The BAD Losses as they relate to Auburn Saturday

I feel for Aaron Murray so much, and I encourage you to tweet him or send him a letter this week.  I tried to think of worse (or as bad) losses I experienced in person.

1985 Shula driving Bama to beat us
1986 Treadwell kicking Clemson to victory in Athens
1987 Treadwell part two in Clemson, after being up by 4 late and giving up a safety to cut it to 2
1992 Tennessee.  We fumbled away the first Eastern division
1993 Cocks.  Brandon Bennett over the top as time expired.
1995 Tennessee.  It was a gut-wrenching.  We had them.
1995 Peach Bowl.  That.  Just.  Happened.
1998 Tech.  Joe Hamilton fumbled.  I swear.
1999 Tech.  Boy, when you think about it.  That was bad.
2000 Auburn.  Cory Phillips liked to have won it.
2001 Auburn.  Young Richt mistake
2001 BC in Music City
2002 Florida - Terrance
2003 LSU - That was a miracle, too
2003 Florida - freshman Leak drives them down the field
2004 Tennessee - We couldn't get out of our way and had a shot at the end
2005 Florida - With Joe T, we still had the ball with a shot
2005 Auburn - Pretty painful
2006 Vandy - I still see Andy Bailey missing FGs
2006 Florida - We lost 21-14 to the national champs.  But for Quentin Moses' brush of a facemask, we were about to give the ball back to that gunslinger

2007 South Carolina - GIVE IT TO KNOWSHON!
2008 Tech - Ugh
2009 LSU - Thanks Mark Curles
2009 Kentucky - Oh Joe
2010 Arkansas - Could have been Murray's coming out party
2010 Colorado - I can't believe we lost.  Bennett was about to win it.
2010 Florida - Maybe the most painful of the Florida losses I've seen.  Nah, that was 2002.
2011 South Carolina - Couldn't get out of our own way.
2012 Outback Bowl, MSU - We couldn't stop people back then either, and that was the best D we had under Grantham.
2012 Bama - The worst of all.
2013 Vandy - It still hurts.
2013 Auburn - We were on the wrong end of a miracle.

I've seen some bad ones.  Hope you enjoyed that walk down bad-memory lane.  I think the Counselor is right.  In 10 years we won't remember it like Bama.  We had mostly nothing on the line and lost our season in Nashville, despite our glimmer of division hopes.  The schedule, injuries and a bad, bad D caught up to us.  2 kids tried to make a play at the end and didn't.  Maybe they should be coached to knock it down.  Maybe they should have just caught it.  For whatever reason, the football stars did not aligh for us, starting with Todd Gurley's beautiful 75 yard toss sweep in which we pulled a quad in Clemson, SC.  It was downhill from there.

I hope we can pull it together and play our guts out for Murray, Artie and Garrison these next 3 games.  I can't believe the LSU and Auburn games were in the same season and how I've felt at the end of each of those.  Sometimes you just wonder about life, you know.  It's hard to think about a kid like Murray and the luck he's had, starting with AJ's suspension, through the sure TD drops against LSU in 2011, to Conley's catch vs. Bama, to our injuries and incredibly bad D this year.  To luck like the junk that happened tonight.  Also hard to believe we've been on the losing end of all those games up there, but we've had a bunch of victories.  I will say that Auburn went 53 years between National Titles, so we might have to wait awhile.  It just seems like Lindsey Scott used up all our luck.  That's what's frustrating, and I don't have an answer.  I'm certain there are other teams that feel this way.  We're really blessed to have Richt and to be the kind of program we are.  I mean that.  We've won the east the last 2 years.  We go to a bowl every year.  In our darkest days, we haven't had seasons like Florida this year, Auburn last year, or Bama from about 2003-2006.  We've had some great kids:  Greenie, Shock, Pollack, MoMass, Rennie, AJ, Boykin, Murray and Gurley to name a few.  Man, they've gotten some bad breaks.  That's the part that's a little depressing.  A competent DC will fix a lot, but we just need some breaks.  Would love to seek Murray get some here to close it out.  Go 8-4, get a better bowl than we deserve and play awesome in his last hurrah.  The SEC bowls are going to be crazy.  And for my money…

-I hope Bama crushes Auburn (and they will -- that offense is mickey mouse, we just suck at D)
-I think I hope Clemson beats the snot out of the Cocks.  I'm subject to change this opinion with SEC homer-ism taking over. 

-I hope South Carolina upsets Bama.  They're winning the East.  Might send Spurdog packing.  That'd be something, wouldn't it?  He'd stick it to the Ol' Gators, too, putting Urban vs. FSU in the BCSCG.

-Hope John Football wins out to go 10-2, and the Fiesta or Orange takes A&M over Bama, sending Bama to Orlando
-I hope we can hold Tech under 50

In a moment of levity, just think what our record would be if Marshall Morgan hadn't turned out to be so doggone clutch...

LUCK

What leaves me saddest is luck.  It seems like we're really unlucky.  Do you make your own luck?  I don't know.  I don't know how you 'make' happen to you what happened on that play Saturday?  I don't know how we 'lucked' into 2 of the most egregious penalties of the last 10 years.

• AJ's celebration penalty single-handedly changed the way the flag was thrown.  You almose never see it flagged anymore.  Almost never.  The ensuing outrage changed the game, but we 'lucked' into being the team it was called against, and it may have cost Joe Cox his moment.  And who knows what happens with that season?
• Ramik's targeting penalty obviously changed the way it's been called in the SEC.  Essentially, they've almost decided to not call it anymore.  We 'lucked' into it being the most egregious call of the season.  It essentially cost us the game in Nashville.  That was on the possession Swann fumbled.  We had stopped the bleeding and made the stop.

Ohio St. won multiple miracle games in 2002, and Mark Richt had no luck.  We don't seem to get the onside kick when we need it (and that's almost all luck).  In 2007, South Carolina, UK and Vandy should have all beaten Tennessee.  They didn't.  No luck.  Still, the improbably happened, with 1 & 2 losing.  We were number 4…but ended up #5 the next day.  No luck.  In 2004, Reggie Brown's toe was out of bounds by 2 inches vs. UT.  Missed FG followed.  No luck.  In 2012, it seemed it was changing.  Oregon's kicker plunked one off the upright.  Aaron Murray stormed us down the field in the dome.  Moseley's tip.  Conley's catch.  No luck.  Have you ever thought about what happens if Conley keeps his feet?  He might score, or he's out at the 1 with 2 seconds left, after which we hand it to #3.  But, no luck.  2013 injuries.  No luck.  A bobbled snap in Clemson.  Bad luck (it was extra point distance).  Auburn's miracle.

That's my sadness for us.  We've got issues to fix.  We need a new DC.  We need to continue to recruit more depth so injuries take less of a toll.  But, Good Lord, it seems we have to earn everything.  I fully expect us to win the SEC at 12-1 in the new playoff format one year and Ohio St, USC, Texas, and FSU will all be undefeated that year.  I don't know the answer.  I don't think praying helps because I'm not sure God cares about who wins games.

We do things right.  We don't oversign and cut kids, a practice I think is abhorent.  We have the strictest drug policies in the country, which I think is noble.  We kick kids off our team when they break the rules, which I think is the right thing to do.  But these things don't equate to luck.

Interestingly, I thought about Corch today.  Foley runs UF much like we run UGA.  They don't oversign.  They kick kids off when they deviate, though their leash is probably a little longer.  Corch left after the 2010 season.  I think he's an arrogant prick.  But, you wonder what it did to him in 2010 watching Cam light up scoreboards while his team languished without Tebow, knowing that if he'd had his way, he'd have kept that kid and won another title in Gainesville.  Meyer cares about winning more than Richt, and you wonder how much of a factor that played.  Like UGA, UF is cheap.  They hired the cheapest coach they could find and got Muschamp, bottom line. 

Mark Richt's a fine man.  I just wish he had a little more luck and fate smiled on him a little more.  Good guys don't always win.  We've got the best man of them all, and it seems like the world (and Penn Wagers) is against him.  That's all hard to figure.  Hard to watch other teams win with kids you kicked off, knowing that we'd never sign a kid that was kicked out of LSU, Miss St, Auburn or Florida or Bama.  We just wouldn't do it. 

In the end, we'll remember this game like Tech 1999.  It was a blown season due to some crazy injuries and circumstances.  We had a brutal schedule that caught up with a young defense.  We lost on a miracle like the 1999 tech game.  One was a tipped pass, one was a referee error.  It probably didn't cost us a championship.  But it cost us some pride and sending Murray out on an awesome note.  And that makes me sad.  Sad for Aaron.  Sad for Richt, who just can't seem to buy a break in a business where it seems like the jerks get all the breaks.

Thoughts on LSU, Murray and Respect

I just watched the replay on ESPNU.  Wow.  I was shaking watching the replay and teared up at the end.  Richt w/ Tracy Wolfson was awesome -- "Nobody does it better than Georgia."  I think it was all the emotion of everything, the crap he and Murray have put up with, the stadium atmosphere and the whole deal.  I've said it before, but the deal with Florida means that we just don't have many of those moments in Sanford.  Plus, the luck's just not been good when you think about it the great moments from other big games:

• Herschel's debut '80
• Sugar falling from sky '82
• The lay-down game in Auburn in '92
• Kanon's knuckleball at Tech in '95
• 4 Ots in Auburn '96
• Bobo to Allen at Tech in '97
• Quincy in Baton Rouge in '98
• Hobnail boot in '01
• Man Enough in Tuscaloosa in '02
• Michael Johnson knocks the lid off on the Plains in '02
• DJ lights it up in Dome in '05
• Stafford grows up to beat #6 Auburn in '06
• 1 and done, baby in T-town in '07

Bottom line is that you have to get lucky to actually play a top-10 team at home, especially when one of the teams on your schedule that is a perenial top-10 team never plays at your home stadium.  That's a lot of moments (outside of Jax) that have happened at places outside Clarke County.  It was fun to be there.  I was at Butler's kick game in '84, and it was the only one I could compare it to.  We stayed in the stadium for 30 minutes that day, too.  Clemson was good, but that game didn't mean as much for us.  We weren't very good that year.  Same goes for some miracles we've had:  Colorado '06, Arizona St. '09, Tech '06.  Those were some great games, but between 2 okay teams.  Two elite teams out there on Saturday, and we we won it.  I think we're the only team in America LSU doesn't beat on Saturday. 

• I'm less worried about the defense after hearing JHC comments regarding defensive calls and how the defense couldn't hear them because of the noise.  #8 was on fire.  So was #11, and they were torching the defenses.    Happens when those NFL guys play Peyton Manning all the time.  We gotta get better.  I worry about schemes, but it was clear on the last drive that we learned our lesson on the 3 man rush.  We rushed 4 and 5 the entire last drive.  I predict we'll look better but that will be because we're playing much worse teams, but it'll give us time to improve.  I'm off the Grantham bus, but I have no idea the answer.  I don't think we should fire him, I just can't defend him much until we improve.  But, unlike Willie, we seem to get the stop we HAVE to get.  No one else is stopping anyone else in the conference.
• BTW, just listening to one show today and the reality set in.  No matter what, we're going to to play McCarron, Mettenberger or Manziel in the Dome, so get ready for the fireworks.
• I heart #84
• Aaron was better on TV.  Good Lord, he was clutch in that second half. 
• I can't believe how good JSW and Conley have gotten.
• All of a sudden, we get respect.  I was thinking, had Mettenberger engineered a drive and scored with :06 left, would that mean Murray had not played a marvelous game?  When are we going to hear that Mettenberger can't win the big game?  Florida, Bama & Clemson last year?  UGA this year?  When's he going to beat a top-10 team?  Just sayin'.  Let's hear it both ways, fellas.  It's all stupid.  Mettenberger played great.  #11 made one more play.  I do think Zach got tight on that last drive. 
• I think, slowly, that Sanford is becoming a tough place to play.
• You do wonder if it's close if #3 is healthy.  I promise you that I said under my breath during that run, "Get out of bounds, Todd.  Don't take that hit." 

The lull is over.  We had a dip, and amazingly, he pulled us out of it.  Much of the credit for that goes to Aaron Murray.  He's the player we built our resurgence around, and he's done nothing but be a great face for the program.  Because of the knuckleheads we've had at RB, we've had to build the offense around him since his first game as a freshman.  The prolific offense we've enjoyed the last 2 years shows how good he can be with a running game.  And Richt is a miracle worker.  He's reinvented himself, which is hard to do.  He does it the right way, which is why it feels so good to beat Miles, who wins at any cost.  We've got a long season left, and need to keep the foot on the gas, but we're going to be good for a while.  Really good.

Next year…we're going to be loooooooaaaaaaded.

Go, Go, Go Gurley, Go!

Well.....Here We Are

Well Boys, it's hard to believe we're where we are.  I texted Teddy last night this…boy, doesn't that cocktail party get sweeter and sweeter.  I can think of few things greater in football world than waking up on Jan. 8 with UGA #1 at 13-1 and National Champs and Floriday at 12-1 and #2…and there's not a thing they can do about it.  They'll be champions of the Sugar Bowl (maybe over Kent St!!!!!!!), and that's about it.  I suppose they'll get Oregon because they get the first 2 picks, but wouldn't Gators vs. Flashes be a beauty.  BTW, the CFA bowl is a happy group after Saturday.  They stand to get something like Clemson vs. TAMU or LSU.  Either way, it will be 2 10-2 teams. 

As for Saturday….

• I was thinking this morning about Mark Richt.  I wonder if this will show through the broadcast, but you've got to think Danielson and Verne are pulling for Richt.  Moreover, I'd think nearly everyone in the conference is.  He's a good man.  I hope it's his time.  From an SEC perspective, I think ND has a better chance of beating Bama than us.  I think we're too fast and explosive on offense.  #26 and #12 would look like lightning bolts against that ND secondary.
• If we pull it off, we'll prove something pretty monumental.  They say it can't happen after 12 years.  "THEY" are stupid.  We've got a great coach who has completely re-made himself and the program.  He's been willing to change everything but the pieces he knew were right (i.e. offense).  Now, we look pretty good.  I just keep thinking about poor Matt Stafford.  We owe that kid a defense.
• I think we're better, plain and simple.  I think we're playing at a higher level right now.  I watched a good bit of that LSU/Bama game.  LSU beat them every which way but sideways and I'm not convinced LSU is a great team.  Right now, I think the Gators and Dawgs are the best 2 teams in the land.  Have I mentioned who won that head to head match-up?
• I'm most interested to see what they try on offense.  Can they road grade us with that great line they've got?  I don't know.  I'd be shocked if they could pound us all game.  I think that's the test.  I think we'll get our points on offense, but can we stop their physicality?  And, then, can we get to McCarron and get him a little rattled.  #29 certainly gets me rattled, and I'll bet he's ecstatic to be playing against a pro-style attack again.
• Of course, I'm interested to see if we can run the ball against them.  I think Murray's going to have get something with his legs, maybe even a designed run or two.  We ran the ball enough against Florida, and I think their D is better.  If we can run it, we're going to win this thing.  It's hard to believe we managed to dominate that first half last year with Crowell gimped up and Carlton Thomas in the line-up.  That was literally our plan:  Gimpy IC and Carlton, with a little Boo mixed in.  And we should have been up on them 21-0. 

Just some random thoughts: 

• You know why our FG kicking hasn't been that big of a deal this year?  We score TDs. 
• I can't believe all those guys were suspended 4 games and still came back.  Makes me think they want to make this special.  Saturday at 8 p.m. could be pretty special.
• You know, in a 4-team playoff, the Cocktail party means very little other than winning the SEC.  Sad face.  I think a 4-team is right, but we'll lose a little charm.  What we gain is that conferences that we can't tell if they're equal or not get a chance to square off against one another.  I still think K-state is a pretty good team.
• We're the home team Saturday.  We've never worn white in the Dome.  Black jerseys would be…ballsy.  You can bet your bottom dollar we'll be in red, as well we should be.
• The last 2 times that the SECCG has been a 'semi-final', the lower ranked team won.  Bama was #1 in 2008, Florida was #1 in 2009. 
• Geno Atkins is tearing up the NFL, if you care, as is Dannell Ellerbe.
• I don't want to hear about schedules.  We were loaded for bear in 2008 and riding high.  We got Bama and LSU out of the West along with Auburn and stupidly had a cross country trip to Tempe the week before the Bama game.  It was ridiculous. 

This season sure has been fun.  It's hard to believe we're less than 2 years removed from that long ride back from Memphis with my boys sleeping in the back of my truck.  I was sad, but hopeful.  After Boise, I was down and out.  Somehow, though, we started figuring out how to win games.  In Nashville in 2011, we won a game we'd found a way to lose in 2009 and 2010.  In Jax, we found a way to win a game we always lose down there.  Turnovers and down early 17-3, we stormed back and won the dang thing, winning the East and setting the stage for this year.  Enter Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall.  It's a really fun team to cheer for and a group of guys that seem to really love each other.  I hope they get what they deserve Saturday night.  They've fought hard for the red and black.

Go Dawgs!
Beat Bama!

Aaron Murray

Quick Tuesday night thoughts after devotion (though not related to football, I don't think).  The devotion was about the blood of Christ, and it'll take blood, sweat and tears on Saturday, so there you go.

• Took a quick gander at the All-ACC teams.  Clemson has zero on 1st Team Defense and 1 on 2nd Team Defense.  Hopkins, Boyd and Ellington, 2 Linemen and the TE Ford all made All-ACC first team.  That's right, they had 6 First Team All-ACC offensive players and zero on defense.  I don't know why the coaches in that league can't figure it out. 
• Don't know if you saw Richt's comments about Hutson.  It tells me his jaw is set, and I like Richt when his jaw is set.  He said Hutson would play if Murray went down and out for the game -- too much at stake.  We're in it to win it, boys.  Just 2 short years ago we had Logan Gray returning punts.

As I've been for his career, I'm "all in" on the Murray bandwagon this week.  I think we win because of Murray.  After he wins the next 2, will he be considered the greatest QB in UGA history?  None of that matters, really.  Win the next 2 and his legacy will be set.  I think the kid is just ready. I think he's tired of hearing all the big-game and 'vs. elite defense' crap.  I think he's a DGD of epic proportions and got his brains beat in his freshman year.  I think the lights were a little bright in the dome last year for him.   But, I also think after the 2nd series on Saturday he's going to think "These guys look wide open compared to the Florida game."  That Florida defense is the best in the land for my money, and we beat them.  Murray made the plays on the last drive he had to after a shaky start.  I think he'll shine on Saturday.

You better be careful...

You know, watching all those games Saturday made me think how careful we need to be with college football.  I was glued to the TV and flipping channels between Fox, CBS, and ABC to watch teams in front of us in the polls.  I'd watch anyway, but it won't matter as much in 2 years when we have the 4 team playoff.  In 2 years, by now teams wil simply be jockeying for position.  K-State is a virtual lock for the Big 12 title and in the mix with 4 teams, even at 11-1.  They don't even think about playing a banged up Klein this week.  Oregon needs only to beat Oregon St. and then win the Pac 12 title.  The games against Cal and Stanford aren't worth kids getting injured.  Georgia and Bama are just counting down to playing in the Dome.  Even a loss to A & M or a colossal upset to Auburn won't ruin Bama's chances.  Win in Atlanta with 1 or 0 losses, and they're in.  Heck, even if we lost to Tech and beat 12-0 Bama, we're probably in.  Then, we're all simply watching Notre Dame, because if they lose, an SEC team or FSU is probably in the mix.  Florida St. and Florida are probably playing for a spot in the top 4 then.  What if FSU beats Florida but loses a crazy game in the ACCCG…but Clemson goes 11-1?  Does Clemson get to go even though they didn't win their division.  Does South Carolina go in that scenario if they beat Clemson, even though they finished THIRD in their division, behind 7-1 UGA and Florida? 

I've been a propoent of the 4 teams because I think scheduling is simply too varied these days.  The thought that we could go 12-1 with wins over the #2 and #1 BCS teams, win the toughest conference in the land that currently has 5 of the top 8 BCS teams in the nation while Notre Dame's best win will end up being over Oklahoma and Oregon's best will will be over Oregon St.  Well, it makes you think that maybe 4 is the way to go.

However, watching AJ McCarron weep on the sidelines made me think we need to watchout.  He understood the significance.  Lose, and those guys aren't going to Atlanta or Miami this year.  Not again.  And all the hard work and dominating wins are for nought.  But in a 4 team playoff in most years, 11-1 Bama who didn't win their division, but lost a tough night game in Tiger Stadium and dominated everyone else…they probably get in.  And I don't know that THAT'S good for college football.  What is good for college football is watching that kid hug his parents because he had the sele-awareness to know that he had just had is Belue to Scott moment when all the chips were on the table.  Had Bama lost that game, we would have stayed at 6 and Bama would have dropped to 5, with LSU at 4.  They would have only needed 1 team to lose to get back in the top 4.

That's why this SEC guy was on the Jim Delaney bandwagon of having only Conference champions in the playoffs.  However, we will have a committee select the teams.  My hope is that they give preference to conference champions and only choose teams that didn't win their division or conference as a last resort.  But sometimes even the last resort won't be a good resort.

The dark years are over

You know, there's been constant complaining about how Richt's first half was far superior to his 2nd half and how things have really fallen off since then.  Now, I saw every game of the dismal '09 and '10 campaigns live and in color.  However, I was just thinking about the last 6 years compared to the first six years (obviously this one isn't over yet).

Vs. Auburn - first 6 (3-3) - last 6 (4-1…with 5-1 looming)
Vs. Florida - first 6 (1-5) - last 6 (3-3)
Vs. Tennessee - first 6 (4-2) - last 6 (4-2)
Vs. Tech - (6-0) - last 6 (4-1…with 5-1 looming)

No doubt, this is why Richt has received the support from the administration through some of those lean years.  His record vs. our rivals is simply stellar.  The difference is that in the last 6 years we've lost more games like Miss. St, UK, and Colorado.  We simply didn't lose those games the first year.  And, of course the biggest difference is…

Vs. South Carolina - first 6 (5-1) - last 6 (2-4)

And, against the heavy-weights?

Vs. LSU - first 6 (2-2) - last 6 (1-2)
Vs. Bama - first 6 (2-0) - last 6 (1-1)

That's a wash.  I think the dark days are over.  It's hard to keep up to this level because everyone will be chasing us, but I think we've climbed out of the doldrums of whatever 2009 and 2010 were.  And we managed to beat our rivals a lot in the process.  And if we can revert back to the early days of not losing those mind-boggling games, then we'll be in a pretty good spot.  It was just interesting to think about those numbers.