Seems I forgot you existed for a while there.
This is just a little note to signify that I'm now remembering you.
Posts to come soon.
Feb 24, 2011
Dec 14, 2010
Does UGA have to win the East next year to keep Richt?
The AJC's Mark Bradley seems to think so.
I seem to think he's wrong.
There are plenty possibilities for how the 2011 season could end up, but I can think of a few scenarios that wouldn't involve Georgia winning the SEC East, yet Mark Richt still easily staying as head coach. So here's a list of some possible outcomes and my predicted results.
GEORGIA 2011 SEASON
1. Georgia goes 14-0 (8-0 SEC). Obviously, this is what we sort of want here. Mark Richt could buy himself as long as he wants in Athens with a national championship.
2. Georgia loses 1 game (13-1) Of course if UGA wins the SEC, it would buy Richt a lot more time (years). But even if Georgia doesn't win the championship game (but gets there) Richt will no longer be on the "hot seat."
3. Georgia loses 1 game (12-1) This would require Georgia's 1 loss to somehow prevent it from winning the SEC East. Only way this could happen is if Florida, South Carolina, or another East team beats Georgia and goes undefeated, winning the East. This is extremely unlikely, but it could happen, and it's one scenario where Georgia not winning the East will certainly NOT get Richt kicked out of Athens.
4. Georgia loses 2 games (10-2 regular season). Once again, even if Georgia doesn't make it to the SEC Championship but only has 2 losses, Richt should be fine. A 10 win season, no matter how you slice it, can't be bad enough to oust a coach. Any coach.
5. Georgia loses 3 games (9-3 regular season). This is where things start to get tricky. Georgia could win the East with 3 losses, in which case Richt would be fine. But if not, I still think 9-3 should be enough for Richt, but the only way it could be really, really bad is if Georgia has:
A. 3 losses to rivals (Florida, Tech, Tennessee/Auburn) and gets blown out in these games
B. An embarrassing loss to a cupcake (Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State)
If those things happen, his future could be questionable.
6. Georgia loses 4 games (8-4 regular season). This is pretty much the tipping point. With 4 losses, Georgia COULD win the SEC East and go to the championship game, where a win would be a huge success for Richt at UGA (even with 4 losses). However, if Georgia wins the East but loses the SEC with 4 losses, things could still look bad for Richt. 8-4 with no SEC East title probably won't cut it, and it could be the end of the Richt era, UNLESS things go a very specific way:
A. Georgia beats Florida, but loses very close games to good teams in 2011. I think it's possible that this could save Richt for another year, but it's very unlikely.
7. Georgia loses 5+ games (7-5, 6-6, and below). Richt will not be safe with any record with 5+ losses, UNLESS Georgia miraculously wins the SEC with that record (which still is technically possible).
So there you have it. There are plenty of scenarios where UGA could not win the SEC East but still have a good season. I think it would be hard to get rid of Coach Richt if he brings a 3+ win improvement from this year (9 wins or more).
I seem to think he's wrong.
There are plenty possibilities for how the 2011 season could end up, but I can think of a few scenarios that wouldn't involve Georgia winning the SEC East, yet Mark Richt still easily staying as head coach. So here's a list of some possible outcomes and my predicted results.
GEORGIA 2011 SEASON
1. Georgia goes 14-0 (8-0 SEC). Obviously, this is what we sort of want here. Mark Richt could buy himself as long as he wants in Athens with a national championship.
2. Georgia loses 1 game (13-1) Of course if UGA wins the SEC, it would buy Richt a lot more time (years). But even if Georgia doesn't win the championship game (but gets there) Richt will no longer be on the "hot seat."
3. Georgia loses 1 game (12-1) This would require Georgia's 1 loss to somehow prevent it from winning the SEC East. Only way this could happen is if Florida, South Carolina, or another East team beats Georgia and goes undefeated, winning the East. This is extremely unlikely, but it could happen, and it's one scenario where Georgia not winning the East will certainly NOT get Richt kicked out of Athens.
4. Georgia loses 2 games (10-2 regular season). Once again, even if Georgia doesn't make it to the SEC Championship but only has 2 losses, Richt should be fine. A 10 win season, no matter how you slice it, can't be bad enough to oust a coach. Any coach.
5. Georgia loses 3 games (9-3 regular season). This is where things start to get tricky. Georgia could win the East with 3 losses, in which case Richt would be fine. But if not, I still think 9-3 should be enough for Richt, but the only way it could be really, really bad is if Georgia has:
A. 3 losses to rivals (Florida, Tech, Tennessee/Auburn) and gets blown out in these games
B. An embarrassing loss to a cupcake (Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State)
If those things happen, his future could be questionable.
6. Georgia loses 4 games (8-4 regular season). This is pretty much the tipping point. With 4 losses, Georgia COULD win the SEC East and go to the championship game, where a win would be a huge success for Richt at UGA (even with 4 losses). However, if Georgia wins the East but loses the SEC with 4 losses, things could still look bad for Richt. 8-4 with no SEC East title probably won't cut it, and it could be the end of the Richt era, UNLESS things go a very specific way:
A. Georgia beats Florida, but loses very close games to good teams in 2011. I think it's possible that this could save Richt for another year, but it's very unlikely.
7. Georgia loses 5+ games (7-5, 6-6, and below). Richt will not be safe with any record with 5+ losses, UNLESS Georgia miraculously wins the SEC with that record (which still is technically possible).
So there you have it. There are plenty of scenarios where UGA could not win the SEC East but still have a good season. I think it would be hard to get rid of Coach Richt if he brings a 3+ win improvement from this year (9 wins or more).
Nov 26, 2010
Nov 18, 2010
Video Compilation of Auburn's Dirty Plays vs. UGA
More than just Fairley in here. Also, see the comments on the video for some funny reactions from Auburn fans.
Nov 15, 2010
Nick Fairley: A Portrait of Thuggery
Now that I've discussed the game itself, I'm going to get to that other part. The part everyone is talking about. Since it's been talked about so much, I'm just going to post some video links so they're all in one place to see.
Nov 14, 2010
A Quick Opinion on the Auburn Game
I'm not going to get into anything about a grinning Cam Newton looking coked out while blowing kisses to our defense, or Chizik and Trooper Taylor thumping their chests on the sideline and screaming while up 20 points, or of course the blatant assaults by Fairley on Murray (I may get to those later), but I will give a quick opinion on this game.
I love having Mark Richt as a head coach, but I feel the blame needs to be put on him for this one.
Our other losses of the season have been due to a compendium of reasons.
1. Turnovers at the worst possible times (Ealey fumbling at the end zone against South Carolina, Ealey fumbling in the end zone against Miss. State, King fumbling as we were about to kick a game-winning field goal at Colorado, and Murray's fumble/interceptions against Florida).
2. Offensive play calling (mostly apparent early in the season in the South Carolina and Arkansas games, as we refused to open the playbook for Murray, no shotgun passes, only play-action).
3. General poor play (the defense in general, the turnovers by the RBs, Murray's first half against Florida)
But most of those cases I wouldn't necessarily blame on the head coach.
We know that turnovers were a HUGE focus of our team in the off season. The coaches stressed that many times when we did interviews in the spring. I don't see any reason to believe they were lying, and ignored this huge problem. But in football, sometimes you turn the ball over no matter how much you practice against it.
The defensive play may be cause for concern, but the numbers tell a more optimistic story. Georgia has improved in nearly every defensive statistical category from 2009. But there's no doubt that the defense was shredded throughout most of the second half in last night's game.
And offensive play calling, which is the head coach's responsibility, really has seemed to greatly improve over the season to this point. Our offense looked aggressive and dangerous against Auburn, and against every team since the Colorado game. Part of that may be due to AJ Green's return, but what the national media hasn't noticed are the changes in play calling.
But I honestly think last night's loss didn't have much to do with why we lost our other 5 games this season. The offense looked great and we didn't turn the ball over once. The defense looked very poor, but no one expected them to stop Auburn's offense.
This is why I put the blame on Coach Richt for this one.
Running out the Clock at the Half
Everyone in the media was talking about this game being a shoot out, a back and forth, high scoring affair where the team who had the ball the most times would win. And from the beginning, it definitely looked like that would be the case.
Georgia got up to a 21-7 lead, and our offense stalled on the next 2 drives. But it was OK, because Auburn's had been stifled by our defense as well. But when Auburn tied the game at 21, we needed to keep our momentum going and score to keep the lead in the shootout.
But Coach Richt did what, unfortunately we all knew he would do, and with 1 timeout, a minute on the clock, and the ball in our offense's hands, we decided to run out the clock and go to half.
His thinking was obvious: we deferred to the 2nd half, and we didn't want to make any mistakes in our own territory. It's a classic conservative approach, and usually, not a terrible decision.
But this, like I mentioned, was a SHOOTOUT, a game where we knew we needed to keep scoring to win. In games like that, you don't take ANY possession for granted, including 2nd half kickoffs. That's exactly what we did. We ran the clock, went to the half, and Auburn's onside kick to start the 3rd quarter was them placing the nail in the coffin.
They scored on that possession and took away the shootout momentum, forcing us to come from behind.
We took the possession for granted and wasted it away. Essentially, that possession to end the half and the onside kick at the start of the 3rd were like 2 turnovers for Georgia. A loss of 2 possessions in a shootout will pretty much guarantee you a loss.
Kicking a Field Goal
And the second decision that the head coach is responsible for was to go for a field goal late in the game rather than the touchdown.
I can't complain as much about this one, because many more people will tell you to take the points when you can get them. But once again, in a shootout game, you can't settle for field goals, especially when behind. We KNEW that our defense couldn't stop Auburn. Our best chance was to hope for some turnovers or maybe we could execute an onside kick or 2 to get back in it.
With the field goal, we were down 4, and then soon down 11 as Auburn scored a TD. That put us down two touchdowns to catch up.
With a touchdown, we would have been tied, and then down 7 when Auburn scored their TD.
If we had tried for a touchdown and failed, we would have been down 14. Still two touchdowns, so the same as if we had gotten the field goal.
I know it isn't quite that simple, but we were playing at that point to catch up to Auburn and make the shootout even again. Field goals just simply wouldn't get it done, especially when we knew that Auburn would keep scoring.
Kicking that field goal completed the loss, and that was when Georgia did Auburn a favor by driving that nail into the coffin.
I love having Mark Richt as a head coach, but I feel the blame needs to be put on him for this one.
Our other losses of the season have been due to a compendium of reasons.
1. Turnovers at the worst possible times (Ealey fumbling at the end zone against South Carolina, Ealey fumbling in the end zone against Miss. State, King fumbling as we were about to kick a game-winning field goal at Colorado, and Murray's fumble/interceptions against Florida).
2. Offensive play calling (mostly apparent early in the season in the South Carolina and Arkansas games, as we refused to open the playbook for Murray, no shotgun passes, only play-action).
3. General poor play (the defense in general, the turnovers by the RBs, Murray's first half against Florida)
But most of those cases I wouldn't necessarily blame on the head coach.
We know that turnovers were a HUGE focus of our team in the off season. The coaches stressed that many times when we did interviews in the spring. I don't see any reason to believe they were lying, and ignored this huge problem. But in football, sometimes you turn the ball over no matter how much you practice against it.
The defensive play may be cause for concern, but the numbers tell a more optimistic story. Georgia has improved in nearly every defensive statistical category from 2009. But there's no doubt that the defense was shredded throughout most of the second half in last night's game.
And offensive play calling, which is the head coach's responsibility, really has seemed to greatly improve over the season to this point. Our offense looked aggressive and dangerous against Auburn, and against every team since the Colorado game. Part of that may be due to AJ Green's return, but what the national media hasn't noticed are the changes in play calling.
But I honestly think last night's loss didn't have much to do with why we lost our other 5 games this season. The offense looked great and we didn't turn the ball over once. The defense looked very poor, but no one expected them to stop Auburn's offense.
This is why I put the blame on Coach Richt for this one.
Running out the Clock at the Half
Everyone in the media was talking about this game being a shoot out, a back and forth, high scoring affair where the team who had the ball the most times would win. And from the beginning, it definitely looked like that would be the case.
Georgia got up to a 21-7 lead, and our offense stalled on the next 2 drives. But it was OK, because Auburn's had been stifled by our defense as well. But when Auburn tied the game at 21, we needed to keep our momentum going and score to keep the lead in the shootout.
But Coach Richt did what, unfortunately we all knew he would do, and with 1 timeout, a minute on the clock, and the ball in our offense's hands, we decided to run out the clock and go to half.
His thinking was obvious: we deferred to the 2nd half, and we didn't want to make any mistakes in our own territory. It's a classic conservative approach, and usually, not a terrible decision.
But this, like I mentioned, was a SHOOTOUT, a game where we knew we needed to keep scoring to win. In games like that, you don't take ANY possession for granted, including 2nd half kickoffs. That's exactly what we did. We ran the clock, went to the half, and Auburn's onside kick to start the 3rd quarter was them placing the nail in the coffin.
They scored on that possession and took away the shootout momentum, forcing us to come from behind.
We took the possession for granted and wasted it away. Essentially, that possession to end the half and the onside kick at the start of the 3rd were like 2 turnovers for Georgia. A loss of 2 possessions in a shootout will pretty much guarantee you a loss.
Kicking a Field Goal
And the second decision that the head coach is responsible for was to go for a field goal late in the game rather than the touchdown.
I can't complain as much about this one, because many more people will tell you to take the points when you can get them. But once again, in a shootout game, you can't settle for field goals, especially when behind. We KNEW that our defense couldn't stop Auburn. Our best chance was to hope for some turnovers or maybe we could execute an onside kick or 2 to get back in it.
With the field goal, we were down 4, and then soon down 11 as Auburn scored a TD. That put us down two touchdowns to catch up.
With a touchdown, we would have been tied, and then down 7 when Auburn scored their TD.
If we had tried for a touchdown and failed, we would have been down 14. Still two touchdowns, so the same as if we had gotten the field goal.
I know it isn't quite that simple, but we were playing at that point to catch up to Auburn and make the shootout even again. Field goals just simply wouldn't get it done, especially when we knew that Auburn would keep scoring.
Kicking that field goal completed the loss, and that was when Georgia did Auburn a favor by driving that nail into the coffin.
Nov 12, 2010
Auburn sings "Lean on Me" as Program Goes Down in Flames
There is something poetic about the Auburn football team and fans singing "Lean on Me" together as their program could be crumbling to pieces around them.
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