A word of caution on a bye week

It almost seems like a tease. Georgia gives the best performance we have seen from them since the “Blackout” game against Auburn in 2007, and we have to wait two weeks before they play again.

I would like to take advantage of the bye week to issue a public service announcement to all Georgia fans.

Please, be cautious about how high your expectations get for this team.

Everywhere I looked this week I saw pundits having Georgia ranked number one for the college football playoff. Todd Gurley was being touted as the front runner for the Heisman. As optimistic as I can be as a Georgia fan, even I recognize that it is a very long season, and there are still major obstacles in the way.

Next Saturday, Georgia heads to Columbia where they haven’t won since 2008. As high as Georgia has been riding since their opening victory over Clemson, South Carolina has been equally low since their shocking loss against A&M.

While Georgia has been projected to play for titles, South Carolina has been questioned about their offensive line that was supposed to be great, their defensive line that was supposed to be good, and their running game that was non-existent against the Aggies.

Carolina has a game today against East Carolina, and my guess is they will have a hard time getting ready to play the Pirates. Another underwhelming performance today, and Carolina will be written off for dead against Georgia.

Make no mistake, I don’t care if Carolina loses to East Carolina today, next week’s game will be an absolute war.

Georgia is South Carolina’s biggest rival outside of Clemson, and if they want this season to matter at all, they have to win next Saturday.

Does this situation sound familiar? It should. Georgia was in the exact same situation one year ago when they managed to beat Carolina 41-30 in Athens to avoid going 0-2 to start the season.

You want more reasons to be concerned? Probably not, but I’m going to give them to you anyway.

History would tell us that when we look back at this season, we will view the Clemson game as the exception not the rule. Throughout Mark Richt’s tenure Georgia has produced great games like they did last Saturday, but they have been unable to sustain that level of excellence for the rest of the season.

In 2002, Georgia defeated 5 ranked teams on route to going 13-1 and finishing number three nationally. However, they let down against a Florida team that went 8-5 on the season to miss out on a chance for a national title.

In 2003, Georgia went on the road to beat number 13 Tennessee 41-14. It wasn’t really that close. Then they turned around and lost to number 23 Florida, 16-13.

2004, Georgia beats the daylights out of defending national champion LSU, 45-16. The very next week, Tennessee comes to Athens and beats Georgia 19-14.

In 2007, Georgia again defeated 5 ranked teams in that season, but lost at home to South Carolina, who didn’t even make a bowl game at 6-6, which cost Georgia a spot in the SEC title game and most likely the national title game.

Want some recent history?

Last season, Georgia played Clemson close in a loss, defeated South Carolina and LSU but went on the road and lost to lowly Vanderbilt in a game where the Commodores scored 31 points.

Georgia’s performance against Clemson was a great start, but it is vital for the players, coaches, and fans of the Dawgs to understand that it was just the start. For this season to end  the way we all hope it does, Georgia is going to have to repeat the performance from last week many more times.

Just think about this.

Since 2001, when Mark Richt took over as head coach at Georgia, the Dawgs have never defeated more than 5 ranked teams in one season. If the teams that are ranked now are still ranked when they play Georgia, then Georgia will play 4 ranked teams during the regular season, a ranked team in the SEC title game, and then two more ranked teams if they are going to go on to win the national title. 

That would be seven wins versus ranked teams.

Could it happen? Sure, but Georgia could also go to Columbia next week, lay an egg, and have us all thinking that this is going to be a terrible season.

The college football season is a marathon, not a sprint. Georgia got out of the blocks well, but there are many miles to go before we reach the finish line.