Now he tells us.

Ramik Wilson: "We underestimated our opponent (Florida)"

— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) November 3, 2014

D’oh!

“I just figured we’d keep it in our pocket till we needed it.”

If you’ve had enough from Saturday, don’t bother to read Bruce Feldman today.

The biggest stunner from the weekend wasn’t just that Florida beat No. 11 Georgia, 38-20. It was how the embattled Gators dominated the Dawgs, out-rushing UGA 418-148. After the first quarter, UF had outgained Georgia 274-27. For the day, Florida had 14 rushes of 10 yards or more, which was more than half of what UF had in its first six games.

To say the game unfolded as UF offensive coordinator Kurt Roper expected would be quite a stretch.

Roper told FOX Sports Sunday afternoon that UF had some play-action and moving-pocket stuff planned for the Dawgs, but with the way UF was running the football, relying on a heavy diet of zone runs coming amid a bunch of window dressing (via formation and motions), he realized he had a “don’t fix it till it breaks” approach. In all, UF ran 66 plays and only four of them were called passes: two nakeds, one dropback and another bubble (true freshman QB Treon Harris actually threw two other passes but those came off run plays).

That is what comes of feeling good about yourself.

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Stop focusing on the symptoms and look at the disease.

It's just a weird vibe around UGA. Almost like the school would feel guilty acting like a real football power.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 3, 2014

I know the focus is on Mark Richt today.  And there’s little doubt he deserves plenty of criticism for how poorly his team was prepared for Florida.  But Mark Richt isn’t Georgia’s big problem.  It won’t surprise me in the least if the team rights itself this week, plays a competitive game against Auburn and wins nine games.  (The alternative wouldn’t surprise me, either.)  There’s a very good recruiting class shaping up.  Pruitt is an improvement over Grantham.  There are a number of things to point to that can give a Georgia fan hope.

But…

I’m sick of writing these existential posts about the program every couple of years or so.  And it seems like every time we think we’re seeing a real turn around the corner, reality comes back to bite us in the ass with more evidence of the Georgia Way.  This time around, I looked at last season, with a team that fought in every game despite an injury-riddled offense, subpar defense and special teams and thought at least Georgia was hitting a point where it was no longer going to fail to show up on a consistent basis.

Wrong, bacon breath.  What I saw was how much Aaron Murray meant to the competitive spirit of this Georgia program.

The reality is that Georgia is a program that believes it’s better than it is.  I can almost envision the congratulatory speech McGarity was constructing in his head as Georgia nobly fell on its sword about Gurley and kept winning.  Too bad about Jacksonville, Greg.

But it’s not like that’s anything new.  It’s a recurring drama.  And when things fall short, as they inevitably do, the decision makers shrug, make some vague sounds about the coaches needing to do more, maybe even fire somebody if they’ve dawdled long enough, check the bank statements and console themselves with the thought that at least they’re doing things the right way.  Whatever that is.

What they’re unwilling to give any hard thought to is how to win doing things the right way.  Whether that’s out of a sense of guilt, as Wolken surmises, or because it’s too hard to make the effort, I can’t say.  But it’s clear, and not just to me.

Those of you chomping at the bit for new coaching as a cure for what ails us need to think about something first:  since Vince Dooley retired as head coach, who are the best high-profile hires Butts-Mehre has made?  If you’re honest, it’s Ron Polk, who basically fell into Dooley’s lap and left for momma after a couple of seasons, and Mark Richt.  That’s why the idea that things are fixable if they just get the right man for the head coaching job is laughable, honestly.

Until there are people in place who are willing to look at how things are done from top to bottom with a sharp eye, a willingness to demand the best and, just as importantly, are going to supply the best in support of that demand, what you see is all you’re gonna get.  Because if the folks in Butts-Mehre are anything these days, it’s comfortable.

Fabris Invitational results, Week 10

To what should be no one’s surprise, this week was decided by another tiebreaker.

STANDINGS for WEEK 10

Rank	Selection Name	Standings Adjustment	W-L	Pts	Tie Breaker Game 16-45
1	gitaftertheirbuttocks	Adj	8-2	8	17-42**
1	zachda	Adj	8-2	8	20-45
1	Clintpat3	Adj	8-2	8	0-0

Congrats, gitafter. And Clintpat3, remember that tiebreaker next time.

On the season, here’s how it looks:

SEASON STANDINGS through Week 10

Rank	You	Selection Name	W-L	Pts
1		Valley Dawg	62-38	62
2		Turfman25	61-39	61
3		BR Dawg	60-40	60
4		OneHairyDawg	59-41	59
5		Second String Secondary	58-42	58
5		3rd & Grantham	58-42	58

Tight.

SEC Power Poll, Week 10

We’re at a point in the season when, with the exception of Mississippi State, Arkansas and Vanderbilt, every team has beaten some other team, so you can save the “Team X lost to Team Y, so Y should be higher” analysis for somebody else, thanks.

On the other hand, if you want to argue that the West is a damned sight better than the East, you won’t hear a peep out of me.

1. Mississippi State.  Maybe it wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day, the Bulldogs are 8-0, 5-0, and nobody else in the conference can make the same claim.
2. Auburn.  I see Gus Malzahn’s rabbit’s foot is back.
3. Alabama.  Ole Miss loses again?  Nice bye week, Tide.
4. Mississippi.  For finishing fourth in the East, we have these lovely parting gifts for you…
5. LSU.  Sure, there’s still a chance, but I’m not sure even Les can pull this one off.
6. Missouri.  Has a real shot at being the weakest SEC East champ ever.
7. Georgia.  The SEC’s little girl with the little curl.  The question is how many more times the Dawgs will be horrid.
8. Florida.  There will be a lot more Florida fans claiming they were at this year’s Cocktail Party game than actually showed up.
9. Texas A&M.  243 total yards… against Louisiana Monroe.  Perhaps that’s a sign you’re not the offensive juggernaut you thought you were.
10. Kentucky.  Didn’t put up much of a fight against a Missouri team that’s not exactly dominant.
11. Tennessee.  The Vols have Steve Spurrier’s number of late, which is more than you can say about some teams.
12. South Carolina.  Spurrier held a 54-second press conference after this week’s loss, which is just a few more seconds than the number of points his team allowed.
13. Arkansas.  Bret Bielema just wishes his team could play Vanderbilt.
14. Vanderbilt.  With the last cupcake win on the books, Vandy can start dreaming about next season.

682,239

I almost feel guilty bringing this up now, but last month’s traffic was through the roof.  GTP wound up averaging better than 22,000 hits a day.  Of course, I await this month’s inevitable let down.

Thanks for coming, y’all.

My Mumme Poll ballot, Week 10

Time to make some changes, eh?  Well, a change, anyway.

• Alabama
• Auburn
• Florida State
• Kansas State
• Mississippi
• Mississippi State
• Oregon
• TCU

Also considered:  Baylor, LSU, Michigan State, Oklahoma

Ole Miss has lost two games by a combined whisker, and I just can’t bring myself to knock the BBRs out of the top eight… but it’s now making me consider other two-loss teams.