If Mark Richt would have stood before the media during his first press conference of the week and announced “mission accomplished,” no member of the Bulldog Nation would have had any reason to be disappointed. After all, the head coach and his team have given every Georgia football fan all he or she could hope for. Saturday’s game between No. 6 Georgia and No. 8 Florida is a meaningful one, and thus, the 2008 season has lived up to its potential.
Starting the season No. 1 in both the AP and coaches’ polls certainly means winning a national championship should be a realistic possibility. But in today’s college football world, where 40-point favorites can easily lose, it is by no means a certainty. The Bulldogs were pegged the country’s best team before the season started. That selection was subsequently changed, as the Bulldogs dropped in the first few polls of the regular season even after winning. All the while, however, the anticipation for the type of campaign Georgia was expected to experience remained intense. Playing what was considered before the season as arguably the nation’s hardest schedule, Georgia has suffered only one setback. That loss came to what is currently the No. 2 team in college football, Alabama, and though the Bulldogs were the favorites going into that game, the argument can be made that Georgia has beaten everyone it was suppose to beat. Alabama was the better, more experienced team that day, especially along the lines of scrimmage.
Still, the Bulldogs won their other games, as there is no USC/Oregon State or Florida/Ole Miss loss to be found. Georgia survived an early trip to South Carolina, flourished in a rare trip out west to face Arizona State, won home games against Tennessee and Vanderbilt that tested their focus and now is coming off of a very impressive victory at LSU. As Richt alluded to after the Bulldogs’ victory over the Commodores when LSU was looming, a lot is still on the table for Georgia. That is something that other teams that entered seasons with similar hope have not been able to say at this juncture.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
Auburn and Tennessee are examples of two programs that have produced ball clubs that have failed to deliver when entering seasons surrounded by a lot of hype. And no, that is not a reference to this season – though it very well could be. Both the Tigers and Volunteers were preseason top-20 teams (with Auburn No. 10 and Tennessee No. 18) to start 2008 and both are now unranked and have a combined record of 7-9. That is disappointing, but this isn’t the only time the schools have underachieved recently. Auburn entered the 2003 season ranked No. 6 in the country, but ended the season 8-5. The Tigers featured a backfield of future NFL players Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, Ronnie Brown and Brandon Jacobs, but was shut out by USC to open the season and could only manage a field goal at Georgia Tech, as they started 0-2. Current Washington Redskin quarterback Jason Campbell, though undeveloped at the time, was under center for Auburn.
The nucleus of that Tiger team got its act together the following season and Auburn went undefeated in 2004. But if they could have done so in ’03, when all eyes were on them, they would have likely played for the national title that eluded the ’04 team.
In 2005, Tennessee entered the season ranked No. 3, but could not produce a winning season, as they finished with a 5-6 record. The Volunteers even suffered their first loss to Vanderbilt since the 1982 season. The big national championship-ramification games that Volunteer fans looked forward to at the beginning of the season became just another opportunity to jeer head coach Phillip Fulmer and his coaching staff.
IT’S SHOWTIME
Fortunately for Georgia, the Bulldogs do not have to worry about a losing record or shakeups on the coaching staff. The Florida game is here. Despite injuries, suspensions and the pressure of living up to being one of the best teams in the country, they have made it. The Bulldogs enter their annual showdown with the Gators having kept all of the subplots surrounding the game relevant. The SEC East, for all intents and purposes, will be on the line. The game has a bearing on the BCS title picture. It will be another chapter in the saga of quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Tim Tebow. And of course, everyone will be waiting with bated breath to see how Florida responds to Georgia’s touchdown celebration from a year ago. Not wanting them to talk about it, Florida head coach Urban Meyer issued a gag order for his team, but rest assured the Gators will likely mention the incident to Georgia players a time or two when the teams get together on Saturday.
Still, none of these storylines would carry any weight had Georgia not kept their end of the bargain. The Bulldogs did that and now the game everyone has been waiting for is set – and the season Georgia fans were hoping for is right before their eyes.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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