The Georgia Bulldogs' disheartening 38-10 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday has us facing a conundrum. On one hand, Georgia HC Mark Richt has proven himself to be a remarkably consistent force when it comes to keeping UGA in the upper tier of SEC contenders each and every year. On the other side, Georgia hasn't won an SEC title since 2005 and has their faces firmly pressed against the glass ceiling. We're worried that the trend will only continue for the rest of Ruch
3. Fool Me Ten Times...
Richt has won in the neighborhood of 75 percent of his games at UGA, but he's won just 42 percent of his games against Top-15 competition. He's adept at outcoaching inferior game-planners and exploiting talent gaps to run through lower-level opponents. But, when the playing field is level and Richt is forced to coach against teams/coaches of equal quality, he isn't creative enough to find something the other elite teams in the nation haven't seen before.
2. Play-Calling Under Duress
Let's go back to the Bulldogs' wild 30-24 OT loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last year. We can count seven or eight mistakes Richt made under duress, such as running the ball straight at the heart of the GT defense on plays where the Yellow Jackets stacked eight in the box. He's way too conservative when it counts, especially when the team falls down big early. Slow and steady may win some races, but not in marquee SEC shootouts.
1. He's Too Nice
Listen, we like Mark Richt as a person. He's widely lauded for handling most internal issues with compassion and keeping things in line with the "Georgia Way." But, when is nice "too nice"? When do we start looking at the difference between Nick Saban and Mark Richt and start questioning whether Richt has the killer instinct to teach his kids to step on opponents' throats early and often? Why does it feel like Richt's boys resign themselves to losses the minute the team falls down by two scores or more in a program-defining game?
We're not knocking Richt the person. We're knocking Richt for lacking the ruthless streak to lead his team to the top of a dog-eat-dog SEC (no pun intended).
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