The history of Georgia football since 1980 has been like one great tease. This was the latest chapter.
Nobody can deny that there have been highs, particularly in the early seasons under Mark Richt that produced two SEC championships and a Sugar Bowl win in 2007 that led to such a pronounced afterglow that the team was ranked No. 1 going into the following preseason. But there have been too many regular seasons that ended like this one, too many “could-haves” and “should-haves.”
The Bulldogs had the highest of ceilings going into this season, in part because they had the best player in the nation in Todd Gurley. But the ceiling was lowered on a miserable afternoon in Jacksonville four weeks ago. Then it collapsed on their heads in a span of 24 hours.
On Friday afternoon, Missouri defeated Arkansas to clinch the SEC East, a division title that would have been Georgia’s if not for a dreadful performance against Florida. By Saturday, the Dogs appeared to have recovered emotionally, but they just weren’t good enough. Three turnovers. Two botched touchdown drives. A failure to cover a squib kickoff by Tech as players on the return team just looked at each other. A blocked field goal. An interception at the 5-yard line in overtime after the opponent misses an extra point on a touchdown and basically dares you to win.
Finally, there was the biggest mistake of all — by the head coach. After seeing his team take a 24-21 lead on a touchdown with 18 seconds left, Richt instructed his kicker to squib it instead of trying to blast it to Neptune (theoretically diminishing the chances for a long return but increasing the chance of the opponent getting into field-goal range).
“As sick about any call I’ve made,” Richt said later, appearing as drained and depressed as I’ve ever seen him after a loss.
Another tease. Another bad ending. Another year of looking back and wondering, “What happened?”
Georgia lost to Georgia Tech in overtime 30-24 on Saturday at Sanford Stadium. Instead of playing for an SEC championship, instead of a potential playoff berth, the Dogs are floating somewhere between the Liberty Bowl and the Outback Bowl.
“Twenty-four hours ago, we were thinking about all the things we can do,” senior defensive back Damian Swann said. “Now this.
“We understood what happened (Friday) was out of our control, and we understood that it was our fault that it was out of our control. We thought, if Arkansas wins, hey, whoop-dee-do. But if Missouri wins, we had to understand why it happened. We had first place, and we lost it.”
Take nothing away from Tech. The Yellow Jackets had an inspired performance Saturday. They have been been a steadily improving team the past six weeks and physically took over the game in the second half. They will give Florida State problems in the ACC Championship game.
But Georgia blew this.
The Dogs drove to a touchdown on the game’s opening possession. But they blew two other certain touchdown drives with fumbles by Nick Chubb at the 2 and Sony Michel at the 1. The surprise was not that Tech had a few takeaways in this game — which its defense has excelled at in the second half of the season — bu that Georgia had such poor ball security. The Dogs had an SEC-low four fumbles and eight turnovers entering the game. Even Georgia’s 14-7 lead was a bit of gift: Swann had a 99-yard fumble return on a play that probably should’ve been blown dead at the 1-yard line at the other end of the field, when Justin Thomas’ forward progress was stopped.
There were things that went right. Richt guessed correctly with a fake field-goal call on fourth-and-12 from the Tech 31 (although the drive ultimately fizzled at the 3, leading to only a field goal anyway). Later, when Thomas fumbled without being touched at the Georgia 31 with 2:41 left, the Dogs were handed a chance to rally from a 21-17 deficit.
They did. Hutson Mason led the offense downfield and threw a touchdown pass to Malcolm Mitchell with 18 seconds left. That should’ve been it. But Richt was concerned about a long kickoff return, so he told Marshall Morgan to kick short. The Jackets returned it 16 yards to the Tech 43, then Thomas scrambled 21 yards to the Georgia 36, setting up a 53-yard field goal by Harrison Butker to send the game into overtime.
“Not a good decision there,” Richt said, taking the blame for the loss. “Obviously hindsight is helpful.”
The loss to Florida came back to haunt Georgia. So did Richt’s decision.
The Jackets drove to a touchdown. Ray Drew blocked the extra point, giving Georgia one last gasp. But on Georgia’s ensuing drive, Mason stepped back on second-and-goal from the Jackets’ 9 and mistakenly tried to squeeze a pass between defenders to Mitchell. It was intercepted by D.J. White.
Mason: “It’s not the way you want to end your career (at home). It stinks.”
Chubb: “We couldn’t control Missouri, but we could’ve controlled Georgia Tech. It shouldn’t have been close.”
Richt: “I’m probably as sick as I’ve ever been after a loss.”
Asked to sum up the season, Richt could think of only one description: “Dramatic.”
Drama is fine. But Georgia needs to work on the ending.
