Will optics of Richt (4-0) vs. Smart (3-2) get better for Georgia?

The Tech-Miami game didn't nearly have the drama as the one 70 miles down the road in Athens, where Georgia took a 17-0 lead over favored Tennessee, blew it and fell behind 28-24 in the fourth quarter, seemingly won the game on a 47-yard Jacob Eason touchdown pass with 10 seconds left (hello, Missouri), then lost it 34-31 on the game's final spasm -- a Joshua Dobbs' 43-yard, Hail Mary touchdown pass with no time remaining.

It was a mind-numbing ending for Georgia.

When Bulldogs' fans can see and think clearly again, here's something they probably would rather not think about.

Richt, the coach fired last season, is now 4-0 in his first season in Miami and has a realistic shot of making it the ACC championship game.

Kirby Smart, the coach who replaced him, is now 3-2 and is a long shot to make it to the SEC title game.

The Hurricanes have played only one ACC game so it might seem a little early to project anything. Their four wins have come over only Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Appalachian State and Georgia Tech. But it's their schedule, and their next two games against Florida State and North Carolina -- both at home -- are their two most difficult conference opponents remaining. (The No. 12 Seminoles entered the week as the only currently ranked opponent left but they lost to North Carolina 37-35, which likely will move the Tar Heels into the rankings.)

Georgia, now 1-2 in the SEC after losses to Ole Miss and Tennessee, and still must play Florida and Auburn, as well as a rivalry game against Georgia Tech.

It might seem unfair to compare Richt and Smart head to head this season for obvious reasons: Georgia and Miami play in different conferences against different opponents and have different players.

But consider the optics. What if Miami goes on to lose only one or two games and possibly plays for a conference title -- which certainly is possible because the Hurricanes are in the Coastal Division, on the other side of the bracket from Louisville and Clemson -- while Georgia possibly loses three or four games and may finishes third in the SEC East (behind Tennessee and Florida).

Here are the remaining schedules for two:

• Miami (4-0): Florida State, North Carolina, at Virginia Tech, at Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, at Virginia, at North Carolina State, Duke.

• Georgia (3-2): South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Florida, at Kentucky, Auburn, Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia Tech.

For the record, I still believe the Dogs had gone as far as they could under Richt and a change needed to be made. I also believe the Smart hiring made sense on a lot of levels, not so much because he was a former Georgia player but because he was so familiar with the SEC recruiting landscape after jobs at Alabama and LSU and had studied for 11 years (Alabama, LSU, Miami Dolphins) under Nick Saban, arguably the greatest coach in college football history.

We'll see how this plays out. But if you're in the camp that Georgia never should've fired Richt, you're feeling pretty good about things today.