no good reason, we are the worst team in the Southeastern Conference.
Go ‘Dawgs.