Funny, but I can’t help but wonder how some of you might react to the meltdown of Michigan’s punter yesterday, or Ole Miss’ rapid plummet to Earth in its three games after upsetting Alabama – not to mention losing Nkemdiche when he got hurt playing fullback! – if either had happened to Georgia.
Hell, let’s face it. Ole Miss is having as disappointing a run right now as Georgia. However, I bet there are those of you who would swap Freeze for Richt in a heartbeat.
Maybe there aren’t as many football geniuses and players who manage error-free execution outside of Athens as some of you believe there are.
Get The Picture 
I think it’s pretty evident Harbaugh can’t win the big games, he lost the Super Bowl and is 0-2 against Top 10 teams this year.
LikeLike
Now this is some high quality trolling. I tip my hat to you, my good man.
LikeLike
Thank you sir, it does also remain to be seen whether Harbaugh can win ANYTHING at Michigan without Brady Hoke’s players.
LikeLike
Doubling down. I like the cut of your jib.
LikeLike
He’s just not committed to excellence.
LikeLike
He was probably too nice to the punter before the play, too.
LikeLike
What you say makes good sense, but we’ve been so frigging close deveral times. Hell, I don’t know what to think.
LikeLike
I don’t think the issue is that sh*t happens, at least for me. The issue is that stuff like Michigan and Ole Miss are dealing with happens to us with alarming regularity and consistency. The saying about the definition of insanity seems to apply. And no, I wouldn’t swap for Freeze by a long shot
LikeLike
The ending of the Michigan game happens to UGA with alarming regularity and consistency?
Wow.
LikeLike
No, but game losing special teams melt downs do. Have you been watching the last ten years?
LikeLike
Not arguing that we don’t need to get better but Saban lost the 2015 Ole Miss and 2013 Iron Bowl, among others, with ST errors. Looking around the CFB landscape, it is hard to see anyone exempt from all the maladies we complain about, we just focus on GA by putting every play under a microscope.
LikeLike
This. A thousand times.
LikeLike
Saban had a couple of pretty nasty special teams gaffes just yesterday, too.
He clearly should be fired.
LikeLike
He also won by 18 on the road against a top ten team. Something not done around theses parts very often. There is a difference in the two scenarios…just sayin
LikeLike
“these”, jeez my typing stinks
LikeLike
Exactly.
LikeLike
Michigan had a really big ST error, didn’t the Wolverines?
LikeLike
If MIchigan’s punters are still dropping snaps in critical situations after Harbaugh is there 15 years, then I’ll accept the analogy.
LikeLike
He’ll have to win some championships and .700 of his games to be there that long for us to see.
LikeLike
The punter won’t have been there 15 years, though. I feel like that’s something people tend to forget with a long-tenured coach. You are constantly reshuffling the deck and teaching new kids lessons the previous kids learned.
Btw – you anticipate Harbaugh having ANY job for 15 years?
LikeLike
I would not want Freeze. What has he done other than beating Bama 2 times?
LikeLike
Well, I guess that’s the point. He’s surprised his fan base 2x in consecutive seasons. When is the last time Richt exceeded your expectations?
A simple surprise victory goes a long way.
LikeLike
I guess I’d rather be consistently excited about each there than sporadically surprised. UGA is usually in the mix every year for the SEC Championship game. Ole Miss and Hugh Freeze are usually the doormat.
LikeLike
It is hard to have a surprise victory when you are favored to win in a high majority of your games. That is actually a problem for our fans have because then the team is set up to only be a disappointment, never an underdog overcoming adversity.
LikeLike
I’m fairly certain the victories over Auburn and Missouri last year qualified for me. And South Carolina this year.
LikeLike
The Halloween Game will qualify as that 2015 surprise; maybe all Lambert needs is the appropriate mask so he can channel some kind of alter inner reserve.
LikeLike
Ask that question after the NCAA investigators finish with Ole Miss. And Ole Miss will have zero SEC West titles to show for it.
LikeLike
Freeze cheats. They’ll get caught sooner or later, too. I thought they bought it with the Tunsil thing this season but apparently the NCAA has decided to look the other way and just do the game suspensions only.
LikeLike
Exactly my thoughts. Beat me to it. Miss may be trending down but the upset a good team. When do we do that?
What do we have to keep us warm on a chilly Music City bowl? Beating the crap out of Spurriers worst team evah?
LikeLike
So an upset over a good team trumps trending down? I’m not even sure what to make of that.
LikeLike
Wow. I worry that our fan base has a massive case of early onset Alzheimers
. “Miss may be trending down but the upset a good team. When do we do that?”
How about last year when we beat Clemson on the season opener. Or does that not count? Or maybe when we rolled Mizzou after losing Gurley ?or…maybe it really Is only the last game we remember.
Sure this year we got crushed by AL, that was our only big game til then. UT hurts but IMHO, it was a bigger game for them than us. Out next chance is UF. Always a big game, this year no different.
LikeLike
It’s a trick question. We are supposed to win every game, so upsetting another team is impossible.
LikeLike
Well, Georgia has been favored in practically every game for the last two years, and it’s not Georgia fans betting those lines in their favor.
LikeLike
I have often said that for many UGA internet message board folks, Richt’s wins are recorded in invisible ink and his losses are carved in stone.
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
Yeah I think about that as well. BTW Saban’s special teams are pretty bad. Of course he makes up for it in other areas.
LikeLike
If Richt leaves after this year, the next coach will put in his 4 or 5 years
and then he will be gone also. Yoy do not readily replace an Icon even
one who has a problem with roster management.
LikeLike
Tom Osborne replaced Bob Devaney and never missed a beat. Stayed over 20 years and won 2 natties.
LikeLike
Interesting choice. Devaney was at Nebraska 10 years. Osborne became HC in 1973. Won his first NC in 1994.
Just saying. Osborne was a heck of a coach. It took him a long time to get the MNC.
LikeLike
Same with Bobby Bowden and Vince Dooley.
Spurrier, Mack Brown and Bob Stoops only won one.
Winning one is very hard two is damn near impossible
Urban and Saban are on different level in a perfect situation
LikeLike
I never wanted Freeze and was hoping Florida would be stupid enough to hire him. As for Harbaugh, heartbreaking losses happen. I would have been crushed, but I wouldn’t have been pissed at Harbaugh.
LikeLike
But if the same thing had happened to Richt, there would be those on here who would be calling for his and/or Schotty’s head because we couldn’t get a first down to run out the clock.
I am among those on this blog who almost always defend Richt. That is not because I think he is never wrong, and it is not because I admire him as a man (although I do). It is because there are many here who think he has brainfarts (or whatever you want to call it) more than other coaches. I simply do not believe that is true. In every game I watch every Saturday, I say WTF plenty of times. If I do so more during UGA games, it’s because I want every play to succeed, while in those other games I don’t usually have rooting interest.
LikeLike
If this had happened to UGA, I wouldn’t be calling for Richt’s head, but I would complain that it’s yet another ST screw up in a long recent history of ST screw ups that don’t seem to get fixed except on a temporary, at best one season basis. Just as I would and do continue to wonder why we are constantly vulnerable to the short and mid passing attack, why our OL has a habit of underperforming, why the Hell we can’t make it through a season with the same starting RB, and most of all why we show up flat for a couple games a season. Totally aside from any championship expectation, “same ‘ol Georgia” is killing my enjoyment of the game, and, yeah, it’s unreasonably personal, and, yeah, I put a most of that on Coach Richt. At this point, I’d almost welcome a new coach’s new set of problems just for the novelty of the thing.
LikeLike
I get the other stuff, but the RB thing? How is that Richt’s fault?
LikeLike
Maybe it isn’t at all. Then again, maybe there’s something in the way the RBs are trained, or conditioned, or (in the cases, say, of Easley or Crowell) vetted. Same thing with the apparent tendency of certain officiating crews to punish Georgia for playing football. It may not have a thing to do with anything Coach Richt and staff have done/are doing/aren’t doing. But the recurrence of these things raises a question: is there some underlying cause that I’m certainly not smart enough to figure out, or is it just bad luck? All I know is these things are constants, or at least frequent occurrences, in the later Richt era.
LikeLike
Why would you not have been pissed at Harbaugh for not preparing his punter about what to do in that situation? Does he get a pass other coaches would not get?
LikeLike
Harbaugh should have called a timeout before the punt and reminded the punter not to lose his shit there.
After all, if Richt had done that in the SECCG, Conley never would have caught that last throw. 🙂
LikeLike
Georgia had no TOs left at the end of the 2012 SECCG. They had all been squandered earlier in the second half. 🙂
LikeLike
If Richt were a great coach, he would have taken Conley aside and warned him earlier.
LikeLike
No. If Richt were a great coach he would have had Murray spike the ball–like Murray wanted to. Then told Conley (and everybody else) not to catch the football unless he was in the end zone.
LikeLike
That is still just a totally nutso, myopic viewpoint that you have obsessed over for 3 years. A bad coach would not have even thought he had options, I remember being impressed that, in that fast moving, crisis moment our staff had considered the options and had a made a decision based on their studies and the situation at the moment. What you don’t like is the result. Life from a rear view mirror would be better in many cases, but that isn’t reality.
Same with the infamous GT pooch kick. Most coaches would have done the very same thing, Mizzou did last night before half time, it is the choice of a majority. Had we known: 1) it would be returned beyond the forty, 2) we would allow a known running QB to scramble for 20 yards, and 3) their kicker would kick his career long FG, Richt would have looked in your rear view mirror and kicked it deep. But who is to say it wouldn’t have been returned for 70+ yards, or a TD?
You need to realize all games have dozens of these decisions and they will not all go your way. It happens to all coaches, and all teams. Distinguish between bad results and not having a clue.
LikeLike
Sorry I didn’t use the emoticon, Mac. I was joking and it is apparent in the context of the thread, although I still do think the spike would have been the right call in that situation. Let’s just put it behind us and move on.
LikeLike
It may have been the best call Mayor, but the point is there was good reasons for either choice, it wasn’t a slam dunk either way. You just cannot say it was wrong because something else happened to make the play not succeed. A coach is only wrong if he was unaware of the other option, or didn’t consider other known factors (wrong personnel, injuries, etc.) imo. They clearly stated they considered spiking but felt there was a better case for going with the play they wanted and Bama not having time to reset their defense.
LikeLike
The punter choked and then panicked. I don’t know how you prepare him for that. I’m under no illusions that coaches can control everything. I actually did wonder before the play if they might be better off just going for it and risking the hail mary from midfield.
LikeLike
You might control for it by reminding the punter, “If it is a bad snap or you drop it fall on the football because time will probably run out.”
Have you ever complained about coaches not warning players about how to handle certain situations they may face?
LikeLike
Except time wouldn’t have run out. It was fourth down and there were at least 5 seconds left at the time he fumbled the snap. If the punter fell on the ball it would then have been a first down for MSU and the clock would have stopped. MSU would have sent in the FG team and won by one.The thing to do would have been what BR said above–pick up the ball and throw it as high and far as he could. I think he was trying to pick it up and kick it and just couldn’t.
LikeLike
Or maybe call a power sweep with your quarterback and drag the play out down the line.
LikeLike
No, I was not on board the timeout/tell Conley to drop the ball train.
LikeLike
Harbaugh has built up mountains of good will. Richt on the other hand…
LikeLike
By doing what? Never winning a conference championship in the Pac-12? Or by losing the Superbowl?
LikeLike
He didn’t build up too much good will in the 49ers’ locker room there at the end.
LikeLike
This is getting a little ridiculous, Senator. Your efforts to excuse the poor play, that is.
I look at a school like Memphis, not Mississippi, as well as Baylor, TCU, and now Utah, even–the flavor of the year that comes out of nowhere with so much less in terms of resources, and wonder why it can’t ever be us. I look at schools like Texas, UCLA, and USC, and think they must feel like we do about their teams…with so much, how is it we can’t be better? I guess there’s a little bit of comfort in knowing we’re not the only school with tons of resources that can’t get it together, but as you yourself have said, it’s a cold comfort at best. I’m not sure I’d call it a “comfort” at all.
LikeLike
I agree with this. Why not look at Dantonio and the coach at Memphis and make the opposite point? Those guys are doing a great job with fewer resources than CMR has available. And the goal has never been perfection. Only an SEC title. That should be a reasonable goal for UGA, IMO. Expecting a championship, again, should not be unreasonable.
LikeLike
Mark Richt has been the head coach at UGA for 14 full seasons. His teams have played for the SEC title 4 times (with I believe 4 other SECE shares) and have won twice.
He’s a Cocktail victory away from holding the lead in this year’s division race.
Somehow that’s not good coaching?
SMDH.
LikeLike
Sorry, played for it 5 times.
LikeLike
won 2 lost 3.
LikeLike
Yep. 2 SEC Titles. (only 7 in history have done that)
LikeLike
CMR has won two SEC titles in 14 years, none in 9 years. To me, UGA should win more than that. If he wins the SEC this year, I stand corrected. Otherwise, it is fair game to look strongly at the direction of our program and say the coaching needs to improve.
LikeLike
Memphis has the luxury of playing in an easier conference. They could not do what they do in the SEC.
LikeLike
If they were in the East and got the right draw out of the West this year? Maybe. They’d probably still go 9-3 or something though.
LikeLike
Don’t excuse an average coach with another. Did Freeze ever under sign?
LikeLike
Richtes undersigned. Past tense. He isn’t any more. He deserves to reap the benefits of fixing that.
LikeLike
Logic be damned.
LikeLike
You think I’m excusing Richt? Then you haven’t gotten my point.
LikeLike
Dang, a third “screw you!” post. Lol. Senator, I’m not going to speak for anyone but myself, I think I just have Richt fatigue. I don’t think he is the worst coach in the SEC or anything crazy like that. Nor do I think we could plug almost anyone in his spot and get comparable results. Fifteen years is a long time and I don’t think there are any major surprises in store. I’m going to keep watching but I don’t think anything much different from what we’ve seen thus far is coming our way. If I end up being wrong, feel free to use the header, “Cooley, you ignorant slut. I told you so.” Nobody will be happier than me if there is reason to do so.
LikeLike
Again, I’m not arguing against your point of view, Mike. I just think a lot of people have drawn fairly dramatic conclusions that aren’t justified.
I get Richt fatigue. I lost my emotional support for Richt after the bowl game loss to Michigan State. But that’s no excuse for going off the deep end about whether others still support him.
LikeLike
For someone who claims to not be on the Richt train, it’s remarkable how you almost exclusively choose to tweak the fire Richt crowd by falling back on the “there’s no one else out there” argument. Cherry picking isolated examples of another team losing is a classic excuse.
Clearly Richt is better than Harbaugh.
LikeLike
My, someone’s ass is a little chapped today.
And why should I be surprised that you’d take my criticism of certain… ah, realists’ arguments/attitudes as support for Richt?
LikeLike
You’re the one sounding salty this morning, if you ask me. But nobody did, so… I’ll just go back to being the guy being too hasty in my judgment of ol’ CMR.
LikeLike
Who said I was referring to you?
LikeLike
You didn’t. I’m just taking up that side of the argument since you seem to be taking the other this morning.
LikeLike
Not the point.
LikeLike
Well you guys are really easy to tweak, and you may not realize just how entertaining y’all can be.
LikeLike
the internet is no place for persecution complexes.
LikeLike
Sure, someone else could be out there that is better than Richt but college football history indicates the next Head Coach will be worse.
Look at Texas after Fred Akers
OU after Switzer
Nebraska post Osborne
Notre Dame post Holtz
Michigan ( which may have finally gotten the right guy on the 3rd guy) since Carr
Florida after Spurrier then after Meyer
Bama has had several since Stallings until Nicky arrived.
Tennessee after Phil
It can get worse.
LikeLike
I’ve been reading this blog for 8 years. The Senator plays devil’s advocate frequently for various, sometimes opposing points of view as a means of facilitating discussion and a fine job of it usually. Don’t read or comment on this blog if you expect to hear only one side of things or expect your views not to be challenged.
LikeLike
That’s reasonable. I agree.
LikeLike
Can’t imagine how a freeze thought using Nkmdiche at fullback was a good idea. Probable losses outweigh possible gains with little experiments like that.
LikeLike
He shoulda checked with Jim Donnan before calling that play. Charles Grant anyone?
LikeLike
Exactly what I was thinking! The UGA internet crowd blistered Donnan for risking Grant at running back. The crowd excuses Freeze. The strategy of using a DL at RB is Dawgraded. The strategy is upgraded when another team’s coach does it!
LikeLike
Have people been defending that? Are people still using Freeze as an example of great coaching? I figured the shine came off when they tanked down the stretch last year. Those are genuine questions, not rhetorical.
LikeLike
I live in RebelBearShark country and yes, they still love the man. After the Bama game my boss said, “Freeze is a better coach than Saban. The game of football has passed him by”. He was dead serious.
LikeLike
Well, I get Ole Miss fans being in the tank for him for now. I mean Georgia fans. The probably were after their somewhat fluky win over Bama. I can’t imagine they’d still be holding him up as an anti-Richt now though.
LikeLike
Some dazed and confused expert play callers think it would be a lot cooler If there’s a subzeroconcious connection between Refrigerator Perry and Hugh Freeze
LikeLike
My guess is that the rest of the SEC is praying that we keep Richt forever. Even abused spouses love their husband.
LikeLike
Rich’s current SEC series records:
Auburn 9-5
Arkansas 6-1
Bama 3-4
Florida 5-9 (1-9 in decade before Richt)
Kentucky 12-2
LSU 4-4
Ole Miss 6-0
Miss State 3-1
Missouri 3-1
South Carolina 9-6
Tennessee 10-5 (1-9 in decade before Richt)
Vanderbilt 13-2
Total: 83-40 (67%)
Yeah, I’m sure the rest of the SEC is just DYING to keep that around.
LikeLike
I think we are 3-3 against Bama since Richt came but below .500 with LSU, unless you take back the game that was stolen from us in 2009. We are 1-2 in SECCGs against LSU.
LikeLike
I just get tired of EVERY conversation being turned into a referendum on Richt. Sometimes (most times?) I just want to talk about the game. But every discussion devolves into how Richt sucks and we will continue to suck ad infinitum. Someone was on here last night crowing about the fact they weren’t even watching the game, yet they were commenting about how everything sucks. It gets tiring. Isn’t that what the Dawg Vent is for?
LikeLike
That would be preaching to the choir though. They can’t get rid of Richt without a lot more converts.
LikeLike
If they think McGarity is going to make the biggest personnel decision of his career based upon comments by anonymous internet fonts, they are sadly mistaken.
LikeLike
Well it’s either that or they think commenters on blogs are their therapists.
LikeLike
Yeah. He commented about he was above watching the game and just followed the GTP comments. I guess it made him feel, I don’t know, better than us riffraff.
LikeLike
Well said. At least give the naysaying a break after a victory.
LikeLike
“I just get tired of EVERY conversation being turned into a referendum on Richt.”
Whenever the threads get shaky, it’s a Richterendum
LikeLike
Speaking of bed wetting…… shitting the bed ,bad game day Coaches someone please explain to me how Saban ,the genius, lost to that crappy ass Ole Miss team…. at home no less. All Saban did was totally whiff on an easy win and in all likelihood cost his school a shot at the playoffs. Failure to motivate 5-star athletes is absolutely totally inexcusable. Fire Saban ,now before he vomits up a lose to an inferior opponent again.
Speaking of flavor of the month geniuses, did UF really lose on a fake field goal against the Madhatter…really who couldn’t see that one coming…I know I did. Being surprised by that play is like being surprised your Ambassador gets attacked and killed on 9-11 ,who knew they do those kind of things?
Finally. in the Coaching genius realm is it safe to conclude that it was actually the old ball sack who was holding the Cocks program back.. He leaves they win….the team had quit because they knew he quit half way through the 3rd quarter of the Georgia game.
Damn being negative has to be the most intellectually easy thing in the world to do it’s just a pity that it doesn’t work real well in life.
LikeLike
Wow… stay classy.
LikeLike
How is this any different from the snark you continually aim at anyone who doesn’t agree with you about Richt?
LikeLike
Thanks for understanding Will, clearly chili and his ilk just don’t get proof by obsurdity. QED
LikeLike
Because I’ve never compared 9/11 to football.
LikeLike
No but you have compared us to battered wives. Not exactly the epitome of class.
LikeLike
Leigh Anne Tuohy outcoached Freeze. No way I would take him.
Now, if we’re talking Richt for, say, that one guy who never shuts up about Bobo not running the ball, yeah that swap is a no brainer.
LikeLike
Hey, she slapped him on the ass rather than told him she loved him! That qualifies as brilliant coaching move!
LikeLike
I watched Freeze go for it on 4th down in his own territory in the 1st half. Ya know, play to win…. instead of playing not to lose. Keeping his foot on the gas….Being aggressive…. Ole Miss didn’t convert and on the next play Memphis threw a touchdown pass. The rout was on.
I think Coach Richt would have punted to flip the field. Get a 3 and out from the defense. Let the offense drive it inside the red zone and kick a field goal. Win ugly and let the fans bitch.
LikeLike
I appreciate Richt’s play not to lose strategy.
LikeLike
Yeah, me too.
LikeLike
That’s a nice theory, except that just last night Richt went for it on 4th down on Mizzou’s 49 AND tried an onsides kick that completely took Mizzou by surprise but stop 1 yard shy of the necessary 10 yards.
This is exactly what I was griping about on the other thread. I understand the dislike of Richt. He infuriates me sometimes as well. But the constant nattering about every fucking thing the guy does…honestly, I don’t know how you guys have the energy for it.
LikeLike
By the way, if I whiffed on sarcasm there, I apologize.
LikeLike