SC Game thoughts...

I have some really rotten stats to share here regarding last season and the begining of this one:

1. We have now lost 5 SEC East games in a row since last season. That's right, count em, 5 in a row since last year. UT, UF, KY, Vandy, and now SC. This is something that has never happened in the Richt era, and it doesn't bode well for the rest of the season.

2. The drops just keep on coming. After last year's streak of wins at the end of the season and the win over OSU this year, I thought this problem was over. The WR play during those wins was outstanding. However, I saw no less than 5 drops last week, and 2 of them would have went for TDs. As dapolla pointed out, Stafford's head wasnt in the game, and a good many of his passes were not that good. This is either a coaching problem, folks, or the people we get at the pass catching positions just aren't as good as advertised.

3. Coaching flubs. Well, Bobo may be calling the plays, but that offense looked awfully Richt-like on Saturday. 3 trips inside the 30 in the second half and only 3 FGs to show for it? Didn't look like much of a high-octane offense against an SEC team to me. Moreno was allowed to carry the ball, run up and down the field until we got inside the 30, then we were treated to 3 incompletes from Stafford, and a FG. And speaking of that, why were we giving up on the running game inside the 30 every time we got down there? Moreno was having a great game until we got in the red zone. After that, it was 1,2,3, kick, like a ballet routine. Again, bad play-calling. And btw, I know I'm not the coach, probably can't do better, either, but I do have eyes, and can see that there were some bad plays called inside the 30. Especially since Stafford wasn't having a good game. How DO you get such great position on returns and NOT score???? How do you not give Cox a chance? As dapolla sed, Remember Colorado??

4. We came in overconfident. Our win over OSU, coupled with SC's performance against La La made us think we would romp all over SC. We didn't, and that is again, a coaching problem. We didn't look prepared to counter the speed SC has on both sides of the ball.

5. We look like what we are....a young team on both sides of the ball with a lot of raw talent. hopefully, we can do what we have to before we play Bama, but there are a lot of unknowns to deal with. The brightest part of the game was Moreno in the back field, and Henderson returning kicks. T. Brown didn't do much of anything back there as well.

1) do you really believe that Spurrier spent the entire year preparing for Georgia? To believe this would think mighty highly of ourselves.

Actually in one of Steve Spurrier's press conferences he stated that he spends the entire off season preparing for his first 2 opponents, and since the first game was against Lafayette, I doubt that he spent much time on them. So yes Carolina spent the entire off season preparing for Georgia.....at least according to the Ole Ball Coach.

For the record: I live in Florence, SC and every word out of SOS's mouth is completely covered in the papers here.

Yeah UnderDog37, I especially agree with the point on Moreno. He was running chunks of yardage every carry on that one drive particularly. Then he runs one for 10 yards and a 1st down deep in their territory and we COMPLETELY abandon the run. We were craming it down their throats on that drive, AND Moreno REALLY wanted the ball, you could see it. But no, we throw 3 incomplete passes etc etc.

Another thing I was thinking. Is it just me or does this happen 1 or maybe 2 times EVERY year. We come out flat, uninspired, unfocused and lose. EVERY year it seems we have, I know, at least one game like that and maybe two. I love CMR and what he's done for UGA but you never saw a Dooley's team ever take anyone lightly or come out flat and not prepared, that I can remember. Geez, 1st SEC game? Can't be prepared and get up for that !!!!.........Man!!

We were flat, and we looked like we were not prepared. 5 losses in a row against the SEC East. This is a really telling statistic of our team over last year and the beginning of this one. This is unacceptable.

UnderDog37 wrote:

1. We have now lost 5 SEC East games in a row since last season. That's right, count em, 5 in a row since last year. UT, UF, KY, Vandy, and now SC. This is something that has never happened in the Richt era, and it doesn't bode well for the rest of the season.

I really didn't realize that, but we haven't beaten an SEC East team since SCarolina last year. As soon as I read that, UnderDog, I got physically sick, I mean actually nauseous.

Here are some more stats which may provide hope, or they may make you sick. Take your pick:

Richt is one of three Georgia coaches to win two SEC Championships early in his Georgia career. Wally Butts started coaching for us in 1939 and won the SEC in '42, '46 and '48. Vince Dooley started in 1964 and won in '66 and '68. CMR started in 2001 and won in '02 and '05, with a Divisional win in '03.

So here's the stats. After '48, Butts didn't win again until 1959. After '68, Dooley didn't win again until '76. So if you pay attention to patterns and believe they mean something, we shouldn't expect another SEC flag to fly again until around 2013, given Richt's success early.

Also, all three have had to coach in the SEC while other GREAT coaches coached GREAT teams. Butts had to contend with Bobby Dodd at Tech (who was in the SEC at the time) and Neyland at Tennessee; Dooley of course had to contend with Bear Bryant over at 'Bama. Richt is coaching against four NATIONAL CHAMPION coaches in Fullmer, Spurrier, Saban and Meyer.

The question is, do we defy history, or do we repeat it?

Well, I think it's gonna be a tall order to win the division this year. With the loss to SC, they now have the tie-breaker against us head to head. Even if both teams run the table in the East. SC goes to ATL because of that rule. Having sed that, I dont think SC will run the table. However, if we don't do something in a hurry to right the ship, we aren't gonna be running the table, either. It may have just been a bad game, or it may be just that we played a team that is actually better than advertised by the so-called experts. I think it was just the maturity of an SC team that was loaded with juniors, seniors, and some 5th year guys as well. That and the fact that the receivers can't catch.....again. Chandler was the best, although MoMass made the best catch of the game. And speaking of MoMass, why are we not going to him more? We should have won that one. SC gave us the chance to win time after time, but we settled for FGs, which has been a major problem for 2-3 years now. I hope the \"new\" has worn off Bobo now, and that he can call plays better based on this experience.