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Monday, November 6, 2006
Real concerns about Dogs’ fall from grace
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
In Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” a disgraced character is asked how he managed to go bankrupt. “Gradually,” he says, “and then suddenly.”
The Georgia Bulldogs’ fall from grace has tracked the same downward path. We see the sudden part now — losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky — but the gradual aspect should have been evident a year ago. We all missed it for a rather basic reason: In 2005 Georgia won the SEC.
The conference title seemed to prove the Bulldogs were so mighty they could triumph even in a rebuilding year. In hindsight’s cold glare, it’s apparent last season had less to do with eminence than circumstance. Of Georgia’s 11 victories, only four were achieved against teams that managed winning records. Against teams that finished in the Top 25, the Bulldogs were 1-3.
Almost everything broke right last year. First-year starter D.J. Shockley was actually a gifted fifth-year senior who could point younger teammates in the right direction. Tennessee had its worst season in nearly a generation. The schedule had Georgia playing Arkansas, which lost seven games, as opposed to Alabama, which won 10. Steve Spurrier beat Florida, a result that enabled Georgia to win the SEC East with two losses. And even the emphatic victory over LSU included two mitigating factors: The site was the Georgia Dome, and Les Miles was coaching LSU.
In the aftermath of that giddy championship, it was easy to believe the program had ridden out the post-2004 exodus. In one offseason Georgia had lost David Pollack, David Greene, Thomas Davis, Odell Thurman, Reggie Brown and Fred Gibson — plus defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. We see now that, with the possible exception of linebacker Tony Taylor, Georgia in 2006 hasn’t found a playmaker to rival any of the six who left after 2004.
The difference between being a player and a playmaker is the difference between Quentin Moses, the preseason choice as the SEC’s top defender but who has 3 1/2 sacks in 10 games, and Pollack, who altered every single game. It’s the difference between Greene, who threw 32 interceptions in 51 games, and freshman Matthew Stafford, who has thrown 12 in 10.
The surprising success of 2005 stands revealed as a false clue. Shockley’s departure threw open the quarterback position to guys who either weren’t good enough or weren’t ready. A defense exposed in late-season losses to Auburn and West Virginia hasn’t returned to the dominant standard established under VanGorder. The offense ranks 85th among 119 Division I-A teams, which is worse than usual but not that much worse.
Mark Richt’s reputation notwithstanding, Georgia has never ranked in the nation’s top 20 in total offense during his six seasons on the job. It was 49th in 2002 and 2005, 58th in 2003. When a school recruits as well as this — five consecutive top 10 classes, with a sixth on the way — there’s no reason for such a pedestrian yield. Georgia Tech has benefited from Chan Gailey’s decision to let Patrick Nix call plays. Surely Richt could find someone capable of doing at least as much for him.
And surely an offensive coordinator would realize that establishing a feature back — as opposed to giving Kregg Lumpkin 10 carries in the first half at Kentucky, three thereafter — is a must. It’s no coincidence that Georgia’s last 1,000-yard rusher (Musa Smith) arose in the Bulldogs’ best season under Richt (2002).
A stronger running game might have allowed Richt to nurse Stafford along with less risk. (Risk leads to turnovers, of which Georgia has 26; it had 18 in 14 games last season.) A stronger running game might have eased the strain on Georgia’s defense. (The Bulldogs have held the ball less than the opponent six times in 10 games.) A stronger running game might have heralded a return to basics, which is where you need to go when you’re losing to Vandy and Kentucky.
Georgia might have more talent now than in its breakthrough season of 2002, but talent doesn’t always equal performance. This program rose because hard workers — Pollack and Davis and Greene weren’t five-star signees — made themselves into great collegiate players. To rise again, Georgia must instill in its many famous recruits a similar communal ferocity. Too many of the come-latelies haven’t been coached up. Too many guys aren’t finishing the drill.
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