It’s the first Friday in December, the day before the SEC Championship game. A game in which, not too long ago, most of us in DawgNation expected to watch our beloved Bulldogs take on Nick Saban and his mighty Crimson Tide. But, no. That’s not happening tomorrow. Not even close.
Instead, those interlopers from the Midwest are here in Atlanta to play. And, just like Mark Richt’s team, DawgNation will be watching the game from the couch. Or, trying to pretend altogether that the game isn’t happening. It’s like a bad dream. If we ignore it, it will go away.
This stinging gridiron rebuke would be easier to take if the Georgia Bulldogs had gone down in defeat by spilling their guts out on the field to top-ranked teams. A loss to the Crimson Tide is respectable. A loss to this bunch of Florida Gators is not.
But, that’s not how it went down.
Two missed field goals, a botched play at a crucial moment by the Quarterback, and poor clock management by the coaching staff cost the Dawgs a victory against the Gamecocks. And, it would still be great to ask Offensive Coach Mike Bobo, “When you have the best running backs in all of college football in your backfield, doesn’t it make sense to RUN the ball?”
The Florida game was just a disgrace. There are no words. And, the loss lies squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. The game plan was non-existent. The clock management was horrific. We’ll never see Nick Saban’s or Gus Malzahn’s teams take a knee when they have the ball, 1:30 on the clock, and an opportunity to tie the game going into halftime. They’ll go for the kill. When the Bulldogs should have attacked, they retreated. Right on into the locker room. Down by a touchdown.
Sigh. The Tech Game. A chance to win. The inexplicable squib kick. A humiliating defeat.
Here’s the problem. This season is the same scratched Georgia Bulldogs record on repeat. It’s the same, sad country tune. Every year under Mark Richt, there is always that baffling loss, that should-be-easy game that ends up being not so easy, the glimmer of hope for a championship. And, the inevitable heartbreak.
Being a Bulldog fan is a little like being in a bad relationship. You see the all the good qualities in the object of your affection — all the potential. There is so much hope and joy and optimism. But, it’s always a letdown, and when the dust settles, you ask yourself, “Why do I keep putting myself through this?”
DawgNation, it’s time to accept that under Coach Richt, the Dawgs will always be good. They’ll never be great. In so many ways, UGA is so lucky to have Coach Richt.
He is a truly good and decent man. He runs a clean program. He is an excellent role model for our players. But, there will always be a couple of losses in every season that can’t be explained. There will be a game or two where the team seems to have no spark, no sense of urgency, and no killer instinct. The carrot of a championship will always dangle right in front of us, tantalizingly close, and yet will remain just out of reach.
We need to come to terms with this, and find our own peace with it. We need to lower our expectations. It’s just too painful to do anything else.
The Georgia Bulldogs will always be the best mediocre team in all of college football. Striving for mediocrity, the Mark Richt way.
Jennifer Hazelton is an entrepreneur, a former journalist from CNN and Fox News, and a proud graduate of the University of Georgia.
