There. That title got your attention, didn't it? And yes, I mean it. I truly don't believe the Georgia Bulldogs will ever win a National Championship while Mark Richt is in charge. Read on to find out why...
The Georgia Bulldogs have reached the end of their season, and it was a rather flat end. The Dawgs lost the Gator Bowl to unranked Nebraska. Georgia found new and exciting ways of beating themselves in this game. The offensive play-calling was questionable at best. On more than one occasion, the Dawgs were faced with third down and ten yards to go. The call? An off-tackle run. This worked once, giving the Dawgs fourth and short. The call here? Pass play toward the end zone.
The Bulldogs were relatively good on offense almost all year, given that they were throttled by injury. We knew the offense was going to have to keep Georgia in games, and we knew our offense was good enough to do just that. But somehow, they forgot how to find the end zone in this game, not scoring a touchdown until deep into the second half. Four trips inside the Nebraska 30 resulted in four field goals. That’s simply not good enough. Someone on the Georgia coaching staff needs to sternly question Mike Bobo about his play selection.
The defense shouldered a lot of blame, as did Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham. We have to admit that Grantham was in a tough spot. We all knew going into this season that the defense was young and would probably take an entire season to come together. That's what happens when you have so many players without collegiate experience. You cannot coach someone out of an injury. The new normal in football is the fact that tackles are going lower and lower in order to avoid targeting. So we'll keep seeing guys getting their knees blown out, but thank God no one is getting hit where they have actual padding and protective devices. If anyone gets hit there, we have to throw them out of the game.
I'm not laying the blame on injury, though.
But that’s how this season went for Georgia. Dawgnation wants more. We want conference titles, and we want national titles. I haven’t seen a National Championship in my lifetime. Meanwhile, the state next door, that everyone loves to rag on, is playing for what could be its fifth consecutive national championship.
And I believe I know why Georgia is never in that discussion. It’s not because of talent, because the Dawgs often have a highly-ranked recruiting class. It’s because we have a coach who is such a nice guy. Mark Richt, who is one of the best all-around human beings you’re ever likely to meet, is simply too nice to win a national championship. He’s the kind of nice-guy coach who takes his foot of the gas the moment his team goes up by three touchdowns. In his tenure at Georgia, the Dawgs have never scored 70 points in a game. In fact, it’s been nearly 20 full years since Georgia hung 70 on someone. They’ve scored 60+ a few times, the most recent being three seasons ago. Meanwhile, one of the teams contesting for the National Championship this year, Florida State, scored 60 or more three times this season alone. They scored 80 in one game.
Is a high point total required? No. If you play a tough enough schedule, you don’t need the blowouts. The SEC-homer in me wants to say that Georgia plays a tough schedule every year. Last season this was certainly true, as the Dawgs played three top-8 teams in their first four games. But style points are required.
But I'm rambling now... I'm going to stand by my original point. Mark Richt is simply too nice to win a National Championship. Look at the guys who have won National Championships...guys like Spurrier, Saban, and Meyer. Anyone think they can borrow some sugar from any of those guys? No? Mark Richt would probably bring the sugar to your house and help you cook.
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