We haven’t had a reader poll in a while, so I thought this Chris Low summary of Georgia’s season might serve as the inspiration for one:
If not for the no-show at South Carolina, this would be a solid A, even with some of the issues on defense. After all, the Bulldogs were a tipped pass away from playing for the national championship. It was their first 12-win season since 2002, and they won for the second straight year over Florida — the first time that’s happened since Georgia won three in a row over the Gators in 1987-89. Yes, it’s frustrating to get so close to playing for college football’s top prize and only have a Capital One Bowl trophy to show for it. And, yes, some Georgia fans (a loud minority) remain convinced that Mark Richt isn’t the answer. But when you win 12 games, play in the SEC championship game, finish in the top 5 in the polls and beat your most heated rival, the season is a success by any standard. GRADE: A-
Quite simply, agree or disagree? Flesh out your opinion in the comments.
Get The Picture 
Mark Richt elevated his game the past couple of years. I never called for his head, but wondered if he’d be able to turn it around, and he did. Laying an egg against SC was bad, losing to Bama in a tight game was not. That game made remains a high mark of Richts tenure. Not as a moral victory… Not at all… Just in bringing all the elements together. I am as proud of that team as if they had won the game, and they had really come a long way.
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If this season doesn’t convince people that CMR has what it takes then I don’t know what will. 2 years ago I was ready for him to be gone and now I’m happily eating crow. Gotta give it to them dawgs, they sure surprised me the past two years.
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Mark Richt was out-manned in the SECCG, not out-coached. Just imagine what he could do with 85 legitimate scholarship players. If he gets the under-signing thing under control, the sky is the limit for this program. I, too, did not feel this way a couple of years ago. I take my crow medium rare. I like to taste the bird flu as I ingest it.
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Winning a NC gets you an A+, winning the SEC gets you an A or A+ depending on the circumstances, keeping in mind that winning the SEC is the only thing in which Georgia controls its own destiny. I think A- is an appropriate grade separated from an A+ by five heartbreaking yards.
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I agree with this sentiment. Beating Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia Tech, winning the East, and winning the bowl game is good enough for an A-, which is to say they had one of the best seasons in college football this year. It’s hard to complain about that… not that some of us won’t.
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I agree. I was about to express the very same opinion.
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So last year, if your Bama you get a A-. NC yes. SEC champ, no.
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“I think A- is an appropriate grade separated from an A+ by five heartbreaking yards.”
So what would get an A? If Conley had made it to the 1 yard line? Not to be a jerk, but you guys realize that the solid letter grades are supposed to be a larger range on the curve than the +’s and -‘s, right?
In my book, winning the NC or the SEC is typically an A+. A top 5 finish should really almost qualify for an A+. The only way I could see that dropping below an A+ is if you had a season like 2005 where you win the SEC but lose 3 games and finish out of the top 10.
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You don’t have to get all the questions right to get an A on the test. Finishing third in the final rankings, playing the undisputed national champion off their feet…that’s a solid A in my gradebook.
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I agree with the A- also. Chris Low gets an A- for his piece. It would be an A or an A+ had Chris added a couple of degrading adjectives to support “loud”. But my admiration goes to the posters who admit to thier past misguidance and are now seeing the light. I just hope we’re all still on board four games into the 2013 season…I hope (and believe) we all just might be sky-high!
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Sc is worth the minus. Ugh. Still hating that one.
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+1…er, minus 1. Wait a minute. I agree with you.
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Obviously this was a great season. All this poll tells us is that there are at least 9 real assholes who visit this blog. They sure do seem to post a lot though.
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We earned a solid A. Any other school would be considered A+, but since its UGA we get dawg-graded to A-, and again dawg-graded to #5 nationally although we would likely beat at least two of the teams ranked ahead of us.
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“earned a solid A.” Yes
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Agree
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Agreed. “A” is the right grade.
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I think an A- is fair, considering that the South Carolina game was pretty awful. However, I wonder if Aaron Murray deserves some extra credit for his spring break pics last year in light of the T’eo fake girlfriend situation.
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I’m not sure how a top 5 finish and a 12-2 record is anything less than an A. What’s the curve look like if UGA is an A-?
Honestly, an A- is just stupidity. It’s flogging yourself for the sake of flogging yourself. Even if you think there is only one A+…there have to be more than 4 teams that deserve an A.
UGA was preseason #6 a pretty even split to win the East and the consensus 3rd best team in the conference….they met all of those expectations and probably exceeded some of them.
A- is either plain self loathing or someone just being ridiculous.
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Well, crap. Now I want to go back and change my vote. I agree with Irwin.
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Me too.
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me three
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I agree with you but the its all about expectations. Kansas State and Louisville fans are giving themselves an A+ for the season. Vandy fans are probably thinking their season was a solid A. LSU fans would likely give themselves a C for the season.
Auburn is still an F no matter how you look at it, however.
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#1- I completely disagree that it is about expectations. I’m not sure I had many classes where a kid made an 84 on a test but got an A while another made a 95 and got a B because the first kid was a dummy and the second kid was brilliant. It is not at all about expectations in my book. It is an attempt to objectively measure your season against your peers.
#2- Of course, I’m completely willing to admit my argument in #1 completely ignores the ‘historic’ system of ranking college football teams put into place by the media in order to magnify the opinions of the media so that the media can profit from their works.
And absolutely…Auburn is an F.
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A- sounds right. An A+ grade should be reserved for some of the best teams of all time and for perfect seasons with highly challenging schedules. A+ seasons are exceedingly rare. No team deserves an A+ this season. Off the top of my head, here are some A+ teams: USC in 2004; Texas in 2005; Bama in 2009; maybe LSU in 2003 and maybe even Auburn in 2004.
A single loss should automatically drop you to an A, no matter how close. “A” teams are big-time powerhouses, and they are also very rare: Bama and LSU in 2011; Oregon in 2010; UGA in 2002. You could even argue that UGA was an “A” team in 2003 b/c, though we lost twice, it was to LSU (an A+ team) both times (although the SEC Championship loss was a bit ugly, so perhaps the 2003 season deserves an A- instead).
A single bad loss should automatically drop you down to an A-.
You people act like an A- is bad. It’s still an awesome f’ing season. That’s not self-flogging, and it’s not stupid. It’s just acknowledging that UGA is not quite there. UGA’s 2002 team was worthy of an A; that was a damned fine team. As good as 2012 was, are you seriously saying it was in the same class as the 2002 team?
I think of an A- season as one that is special but flawed, e.g., 2005, 2007, and now 2012.
Notre Dame in 2012? An A++++++ (it’s an imaginary grade).
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When you look at what was accomplished based on what was expected, I think record-wise we were right on target. Most expected 1-2 losses and as you said, we were preseason top 10 and picked by some to win the East.
I think we exceeded expectations on offense and didn’t meet expectations on defense. So A- is probably right. However, when you look at the individual games, there were definitely a lot of games that were much lower than an A- and not many that were higher.
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This season was a fun ride for me as a fan. As many of you are well aware, I was ready to ship Richt out of town. This season he proved that he was capable of righting the ship. However, this did shine a light on the glaring holes Richt still has (namely his recruiting numbers). I believe the season was a solid B, no higher. The defense and their up and down play is the main reason for my grade. The offense with 2 stellar young RB’s was a thing of beauty this season. For that I credit Richt and Bobo. The SC loss was crushing, yet the SECCG was incredible.
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I’d rate UGA’s season as a B+. The Dawgs lost badly to a less talented South Carolina team 35-7, but rebounded and beat a more talented Florida team 17-9. Positives included UGA’s high-powered offense (other than the Carolina game and a good portion of the Florida game) and winning the SEC Eastern Division for the second consecutive year. Negatives included disciplinary issues (i.e., UGA started the season with four defensive players suspended and ended the season ranked 12th out of 14 SEC teams [87th in FBS] in penalty yards allowed), a run defense that took a step backwards (ranked 12th out of 14 SEC teams [77th in FBS], allowing the most yardage since Richard Bell’s 1994 UGA defense), and continued special team’s issues (i.e., ranked 44th in kickoff returns, 36th in kickoff return coverage, 82d in punt returns, 103d in punt returns coverage, 57th in net punting, 132d in FG accuracy, and 133d in PAT accuracy). So yes, UGA had a very good year overall, but there were too many issues to rate it as an excellent year.
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“a more talented Florida team.” Disagree. Overachieving, perhaps. But not more talented.
And while I won’t quarrel about most of your ST concerns, KO returns and coverage and punting weren’t too bad. At least, by recent UGA standards.
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You make a great case. I can’t shake the SC loss and the poor defense the first half of the season. The offense was an A+. Defense a B. Special Teams came through when it counted but was average. Ultimately., the SC loss didn’t hurt us except for pride, so I have to go A-. We really need to improve on ST to make up for all of the departures on defense. Only 8 FG’s the entire season. No faith in either the kicker or punter.
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The South Carolina loss hurt UGA a lot more than just pride. That loss kept the Dawgs out of a BCS bowl game and from having a 13-1 season which has only been done once before. Without that loss this team would have been one of the best in UGA football history.
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I forgot about the BCS angle. You got me there.
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I thought it was a pretty damn good season. I guess that means I’m alright with mediocrity. That last sentence was laced with sarcasm, in case it wasn’t obvious.
Seriously! I can’t remember the last time I was absolutely dumbfounded and shocked like I was after the USC game…wondering and worrying how the season would end and where this program was headed. It was a big wake up and great turn around. I believe Richt and his staff have done an amazing job of building the program back up from where it was just a couple seasons ago. You usually figure that the candle has burned out when that happens.
The program has gotten better over the past few seasons and had a much better showing in the SECC. I’m not a fire the HC if we don’t win the NC type but I definitely want another SEC title fairly soon. We’ve taken positive steps each year. Now, its time for another one. Gonna be tough in 2013.
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I go back to Coach Butts & was a season ticket holder during the Dooley Years.
It remains my opinion that Richt WAS, IS, & will continue to be the Best HC that the Dawgs have had during my lifetime.
Also the SEC championship remains my goal for the Dawgs, NOT the MNC.
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Dawg39, you are my kind of guy.
Irwin Fletcher, so are you.
I have a feeling next season is gonna be something special. I think that proverbial lid that CRM talked about knocking of the program back in 2001 is on borrowed time.
GO DAWGS!!
…AND AMERICA!!!
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Apparently I am a thread vampire.
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Win the SEC
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A- is spot on. Anyone who things we deserve higher needs to re-read this:
“But the Bulldogs’ inability to stop the run was a continuing problem. They finished 12th in the SEC in rushing defense, giving up an average of 182.1 yards per game. And in their last four games, they gave up 239 rushing yards or more in all four games and more than 300 yards on the ground in three of those four contests. Alabama manhandled Georgia’s front seven in the second half of the SEC championship game, and at one point, ran the same play five straight times.”
You can’t be higher than an A- when:
* You didn’t win the SEC
* You didn’t win a NC
* You can’t defend the run.
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If we’re an A-, then there is only one team that can be an A or A+. How can a team finishing in the Top 5 not be an A?
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