OXFORD, Miss. — The Georgia-Ole Miss game is being characterized as “The Hot Seat Bowl” because of the perceived implications the outcome could have on the respective head coaches. But in reality the Bulldogs are just looking for a road win.
The Bulldogs used to be known as the SEC’s “road warriors” for their uncanny knack of winning games away from Athens since Richt arrived in 2001. Even after losing their footing and dropping four of the their past five games in opposing teams’ stadiums, they still own a gaudy 34-10 road record under Richt.
Georgia (1-2, 0-1 SEC) is a double-digit favorite to make it 35 out of 45 games as they face Ole Miss (1-2, 0-1) at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at 12:21 p.m. Saturday.
It’s a record of which Richt obviously is proud.
“I do enjoy road games,” said Richt, who has never lost to the Rebels. “You get your 70 guys and you go on a business trip, and there aren’t a lot of things you have to do other than go and play the ballgame. There aren’t any other responsibilities that I have personally or that the players have or that the assistant coaches might have. So it is nice just to gather up the team, gather up the troops and get busy.”
At one point the Bulldogs were winning at a phenomenal rate. Before going 1-4 last season, they had an astounding .846 winning percentage on opponents’ home fields (33-6). That included an 11-5 mark against ranked teams.
The difference was noticeable as soon as Richt took over at Georgia. The Bulldogs won nine in a row before losing at No. 11 LSU in 2003. They didn’t lose again until No. 3 Auburn won in November 2004. They were 21-2 on the road when they last traveled to Oxford, winning 14-9 in 2006.
Richt credits the road success to the team’s routine and to Georgia’s quarterback play.
“Our quarterbacks historically really handled the pressure of communication in those loud stadiums and handled the pressure of, if some little thing goes wrong for Georgia it gets accentuated by crowd reaction, and that kind of thing. Our quarterbacks have always had nerves of steel.”
The Bulldogs appear to have a clear edge at quarterback for this game. Sophomore Aaron Murray is third in the SEC in passing yardage (224 per game) and pass efficiency (160.9). He has completed 63 percent of his passes for nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Conversely, Ole Miss quarterback Zack Stoudt averages 132 yards passing with two touchdowns and five interceptions, all thrown Saturday in a 30-7 loss at Vanderbilt.
Of course, Murray has been at the helm during Georgia’s current down cycle as well. Including neutral-site games against Florida and Boise State and December’s bowl loss to Central Florida, Murray is 2-7 away from Sanford Stadium.
So what has to happen to reverse that trend?
“Just win,” Richt said. “We’ll definitely go in there believing we can win. We feel that every time we play, of course.”
Georgia’s away-from-home statistic is drastically different when neutral-site games are factored in. The Bulldogs are 9-12 under Richt in those contests, which includes his 2-8 mark against Florida in Jacksonville, this year’s loss to No. 4 Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game and a 7-3 record in bowl games.
But Georgia’s road record is not what everybody will be talking about Saturday. Richt has endured unprecedented criticism this season after the Bulldogs lost their first two games to give them nine losses in their past 15 games — before they won 59-0 over FCS (formerly Division I-AA) opponent Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
“We are playing for wins right now,” Murray told reporters this week. “Wins equal [Richt] staying. So we just have to go out there and win, and everything will be fine.”
Any pressure on Richt is dull compared with that on Rebels coach Houston Nutt. After Saturday’s 30-7 loss at Vanderbilt, a faction of fans took out ads in six newspapers last week calling for change. Athletic director Pete Boone had a meeting with Nutt on Sunday and sent out letters to donors Monday.
“I feel the pressure every day when I wake up,” Nutt said. “There hasn’t been much sleep lately.”
There won’t be much Saturday either with a game that kicks off 11:21 a.m. locally. But with the stakes riding on this one, both teams should be wide awake.
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