On the surface, one look at Mark Richt’s résumé as head coach at Georgia would make you think he belongs in the discussion of the best coaches in college football.
Richt, now in his 15th season with the Bulldogs, has compiled a 140-48 record, an 80-34 mark in SEC play and two conference championships during his tenure. His résumé rivals all but a handful of coaches, so why isn’t Richt’s name thrown around in the discussion of great college football coaches? The easy answer is the most glaring omission on his résumé, a national championship, but there’s more to it than that.
While Georgia has cemented its status as one of the SEC’s top programs, its failure to bring home college football’s most coveted prize is a black mark on Richt’s career, but it’s not the only reason why he’s caught the ire of a contingent of Georgia fans. The Bulldogs seem unable to win when the stakes are at their highest (or at least that’s how they’re perceived by some) and have become infamous over the past few years for losing at least one game per season against inferior opponents.
Since 2008, Georgia is just 14-21 against top-25 competition and 5-12 in games played against teams ranked in the top 10. And over the last two years, the Bulldogs have lost a total of seven games to teams that were either ranked lower than them or weren’t ranked at all. Most frustrating of all for Georgia fans, the Bulldogs failed to win the SEC East (a far easier task than conquering the unforgiving gauntlet that is the SEC West), despite the fact that they entered both seasons as clear favorites to win the division.
The frustrating close calls and inexplicable losses are an obvious detriment to Richt’s legacy, which is why this Saturday’s game against the team that has been perhaps the greatest source of agony in Athens over the past decade, Alabama, is of such importance to Richt and his team.
The Crimson Tide have thwarted two of Georgia’s best chances at a national title under Richt. In 2008, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 heading into the season and got off to a 4-0 start. However, Alabama rolled into Athens and took a commanding 31-0 lead at halftime on its way to a 41-30 victory that derailed Georgia’s dreams of a national championship and set the tone for a disappointing 10-3 season for the Bulldogs.
Four years later, the two teams met in the 2012 SEC Championship Game with a spot in the BCS National Championship Game hanging in the balance.
The Bulldogs led 28-25 early in the fourth quarter, but Alabama would take a 32-28 lead with 3:15 remaining. Georgia would later get one final drive to save its national title hopes, but an Aaron Murray pass toward the end zone in the waning seconds was caught by Chris Conley, who was brought down just five yards shy as the final seconds ticked away and the clock struck zero.
It’s a game that surely still haunts both Richt and Georgia fans to this day, but an opportunity awaits Saturday to shift the national narrative surrounding himself and his team.
The Bulldog offense features one of the nation’s top running backs in Nick Chubb and quarterback Greyson Lambert who has completed all but two of his passes over the last two games. Meanwhile, Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss a couple weeks back has the Tide entering Saturday’s contest as the underdog, ending a record 72-game streak where they were favored to win.
Alabama is still ranked No. 13 and will present a formidable challenge to No. 8 Georgia. But with the game being played at Sanford Stadium, the pressure is on Richt and the Bulldogs to exorcise the demons that have haunted the program for nearly a decade by fending off the Tide.
Of course, beating Alabama is no small task. The Crimson Tide are 17-7 against opponents ranked in the top 10. This year’s team has clear issues at quarterback, but the thought of Alabama starting 0-2 in SEC play is almost unfathomable. This is a program that’s gone 7-1 in conference play in each of the last four seasons and has lost more than two SEC games in a single year only one time in the last seven seasons.
However, Alabama is in an unusually vulnerable position, and it’s up to the Bulldogs to capitalize on the opportunity at hand.
A win Saturday by itself won’t change anything for Georgia, but its path to the SEC Championship Game and a potential berth gets a whole lot easier if it can down Alabama. Another loss to Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide will only increase the discontent among fans that have become fed up with Richt.
A clash between SEC heavyweights is looming, and the stakes couldn’t be much higher for Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Do you think this Saturday’s game is pivotal to Mark Richt’s legacy? Are the Bulldogs a legitimate national title contender? Let Zach know at zach.rastall@dailycardinal.com.
