Mired in Mediocrity

Thanks for the repost, NC_Dawg. I'll add one thing to that list which I've said again and again: Mark Richt is also the ONLY Georgia coach in HISTORY to win TWO Sugar Bowls.

The ONLY ONE. Before this BCS hype-fest crap-o-rama, the Sugar Bowl was the Holy Grail for all SEC teams. Vince Dooley was 1-3 in the Sugar Bowl, losing TWO national titles in that game (to Pitt in the '77 edition and to Penn State in the '83 game). Wally Butts also won it once, the only time Georgia was invited during his tenure. Mark Richt is 2-1, with victories over his former school in Florida State (many say this game was the beginning of FSU's fall from grace, and I don't disagree), and over the ONLY REMAINING UNDEFEATED TEAM IN THE NATION in Hawai'i.

Just something to ponder.

Times chage the measuring stick has moved, SEC football has grown stronger yet we are supposed to be satisfied with 2 loss seasons?

I hate that it has come to this but with this talent level they expect nothing less than a NC. At the least he can get rid of average coaches. Yes ok state only had 24 pts but they put up almost 400 yards against us, what do you think LSU, UF, hell even UT will do? I dread all those games this year with our average D and terrible offense.

We dropped to 21st in both the AP and the Coaches polls OK st jumped to 5th.

Great posts NC_Dawg and dapolla.

I love CMR and always will, great man, great coach. Believe the big majority of the forum does as well.

DO believe though that he may need to be a little tougher CEO. Demanding \"excellence\" from his coordinators, assistant coaches and players should be expected and is a must (imo). I will always be a huge supporter of CMR but sometimes wish he would be a little tougher even though it may require equally tough \"decision making\" for the good of the program.

ugaa wrote:

Times chage the measuring stick has moved, SEC football has grown stronger yet we are supposed to be satisfied with 2 loss seasons?

I hate that it has come to this but with this talent level they expect nothing less than a NC. At the least he can get rid of average coaches. Yes ok state only had 24 pts but they put up almost 400 yards against us, what do you think LSU, UF, hell even UT will do? I dread all those games this year with our average D and terrible offense.

ugaa, this is a ridiculous, overreactive post. If SEC football is so strong, we SHOULD EXPECT two-loss seasons. The SEC proved that you can lose two conference games and still win a national title. That's how strong the conference is.

As much as I hate the loss, this was ONE game. We had a bad day. If we have a terrible year, there WILL be changes made, but think about it: how much can we get accomplished by firing Martinez or Bobo or Garner or Ball or anyone right now and hiring someone new? Who do you get to replace those guys? How do they win the locker room in a week?

Since 1979, a team has made it out of the SEC undefeated exactly eight times.

1980: Georgia goes undefeated and wins the national title
1981: Georgia goes undefeated in conference but loses the Sugar Bowl to Pitt and loses a regular season game to eventual national champion Clemson
1982: Georgia goes undefeated in the regular season but loses in the Sugar Bowl to Penn State
1992: Alabama goes undefeated and wins the national title
1995: Florida goes undefeated in conference, losing the national title game to Nebraska
1996: Florida goes undefeated in conference, only losing its regular-season matchup with Florida State, and wins the national title by beating FSU again.
1998: Tennessee goes undefeated and wins the national title.
2004: Auburn goes undefeated

And that's it. Seriously. That's ALL. That's thirty years. Eight teams who did not lose an SEC game. Of those teams, only 1980 Georgia, 1992 Alabama, 1998 Tennessee and 2004 Auburn went undefeated all the way through their season. It is DAMN difficult. So yes, I'm very happy with 2-loss seasons. The only thing that made last year a disappointment to me, given all the injuries coupled with how damn good Alabama and Florida were, was the loss to Tech. Period. End. Of. Discussion.

I'm forgetting 1993 Auburn, aren't I? Damn. Well, they were on probation, so I guess it doesn't count...