Three weeks, or maybe it was a millennium, ago, Georgia’s season didn’t seem to have a ceiling. The Bulldogs had just beaten LSU, survived their potential early-season death march of a schedule, Mark Richt got all choked up, Aaron Murray had a Heisman look to him and the program that came so close to a national championship appearance last year was in a comfortable position for another run.
The problem now isn’t that Georgia has a ceiling. The problem is that the ceiling just caved in. Giant water stains showed in Knoxville. Plaster started falling against Missouri. It all came down Saturday with a 31-27 loss to Vanderbilt.
Forget the BCS. Forget the SEC. Welcome to bowl officials with jacket patches reading “Gator” and “Music City.”
This is what happens when a team loses in Nashville for the first time in 22 years. It’s never good news when a season from the Ray Goff era is used as a point of reference.
“Things really have changed quickly,” Murray said.
You would imagine the townsfolk in Pompeii said that just before lava flowed from Mount Vesuvius.
There will be flames coming off message boards, social-media sites and sports talk shows after this one. Georgia had two defensive players called for “targeting.” Defensive end Ray Drew was ejected. Linebacker Ramik Wilson was allowed to stay in the game, but his debatable personal foul for a hit on Vanderbilt running back Jonathan Krause stood. That extended a drive that led to a Vanderbilt touchdown and jump-started a comeback from a 27-14 deficit.
Know what?
There’s still no excuse for what happened.
Yes, there was predictable griping about the officiating afterward.
Richt gave the most indicting relative no-comment possible: “I promised myself I wouldn’t say anything horrendous about the officiating, so I’m not going to do that.”
Linebacker Jordan Jenkins wasn’t nearly as skillful in avoiding the topic.
“I’m not trying to say much, but the whole call is a BS call,” he said.
Which targeting call was he referring to?
“The rule in general,” he said. “We thought we had it won. We should’ve won. … I think (the rule is) gonna ruin the game of football.”
Sorry. But the Bulldogs didn’t lose this game because of bad calls. They didn’t lose this game because they continue to be head-slapped by a blur of injuries (lost against Vanderbilt: wide receiver Chris Conley, who suffered a serious ankle injury on the game’s final play, and safety Josh Harvey-Clemons, who left with a foot injury and didn’t return).
They lost because they’ve become sloppy at times, ordinary at others. They lost because of dreadful play on special teams (which led to three Vanderbilt touchdowns), conservative play on offense and, while better, still not good enough play by the defense.
One guy, cornerback Sheldon Dawson, got it right when assessing the postgame carnage.
When asked about the disputed targeting penalties, the sophomore said, “I’m not going to say it’s unfair because no matter what the call is we have to roll that way. We can’t point the fingers or anything like that. It’s our job to play football, no matter what the call is.”
And later: “It’s tough to have a lot injuries, but we have to find a way to win.”
Instead, Georgia showed every possible way to lose.
Richt has resisted designating an assistant as a full-time special-teams coach, and the Dogs continue to be miserable on those units. Three Georgia gaffes. Three Vanderbilt touchdowns.
Vanderbilt’s second touchdown came on a 3-yard run by kicker Carey Spear on a fake field-goal play (giving the Commodores a 14-10 lead). Damian Swann’s muffed punt return late in the third quarter set up another score that put the Commodores ahead 27-21.
Then came the final pie to the face. With Georgia leading 27-24, the Dogs went three-and-out for the third consecutive possession. Trent Frix snapped the ball over punter Collin Barber’s head. Vandy took over at the 13 and scored on the next play, on a run by Jerron Seymour, to take the lead with 2:53 left.
From Richt, when addressing injuries: “When that happens, your margin for error is even smaller. You have to be better. You have to play smarter.”
They’re not. And they’re not.
Injuries notwithstanding, there’s no excuse for being held to three points and 80 yards in offense in the second half against Vanderbilt, a team that allowed 125 points in its previous three SEC games (all losses). It doesn’t explain seemingly conservative play-calling that contributed to the overall anemic showing.
The defense was better, but not great. It had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. It was put in a bad positions by turnovers. But when a team has a 27-14 lead and the other team is forced to play its backup quarterback because the starter (Austyn Carta-Samuels) is injured, it needs to make a stop. The Dogs didn’t do that.
“We thought it was over,” Jenkins said when asked about holding a 27-14 lead. “Some bad officiating. We thought we had it won at that point, or I did.”
Three weeks ago, we thought a lot of things.
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