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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 19
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Needing to believe again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let’s hope this is as bad as it gets.
It’s been a while — the latter part of Jim Donnan’s last season, in fact — since I’ve detected a lack of faith and wavering of hope on the part of many in the Bulldog Nation. But this week there’s no getting around it. Quite a few die-hard Dawg fans not only have given up any dreams of making it to the Georgia Dome this year, they don’t really BELIEVE the team can beat any of the Big Three without a lucky break or two.
That’s not being fainthearted or less than true fans or jumping off the bandwagon. Unfortunately, that’s just being realistic.
While the knock on UGA fans from some corners is that we’re hopelessly unrealistic about our team’s chances and start every season expecting a national championship, those of us who actually follow the team know that’s far from a Georgia tradition. For many years, we didn’t even dare hope for an SEC crown, having seen the program settle into a rut as the third-best in the Eastern Division.
Full credit to Mark Richt for changing that mind-set. Thanks to his taking three of his teams to the SEC championship in five years, winning it twice, Georgia fans had begun to believe this was how it would be from now on.
The 2006 season has shaken that belief to a greater degree than you would have expected with a 5-2 record. We knew this would be a rebuilding year, but we didn’t expect what we’ve seen at times this season: Richt and his team floundering, threatening to implode like last year’s Vols. Even in some of the Dawgs’ wins we’ve seen a team that doesn’t seem to believe in itself (the fourth quarter against Colorado with Joe Cox rallying the troops being the lone exception). And, worse, a coaching staff that doesn’t seem to have figured out how to get the kids to believe in themselves again.
Sure, there are many UGA fans who refuse to concede any game remaining on the schedule, but this week their defiant stance has come off more like whistling past the graveyard. And, for me at least, that’s the biggest difference between 2006 and the past four seasons: From 2002 on, I always felt that Richt and the Dawgs were capable of beating anyone they faced if the team played to its full capabilities and the coaches played it smart. (OK, I’ll admit I didn’t really expect us to win in 2004 against undefeated Auburn, but other than that I always thought we had a chance.)
But this year, with the obvious step down in talent in several areas, the largely uninspired play, the stubbornly wrongheaded game plans and continuing indecision on the part of the coaches, and the fact that no obvious game-changing playmakers or team leaders have emerged, that belief that the Dawgs only need to pull it all together in order to have a chance at winning out just isn’t there.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the team can’t undergo some miracle transformation (unlikely as that seems at this point). Maybe finally settling on a starting quarterback — along with the cold, hard slap of reality that ANYBODY on the schedule can beat them, as Vanderbilt proved — will spur the players to kick it up a few notches.
And while, like others, I’ve been very disappointed in how the UGA coaching staff has blamed lack of execution on the players’ part rather than considering any shortcomings of their own, I hold out hope that within the confines of Butts-Mehre there’s been a realization that Georgia has quite frankly been outcoached several times this year, and a determination not to let it happen again.
I believe that Mark Richt is the right man to lead Georgia to the level where dreams of a national championship every year don’t look silly. I think he has a potential superstar in Matthew Stafford, and that with some tweaking of his staff and more productive recruiting outside the skill positions, Richt can make those dreams come true.
As for this year, a convincing win against Mississippi State Saturday in Athens would certainly be a step in the right direction. What what a lot of us would really like to see though is some evidence that Richt is adaptable enough to get a mediocre team to play over its head and with enough heart to beat somebody that they really shouldn’t be able to beat.
If that happens, I think this momentary lapse of confidence on the part of the Bulldog Nation will be replaced by that across-the-board optimism that others think is our trademark.
