Sunday Morning 'Dawg Bites. Here Comes Mr. Bright Side.

So, it looks like the sun came up this morning, which is nice. If you're like me you have a big day of planning another Outback Bowl trip to watch the Georgia Bulldogs not show up against one of three Big Ten opponents ahead of you. I wouldn't want to keep you from that. So, here's the news sure to make you nauseous all over again this morning in Bulldog Nation:

Good game for Mason turns on one pass | Bulldogs Beat with Seth Emerson | Macon.com
God, what a terrible throw. Hutson Mason had put together a brutally efficient season of football up until throwing a criminally bad interception, one so bad it reportedly made Mike Bobo walk out of the press box screaming profanities. Unfortunately for Mason his legacy won't be the wins over Arkansas and Missouri, it will be leading two of the worst bed-wetting losses in recent Georgia memory in less than a month. Them's the breaks, kid.

Turnovers prove costly in Georgia loss to Georgia Tech - The Red and Black : Sports
This quote from Mark Richt honestly makes me want to punch a wall: "Our guys do normally have good ball security but there’s fumbles, every American fumbles from time to time." It's entirely possible that without those two crippling fumbles that Georgia goes into the locker room at the half with a 21-7 lead and an entirely different ball game. Responding with this:¯\_(ツ)_/¯ was not what I was looking for here.

Notebook: Richt admits kickoff decision was wrong one, defends defense | University of Georgia | Macon.com

Admitting that pooch kick was a bad decision is like admitting Gigli was a terrible movie. I'd be worried about Mark Richt's sanity and/or ego if he'd tried to defend it. Good on him for manning up, but frankly I don't care. I had more than enough this season of coaches valiantly taking the blame for screwing up. I'd really rather they not screw up and lose big rivalry games to putrid football teams. Jim Donnan's winning percentage during his last four seasons in Athens was .729. Mark Richt's during the last four seasons stands at .709.

An exemplary record against Georgia's biggest rivals has been the major thing that separated them in that span. But losing two out of three from among Tech, Auburn, and Florida in any given year bars that season from being successful in my book unless the other 10+ games are extraordinary. That has not been the case in 2014. And if Richt-led teams continue to spit the bit in games that matter in 2015, it may be time to ask what the past 9 conference title-free years of football have been leading up to.

Post Game Quotes - Georgia vs. Georgia Tech - Georgia Official Athletic Site
The money quote in this article is from Tech back Zach Laskey, describing why the Jackets were able to run the ball so effectively: "It was the guys up front. We were able to get good push on them all game. You know, coach said, `They think they're bigger than you, go out there and show them they're not.' I think we established that today." He's not wrong. The Georgia front seven was gashed for a total of 399 rushing yards, the second highest total of the season, the second highest total of the past four games, and for the second time in four games one of the ten highest totals ever given up by a Georgia defense. That's a problem. We're not talking about a young secondary. We're talking about a front 7 that starts 6 seniors and has been gashed not just badly, but historically badly twice in a month.

Jeremy Pruitt's defense has looked great against spread teams like Auburn and Missouri. But it has failed miserably twice in a month against power running attacks, and given future opponents a pretty good blueprint for what might work in 2015. So we have that to look forward to when Alabama comes to town next October.

I need to go pick up some hemlock, but will be back with more confidence-inspiring Bulldog news and analysis throughout the day. Until later....

Go 'Dawgs. Or...something.