Georgia entered the 2008 campaign ranked the No. 1 college football team in the country in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches’ polls, the first preseason No. 1 ranking in the program’s history. That ranking seemed appropriate, considering that Georgia finished 2007 ranked No. 2 in the AP and No. 3 in the coaches’ poll, and returned 16 starters. The planning and mentality the Bulldogs displayed in losses to Alabama and Florida was not appropriate, however, and may have cost Georgia a chance at the ultimate prize: a BCS title.
RUNNING EMPTY
In his Sunday teleconference, Georgia head coach Mark Richt attributed the team’s underwhelming performances in its two losses this season to both a young offensive line and the fact that both games were preceded by emotionally draining road trips. The Bulldogs had won at Arizona State one week before returning home to face the Crimson Tide on Sept. 27, and had won at LSU before facing the Gators in Jacksonville last Saturday. Richt’s beliefs have some truth to them, but his team’s game plan for those games did not help matters. Playing with an inexperienced offensive line against a physically imposing Alabama defensive line, Georgia opened the game with passes on six of its first eight offensive plays, achieving only one first down. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide offense had its way with the Bulldogs’ defense to the tune of 10 first-quarter points and eventually 31 first-half points. While the Bulldogs were by no means going to dismantle the huge Alabama defensive front by trying to establish the run early, had they decided to do so, their defense might not have been in a position to give up 31 points and the likelihood of a second-half comeback may have been higher.
Similarly, this past week against Florida, Georgia did not force the run. That strategy worked between the 20s, as the Gators keyed on tailback Knowshon Moreno, allowing the Bulldog play-action passing game to be successful. But on two different trips inside of the Florida 15-yard line, Georgia passed the ball on four of five plays. In fairness to offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and the Georgia offensive staff, a first-and-10 play call from the Florida 6 in the second quarter produced a wide open Tripp Chandler in the end zone, but quarterback Matthew Stafford was not able to complete the pass to him and a third-down pass into the end zone on that same series bounced off of the shoulder of Moreno. Still, Georgia had two possessions inside of the Gators’ 15-yard line and not one play featured its bread and butter from a year ago, Moreno’s running. Caleb King recorded the only carry of the five plays.
Last year, the Bulldogs’ season turned around in part due to the running of Moreno. He helped carry the team against Florida and teamed up with Thomas Brown to help Georgia pick up wins over Auburn and Georgia Tech. When the Bulldogs were tabbed preseason No. 1, it had a lot to do with the belief that Moreno would continue to be the workhorse and Stafford and the passing game would complement him. That has not been the case this year.
MIND BENDER
Georgia’s mentality in both games was not as sound as it could have been. The Alabama game marked the team’s third “blackout,” as the team won each of its “blackouts” in 2007 against Auburn and Hawaii. At the time, the idea of wearing black and asking the fans to wear black for the Alabama game seemed like a good one. Georgia was coming off of the Arizona State game and adding some extra spice to the meeting with the Crimson Tide did not seem like it could hurt the Bulldogs. Georgia started slowly, however, and may have depended too heavily on outside factors to get them mentally and emotionally ready to play.
Fast-forward to a week ago before the Florida game and there was talk of wearing red pants, as if the Bulldogs needed an extra boost for that game as well. Despite last year’s victory over the Gators and a higher BCS ranking, Georgia came across as underdogs against Florida. This sense was exemplified in Richt’s failed onside kick call in the second quarter with his team only down 7-3.
There will be more years in which Richt and Georgia will enter the season as one of the favorites for a national title, but they have some lessons to learn from this season before getting over that final hump.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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