Mark Schlabach’s latest chat contained some great Georgia-related stuff.
First, this is about as succinct a summary of this year’s road map to success as you’ll see:
Georgia Jim (Athen, Ga)
Mark-Why do you have Georgia ranked so low when teams Richt has coached have finished in the top 10, 13 of his 16 seasons? Seen Ealey, AJ, Olson & Murray lately?
Mark Schlabach
(1:10 PM)I’ve seen all of them. Want to see more out of DL. Where is the pass rush going to come from? If Dogs get anything out of Murray, they’re going to win 10 games. Best WR in the country. Two good backs. Senior-laden OL. Best kicker and punter in the SEC. All comes down to defense.
Then, there’s a little Fabris love tossed out.
Jim (Tucker Georgia)
What 3 things must Richt do to beat Florida?
Mark Schlabach
(1:30 PM)1. Get Murray comfortable quickly2. Find pass rushers3. Quit kicking the ball out of bounds
No mention of the weather, though. And here’s a snappy comeback.
Mike (Atlanta GA)
Why is the anti-Georgia ESPN bias so strong–example, 2007, Herbie campaigns aganst Georgia for LSU against Oklahoma precedent?
Mark Schlabach
(1:11 PM)I can’t stand the Dogs…
He’ll be here all week, folks. Try the veal!
Seriously, there are some other tidbits/observations tossed in there about subjects like Grantham and a Brantley/Murray comparison that are worth your attention briefly. Give it a look.
Get The Picture 
The funny thing about the Herbie thing is I would have had absolutely no problem with him making the argument he did if he had not made the exact opposite argument just one year before for a Big 10 team.
I think that is what draws the ire of most Dawg fans.
LikeLike
Agree 100%. The argument about conference champs is very reasonable until you see what happened to Oklahoma in 2003, and revisit the Michigan argument in 2006. Herbie’s position about a rematch with OSU/UM ruined his credibility. He essentially maintained there was no other worthy contender to provide a decent title game outside the Big 11. How arrogant can you be? Rarely do I think any team from that conference would earn a spot in the final 2, but to think no other conference measured up was truly laughable.
When Florida wiped the field with OSU, and Michigan couldn’t beat a PAC10 team, Herbie should have considered becoming a recluse. I haven’t looked at him the same since. Along with Holtz’s prediction that ND would win a “national title” last year, Herbie is just an empty suit. His reversal on UGA the following year showed he lacks the character to be worthy of respect as he never even acknowledged the about-face.
The 2003, 2006, and 2007 situations, along with yesterday’s discussion about 2004, again illustrates the frustration with the current system. There is obviously more to the debate, but each of these examples are fresh in our minds and has helped fuel the drive for a better solution.
LikeLike
Keep in mind that Bristol was ready to hype USC for the BCSCG even if Oregon State had ended up winning the Pac-10, because after all, they finished with the same conference record and that was good enough. Which was apparently unlike…
2007 Georgia- 6-2 SEC
2007 Tennessee- 6-2 SEC
2007 LSU- 6-2 SEC
LikeLike
(referring to 2008 USC, of course.)
LikeLike
You know, you say that Herbie and Holtz have no credibility, but they’re still on tv, and you’re still watching.
They’re idiots, and ESPN has entirely too much power.
LikeLike
They are worse than idiots. They have a base of viewers and a hidden agenda.
LikeLike
I got over caring about the ESPN conspiracy stuff the minute Bama punched us in the mouth in 08.
Saw his comment about South Carolina being a factor with an improved Garcia and their defense. Didn’t their D lose a ton of impact guys? Why does everybody assume they can just reload? Matthews and who else?
LikeLike
The ’08 Bama loss was partially inflicted by our own Athletic Department when it scheduled an away game on the other side of the country (Arizona State) the week before playing Bama in Athens. I have always heard that the problem with away games in a distant time zone is not that game, but the next game. The real UGA team did show not up for the first half against Bama. The Dawgs actually substantially outplayed Bama in the second half.
LikeLike
“The Dawgs actually substantially outplayed Bama in the second half.” So after the long trip/short week they got stronger instead of weaker in the second half? Bama’, like we’ve seen UGA do so many times, simply took their foot off our throats.
LikeLike
Shack, what kind of weed have you been smoking? Saban even said at the half that Bama would NOT back off because he feared the Dawgs would make a comeback–and they did. Except for a couple of second half lapses the Dawgs almost pulled off the greatest college football comeback in that game since USC did it to ND in 1974.
LikeLike
“I have always heard that the problem with away games in a distant time zone is not that game, but the next game.” But it only impacted us for one half and then we ate our spinach. Gotcha.
LikeLike
Go watch a replay of the game.
LikeLike
I also don’t buy the “weary traveler” syndrome I have seen many UGA fans refer to since 2007. These are 18-22 year old, well-conditioned athletes having to “endure” a four to five hour plane ride. The team arrived back home not long after many of them would have gotten to bed after a home game. Even in my sixties a longer flight from Europe has little impact on me, and when competing in my younger years, a long plane or bus ride did not impact me when I was playing college or HS sports. I even see our fans whining about the long trip our players have to make to jax.
I saw a team that allowed 2-3 key plays turn the 1st half into a total roof collapse. Bama was well prepared and played great in the 1st half while UGA could not overcome mistakes in time to keep the game competitive. No one thinks Bama was that much better, they just rode the wave we built for them. They may well have won a close competitive game even if we played well, but it would not have been the rout we saw the first 30 minutes. It happens like that on some Saturdays, we don’t need an excuse.
LikeLike
The Dawgs outscored the Tide by 20 in the second half. Basically, Bama won the first half 31-0 and UGA won the second half 30-10. The Tide just won the first half by more. Usually it is the other way around. The team that wins the second half usually wins the game.
LikeLike
No one is arguing that with you, all the posts seem to feel it undermines your original contention that the schedule cost us the game. I don’t feel that was significant at all, the other posters are saying the 2nd half UGA uprising proves fatigue wasn’t present at all, or the Bama domination would have gotten stronger as the game went along.
LikeLike
Well then WTF was it? Contrary to an assertion made above Bama did NOT let up in the second half. In fact Satan, er….Saban, looked really pissed off and was chewing out people on the sidelines while the Dawgs were making their comeback. Jet lag is a documented fact. There are numerous research papers about it on the ‘net. Do I think that 21 year old guys were still suffering from jetlag 7 days after the flight? No. Do I think jetlag and the fatigue from the West Coast game interfered with practice and prep for the Bama game? Absolutely! You don’t see Bama or FLA flying to the other side of the country for a midseason game.
LikeLike
Ya know, I’m never sure which way someone is going with that ‘try the veal’ schtick. Isn’t that what Solazzo said to Captain McClusky in The Godfather right before they both got offed?
It grieved me to see Sterling Hayden, the man who brought General Jack C. Ripper to life, meet such an undignified end.
LikeLike
Schlabach said “where is the pass rush going to come from?”
But Mark, isn’t Justin Houston the leading sacker returning in the SEC?
LikeLike
“Schlabach, was that your dog on the field?”
-Jim Donnan, circa 1999
LikeLike