Georgia should fire football coach Mark Richt
The University of Georgia’s football team is in a dilemma. To start off the problems for the Bulldogs, their quarterback situation is awful. Greyson Lambert is a transfer from Virginia who had a strong start to the season, including a standout game against South Carolina with 330 yards passing on a 96 percent completion percentage (24-25). While this is all nice and dandy, things haven’t worked out quite the same way when the Dawgs have been matched up against legitimate opponents. Against Alabama at home, Lambert completed 10 passes on 24 attempts, which is really, really bad. The quarterback situation isn’t the only problem plaguing Georgia. Heisman hopeful Nick Chubb had a season-ending injury early in the Tennessee game. Sure, Sony Michel is a great back but he can’t give you the production that Chubb gives you.
What should the Dawgs do about this problem? Here’s my solution: Fire head coach Mark Richt. Although he’s provided the fan base with some exciting games over his almost 15 seasons leading the Bulldogs, he’ll never win a national championship at Georgia. He won’t anywhere else either. Richt is a great coach for a program that wants to rebuild and be in contention in their conference every year, but not for the University of Georgia, where success is expected in every game. Including an SEC championship.
It’s amazing to me that he’s even stayed around this long. How can UGA botch the last play of the 2012 SEC championship and follow up that game with an 8-5 season? Let’s not forget that that season was capped off by losing the Tax Slayer bowl to Nebraska. Wow. What is the Tax Slayer bowl? What is Tax Slayer? Not the point. The point is, the team had a pretty bad stretch of about a year, and that stretch has continued into the 6-3 season that the Dawgs have had so far.
Let’s go over the losses that Georgia has accumulated so far. First, the loss at home against Alabama 38-10. That was one of the worst games I have ever seen in person or on TV. Terrible special teams and a terrible offense gave Alabama every opportunity they needed to win that game. Special teams should not be that much of an issue in such a big game. A missed field goal is one thing, but Alabama blocking a punt in Georgia’s own territory shows a lack of attention to detail by both the players and coaching staff. Offensively, the play calling was horrific. As usual, the Dawgs were predictable and Alabama saw everything coming.
The second game lost was Tennessee on the road. With Chubb getting injured early in the game, this loss was a little more understandable. But of course, there had to be more heartbreak. Late in the game and driving, Lambert took a deep shot to Reggie Davis. Essentially alone on the goal line, all he had to do was catch a ball placed right in his hands. He dropped it. Tennessee went on to win 38-31.
The third game was a loss to Florida 27-3. We started our third string quarterback and he threw four interceptions. We handed the ball off to Sony Michel 13 times and he ran for 45 yards (3.46 yards per carry). Georgia had five total turnovers and at halftime it was 20-0.
All of these losses clearly prove my point that Richt should be fired. Mark Richt has had good seasons peppered with good players, but he will never win the national championship. And a national championship is what all Georgia fans expect these days.
