Quick thoughts on win over Tech

My first thought is that when Murray throws like that and the line gives him the time they did our offense is really good. Murray added four touchdowns to his Georgia record for touchdowns in a season. The one interception was not his fault as he got hit as he was throwing to cause the lame duck throw. 

My second thought is welcome to the team Malcome. Much more was expected of him out of high school than he has shown this season. He fell behind a walk-on on the depth chart and was an after thought all season long. With injuries and suspensions he finally got some playing time the last two weeks including the start today. He ran hard and was extremely effective on the last drive of the game for Georgia at killing the clock. If he can consistently play the way he did on that drive he can be a big part of the last two games of this season as well as figure into plans for next season.

Give Grantham a raise and an extension. We are going to lose him at some point. A quick extension that makes him the highest paid assistant in the country will hopefully make that point a year or two down the road. 

Extend Richt as well. Back to ten wins and in the SECCG. Recruits pay attention to things like how committed a school is to their coach. The hot seat talk is done. I doubt he will ask for much of a raise but a few extra years on his contract would be nice.

Speaking of coaches, Bobo has taken a lot of heat but he called a heck of a game today. You got the feeling that had Georgia needed more points they easily could have put them up. 

10 of 11 - After the first year Johnson beat Georgia there was a lot of Tech fans who said the series would turn around. Well that was 3 years and three losses ago.  

With a win against Kentucky...

Mark Richt will be on his way to his 4th SECCG in 11 years. That is better than one every 3 years. He also tied for the SEC East lead in 2007, losing the tie breaker to Tennessee. I could be wrong on this but I believe in 2004 and 2008 Georgia finished 2nd in the SEC East. That would be 7 out of 11 years Richt was either first or second in the division. With two more wins this season he will also have 7 ten win seasons in his 11 years at Georgia. The best part of it all is that next year sets up very nicely to be another year Richt can make a run at the SECCG. Not bad if you ask me.

Few last notes on the Florida game

With all the love rightfully going around for Samuel one thing that has been overlooked is the play of Crowell. He had another solid game with 18 carries for 18 yards. His biggest play of the game however was a play he never touched the ball. On Murray's first touchdown pass Crowell lined up on the right side of the formation. He took a look to the right and then left and saw that Glenn had been beat to the outside. Crowell calmly stepped across in front of Murray then laid into the Florida pass rusher making sure the guy never touched Murray. Without that blitz pickup by the freshman we turn the ball over on downs and who knows what happens from there.

Despite winning 6 in a row and having finally knocked off Florida I am still reading grumblings here and there about the schedule it has been done against and the ugly manner in which some of the games have been won. While both of those are things to consider can't people just take a few days to celebrate something that hasn't happened near enough lately. 6 in a row is pretty nice. Sitting tied for the SEC east lead is pretty nice. Beating UF anytime is great. Enjoy it people, at least for a few days.

I also think there is something to be thought about from looking at UF this year. Muschamp may turn things around at UF as this is only his first year but then again they may be headed for a period not seen around Florida since the 80's. There is a small number of people who still want Richt gone. I think at this point, barring losses to GT and AU it is very premature. Richt has got the team light years ahead of last year and with all the players we should have back for next year the future looks even better. The east will again be wide open next year with UF having a long ways to go, USC will most likely not have Jeffery back and Lattimore will be recovering from a major knee injury. UT's roster is still a mess and I don't see Dooley digging them out of it by next year. Replacing Richt when he will have his best team coming back since 2007/2008 (combined 21-5) I think would be a huge mistake as it would take time for the new coaches to get their system in place in time for a run at an SEC title run next year. Richt still is a recruiting machine, most everyone on the two deep is back next year and with the way the defense is playing right now Georgia could be a dark horse pick to win it all next year. Unless something drastic happens between now and the final game of the year I see no reason to even consider changing coaches.

Trying to understand some "fans" logic.

One of my biggest flaws is that I read too many comments sections and threads from places that I know have the most extreme "fans". This is worse for me when its summer and there is little new information about UGA football so I am trying to get anything I can read about to help with my addition. The problem is that there are certain places where my fellow "fans" sometimes don't seem to be fans at all.

I expect a lot out of UGA. Richt spoiled me with 4 straight years of 10 win seasons and added two more in 2007 and 2008. He had 6 ten win seasons in his first 8 years. SEC title game appearances became the norm from 2002-2005, only missing out in 2004. I, like all Georgia fans, enjoyed the ride and believe that this should be the norm. It has not been that way lately and that has led many to start calling for Richt to go. With the quick success that many coaches have had at programs it is fully understandable for fans to want to see results now. I happen to be a huge Richt supporter but even I am at the end of my rope. This year things must get going in the right direction, how many wins that is I don't know.

There is however a group, small but very vocal, of so called fans that seem to WANT Richt to fail this year so that McGarity will be forced to fire him. This simply does not compute to me. What they seem to be pushing is that they will actually be happier with a 5-7 record than a 9-3 record this season because 5-7 would end up with Richt fired and 9-3 Richt might(probably would) keep his job. There are some "fans" that give off the vibe that they would rather go 1-11 more than they would go 11-1 because the 11-1 would mean another year of Richt. As a fan of any team I can't understand that. I would never under any circumstances be happy with a Georgia loss. Whatever happens next year or the year after that I don't know but I do know that each and every time that my beloved Dawgs step onto the field I will be cheering for them as though it were the national title game. It is in my blood, it is how I am wired and that will not change.

GATA Dawgs!

In Richt's defense

I have long been a supporter of Mark Richt and when some fans started calling for him to lose his job I defended him based on his history. After this past season my defense of him lessoned and I do not think he will survive another season anywhere close to this past season. However in the light of what is going around in the NCAA I think that more than ever Richt's clean reputation should be taken into consideration. Under Richt Georgia has several secondary (minor) infractions. The closest thing to a major infraction has been AJ Green's trouble last year and that had nothing to do with the coaching staff. Richt has consistantly provided harsher penalties (game suspensions) for similiar offenses to what takes place at other programs. I am not saying that Richt should be kept around just because he runs a clean program. I am saying that when looking at the questions surrounding Auburn, LSU, Ohio State, Miss State and recent trouble at Southern Cal, that Richt's overall clean record should be a huge positive in his favor. I am not blind to think that nothing is going on at Georgia and that it is not possible that $100 hand shakes do not take place, but I feel comfortable in believing that Richt does not create an athmosphere that encourages it. He is a coach that not only can we be proud of the football team but that makes us proud to have him associated with the university.

Life as a coach - Mark Fox

Having been a coach (soccer) since I was 14 I am sometimes harder on coaches than others and other times I am much easier on them. I tend to look at how a team plays and the big picture more so than an individual play, or call. One of the biggest times I can remember a decision of mine backfiring on me was when I was coaching at a small school in Valdosta, GA. We had just qualified for the state semi-finals and had our last day that we could really go hard and I had a choice to make. We could do some running and along with some light work or we could have a very tough practice to try to prepare us for the game. I chose to go with a tough practice knowing I was risking injury but feeling like we needed to challenge ourselves as our run through the playoffs had been surprisingly easy up to that point, winning games by an average of 6 goals. My choice worked out great until about 5 minutes before the end of practice when our top scorer got his ankle rolled challenging for a ball. He was still able to play the game a few days later but was not close to being 100%. The team was never itself in the whole game and we lost the game. I will never know if the teams spirit was down at its best player being injured or not.
Mark Fox is taking a lot of heat for calling a time out in yesterday's game against Alabama when the timeout he called cost UGA the win. If the shot had ended up an air ball then the timeout would have been great, instead it ended up made and the timeout took away what would have been the game winner.
When Richt was guiding his team to a last minute comeback against UT in his first season in Athens his calm demeanor was considered a huge asset as a head coach. When he was leading UGA to 2 SEC titles in 4 years his steady hand was seen as a big reason why. The bad things that happened never got to him and so his teams didn't panic. Now that he had his first losing season in ten years that same calm steady demeanor is considered by many to be a glaring weakness because he shows no fire.
I say all this just to make a simple point that many know but that our emotions often let us forget, the difference between winning and losing is often so slim that 1 play in 100 will decide the game. Sometimes the game is decided by a ref spotting a ball to where his left foot is when it should be spotted to where his right foot is. Coaches and players will, and should, be judged on wins and losses but often we as fans over react to one moment when we should take time to look at the big picture and judge them on that. As for me, I am judging Fox on where the team is now, versus where they were when he took over. Make the NCAA tourny or settle for the NIT, I know that the basketball team is in much better hands under Fox than they have been at anytime since Tubby Smith left.