3-18: talent vs. emotion

Michael Elkon and I have swapped a couple of e-mails about this Jeff Schultz post on Georgia’s recent history at the Cocktail Party.  While I think it’s foolish to deny the role that Georgia’s fragile mental state has played in the futility – as Schultz notes, nine ten interceptions in the last three games says something about that – I do wonder if he overstates his case a bit when he writes,“(w)hen one signature program loses 18 of 21 games to another, it’s not just about talent. At some point, it’s between the ears.”

The implication is that talent alone can’t explain 18 losses in 21 years.  But what I’m curious about in response to that is how many of those years would he say Georgia was the more talented team, Florida was the more talented team or the talent of the two was roughly equal.

Sad to say, searching in my head, I can only come up with three seasons when Georgia fielded the more talented bunch – 1992, 2003 and 2004.  By comparison, there are a lot more seasons when the Gators had the upper hand – from 1994 though 2001, 2006 and 2009.  The rest I’d call a draw (2005 would go onto the Dawgs’ side of the ledger had Shockley been available).

What do you guys think?  And how do you see the talent comparison this year shaping up based on what you’ve observed so far?

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UPDATE:  You’ll find Elkon’s take here.

… Since 1990, Florida has finished first in the SEC nine times.  They have won the East ten times, or slightly more than 50% of all available titles.  They have three national titles.  In the same time period, Georgia has won two SEC titles, three divisional titles, and no national titles.  Schultz’s mistake is starting from the premise that Florida and Georgia are both “signature programs,” implying some sort of equality.  Georgia has the potential to be equal to Florida, especially if Florida State and Miami pose credible recruiting threats to the Gators in-state, but that potential has not been realized over the past 21 years.  That, more than some imaginary mental block, is the reason why Georgia has struggled in Jacksonville.

The good news, then, is that Georgia is a better team than Florida in 2011 (Georgia is almost five points better in SRS and about 5.5 points better according to the Sagarin Predictor) and the margin isn’t close if Jeff Brantley is either out or limited.  If Georgia loses this year, then we will have to examine what’s going on upstairs with this team.