Groundhog Day in Tampa.

Pretty much an encapsulation of the best and worst of Georgia football this season we just saw there.

I’d say I feel bad for Walsh, but I feel worse for the fans.

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UPDATE:  This sums things up succinctly:

Situation: Georgia needs a FG to win in OT, starting from their 25 first and ten. First down: two yard rush. Second down: QB centers the ball, losing three yards in the process. Third down: 43-yard FG attempt by a kicker who was 6-16 on kicks of 40 yards or more.

Just because the analysis is trite doesn’t mean it’s not right.

In looking at how the Outback Bowl plays out, I’d like to stay away from the obvious, but I really think today’s game comes down to Georgia avoiding the special teams screw ups and huge turnovers that plagued the Dawgs in their two SEC losses.

As I noted the other day, MSU and Georgia are fairly evenly matched, but I have a feeling that Grantham will do a better job of slowing down what the Spartans like to do than vice versa.  If Georgia can avoid giving up the cheap stuff, I like its chances.

Consider this your game day thread.

Going, going, gone.

Boy, I bet SOD wishes he had a way to block these transfers:

https://twitter.com/#!/CFBLIVE/status/153867226749997056

Vegas-related stat of the day

Two trends favor Georgia if it’s a relatively close game today.

Bettors will likely back the Bulldogs due to their 4-0 ATS mark as a favorite of 3.5 to 10 points, while the Spartans are 3-8 ATS as an underdog in the same range.

A new year, a better place?, ctd.

Mark Richt uses the A-word to describe his team’s mindset in the wake of the Liberty Bowl loss:

In the long run, the 10-6 loss to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl may have served a positive purpose. It spurred some personnel changes, as head coach Mark Richt alluded earlier this week.

“It was certainly something that jump-started our offseason,” Richt said. “A bunch of guys I think believed that at that point, and I believed as the head coach, we’re gonna find out who’s all-in and who’s not. You know, you’re either in or you’re out. You decide. And I’m not gonna be mad if you’re out, just get out. You know. If you’re in, good, then you do it the way we say. I think the guys understood that’s the way it’s gotta be, and I think it helped us in that way more than anybody else.”

Interestingly, Richt sounds like a man who thinks his work on that front is finished.

He said Sunday that he felt there was positive momentum in the program, and that likely wouldn’t be derailed by a loss. But considering last year, the hope is to avoid finding out.

“I think our players understand why (Central Florida) won. And why we didn’t. And I think that really, it was probably more valuable in our offseason than maybe it is this week,” Richt said. “I don’t think we’re thinking about it right now. But we thought about it a lot when we started our offseason and how we didn’t want to go through that again.”

So what are they thinking about now?  Next season.

“Coach has been telling us that this game is like the beginning of next year as far as rankings and stuff like that,” linebacker Alec Ogletree said. “If we’re able to win this game, it will help out rankings going into the next year.”

Even before the new year, Georgia landed at No. 5 in the early 2012 rankings at NationalChamps.net behind LSU, Alabama, Southern California and Oregon. South Carolina was No. 6. The Bulldogs again have a favorable SEC schedule.

“Expecations will probably be off the chart,” Geoirgia athletic director Greg McGarity said. “I’m sure we’ll be highly ranked going into next year. How do we handle that? Are we just as hungry as we were last year? Are we hungrier? Are we doing everything we can to avoid complanceny?”

There’s the challenge.  I suspect we’ll find something out about that today.

I’m a bowl man.

Mark Richt is.

… Today’s game at 65,890-seat Raymond James Stadium could have as many as 15,000 empty seats, but Richt said Tampa has proven to be a great reward. He remains a strong proponent of the bowls.

“I think the bowls are great for communities, and they are great for the players and the coaches and the fan bases,” he said. “How many fans are going to follow their team around for three or four playoff games? That’s not what college is all about.

“College is about bringing the band and the cheerleaders and the fans and all the tradition.”

Not sure how he squares that with his readiness for an eight-team playoff, though.