Year2 does an admirable job of reviewing his preseason picks from last year to see where he went wrong, and runs into the riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma which is the 2010 version of Georgia:
I’m still trying to figure out exactly what UGA’s affliction was last year.
Get The Picture 
Very untimely mistakes + mediocre Defense = subpar performance.
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Exactly Dropping the ball at the exact worst possible place and time in a game. Momentum and soul crushing!
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In no particular order:
1) 3 rd and long (see defense)
2) fumblitis at the worst possible times (see SC and Colorado games)
3) lack luster play (see bowl game)
4) Poor conditioning (see O-Line)
5) lack of discipline (see suspensions)
6) Questionable play calling (see OC)
In all seriousness, I don’t think any one of these led to the downfall of the season but the sum of all the issues led to a 6-7 season. I truly hope the cures have been found.
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spot on. and each of them can be traced to coaching that is not up to snuff…
except possibly number 2, but i blame that on the coaches too, especially considering our pre season practices last year did not consist of much contact.
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2) and the MissSt game
6) vs Arky
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I agree entirely with those 6, But, I think # 6 was more a lack of execution than the actual play calling. The OL let them down on a lot of those plays. Could Murray change it at the LOS.?. Hopefully he can this year.
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I really think that it all got down to poor conditioning for the team as a whole. One could fly-speck the minutia but almost all the other stuff comes down to weakness and fatigue–failure to control the line of scrimmage on O and D (couldn’t run effectively or stop the run), failure to finish the game off at the end to secure the win, etc. I think the conditioning problem got cured in the off season bigtime and I am optimistic.
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I agree with 1-5. As for 6, I’m not a Bobo hater. I think he does a pretty good job, but does call some head scratchers on occasion (as does every OC in the country).
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I deleted #6 but put it back in becuase sometimes his head scratchers come at even worse times. These were just my observations, for the little that I know.
I would like to say I don’t hold it against the players (I did way worse than most of the things they did to get suspeneded for) and they are still young men that bleed and sweat for the red and black and I would never hold any “failures” against them, no matter how bonehead. I don’t want to seem like I am piling on the players as I feel most of them want to do better. If that make sense.
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I can live with that.
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And yet despite that perfect storm, the margin of loss was pretty thin (excepting Auburn). Failure has a tendency to snap us back into focus, and forces us to reevaluate things. Last season might bring us some good after all.
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Agree, Charles. Just think, if we win the close games (UF, MSU, Colo, Arky, SC, UCF) we’re looking at a 10-11 win season. Who here thinks Richt would’ve changed anything had those games played out to our advantage? Just need a little Miles’ luck in ’11!
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Cuz Ed – Nice job
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Football locusts.
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Even the Auburn game was only 35-31 going to the 4th quarter. Without Newton, Fairley and a host of others, AU is back to mediocrity…and their one win over us in recent memory will be vacated soon enough.
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Same running backs coach who never played the position at D1 with an empty backfield…no experience and little depth. Behind an O line with a new coach, but same old OC [will he be in the booth or on the sidelines in 2011]. With a head coach who said last year we would run the ball very well. But a HC who limited contacted. What will those coaches on the offensive side of the ball do this year? They no longer have a “running game coordinator”. That is one less affliction. Plus, those RBs who were never there and who could never get into the running lanes. Another affliction gone. Last year not only had afflictions, but the coaches and players seemed “conflicted”, in particularly, the HC. In a very short time those guys get to start their motors. It would be fun to see a high octane offense on the HC’s side of the field for a change. I’m talking about major points, plays, and offensive numbers. And in games where no one takes the foot off the pedal. Time for afflictions to end and achievements to begin. And by any measure something better than end of the year bowl game would be epic by comparison. If they go 6-6, stay home and end the afflictions for 2011.
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Things here are simple. Look back to our biggestvtwo coaching losses. Brian Van Gorder and Calloway. Replacements? Slick Willie and Searels. Arrive CTG and Friend. We all feel good with year 2 D and I have a good feeling about Friend. Couple that with JT’s new conditioning program and I have confidence we will see improvement in play. We have the right players on D and a QB who will mask other problems. Throw in a massive tailback and a switched massive HB and we have the ground and pound down to a science. Throw in a few freshman playmakers and we are teetering on stepping our game up. Throughout our fat years our defense and special teams was good. We will be back to that this year.
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On what planet was Calloway a huge loss? Our rushing numbers largely improved once he left.
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For further reference, see “Moreno, Knowshon.”
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I’m just glad to see that everyone else is much more optimistic than I am about the fact that we promoted our video coordinator (Joe T) to be the head of our S&C program. We are one of the highest revenue football programs in the land, with supposedly serious S&C problems, and we promoted our vid coordinator from within.
I’m not saying bad move, I just don’t get the same warm fuzzies about the hire as a lot of other people. I’ve heard a lot of fans talk about our gains in S&C as if it’s just a given. Now, maybe it couldn’t be worse than it was before, but I hope the optimists are right on this point.
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That plus the return to two-a-days in camp. Getting away from two-a-days last year was a big mistake and affected stamina during the season, IMHO.
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