What can we learn about Georgia this weekend?

This week is an example of a time-honored tradition in college football, the cupcake game. Georgia is paying Troy to come to Athens this weekend to get a butt kicking. For fans, it is hard to get excited about watching Georgia play Troy, for players it feels like a bye week before another big game next Saturday, and for bloggers it leaves you writing at 6:50 am on a Friday morning because you just realized you never wrote a preview for this weekend...

Coaches insist that you have to respect the team that is coming in to play you and anything can happen, but this Troy team lost to Abilene-Christian last week, so no, you don't really have to respect them as a legitimate threat. Even if Georgia underwhelms for the first half, first three quarters, or the entire game, they aren't going to lose.

There is nothing positive that Georgia can take out of this game. The only thing that could happen that would effect the rest of the season, is an injury so let's just hope that nothing significant comes out of the game.

Rather than pretend to break down anything having to do with this game, I want to pass along a quick story that I heard this week on Athens' radio. 

Tuesday, Mike Bobo, Jeremy Pruitt, and Mark Richt addressed the media in that order.

Bobo stepped up and took responsibility for Georgia losing to South Carolina. Bobo said that when you have the ball first and goal from the four, you should score a touchdown, and as the offensive coordinator, it is his job to make sure that happens. A reporter asked specifically about the play-calling, and Bobo said that at the time the thought he was calling the best play he could call to help us Georgia score. He said that he is always trying to get better as a play caller, and he would learn from the South Carolina game just like he tries to learn from every game he coaches.

Next, Jeremy Pruitt steps up. Pruitt said that he appreciated what coach Bobo said, but that coach Bobo was wrong. Pruitt said that when you go on the road in the SEC and score 35 points you should never lose. Pruitt said he and the defense were to blame for the loss to South Carolina. Pruitt made no excuses for the poor performance, he only said it was up to him to get the players to perform better in the future.

Finally, coach Richt stepped up and said that he was the head coach, and ultimately the responsibility for all players and coaches fall to him. 

As frustrating as the loss was, Georgia fans should feel good about the future with these three men leading our program. So often you hear coaches make excuses, blame referees, or pass the buck, but Georgia's coaches are all taking responsibility for the part that they played in the loss, and furthermore, they all think that their shortcomings were why the team lost. 

I'm not saying that the attitude of the coaches means that Georgia is going to run the table, but it is nice to hear them step up and be held accountable. 

Georgia still has big questions on defense, and it remains to be seen whether Hutson Mason is capable of leading this team to big wins in the SEC, but for some reason, I feel really good about where the program is headed.