Missouri Misery

It wasn’t supposed to go this way.

After surviving the first month of the 2013 season, Georgia was supposed to get to an easier portion of their schedule, where they could prepare to make another run at the SEC title, and maybe, a national championship.

The national title dreams ended for Georgia on Saturday with a 41-26 loss to Missouri. The loss ended Georgia’s 15 game home winning streak, made Georgia’s path to the SEC title game much more difficult, and gives Georgia fans a lot to be concerned about for the rest of the season.

The game itself was much closer than the score might appear. Georgia jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but then saw Missouri finish the first half on a 28-3 run. Georgia’s offensive line had a hard time protecting Aaron Murray, and Murray’s fumble lead to a Missouri touchdown that changed the game.

Late in the first half, Georgia had a chance to get right back in the game by scoring before half time, and then getting the ball to start the second half. But freshman running back Brendon Douglass fumbled inside the red zone, leaving at least three points on the table.

Aaron Murray was the first man out of the Georgia locker room after half time, and Murray lead the Dawgs all the way back within a two-point conversion of tying the game at 28 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but that was as close as Georgia would get.

Missouri, with their backup quarterback, drove down the field, and scored a touchdown on a trick play. But a missed extra point by the Tigers left the door open for a dramatic Georgia comeback.  Murray, trying to lead the Dawgs back as he had done so many times this year, threw an interception that pretty much ended any comeback hopes.

Missouri would score again, pushing the final score to 41-26.

Now, Georgia is in must win mode for the remainder of the season. Missouri is in first place in the SEC East, having not lost yet in conference play. But the Tigers play Florida and South Carolina the next two weeks, and end the season on the road at Texas A&M. Georgia needs Missouri to lose two of those games, which is a real possibility with Missouri quarterback James Franklin out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury.

For Georgia, the biggest game of the season is next Saturday at Vanderbilt. It will be an 11 am local kickoff, and just as we saw this week, screwy things happen in early afternoon games. Georgia will most likely be without Todd Gurley again against Vanderbilt, leaving Georgia short on experience and talent on the road in the SEC. Not a good combination.

The expectation is that Gurley will be back for the Florida game on November 2^nd, and there is a chance that Michael Bennett will also make it back for that game. If both of those guys make it back, then Georgia has a legitimate chance to beat Florida for a third consecutive year.

A November road trip to Auburn would seem to be another huge hurdle for the Dawgs’ chances to get back to Atlanta.

So, just to sum it up, Georgia needs Missouri to lose twice, and Georgia needs to win the rest of their SEC games, and they will play for the SEC title. Nothing impossible about that scenario.

So I have told you the what, and I have told you the what now, but that information is not nearly as important as the real question. Why?

Why has a team with such high expectations fallen short? Why was Georgia able to beat South Carolina and LSU, but lost to Missouri? Why can’t Georgia seem to get over the hump and win like so many other SEC schools have for better part of the last decade?

Why?

I believe there are two reasons why this season will be remembered for what might have been. One reason that can’t be controlled, and one reason that can be controlled.

It is not making excuses to say that injuries have changed the team that Georgia had when it took the field against Clemson to start the season. You can’t convince me that a healthy Georgia team would have needed overtime to beat Tennessee last week, or that a healthy Georgia team wouldn’t have beaten Missouri in the same fashion that they beat South Carolina and LSU. Watching Georgia’s offense without Malcolm Mitchell, Justin Scott-Wesley, Keith Marshall, Michael Bennett, and most importantly Todd Gurley is like watching an infant as they try to learn to walk. They know what they are supposed to do, and they are trying so hard, but they just can’t seem to get it right.

Georgia is not the same team that they were against South Carolina and LSU, and they aren’t going to be that team for the rest of this season. We will never know what that team might have accomplished, and that is very frustrating to a fan base that so deeply longs to win on the biggest stage again. What the Georgia offense has to do now is hope you can get Gurley back sooner rather than later, and lean on guys like Chris Conley and Rantavious Wooten until some of the younger receivers can develop a better rhythm with Aaron Murray. 

You just have to hope Georgia can score enough to win.

The second answer to the question why is very simple. Georgia’s defense is not playing at a championship level. You can’t expect to outscore everyone in the SEC, especially with the injuries that Georgia is trying to overcome on offense. The defense has to do more.

After going 6-6 in 2010, Mark Richt fired his good friend and defensive coordinator Willie Martinez along with a majority of the defensive coaching staff. The message was clear, we will not accept mediocrity.

Todd Grantham was brought it to change the defensive scheme as well as the defensive culture at Georgia.

In the final years of the Willie Martinez era, Georgia was consistently missing out on the top defensive talent in the state. Guys like Eric Berry and Cameron Heyward were going to Tennessee and Ohio State instead of Georgia. The talent level on defense was unacceptable, and the play on the field was equally as bad.

Grantham has managed to get better players in his two and a half years at Georgia. Guys like Ray Drew, Josh Harvey-Clemons, and Jordan Jenkins were all big time recruits that chose Georgia.

The most frustrating thing about Georgia's defense this year is the fact that you can see just how much talent is on the field. Jenkins, Harvey-Clemons, Trey Matthews, and Shaq Wiggins all look like they could be All-SEC before their careers are over, but the defensive results don’t add up to the sum of the parts. If the talent is there, then it can only be the coaching. 

In the mid 90's Steve Spurrier said that the same caliber of players go to Georgia and Florida, but he wasn't sure what Georgia was doing with those players once they got to Athens. It feels like we are getting close to that same situation now.

Just look at the statistics.

In 2009, Georgia went 8-5 allowing 25.9 points per game. Five time during the 2009 season, Georgia gave up 30 or more points in a game, and they were 2-3 in those five games. The defense allowed an average of 126.2 rushing yards per game, and 339.4 yards per game in total offense.

In 2010, Georgia went 6-7 allowing 22.1 points per game. Georgia gave up 30 or more points four times, losing all four games. Georgia allowed 147.2 rushing yards per game and 328.5 yards in total offense.

With the firing of Willie Martinez and most of the defensive coaches, Mark Richt set the standard that those numbers, and those results were not acceptable.

In 2011, Georgia was 10-4, allowing 20.6 points per game. The rushing yards per game dropped down to 101.2 and the total yards of offense dropped to 277.2. That was Grantham’s first year as defensive coordinator. Georgia still gave up 30 or more points four times, and lost all four of those games, but it seemed like Georgia had turned a corner defensively.

In 2012, much was expected from the Georgia defense. Georgia returned most of their stars, including Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree, John Jenkins, and Kwame Geathers. But the 2012 defense was a disappointment. Georgia went 12-2 and only allowed 19.2 points per game. However, Georgia allowed a mind blowing 182.1 yards per game rushing and 357.8 yards per game in total offense. Georgia allowed 30 or more points in four games, and went 2-2 in those four games.

This season, the statistics are the worst that they have been in the Richt era. Through the first six games of the season, Georgia is allowing 33.7 points per game. Georgia is giving up 139.7 yards per game rushing and 399 yards per game of total offense. That’s right, 399 yards per game! Georgia has allowed 30 or more points in five of their six games this season, only holding North Texas under the 30 mark.

On third down, Georgia’s opponents are converting 44% of the time. The defense can’t get off the field, which means that they are tired and ineffective at the end of the game. Of the 202 points that Georgia has given up this season, 123 of them have come in the second and fourth quarters, which says to me that the defense is getting tired because they are on the field too much.

Want to hear something that will make you sick? Since the beginning of the 2011 season, Georgia is undefeated when they hold their opponents under 30 points. The offense hasn't been the problem during Aaron Murray's career, its been the defense. 

Now, the common excuse given is that this defense is very young and inexperienced. Had Georgia’s defense been better last year, that argument would hold more water in my mind. But the truth is that Georgia defense underachieved last year with a ton of experienced players, and Georgia’s defense is bad this year with young players. Even the 2011 season could be seen as a bit of an aberration. Georgia lost to the four best teams they played that year, giving up more than 30 points per game in each of those games. In Georgia’s ten wins in 2011 they played no ranked teams, so maybe the defense wasn’t really that good, Georgia’s opponents were just that bad.

I don’t want to be dismissed as one of those people that want to fire a coordinator every time the team loses. 

Even if Georgia would have managed to win yesterday, the defense would still be a major concern. Georgia could very well run the table, make it to the SEC title game, and even win the SEC title, and the defense would still be a huge concern if no improvement is made.

By Mark Richt’s own standards that he set for the defense following the 2010 season, Todd Grantham is not getting the job done. I believe Grantham should have the next six games to save his job. If Grantham can’t get these young players to get any better over the next six games, then why would we think he will help them get better before next season?

I don’t know if the problem is the scheme, the players, the coaching, or just a series of unfortunate events, but the fact is that Todd Grantham is being paid about a million dollars a year to coach the defense, and the defense stinks.

Of Georgia’s six remaining games, only Georgia Tech and Auburn could be considered to have formidable offenses. Even Florida, who is a good team, struggles mightily on offense. Of course, Tennessee had the worst offense in the SEC coming into last week’s game against Georgia, and the Georgia defense made Justin Worley look like Peyton Manning in the fourth quarter.

It’s been a long time since 1980. I wasn’t even born yet. And with the loss to Missouri yesterday, it will be at least one more year before Georgia can bring a national title back to the Bulldog Nation. I will always remember 2013 as a missed opportunity for Georgia football, even if we manage to win the SEC. Injuries are a part of sports, and sometimes you just have bad luck when the injury bug bites, but Georgia has a defense that is becoming a cancer to any dreams of a national championship. Mark Richt stepped up once and said that Georgia wouldn’t accept anything other than excellence; he will have to do it again if Todd Grantham can’t turn this defense around over the next 7 weeks.